Market changes lure record number of returnees to China
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By CGTN's Zhao Lingfeng
The graduating class of 2017 is saying goodbye to campus. But it’s a hello to China, as more Chinese overseas students are expected to return home rather than seek jobs overseas.  
A graduate of Parson’s School of Design and an entrepreneur in Shanghai, fashion designer Guan Lin has her own label and leads a team of six.
When asked about her homebound decision, she says in China the market seems so exciting, things are new and vibrant with a lot of fun.
Returnee and fashion designer Guan Lin has her own label “Short Sentence” with some 100 items introduced each season. /CGTN Photo

Returnee and fashion designer Guan Lin has her own label “Short Sentence” with some 100 items introduced each season. /CGTN Photo

Her label name “Short Sentence” reflects the lessons she learned while in New York -- that less is more. This is also in line with her thoughts about Chinese poetry, where complexity can lie in simplicity.
For many young Chinese like her, bringing an overseas experience home is a top option now.
A recent survey showed 432,500 Chinese overseas students, or over 82 percent from the pool, returned home in 2016. Back in 2006, only about one third of overseas students chose such an option.  ‍
And these changes have been noticed on the other side of the world.
Ana Mukhopadhyay, a career consultant for international students at Purdue University in Indiana, the United States, one of the most popular schools for Chinese students, says she has noticed students are being more open to options outside of the US, and that includes China. 
Targeting customers in a niche market, a major trend for small- or medium-scaled start-ups amid quick consumption upgrades. /CGTN Photo

Targeting customers in a niche market, a major trend for small- or medium-scaled start-ups amid quick consumption upgrades. /CGTN Photo

The growing number of returning young professionals comes just in time, as the country is undergoing a massive wave of consumption upgrades and seeking to boost entrepreneurship and innovation at the same time.
Instead of a typical office job, building one’s own business empire seems to be the desired path for over half of the returnees.
Many of them start a business with target customers just like themselves, young professionals, perhaps with an overseas study or work experience.
Bringing an overseas experience home is a top option for Chinese students abroad. /CGTN Photo

Bringing an overseas experience home is a top option for Chinese students abroad. /CGTN Photo

Leo Chiang, a senior consultant at PwC's Strategy&, explains that these young entrepreneurs start businesses based on their own needs, reflecting the same needs in a certain group of people. And what makes this way of running a business so viable is that a market with diversified needs in China is quickly evolving. He projects in the future, there will be more of these markets and these kind of small- or medium-scaled entrepreneurs in China.
But he also emphasizes that a sustainable model is the only way to keep these new businesses thriving.
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