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China Acts to Attract Returned Students
Major Chinese provinces and municipalities have made efforts to attract returned students from overseas to the country's economic development.
Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, has set up a special investment fund to help returned students set up their own businesses here.
The fund has so far backed 13 hi-tech projects with 2.625 million yuan (316,000 U.S. dollars). All these projects are initiated by returned Chinese students, covering information technology, new material, environment, shipbuilding, medicine and bio-engineering sectors.
Sources here say that returned students in Wuhan can either apply for a loan or become an investor of the fund. In the former case, 80 percent of the interest will be returned to the applicant when he pays off the principal and the due interest. In the latter case, the fund will be retrieved through stock bonuses and equity transfer.
In another development, Shanghai, east China's industrial powerhouse, will issue Chinese green cards, a special residence permit for returned students, to facilitate their entry and exit.
The Caohejing New Technology Development Zone in Shanghai has offered to help apply for such green cards for the returned students who have established businesses in the zone. "With green cards, they will concentrate more on their business and do not have to worry about visa extensions," said an official.
Some 320,000 Chinese students have gone abroad for advanced study since the country started reforms and open-up drive in 1978. More students choose to establish their business or find a job in China after graduation. The number of returned students is growing at an annual 13 percent.
Up to now, more than 40 high-technology parks have been set up across the country for the Chinese students returned from abroad to set up new ventures.
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