China must become an immigration magnet if it wants to overtake the US

Most of China’s immigration measures have short-term goals, while the US has proven it can attract and retain talent from across the globe
Given the challenges of changing policies and mindsets, Beijing should in the meantime tap into the power of its women to reinvigorate the nation

Andrei Lungu

Published: 1:30am, 7 Oct 2021

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As China continues its rise, its leadership’s unstated goal seems to be to overtake the United States as the world’s leading power. If China really wants to achieve this, the best thing it can do is learn from America’s example, become a magnet for people around the globe and convince them to become Chinese citizens.

The US might have the world’s largest economy and most expensive military, but its real strength is that for centuries it has been a magnet for people all over the world. Thanks to its living standards, democratic values, open society and world-class education and research, it has attracted millions of immigrants who started calling America home.

Among them were some of the world’s brightest minds, who made America’s technological development possible. Almost a third of all US Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry or medicine were born overseas.

But the benefits of immigration go beyond technology or even economics. Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Madeleine Albright and Samantha Power are some of the immigrants who ended up guiding America’s foreign policy.

By attracting people from around the world who use their diverse backgrounds, knowledge of foreign countries, language and cultural skills as diplomats and officials, the US has an unmatched advantage in foreign policy.

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The benefits of immigration go even deeper as the US gains not just a new citizen but a family. Former president Barack Obama and current US Vice-President Kamala Harris, who reached the apex of power in America, are the children of immigrants. Their contributions to the US could not have been possible without America’s status as a beacon for immigrants anywhere on the planet.

China, on the other hand, does poorly at attracting immigrants, who rarely and only with difficulty can become Chinese citizens. The government does have numerous programmes to bring foreign students and researchers to China, but almost all the focus is on short-term gains.

Students can go back home with a good image of China or foreign experts can help build Chinese industry and expertise, but there’s no intention to convince them to call China home.

The US is the global leader because it has access to a worldwide pool of talent. Its workers, scientists, professors, doctors, entrepreneurs and even politicians come not just from among its 330 million citizens, but from all of humanity’s 7.7 billion people. This offers the US an unrivalled pool of human resources.

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There are more than 300,000 Chinese students in the US, many of whom will settle down and become American citizens, but only about 20,000 American students in China, few of whom will spend their life there.

With every such person who immigrates from China to the US, there is a transfer of power between the two countries as workforce and brainpower move across the Pacific.

It’s possible to imagine an immigrant reaching the highest levels of the US government or the child of an immigrant becoming president. However, it’s impossible to imagine the same thing happening in China – a non-Han born overseas person shaping China’s foreign policy, for example.

America’s intellectual and human power is always expanding, drawing talent from around the world, while China’s is fixed or, because of its population control policies, even decreasing. In the long term, a falling birth rate and ageing population mean China will either suffer harsh economic consequences or have to start importing human resources on a massive scale.

Instead of waiting, Beijing should be preparing for that moment by transforming China into a magnet of immigration. Achieving this transformation will require an ambitious vision.

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The problem goes beyond mere bureaucracy and simplifying the naturalisation process. Many foreigners do not want to live in a country where access to the outside world is limited and global communication platforms used to stay in touch with family and friends are banned.

Such a transformation will require a profound change of policies and mindset, but the benefits for China would be immense. One day, instead of seeing some of its best and brightest leave for the US, China might see the best of America move to its shores.

This vision is unlikely to come to pass, given the difficulty involved, but there is something simple Chinese leaders can do that would still be transformative.

Chinese women are still kept away from real power. No woman has ever become a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, making it clear that being a man is the key requirement to reach China’s highest level of power.

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The 25-member Politburo has rarely had more than one woman per term. And, according to Fortune magazine, only two out of 135 companies on its 2021 Fortune Global 500 list have female CEOs.

A young girl in China can dream of beating the odds to become a CEO, mayor, provincial governor or even a full member of the Central Committee. But she cannot dream of become the leader of China because there is no such model in its recent history.

When it comes to choosing its ruling elite, China doesn’t use its entire talent pool. It only taps a smaller segment of a few hundred million men while holding back its women, regardless of how competent they are.

If China wants to overtake the US, it will have to change so people from around the world want to, and can, end up calling China home. In the meantime, Beijing can accelerate China’s development by using all its human resources instead of reserving real power for men.

Andrei Lungu is president of the Romanian Institute for the Study of the Asia-Pacific (RISAP)