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2 on list of outstanding overseas returnees

Writer: Wang Jingli  | Editor: Doria Nan  | From: Shenzhen Daily | Updated: 2018-12-24

Two Shenzheners made it onto a list of 40 outstanding overseas returnees from the 40 years of China’s reform and opening up released at the 2018 Convention on Exchange of Overseas Talents and Guangzhou Convention of Overseas Chinese Scholars in Science and Technology, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported Saturday.

Wang Shi, founder of China Vanke Co. Ltd., and Chen Shiyi, president of the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) are the two Shenzhen residents on the list.

Wang, Vanke’s founder and honorary chairman of the board of directors, and a visiting scholar at Harvard University, Oxford University, Cambridge University and Hebrew University, led Vanke in stepping into the global market.

He introduced the first American company to make delicate gifts in China and promoted Chinese enterprises in going global. At one time, he headed the largest delegation of ordinary people to participate in the U.N. Climate Conference, and he is actively involved in charity.

Chen, an eminent scientist and educational innovator, furthered his studies in the United States after graduating from Peking University with a doctoral degree. He is well-known for his research in fluid mechanics and the basic applications of turbulence. The president of SUSTech, Chen has promoted China’s educational reform with his pioneering methods of talent cultivation.

As China’s economy has developed rapidly during reform and opening up, the number of Chinese students studying abroad has seen a stable increase in recent years.

Having experienced the trend of studying abroad and the trend of returning home, China is able to form a virtuous circle of international talents with its own characteristics, the report said. Talents have played a significant role in China’s modernization and globalization.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Education, a total of 5.19 million Chinese students studied overseas with 3.13 million returning to the country between 1978 and 2017. Since Nov. 8, 2012, about 2.31 million overseas students have returned.

Increasing numbers of overseas returnees are working in various fields that comprise the lifeblood of China’s economy. The 40 overseas returnees with outstanding performance were selected from various fields, namely politics, science and technology research, finance, medicine, investment, education, information technology, charity, culture and art, and sports.