Business students want to return home

Chinese students from wealthy families and those who study business in the United States are more willing than their peers to return to China after getting their degrees, according to a new report.

More than 56 percent of students studying business in the US want to return home after graduation, said the Annual Report on the Development of Chinese Students Studying Abroad (2013) released on Tuesday by the Center for China and Globalization. The report is based on a survey of 2,445 Chinese students studying in the US.

The percentage of business students was higher than in other majors such as humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, engineering, law and medicine.

The report said that was attributable to the economic situation in the US and employment opportunities in China.

As business schools in the US have recruited more and more students since 2008, the competition among business graduates for employment has become increasingly fierce. Under such circumstances, it is difficult for Chinese business graduates to find jobs in the US.

Consulting and financial institutions in China offer comparatively more job opportunities with good pay and are eager to recruit graduates who studied overseas.

The report also found that students from richer families have a stronger desire to return home after graduation.

Only 37 percent of Chinese students whose annual family income was less than 50,000 yuan ($8,170) said they would return to China after graduation, compared with 58 percent of those whose families brought in more than 1 million yuan a year.

The report proposed that families in the million-yuan annual income bracket usually have ample economic, political and social resources in China, which means they can provide better conditions for returning offspring.

In addition, such families are often businesses owners and hope their children will come back to help manage the family business, the report said, because they believe their child’s advanced knowledge and experience acquired in the US will contribute to their prosperity.

Gao Yanding, founder of Yanding US-China Education, a consulting institute for Chinese students to study in the US, said students from richer families were likelier to find good jobs and enjoy good lives in China because their families have more resources and can help them.

"If they choose to stay in the US, they might face many more difficulties in life, and their families could not offer much help," Gao said.

He added that for Chinese students from low-income families, there is not much difference whether they return home or not. "Under such circumstances, they would rather stay in the US and take a chance," he said.

Liu Yiran contributed to this story.