Headline, November01, 2013

''' RETURNING STUDENTS ^!!!

HELPED BUILD !!!^

MODERN CHINA '''

"I left in 1980 with only three dollars in my pocket,'' recalls Li Sanqi. He was one of the first allowed to study overseas after the dark days of the Cultural Revolution.

Like most in that elite group, he excelled, rising to a coveted position at the University of Texas, while launching several technology firms. Now he is a senior executive at Huawei, a Chinese Telecoms giant, enticed back by the chance to help build a world class multinational

Mr Li seems the perfect example of a sea turtle, or hai gui, long applauded in China for bringing back advanced skills.

Wang Huiyao of the China Western Returned Scholars Association, which only last year celebrated its centenary observes that sea turtles have returned in five waves. The first, in the 19th century, produced China's first railway builder and the first university president.

The second and third, before 1949, produced many leaders of the Nationalist and Communist Parties. The fourth wave, which went to the Soviet bloc in the 1950s, produced such leaders as Jiang Zemin and Li Peng.

The present wave began in 1978, and is by far the biggest. Since then, about 2.6 million Chinese have gone abroad to study. The exodus has grown of late to about 400,000 per year. The majority stay overseas, but the 1.1 million who have come back have made a real difference.

Mr Wang argues that whereas the first three waves revolutionised China and the fourth modernised it, the fifth is globalising the country.

Sea turtles are helping to link China's economy in the world. They founded leading technology firms such as Baidu. Many are senior managers in the local divisions of multinational firms.

They are helping to connect China to commercial, political and popular culture abroad.

As China has boomed, and its managers have started to shed their inferiority complex, and the labour markets have gone more realistic, other overpowering variables have emerged. Fox example, C grade turtles:

Many of the latest wave are of lower quality. In the past, only the very best were allowed to go out and so competition for government scholarships was fierce. But as incomes have risen, many families of mediocre Chinese students have spent a fortune:

On degrees from universities of dubious quality that little to enhance their job prospects. Worse, yet, partly because of the downturn in Western economies, many have come back without work experience.

Even as hordes of the less employable expatriates return, the brightest remain abroad. A study funded by America's National Science Foundation found that 92% of Chinese with American PhDs still lived in that country five years after graduation.

For Indians, the figure was 81%, for South Koreans 41% and for Mexicans 32%

To lure such superstars back, the Chinese government is pouring pots of money into a scheme called 1,000 Talents, which offers generous subsidies and other perks.

The powerful Organisation Department of the Communist Party is urging regional leaders and university heads, to meet quotas for securing talent.

In a recent paper, Mr Wang and David Zweig of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology argue that China has been ''perhaps the most assertive government in the world'' in such efforts.

With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of China. See Ya all oh the World Students Society Computers-Internet-Wireless:

!!! ''' Perfectly Balanced ''' !!!

Good Night & God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless