China suffering from student brain drain

Country has highest ratio of students not returning home

Many Chinese students who choose to study abroad are choosing not to return home.

Two-thirds of the nearly one million Chinese students who have gone abroad to study since the 1980s have not returned home, according to government statistics. The government says that ratio is higher than any other country.

Media reports state that since 2002, more than 100,000 students have gone abroad to study each year.

The higher standard of living and better career opportunities available abroad are more appealing to students than fighting the competition back home, according to David Zweig, director of the Center on China’s Transnational Relations at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

He said China needs to expand its educational, teaching and research opportunties so people feel it’s worthwhile to come back.

In China’s expanding economy, these internationally-trained students could play an essential role if they can be convinced that their long-term prospects are better in China than abroad.

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