Million-dollar overseas degrees, entry-level Chinese salaries

(Edited and refined by Grace Chong, with the assistance of AI translation.)

“Of our group of more than 20 people studying overseas, the vast majority have returned to China.”

Wu Mingli (pseudonym), who graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Montreal in Canada in 2019, told Lianhe Zaobao (LHZB) that she had no strong preference about her plans after studying abroad. However, her parents hoped she would return to China.

The latest figures from the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE) under China’s Ministry of Education show that 535,600 Chinese overseas students returned to China last year, while more than 570,000 students went abroad to study during the same period. The number of newly graduated overseas students returning to China for employment rose 12% year-on-year, reaching its highest level in nearly eight years and continuing a recent trend of overseas graduates coming home.

“Studying abroad is no longer viewed through the one-way lens of ‘going overseas and staying there’,” said Ye Xiaoyang, a young economist who has long researched China’s education sector. “Instead, it is increasingly becoming a process of gaining an international education and then returning home.”

Three forces driving the return trend

Academics interviewed by LHZB identified three main reasons behind the growing number of overseas Chinese students returning: weaker employment prospects abroad, expanding opportunities in China’s high-tech industries, and family ties.

Among these factors, changes in overseas job markets were seen as the most important driver.

Amid rising global trade protectionism and a post-pandemic economic slowdown, major destinations for Chinese students — including the US, Canada, the UK and Australia — have in recent years tightened work visa policies and immigration pathways. These changes have reduced opportunities for Chinese graduates hoping to stay and build careers overseas.

Wilson Wang, a teaching fellow at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, said the overall overseas employment environment has weakened, while political factors have also played a role.

“The ideological shift to the right, stricter immigration policies, and less foreigner-friendly hiring practices have made the competitive environment less fair,” he said.

However, Zhao Litao, a senior research fellow at the East Asian Institute (EAI) of the National University of Singapore (NUS), said overseas challenges are only part of the story. Changes within China itself are equally important.

Over the past decade, China has rapidly expanded in areas such as internet finance, new energy and artificial intelligence, while living conditions in its cities have also improved markedly.

“For many young people, returning to China is not necessarily a second-best option,” Zhao said.

The fading halo of overseas graduates

As the number of overseas returnees continues to grow, competition among them has intensified. Meanwhile, China’s increasingly competitive domestic job market has created additional pressure for graduates returning from abroad.

Founded in May 2020, the “Overseas Returning Wastes’ Recycling Mutual Aid Association” (海归废物回收互助协会) has become one of the most popular groups on Douban, with more than 54,000 members. Its description reads: Unemployed and unenrolled overseas returnees are welcome to join.

Many members use the forum to share their frustrations and difficulties finding work after returning to China.

On Chinese social media platform RedNote, more than half of the posts under tags such as “Returning to China After Studying Abroad” focus on failed job searches and repeated setbacks in the domestic employment market.

Recognising these challenges, some businesses have launched training and consultancy programmes aimed specifically at helping overseas graduates secure jobs in China. Their promotional materials use attention-grabbing headlines such as “How UK Master’s Graduates Can Avoid Being Overqualified but Underemployed After Returning to China” and “US Master’s Graduates May Be the Overseas Students Who Find It Hardest to Get Jobs Back Home”.

Some netizens sharing their experiences online said such agencies charge at least 10,000 RMB (US$1,473) for job application support.

Yet even after paying for assistance, overseas graduates are not guaranteed a salary advantage.

According to the “2024 China Returnee Employment Survey Report” published by Zhaopin, overseas returnees with undergraduate degrees entering popular sectors such as internet technology and finance can expect starting salaries of around 8,000 to 12,000 RMB per month. However, the report does not provide salary figures for less popular industries.

This range is also not significantly higher than the average starting salary of around 10,000 RMB per month among graduates from China’s elite “985” and “211” universities.

An unnamed HR manager at a multinational company told LHZB that graduates from China’s top universities remain highly competitive, with many possessing strong project experience and internship backgrounds.

“This does not mean overseas graduates have no value,” the HR manager said. “But without local experience, industry connections and other advantages, their edge in the Chinese job market may not necessarily be significant.”

Ye said employers in China have gone from seeing overseas graduates as rare talent to assessing them on their ability to deliver results.

“In the past, an overseas degree itself was a strong signal. Today, companies care more about whether you can contribute immediately, understand Chinese business operations, and adapt to the pace and dynamics of the organisation,” he said.

The ‘inflation’ of overseas credentials

A research report published last June by Peng Yinni, an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), pointed out that the rapid growth in the number of overseas returnees has contributed to an “inflation of overseas credentials” in China’s labour market.

EAI’s Zhao said today’s overseas students also differ from those of previous generations.

Some students may already face limited competitiveness in the job market, while others choose to study abroad because they were unable to enter top universities in China.

He added that as employment conditions have become more challenging, some undergraduate graduates who struggle to find jobs have chosen overseas postgraduate programmes as an alternative path.

Chinese media have previously described this phenomenon as “escape-driven postgraduate study”, referring to graduates using further education as a “safe haven” to delay entering the workforce or avoid employment pressure.

A million-dollar degree, a thousand-dollar salary

A widely circulated Chinese internet article in 2024 described a student who spent millions of RMB on overseas education before returning to a small third-tier city and taking a government-affiliated job earning 3,000 RMB per month. The story sparked debate over whether studying abroad still provides sufficient returns on investment.

In reality, even in second-tier cities, recovering the cost of overseas education may require many years of employment.

Wu, the University of Montreal graduate, now works at a state-owned enterprise in Chongqing. She did not disclose her education costs or salary. However, according to information on her university’s website, international students in her faculty pay annual tuition fees of around C$24,000 (US$16,894). With living expenses estimated to be roughly equivalent to tuition fees, the total cost over four years would approach 1 million RMB.

Meanwhile, the highest average annual salary among university graduates in Chongqing is currently only around 120,000 RMB.

HKBU’s Peng said studying abroad remains a valuable experience, but its meaning differs among individuals. An overseas education does not automatically translate into economic capital or stronger employability.

Ye similarly said studying abroad is no longer a guaranteed route to upward social mobility. Instead, it has become a high-cost life choice — an investment that may not provide immediate financial returns but may offer “more opportunities in the future”.

Lowering expectations in a tougher job market

Peng’s report also noted that many overseas graduates have lowered their expectations as they adapt to a more uncertain and competitive employment environment.

This includes adjusting their salary expectations, extending job searches, and becoming more open to different industries and locations.

LinkedIn’s “2025 Chinese Overseas Student Employment Insights Report” shows that expected salaries have declined. The most common expected monthly salary range fell from 12,000-18,000 RMB in 2024 to 8,000-12,000 RMB last year.

The “2025 China Returnee Employment Survey Report” also found that more overseas graduates are expanding their job searches to third-, fourth- and fifth-tier cities. Applications to fifth-tier cities increased by 30.8% year-on-year, while applications to fourth- and third-tier cities rose by 24.8% and 21.9% respectively.

University of Nottingham Ningbo China’s Wang said this shift in expectations is also connected to the greater financial stability of many Chinese families.

“Parents now have greater security in life, and their expectations for their children may simply be that they earn a basic income,” he said.

Wu acknowledged that her family supported her financially and did not expect a direct return on that investment.

“Studying abroad should not be viewed solely from the perspective of economic returns,” she said. “It is also a valuable life experience, and most of those experiences are positive. They help you understand yourself better. Overall, it is still worthwhile.”

Workplace culture shock

As the “overseas graduate halo” continues to fade, many returnees are confronting not only a gap between their salary expectations and reality, but also the challenge of adapting to differences in workplace culture.

A post published on Douban last April compiled a list of things users found “very different after returning home from abroad”. These included workplace behaviours such as using bureaucratic language, adopting a domineering attitude towards lower-ranking colleagues, and repeatedly lamenting that “working in China is truly exhausting”. The comments resonated with many overseas returnees.

Wu said she had mentally prepared herself before starting her first job, but still found it difficult to adjust after entering the workplace, particularly because of the frequent overtime.

“This conflict is not simply a matter of individual adjustment, but a clash between two different institutional environments,” Ye said. “Overseas education places greater emphasis on clear rules, defined boundaries and equal communication, whereas domestic organisations often rely more on implicit rules, hierarchical order and a culture of constant responsiveness.”

Wang and Zhao both noted that dissatisfaction with unwritten workplace norms is not unique to overseas returnees. Younger generations in China broadly share similar concerns.

Wang said this is not necessarily a negative development. Younger workers have a stronger awareness of their rights, and Chinese companies should respond by improving management practices and better protecting employees’ rights and interests.

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “中国留学归国人数创新高 国内求职海归祛魅光环不再？”.

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