1847, "the father of Chinese students" Yung Wing , traveled across the ocean for three months, and arrived in New York amid the rumbling whistle. Seven years later, he returned to China with the first graduation certificate awarded to Chinese by Yale University , becoming China's first "returnee".
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More than a hundred years later, China has become the world's largest exporter of international students. Although the number of people studying abroad has increased year by year, the number of "returnees" has increased. At the beginning of the 21st century, only about 17 of every 100 overseas students returned to China after graduation, and by 2017, about 79 of every 100 overseas students returned to China for development.
Why has the proportion of international students returned to China increased so quickly in just ten years? What is the reason that has prompted so many international students to give up their lives abroad and choose to return to China?
We have sorted out the data on international students' learning and employment in recent years and found that the current changes in the employment situation at home and abroad are the main reasons why many international students choose to return to China. (For more news, please follow the WeChat official account of the Beijing News: bjnews_xjb)
Looking for a job abroad, major may be more important
Developed countries and regions are the first choice for most international students. Half of the 5.2 million international students who have gone abroad since the reform and opening up have gone to the United States. Of the more than 600,000 international students who went abroad last year, more than 350,000 were distributed in various universities in the United States, accounting for 58% of the total. Therefore, the retention and return of these students who go to the United States have greatly affected the overall number of returnees.
Chinese students are a well-known "highly educated" group among American international students. Last year, there were about 390,000 international students studying for graduate students, doctoral degree or above in the United States, one-third of which came from China. Many Chinese students choose to continue to pursue a master's degree or even higher degree after graduating from undergraduate studies, and often in the same field of expertise. In European and American countries, undergraduates generally choose to work directly after graduation, and only go to graduate school when it is necessary to "gilded" or want to change careers.
Because Chinese students are generally "highly educated", their study and life in schools are highly valued. According to statistics, in 2017, nearly 130,000 international students received scholarships in the United States, of which more than 40,000 were Chinese students, accounting for 34%. Indian students ranked second in the number of scholarships in China, only one-quarter of China’s.
is a good player to get scholarships, but Chinese students often seem less relaxed when looking for jobs in the United States. (For more news, please follow the WeChat official account of the Beijing News: bjnews_xjb)
Due to the domestic employment protection policy in the United States, there are very few job opportunities left to international students, and most of them are limited to the fields of engineering and computers. In the statistics of the majors that students studying in the United States in various countries, Chinese students are relatively uniform in their disciplines, with the most business subjects, followed by engineering, mathematics/computer science, social sciences, physics/life sciences and arts. Most Indian students studying in the United States choose engineering and computer science that have the greatest demand, so finding a job is relatively easy.
In addition, 30% of the work visas in the United States are sponsored by 10 commercial organizations each year, and half of these commercial organizations are headquartered in India. Data shows that Indian students receive more work visas in the United States each year than the total number of students in all other countries. Due to the advantages of visa acquisition channels, Indian students have more than ten times more likely to stay in the United States than Chinese students.
The olive branch of domestic unicorns
Compared with the helplessness and hardships abroad, the employment situation in China in recent years has made many international students eager to try.
On the list of the latest global unicorn companies (valuation exceeds US$1 billion) released by the authoritative data website CB Insights, 65 Chinese companies are on the list, with a total valuation of more than US$280 billion, accounting for 35%. Among the ten highest valuations, four of them are from China, namely Didi, Xiaomi, Meituan and Lufax, which rank second, third, fourth and ninth respectively.
plus Tencent , Alibaba and Baidu, these companies enthusiastically extend olive branches to hundreds of thousands of returnees every year, giving not only high salaries, but also a working environment and model that is in line with the international community.
In addition, the huge energy and potential business opportunities in the domestic market have made many overseas returnees dream of becoming the next unicorn. According to the latest "China Returnees Report" released by the Globalization Think Tank (CCG), from the initial entrepreneurial time, 76.4% of returnees have started their businesses since 2015.
Who says the moon abroad is rounder? Judging from the choices of international students in recent years, China's moon is the roundest.
data news editor Chen Ying chart design Chen Dong
on duty editor Yiming Li Er Nan Nan
(For more news, please follow the WeChat official account of the Beijing News: bjnews_xjb)
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