Haigui
Haigui (simplified Chinese: 海归; traditional Chinese: 海歸; pinyin: hǎiguī) is a Chinese language slang term for Chinese nationals who have returned to mainland China after having studied abroad.[1] The term is a pun on the homophonic hǎiguī (simplified Chinese: 海龟; traditional Chinese: 海龜) meaning "sea turtle".
Graduates from foreign universities used to be highly sought out by employers in China. A 2017 study found that haigui are now less likely to receive a callback from potential employers compared to Chinese students with a Chinese degree.[2] Possible causes of this reversal include the rising quality of Chinese education institutions and the high salary demands of haigui.[3]
Over 800,000 recently graduated haigui returned to China in 2020, an increase of 70% from 2019, largely due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]
Motivations
Some haigui have returned to China due to the
The Chinese educational system is terrible at producing workers with innovative skills for Chinese economy. It produces people who memorize existing facts rather than discovering new facts; who fish for existing solutions rather than coming up with new ones; who execute orders rather than inventing new ways of doing things. In other words they do not solve problems for their employers.[6]
Etymology and history
The word is a pun, as hai 海 means "ocean" and gui 龟; 龜 is a homophone of gui 归; 歸 meaning "to return". The name was first used by Ren Hong, a young man returning to China as a graduate of Yale University seven years after leaving aboard a tea freighter from Guangzhou to the United States.[7]
Notable haigui
- Sun Yat-Sen, first president of the Republic of China
- People's Republic of China
- Tang Xianhu, badminton player and coach
- Deng Xiaoping, elder of the Chinese Communist Party
- Qian Xuesen, father of the Chinese rocket program
See also
References
- New York Times.
- ^ Fraiberg, S., Wang, X., & You, X. (2017). Inventing the world grant university: Chinese international students’ mobilities, literacies, and identities. Utah State University Press, An imprint of University Press of Colorado.
- ^ "Overseas Chinese Try to Build a Community in Homeland". China Daily.
- ^ China's overseas graduates return in record numbers into already crowded domestic job market He Huifeng, South China Morning Post , 21 September 2020
- ^ a b Zhou, Wanfeng (December 17, 2008). "China goes on the road to lure "sea turtles" home". Reuters.
- New York Times.
- ^ "Hai Gui: The Sea Turtles Come Marching Home". Asia Pacific Management Forum. Archived from the original on 2013-01-17.
External links
- Schott's Vocabulary: Haigui New York TimesJanuary 12, 2009