The evidence is still anecdotal, but a recent forum held in Beijing on the mission and development opportunities of overseas Chinese students highlighted their growing importance.
Of over 580,000 students abroad since China's 1978 reforms, 150,000 have returned to China. They have started up around 5,000 businesses across the country with an annual output value above 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion), Xinhua news agency reported.
Some Chinese companies aren't waiting for the students to return, but going directly to them.
One Chinese company looking overseas is ZTE Corp, an electronic equipment manufacturer with sales in 2002 of US$2 billion and headquarters in Shenzhen, China. At a recent job fair held in Texas, the company sought overseas Chinese students for engineering, marketing and management positions. 150 people attended, the Dallas Morning News reported.
The annual rate of 13 percent returns is being encouraged by the Chinese government with special funds for returnees to start up companies and award programs for scholars with overseas experience.
Lindsay Powell, director of Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of International Migration, said in the report that while the trend--if there is one--is in its early stages, "industries like tech, telecommunications and engineering are taking off in China and for that reason I can see it increasing."
While good engineers can be found, China's tech industry today lacks project managers, systems analysts and developer team leaders, Red Flag Software CEO Liu Bo said in an earlier CNET report.
Like many local executives, Liu learned how to run projects at foreign companies. After graduating from college and working at a Chinese institute, he spent time at a Singaporean PC manufacturer, Informix, SCO and Microsoft.
Companies in China are filling the void. Intel and BIOS firm Phoenix, for instance, rotate Chinese engineers to U.S. offices for three-month exchanges and subsidize advanced degrees. Employees can also get free English language training.
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