Problems at home

When Mei Yuan returned to Beijing last year after completing a Masters in communication studies at Leeds University in Britain she didn't think it would take her a year to find the job she wanted. Armed with a post-graduate degree and fluent English, the 26-year-old anticipated a glittering, well-paid future in one of the thriving new companies in the internet sector.

But she soon discovered that her two years abroad left her isolated from most of her contemporaries and, far from being sought after by employers, she was regarded with suspicion. Mei learned just how uncertain her prospects were when she applied for a job as a website editor with a leading internet company soon after her return.

'I had an interview with a woman who would have been my manager. She asked me what music I liked, and I mentioned some western bands. I could see she didn't like that. I don't think she knew who they were. Later, I realised I'd made her lose face because it looked like I was showing off,' says Mei. 'I didn't get the job. They were seeing if I could be a team player and obviously she felt I wouldn't fit in.'

Her experiences are typical of many Chinese graduates who have returned to the mainland after living abroad. Known dismissively as haigui, which translates colloquially as 'sea turtles', they're some of the mainland's most highly educated people and often have years of work experience in the west. But they face discrimination from compatriots who haven't been overseas, as well as the difficulty of re-adapting to life in a country where workplace practices are radically different from those

in the west.

The Chinese government has made it a priority to encourage the students' return as it seeks to create a genuine market economy that can compete with the US and Europe. Last October, Vice-Minister of Education Zhang Xinsheng described the haigui as 'the country's great treasure' and praised their role in bringing back advanced technology and management skills. But of the 1.07 million people who have gone abroad to study since the first 3,000 mainland students were sent to overseas universities in 1978, only just over a quarter, 275,000, have returned. In 2005, there were 118,000 Chinese studying overseas. By 2010, that number is expected to reach 200,000 and by 2020, 300,000. If the trend continues, most will stay abroad after they complete their studies.