Chinese scientists living in the United States set off a wave of returning home. Is the domestic treatment better?

Recently, more and more doctors and postdocs from China have chosen to return to China. This may mean that the top scientists trained by American universities are "losing", which will have an important impact on whether China can surpass the United States to become a technological power and the economic development of the two countries.

An unfriendly policy

In order to attract scientific research talents back, China is famous for his investment in science, generous salary and complete laboratory. Scientists who choose to return to China also mentioned other key factors, including China's growing prosperity, being closer to relatives in space, narrowing the gap between the two countries' scientific level, increasing difficulty in obtaining research funding in the United States, and bottlenecks encountered in their careers. Although female researchers feel less sexist in the United States than in China, some scientists feel that they are not welcome in the United States. Han Ting said that this wave of returning to China "is largely synchronized with the emergence of the Trump administration."

One of the factors that attract scholars to return is the improvement of living standards.

Thirty years ago, the quality of life in China obviously lagged behind that in the West. As for "many people in my parents' generation, they stay abroad not for their own enjoyment, but for their children to have a better growth environment," Xu said that our generation need not worry about this. Life in both countries is the same, and some people feel more comfortable at home. "

Many returnees are also out of a strong sense of responsibility to their parents. This is one of the reasons why Hu Qiyue, who graduated from Peking University on 1996, returned to China on 201to accept an industrial position. "In China culture, there is a value of caring for parents when they are old," Hu said.

Bottleneck of American academic circles

In 2000, the R&D expenditure of independent and government-affiliated academic institutions in China accounted for 22% of US$ 59.8 billion. By 20 17, the proportion increased exponentially, reaching 90% of the expenditure of $23.7 billion in that year.

Another reason to attract scientists back to China is that after 2000, China began to recruit excellent teachers from China and the United States to build a domestic research environment.

"This is the main driving force for change," said Han Ting, who was attracted back to China by a talent program. Established by China Municipal Government in 2008, the program mainly recruits famous scientists from top foreign institutions and scholars at the initial stage of their careers to help them set up their own laboratories and careers in China.

A fast-growing industry

Another important reason for attracting scientists to return to China is the booming biomedical industry with Shanghai, Hangzhou and Guangzhou as the core. The surge in capital investment in biotechnology companies has led to the rise of this industry.

According to the analysis of BIO, an American biotechnology trade group, in 2009, venture capital companies invested $5 million in China Biotechnology Company, accounting for 0. 14% of the US$ 3.5 billion investment that year. In 20 18, venture capital companies invested $2.4 billion in China biotechnology companies, accounting for about 19.5% of US investment 123 billion. At present, the investment of venture capital companies in China's biotechnology field is second only to that of the United States.

Even if the visa policy changes, for many scientists in China, the motherland has great development potential, and the greatly improved living environment is more attractive to them.

"In terms of career development," Han Ting said, "China's rapid development has provided more opportunities to realize his personal ambition."