Returnees are 'seed capital' for startups

Wen Xuejun's budding dream in the United States blossomed in China.

After staying in the US for 16 years, and holding an endowed chair professorship at Virginia Commonwealth University, Wen returned to China and set up Ryan Nanomedicine Co Ltd in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province.

"I have an ambition to transfer my achievements in the lab into useful medical products, and I chose to realize this ambition in China, after careful consideration,"said Wen, who now serves as the company's president.

Wen is one of dozens of people who took part in the latest 1,000 Plan Entrepreneurship Competition in Suzhou. The contest is especially designed for experienced entrepreneurs who have an overseas background.

It's part of a project known as the One Thousand Talent Plan, which has been administered by the central government since 2008.

The program is China's most ambitious specialist recruitment program in recent years. It aims to attract top international specialists in fields such as science and technology, finance and corporate management to start companies in China.

For decades, going overseas for further study was a relatively rare opportunity, and a highly desirable move for bright and ambitious people. Many of them put down roots abroad, obtaining permanent residence and building a life in a new country.

But studying abroad is becoming easier for ordinary people, and more graduates — as well as established professionals — are thinking of coming back to China, with its fast-growing economy that has become the world's second largest.

For Wen, who had an established career and a family in the US, the biggest attraction of China was strong financial support.

After winning the championship, he received 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) in strategic funding from venture capital investors, as well as 300,000 yuan in prize money.

Wen's lab in the US mastered a core technology to make collagen-coated medical catheters, which are more resistant to bacteria and cost less.

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