Returnees are colloquially called hai gui, meaning "returnees from overseas." The term sounds like the word for "sea turtle" in Chinese, and that catchy name has stuck. The advantages of potential hai guis have not gone unnoticed.

　　To entice more top talents back to the country, the government is dangling very attractive carrots. The government has set up over 76 industrial parks where returned overseas students enjoy advantageous conditions for starting businesses, including greater ease in obtaining loans and tax exemptions when they start new businesses. So far, over 4,000 companies run by 15,000 returned students have been hatched in these parks. Their overall annual output value exceeds 10 billion yuan (about US$1.21 billion), according to a report by the People's Daily. At Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park in northwest Beijing - the mainland's counterpart to Silicon Valley in the U.S. - returned overseas Chinese students operate one-sixth of the businesses.

　　The shift from staying in the West to returning to the East reflects the country's ever-changing economy. Just three decades ago, people in China were still told what jobs they could do. Today, students decide for themselves whether to join a local company, work for a foreign-funded company, or set up their own business. China's steady economic growth and favorable policies for potential returnees serve as a powerful draw. "In Europe, they have a mature society. Everything has more or less been done," says Chu. "On the other hand, China is developing so quickly, it's exciting. The opportunities are here to try something different, something new."

　　Wang Dangdang, who is pursuing a postgraduate degree in International Journalism at City University in London, echoes the sentiments of her Chinese peers overseas: "I will be back because in the next 10 years, China will be the focus of the world."

　　Says Vanilla Wang, who studied hotel management in Switzerland and then worked in South Africa before she headed home after four years abroad: "At the end of the day, here's where our family and friends are. China is home."