Top Chinese engineers and computer scientists emigrating overseas

The vast majority of China’s innovative talents in the fields of maths, computer science and physics have migrated to top jobs overseas.

A survey by the Chinese Academy of Sciences has revealed that 87 per cent of China’s most talented workers in the sectors have moved overseas to take advantage of positions in major foreign corporations. The news follows a push by first world countries including Australia, Canada and New Zealand to adjust their immigration programmes to attract top talent from across the world.

Developing countries are now joining in the competition, and the ongoing attempt in the USA to revise its broken immigration system will, if successful, open up many more opportunities in the field of computer science. The US system, formerly family-based, is now expected to be slewed towards entrepreneurs and highly qualified IT and scientific talent, with Silicon Valley lobbying hard for consideration.

Even more opportunities are expected to be offered by Australia and Canada, both of which are suffering skills shortages in industry caused by falls in birth rates and ageing populations. Both countries have recently overhauled their immigration laws in favour of highly-skilled professionals, and are in fierce competition with each other.

As previously reported, China is hemorrhaging millionaires to more laid-back and financially secure locations, although expats looking to work in Beijing and Shanghai are being forced out by Chinese returnees from overseas jobs. Even so, China’s Recruitment Programme of Global Experts saw almost a million Chinese student return as well as recruiting 20,000 overseas professionals.