China must take a leaf from neighbors and change policy to retain talent

Since China initiated the opening-up and reform policy in 1979, the country has witnessed an outflow of talent. If China wants to retain talented minds, it must consider amending the law to allow dual nationality or a similar arrangement.

After 1979, there have been a total of about 7 million immigrants from China. There have been about 2 million Chinese students who have studied abroad since that year, with less than one-third choosing to return home after completing their studies.

Currently, more and more Chinese people are choosing to emigrate or study abroad and China is the largest source of international students in the United States.

It is also the second-largest source of immigrants to the US, trailing Mexico. Chinese immigrants to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Japan are also vast in number.

According to a report by the US government, a large proportion of Chinese students with doctorates in science are choosing to stay in the US (almost 92 percent, according to the report). According to Science magazine, most of the doctorate students from China are from Tsinghua University and Peking University.

Last year, US senators Chuck Schumer and Lindsey Graham jointly proposed a new immigration bill, which aims to improve green card issuances to immigrants. The two senators have advocated green cards for science and engineering students automatically after they obtain degrees and to cancel the country-specific restrictions on issuing green cards. US Energy Secretary Steven Chu has also suggested that foreign students be issued green cards.

In recent years, several policies implemented by China's neighboring countries are worth looking into. On Jan 1 this year the amendment to the Nationality Law in South Korea came into effect. The core content of the law allows overseas South Koreans, immigrants married to South Koreans and global talent to have dual nationalities.

Vietnam amended its law on nationality in 2009, and the new law allows foreign passport holders to hold dual nationalities as long as they do not give up their Vietnamese citizenship. After the implementation of the new Law, overseas Vietnamese can now have dual nationality status and get the same treatment that local Vietnamese enjoy in the country.

Currently, there are more than 90 countries and regions that recognize dual nationalities. Countries and regions that are recently opening up to dual nationalities are mainly the emerging economies. They are aware that it is a tough decision for overseas talent to give up their citizenship in developed countries. These emerging countries and regions therefore have started to accept dual citizenships. Other than South Korea and Vietnam, these countries include India, the Philippines, Brazil and Mexico.

Faced with an exodus of talent, the Chinese government must introduce new policies to attract more international talents to China.

China must re-evaluate the law to allow dual nationality. China recognized dual nationality in 1955 but the policy changed during the Cold War because China did not build diplomatic relations with the US and several East Asian countries at that time.

In 1980, China passed a law that makes it illegal for Chinese nationals to have dual nationalities. It requires Chinese citizens living abroad to give up their Chinese nationality if they are citizens of that foreign country.

But this rule is too severe because it expels overseas Chinese from being Chinese. This practice is rarely found in other countries.

Russia, for example, does not recognize its citizens' foreign nationalities. But for Russian citizens who have foreign citizenships, their legal status as Russian citizens are still upheld. In the US, a US citizen who has two nationalities does not have to abide by the laws of the other nation.

The Chinese mainland must also consider following the practices of the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions to keep its talent from fleeing. Although the governments in Hong Kong and Macao do not recognize the validity of United Kingdom and Portuguese passports, they allow the citizens with such dual nationalities to travel abroad.

Take Hong Kong residents as an example. The Chinese government recognizes their Chinese citizenship even if they have British passports. Hong Kong residents who hold permanent residence in foreign countries can use their non-Hong Kong identification for traveling purposes.

If the Chinese government does not allow dual nationality, overseas citizenship and overseas Chinese identification cards should be considered.

Given China's current situation, it may not be suitable to allow dual nationality. But an overseas citizenship and overseas identification card that was recently promoted by India may be a good solution to the complicated visa issue procedures. An overseas citizenship card could be used for Chinese living overseas so they can freely travel to and from China.

The overseas identification card could be used for second- or third-generation Chinese who are living overseas. With this card, they would not have to apply for a Chinese visa for 15 years.

In addition to an overseas identification card, Chinese who are overseas would enjoy equal treatment in their host country with the exception to the right to vote and be elected to political office.

These solutions allow China to attract talent without spending a great deal of money. This innovative policy could possibly draw talent back to China.

For the past 30 years, China has tried to attract overseas investments. But looking ahead to the next 30 years, China should begin attracting talented minds. As China develops into an innovation-oriented nation, it needs more brilliant minds to come to this nation. China already lags behind India in attracting overseas talent (the number of Indian professionals living in the US is lower compared to the number of Chinese professionals).

China should consider adopting India's system of issuing overseas citizen identification cards to prevent the outflow of talent and to increase the country's ability to compete against other countries in the world. If the various visa issues that have given overseas Chinese talents a great deal of trouble are solved, more talented Chinese can come back to China and contribute to the development of this nation.

The author is vice-chairman of China Western Returned Scholars Association.