High numbers of Chinese studying overseas are expected to return over the next two years, as jobs abroad become harder to find, an official said in Shanghai on Sunday.

Overseas Chinese discuss job opportunities with employers at a job fair organized by the Shanghai government in London over the weekend. [China Daily]

Speaking at a forum, Mengyu, secretary-general of the Shanghai Overseas Returned Scholars' Association (SORSA) said that between 1978 and the end of last year, 70,000 Chinese returned to Shanghai after completing their studies abroad.

They accounted for about 25 percent of all returnees nationwide, he said.

By the end of 2010, a further 30,000 will have returned to the city, he said.

Wan Xianglong, executive president of SORSA, said: "A growing number of Chinese scholars, in particular those who are facing glass ceilings, are looking to develop their careers in China in light of the current economic situation.

"The actual number of people who have returned is probably higher than the official figure," he said.

"As a financial hub, Shanghai provides tremendous opportunities for haigui (overseas returnees)," Wan said, adding that the city also offers a more international style of living.

Zhou Yiwei, a 28-year-old who worked at a consulting firm in Spain for three years, said she decided to return to Shanghai after Spanish firms started laying off staff.

"I feel more secure at home because the economy is more stable," she said.

Xiao Lei, an event coordinator with the London office of the Shanghai Association for the International Exchange of Personnel, said that a recruitment fair held in London recently attracted huge levels of interest.

"Students and professionals, both Chinese and foreigners, were really interested in the opportunities available in Shanghai," he said.

Wan said he expects a lot of the Chinese who return home will set up their own businesses.

A recent report in Shanghai-based newspaper Oriental Morning Post claimed the city had more than 3,800 firms that had been set up by returning Chinese.

(China Daily December 9, 2008)