Original written by Wang Huiyao 王辉耀 in Chinese.

China is now facing a third immigration wave abroad since the last century (the other immigration waves out of China occurred in the end of 1970s and the beginning of 1990s respectively). In the 2007 Report on International Politics and Security, China was found to have been the largest supplier of immigrants abroad – losing out on many of their capable talents and scholars as a result. Just for 2009, Chinese immigrants to America numbered 65,000 people. In the last decade, Chinese immigrants going abroad as skilled workers and investing entrepreneurs numbered at 20 to 1. Skilled workers are those educated elite with a masters or higher degree and are specialized with 3 to 5 years of work experience in their fields.

As of 2009, China has sent a total of around 1.62 million to study at universities abroad – more than any other country in the world; and of the 1.62 million, only a mere 490,000 returned after finishing their studies. According to statistics published by the China Association of Science and Technology, since 1985, 80% of science and engineering majors from Tsinghua University and 75% of science and engineering majors from Peking University went on to pursue graduate studies in the US.

According to an article published in the Science Magazine, in 2006 Tsinghua University supplied the largest number of foreign students that had come for doctoral programs in the US; graduates from Peking University rank second place when it comes to foreign PhD students in the different US universities. These PhD students major largely in science and engineering fields and are usually looking at their studying abroad as stepping stones for eventually becoming naturalized US citizens. They aim to first get a job in the US, securing a work permit and later on they would need to move on to permanent residence status and finally get naturalized as citizens. Consequently, Science Magazine has commented in the article that Tsinghua and Peking universities are the two “richest breeding grounds” for scholars and experts in the US.

Right now, China is losing badly in the front of trying to retain capable talents and scholars in the country – in spite of its prominent economic growth in recent years. China is not only the largest supplier of PhD students to America, Chinese scholars choosing to stay on in America after graduating are also more than any other country. China may have a big trade surplus, but in the trade of human resources, it has continued to suffer a devastating deficit.

Southern Wind Window magazine (8th edition) has recently published an article citing a table originally found in The New York Times papers. The table was compiled by looking at the total number of foreign students majoring in science and engineering fields that got their PhDs in US universities in 2002 and then comparing that total with how many remained on in the US in 2009. It can seen that Chinese scholars choosing to stay on after graduation in the US were ranked top of the table (see table below).

Of the other major economies in Asia, South Korea and Japan have both also sent their fair share of scholars to study abroad, but what's different is that more Chinese scholars than any of the two countries choose to stay on in their host countries after graduation. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has found that between the years 1990 to 1999, where there was a prevalent demand for science and engineering talents to support development of economy for different countries, Chinese scholars choosing to stay on in their host countries after finishing studies amounted to 87%, while Korean scholars that chose to stay on only accouted for 39%.

Table:
Percentage of foreign students majoring in science and engineering fields that got their PhDs in US universities in 2002 and still remained on in the US in 2009:

Ranking	Country	Percentage of PhD Students Staying on in the US after Graduation
1	China	92.00%
2	India	81.00%
3	Canada	55.00%
4	Germany	52.00%
5	Taiwan	43.00%
6	Turkey	42.00%
7	South Korea	41.00%
8	Japan	33.00%
9	Mexico	32.00%
10	Brazil	31.00%
11	Thailand	7.00%

Source: Beijing News

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Related links

The New Immigration Wave out of China: A Sign of China’s Failure?
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Keywords: Chinese scholars abroad Chinese graduates abroad scholar immigration China immigration abroad China