Job market embraces returning scholars
Companies see overseas graduates as having an edge
BEIJING: The spring breeze brings another job-hunting season in China, as well as more job hunters freshly graduated from overseas universities.
Zhu Yangjian, a Chinese student studying at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan, has been looking at a website of the national employment service for returned overseas students under the Education Ministry.
“I prefer to work in China. The overall salary in Japan is not much different from that in China, but the cost of living there is higher. The attractiveness of local employment is declining. Moreover, there are more intriguing jobs in China,” said Zhu.
Zhu is reflecting the thoughts of the majority of Chinese overseas students.
According to the 2022 Blue Paper for Chinese Overseas Students Returning to China for Employment released by the Chinese Service Centre for Scholarly Exchange, the number of students returning to China has grown significantly since 2012, with about 3.4 million people having returned, accounting for more than 80% of the people studying overseas.
According to the 2023 Report on Chinese Students Overseas Study released by New Oriental, an overseas study service agency, direct employment or entrepreneurship after graduation in 2023 became the mainstream for those who had gained master’s or PHD degrees overseas, accounting for 65% in total.
“More than half of the Chinese students around me plan to return to China to work. We believe that our international thinking and vision can give us a more competitive edge in the job market,” said Zhao Zhijin, who is studying at Musashi University in Japan.
In the 2023 Overseas Study Talent Employment Development Report jointly released by Liepin, a service company focusing on job hunting, and the China World Youth Summit, 80.85% of corporate HR professionals believe that under the same conditions, overseas study experience will be a plus for candidates.
Huo Jiali, who studied at Delaware Valley University in the United States, returned to her hometown of Jinzhong, in north China’s Shanxi province, years ago. She has shared the knowledge she gained during her study abroad to agricultural work at a local firm.
Huo said China’s favourable policy ensures that returning students have a good work environment and treatment.
In the past decade, China has introduced a series of policy measures from the central to local levels to provide convenience and create conditions for returning overseas students.
In 2015, China issued a notice on facilitating the entrepreneurship of returned overseas students, which included overseas returnees in the support range of national university graduate employment and entrepreneurship. In 2016, another notice on implementing entrepreneurship guarantee loans to support entrepreneurship and employment was issued, which included returning overseas students in the scope of entrepreneurship guarantee loan support.
“In order to promote the employment of overseas students, we have been cooperating with various related service units, improved service mechanisms, and provided convenience for entrepreneurship and employment, thereby enhancing their sense of belonging and achievement,” said Chen Xijie, deputy director of the Shanxi provincial service centre for overseas students and experts.
According to data released by China’s Education Ministry, from 1978 to 2019, 6.56 million people studied overseas. During this period, 4.23 million people chose to return to China after completing their studies, accounting for 86.28% of the group that completed their studies.