Chinese report seeks to reverse brain drain

BEIJING, Feb 14 (Reuters) The number of well-educated Chinese leaving the country to work abroad is growing, and many who go overseas to study do not return home, state media said.

Of one million Chinese people who have studied abroad since the 1980s, two-thirds of them have chosen not to come back to China, according to a Chinese think-tank's report, extracts of which were carried in the China Daily yesterday.

''It has been a great loss for China -- which is now in dire need of people of expertise -- to see well-educated professionals leave after the country has invested a lot in them,'' the official newspaper quoted report co-author Li Xiaoli as saying.

In the 2007 Blue Book on Global Politics and Security, issued by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, he attributed the wave of emigration to ''the increasing involvement of China in the world market''.

The newspaper said in an editorial that the government should do more to encourage them home.

''As our economic conditions as well as academic and business environments improve, a growing number of Chinese professionals are coming back,'' it said.

''Many talented Chinese emigrated overseas because they could not find opportunity at home. It's time to nurture that reverse migration.'' Chinese have been fleeing abroad for centuries, escaping poverty, natural disaster and political oppression.

That has lead to a large diaspora in Southeast Asia, Europe and North America.

But many of those who do return to China carry foreign passports or visas to ensure they can leave easily in the event of political uncertainty or turmoil, such as that which followed the bloody suppression of the 1989 pro-democracy protests.

REUTERS VD HS0828