New generation of returnees: Endeavor and compromise

Gu Weiqi (L) in Barcelona and Wang Lidong (R) at her graduation ceremony in Hong Kong.[Photos provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Apart from business, family is another important magnet that pulls these Chinese students back home, especially women.

Liu Han, 33, left for an overseas study in the US when her daughter was only 15 months old. She quickly made a decision to reunite with husband and daughter upon graduation after being separated for two years.

But the decision Wang Lidong, 26, made was not that easy. She finally succumbed to family pressure and obeyed her parents' wish to work and live close to them after working in Hong Kong for eight months upon graduation from City University of Hong Kong.

Now she is preparing for exams to become a civil servant, as wished by her parents, who also want her to get married before she is too old. She thinks the overseas study helps little in the exam.

A report released by Ministry of Education in March shows that 59.16 percent of female overseas returnees came home after finishing their studies in 2014, surpassing the number of their male counterparts.

"Almost all my female schoolmates encountered objections from their family when they got a job offer abroad," said Gu Weiqi, 28, who got MBA in business administration from London Business School this year. "Some were even pushed into blind dates abroad by parents."

Her plan was to find a job in China or the Asian market as her family hoped she would stay not far away from them after graduation. Gu finally got a job offer as a strategic planner at pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly's Greater China branch in Shanghai.