China's Brain Drain to the United States

First Published in 1996. Beginning in 1979, the government of the People's Republic of China, hoping to catch up with Western science and technology, decided for the first time since 1949 to send large numbers of students and scholars to the West to study. Suddenly China found itself in the same situation as many developing countries: sending their best and brightest to the United States triggered a brain drain, and with it the threat that the strategy of sending people abroad to catch up might backfire. But will these people return? In order to investigate the authors carried out 273 interviews with Chinese students, scholars, and other former residents of the People's Republic of China who are currently residing in the United States. The interviews had a wide geographical distribution within the United States, taking place in Boston, New York, Buffalo, Albuquerque, and several centers in California, including Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco.