China’s Ministry of Education said that 495,000 Chinese students who studied overseas returned to China in 2024, a 19.1 percent increase from the previous year, highlighting a growing trend of overseas talent returning home. The announcement was made at the 30th anniversary of the “Chunhui Plan” and the 2025 Chunhui Innovation and Entrepreneurship Exchange held in Shanghai.
Since 1978, 8.88 million Chinese students have studied abroad, with 6.44 million eventually returning to China. Of these, 5.63 million have returned since the 18th Chinese Communist Party’s National Congress (when Xi Jinping came into power in 2012), accounting for about 87 percent of all returnees, providing strong support for China’s economic and technological development.
Source: People’s Daily, December 12, 2025
https://world.people.com.cn/n1/2025/1212/c1002-40622757.html