In a new survey published Sunday by Beijing Youth Daily, more than 80 percent of Chinese returning from overseas would pick Beijing as their preferred city to work in.

Over half of those polled went further, saying they would only consider Beijing with a meager 20 percent preferring Shanghai, the report issued by Beijing Orient Huibo Human Resource Consulting Services detailed. Other cities that were considered attractive choices for talented people were Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Xi'an with very few electing to go and work in Western nations.

Overseas Chinese that have returned are eagerly sought in sectors such as finance, trade, culture, education and media. However, their lack of knowledge of government policy and domestic industrial regulations has impaired their entrance into markets such as the real estate industry. 

By the end of 2006, over one million Chinese had studied abroad, with 26 percent of them having returned to the country. Last year, the Ministry of Education numbered 42,000 returnees to China, up 21 percent on 2005.

The survey was conducted among 1,216 overseas-returned Chinese and 452 companies.

(Xinhua News Agency June 25, 2007)