Why its brain drain has China smiling

For the last 25 years, many of the best and brightest in India and China have left for western shores in the belief that study and work abro...

For the last 25 years, many of the best and brightest in India and China have left for western shores in the belief that study and work abroad offer greater opportunities.

However, unlike India which has been wringing its hands over ‘‘brain drain’’, the Chinese have systematically encouraged their best to acquire valuable expertise abroad—and then wooed them back to set up businesses or work in top government posts.

The policy of encouraging Chinese students to go abroad was instituted by Deng Xiaoping who believed that if even a small percentage returned, it would benefit the country.

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However, in the 1980s, only a trickle of students returned. An embarrassed Ministry of Education (MOE) began to advocate a policy reversal till the then Party general secretary, Zhao Ziyang, stressed on continuing to ‘‘store brain power overseas’’.

By the late 80s, Chinese cities began to compete with each other to recruit overseas-educated talent, offering tax incentives, preferential business loans, free office space, better housing and faster promotions. Currently, over 110 different kinds of special zones and industrial parks for such ‘‘returnees’’ have been established, according to the Chinese MOE website. Over 6,000 enterprises are located in these parks, employing more than 15,000 returnees.

Overseas-educated researchers are dominant in in China’s prestigious scientific projects, such as the space programme and human genome mapping. Returnees have founded nearly all the country’s companies that are listed on NASDAQ.

Police personnel seen to control the situation during a massive protest over the statehood demand and the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule, in Leh on Wednesday. (ANI Video Grab)

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