China's brain drain nearing end

China's support for higher education is beginning to pay off by retaining more of the students it funds to pursue academic degrees abroad. The President of the National Natural Science Foundation of China noted that as recently as ten years ago, every 7 Chinese students who studied outside the country only 1 returned to the country to work. Now the figure is 6 out of 7 students will return.

Although a risk when developing higher education and research capacity, sending students to study outside their home country can pay off. The reasons Chinese students may now be more interested in returning to China include more international scholars working in China's higher education sector, improving quality among Chinese universities, and a growing young adult population.