FOR much of the last 50 years, overseas Chinese who returned home have held a revered position in the nation's economic development.

Chinese who went abroad for study and work brought back to their homeland advanced Western skills that were needed as a backward nation played catch-up with the modern world of technology and commerce. That process is continuing, but the backdrop is shifting.

Returning Chinese are called haigui, or "sea turtles," and the skills they are bringing back don't always mesh with the nation's most critical manpower needs. Many young Chinese return to China, rather than stay abroad after their studies, because of high unemployment in Western countries - only to find that job prospects at home aren't all that rosy either.

"Back in the 1990s when my generation of haigui returned, they were usually in their 40s, and were in good command of a particular science," said Xia Yingqi, chief adviser of the Beijing Overseas Talent Center.

Nowadays, he said, many returning Chinese are younger, inexperienced and often less capable than their peers in China. Many of them have majored in subjects that aren't in hot demand in China. For example, the tens of thousands of Chinese students who thought studying business administration abroad was a ticket to success at home are discovering when they return that China is awash with MBAs.

"Current haigui are sometimes only in their mid-20s," Xia said. "And most of them study popular subjects like economics, finance and management. In my day, we usually studied science, such as physics or mathematics."

Still, China continues to encourage the return of the haigui.

"We want people, especially gurus of science and leaders of industry, to return," said Wang Zhigang, deputy minister of science and technology. "China is in urgent need of senior professionals to propel China's economic restructuring and growth."

Advanced innovation

Wang Xiaochu, deputy minister of human resources and social security, said China really needs professional talent capable of advanced innovation - a sentiment echoed by Du Zhanyuan, deputy education minister, in remarks at last month's 2011 CHINAOCS International Talent Fair held in the northeastern city of Dalian.

Chinese leaders justify those aspirations with glorious examples from the past. Among prominent haigui driven by patriotism back to their roots were: Zhan Tianyou (1861-1919), the founding father of China's railway system; Qian Xuesen (1911-2009), China's first-generation missile scientist; and Xie Xide (1921-2000), a noted physicist and international relations expert.

More recently, haigui have distinguished themselves in the field of technology with the likes of Jack Ma, who runs Alibaba Group, China's biggest e-commerce company; Robin Li, chief executive of Baidu Inc, China's largest search engine; and Charles Zhang, head of Internet portal Sohu Inc. All three honed their skills overseas, saw opportunities in China's fledgling online market and helped propel China to be the world's biggest Internet user.

In bygone days, only the brightest Chinese were picked to study overseas. Now anyone with money can study abroad. Some end up at smaller, less distinguished centers of learning, thinking that any foreign degree is a passport to success. The gilding is off the haigui.

At the same time, globalization has made advanced knowledge and high technology more accessible than before, and China is catching up fast in developing its own educational strengths, particularly in science - a field where some foreign countries may lag.

Wang Huiyao, chairman of the commerce chamber at the Western Returned Scholars Association in China, said many haigui now return with no particular advantage because they haven't chosen fields that are highly technical or competitive.

At the fair in Dalian, which attracted more than 1,600 overseas Chinese looking for opportunities, few exhibited skills that China doesn't already have. Those who haven't distinguished themselves in technology or hard science fields are having trouble finding work.

Sun Qun, a 32-year-old banker working in London, complained that it is difficult to find opportunities to start up a business on the Chinese mainland.

"I anticipated I could set up an equity fund company here, but it's too complicated," Sun said. "I don't know what the proper procedure is. It seems to me the field is not open for private investment … and I feel rather unwelcome."

Those who do return with the skills China desperately needs find the red carpet rolled out.

In 2008, the central government launched the "Thousand People Plan" to attract high-level personnel back to China. The plan promised important positions and government funding for professionals in areas deemed to be at the forefront of national development. So far, more than 1,100 people have benefited from the program.

Dual citizenship plan

Provincial and municipal governments also have adopted preferential policies to attract talented returning overseas Chinese. Shanghai's "Pujiang Talent Plan," for example, offers selected haigui capital for scientific research and provides incentives like housing subsidies and education allowances for children.

Wang Xiaochu, deputy minister of human resources and social security, revealed last month that China is even considering the feasibility of dual citizenship for overseas Chinese.

"If hurdles like visas, education costs, seed money and policy ambiguities can be overcome, we believe haigui will be happier to return," Wang said.

According to his ministry, some 630,000 overseas Chinese have returned out of the 1.9 million who went abroad in the past three decades.

Xia from the Beijing Overseas Talent Center said returning overseas Chinese are of strategic importance to China's global ambitions and China needs to be as competitive as Western countries in attracting the best and the brightest.

"While China is choosing people among 1.3 billion, the US has a pool of 7 billion for selection," Xia said. "Future competition will be a war for the best professionals."

Although many haigui may not find themselves catapulted to senior levels as quickly as they expected, they still have potential to be tapped. Some are just overly optimistic, Xia said.

"You can't underestimate the competition in the domestic market, even if you are a haigui," he added.