To attract attention of the student and young scholars to the opportunity of studying abroad, in 1995 the Chinese government published new special regulations - Reformed approach to the selection of the students studying abroad at public expense. In this document new principles of the selection of the state-funded students were announced, namely "open selection, equal competition, expert evaluation, admission of the best candidates". Initially, this approach was declared as experimental and came in force only on the territory of two provinces - Jiangsu and Jilin, but as early as the next year this document came in force on the territory of the whole country. In 1996 more than 2,000 students were selected according to new approach and went abroad at public expense [Thuno, 2001: 926]. Moreover, the most important part of this document concerned compensation that could be demanded by the Chinese government from the state-funded students that went abroad for studying. So every student that received a scholarship from the government was obliged to sign up a special agreement that forced him to return to China after graduation or serve the motherland in other ways.

Moreover, in 1995 for further propaganda work a special web-site were established with the support of Chinese government. It was called "Scholars Abroad. Electronic Edition" and all the articles there were written in Chinese language. On this web-site Chinese students that were living far from the motherland could read the latest news about the achievements of the Communist Party, so students themselves called this web-site the "Voice from Beijing" [Ministry of Education: On-line].

In addition to written propaganda, the Chinese government started a new political campaign under the title "going out and inviting in" (zou chu qu, qing ginlai), according to which official invitations and special delegations were sent to the most prominent ethnic Chinese that were working abroad at that time.

In 1998 the Ministry of Education decided to carry out special celebration devoted to the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the reforms. The Minister of Education Chen Zhili on the conference organized by the State Council Information Office for the journalists announced that more and more young people that had studied abroad were working in the main universities, scientific research institutes and even took up high-ranking posts in the government. She also added that the Chinese leadership would continue to do everything in its power to make the best conditions for those students that would decide to come back to the motherland after graduation [China Scholars Abroad: On-line].

As the result of this policy the increasing number of students decided to go abroad for study at their own expense. According to the China Educational Statistics Yearbook in 2002 about 94% (about 117, 000) of all students studying abroad went to foreign country at their own expense. However, at the same time the number of students that came back after graduation decreased much: only 30% of about quarter million students decided to come back to China, and only 3.5% of self-funded students returned to the motherland after the end of the study [See App. 1, Picture 2].

Despite the significant economic and political progress, in the end of the 1990s the Chinese government was not able to develop an active program to attract Chinese specialists back to the motherland. Still, Chinese people who lived abroad chose not to return to China. In this case, Chinese leaders, first, decided to continue ideological propagandistic work among Chinese students and scholars living abroad. Second, they put forward a new idea that Chinese young specialist after graduation could "serve the motherland in various ways". It meant that students and scholars working and studying abroad, primarily at public expense, were encouraged to take an active part in the development of China wherever they were living. Thus, China could get the necessary knowledge and experience form the most advanced foreign research centers, and young Chinese people got an opportunity to choose where they want to live. This idea became more and more popular in the beginning of the 2000s, and it was confirmed by the Ministry of Education in 2001.

1.2.3 The third stage (1999-2013)

By the early 2000s China was ready for more flexible policy toward Chinese students studying abroad and toward the Chinese Diaspora in general. New leadership of China has decided to gamble on the human potential realizing that it is not enough to attract investments of the Diaspora.

In May 2001, prior to China's accession to the World Trade Organization, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Personnel with the support of the State Science and Technology Commission prepared the document under the title Solutions to Encouraging Chinese Students to Serve the Motherland in Various Ways.

In accordance with this document Chinese students were urged "to serve the nation", getting experience in foreign companies or starting their own business abroad. From that moment Chinese students were officially allowed to stay abroad: now qualified specialist even working abroad could keep his job in China too. These regulations mainly concern academics and scholars that were engaged in active scientific work. They were also encouraged to take part in conferences and advisory committees in China: for that they could receive a variety of financial benefits and premiums for long term-research projects. The Chinese leadership in its turn engaged to develop patent system and protect interests of Chinese researchers living abroad.

So the idea that first appeared even in the end of the 1990s was officially confirmed be the Ministry of Education and officially allowed more than 600,000 of Chinese scholars working abroad to continue their investigations in foreign universities without any serious consequences [Thuno, 2001: 926].

Over time, the situation is slowly beginning to change. According to materials that were published in the newspaper "China's Youth Daily" in 2004 about 90% of Chinese students that were studying abroad at that time intended to come back to the motherland [China's Youth Daily: On-line].

Furthermore, according to the statistic data presented by the Ministry of Education in 2004 about 115,000 students go abroad for study, and among them more than 100,000 students were self-funded. Moreover, officially about 25,000 of students studying on foreign universities came back to China in the same year. On the whole, from 1978 till 2004 the total number of students studying abroad was 814,884 people, and 197,884 of them returned home after graduation [China Social Statistical Yearbook, 2004: 17].

In 2008 the national "Thousand Talents Plan" was launched by the Chinese leadership. Since that time almost every year is announced a new annual plan that is aimed to recruit the most talented scholars from many foreign countries to work in Chinese universities and scientific centers Since the 1990s the Chinese government has set up several programs of this kind. In 1994 the Chinese academy of Science initiated the "Hundred Talents Scheme", and in 1998 the Ministry of Education initiated the "Yangtze River Scholar Scheme". These two programs were developed not only for overseas Chinese scholars; however, more than 90% of "Yangtze River Scholar Scheme" had overseas work or study experience [Wang, Zheng, 2013]. .

The long-term program offers full-time positions to the overseas Chinese scholars under 50-55 years old that "hold a current professorship in a distinguished international university or an equivalent in international research institution" [Quoted by University of Chinese Academy of Science: On-line] and awards them grants of 2 million and 1 million RMB respectively. While the short-term program offers part-time positions to the same group of the overseas Chinese scholars and awards them grants of 500 thousand RMB [Ibid]. Moreover, non-Chinese researchers can apply for this program along with the overseas Chinese scholars [Wei, Sun, 2012]. It means that they also can take up posts of principle investigators on important national projects.

In 2010 the special Circular of the General Office of the State Council Concerning Matters Relating to Students Studying Abroad was published. In this document previous regulation concerned overseas Chinese students were summarized: 1) the Chinese leadership one more time stated that the Chinese students studying in foreign universities were "the treasures of the State"; 2) all students were welcome to come back to the motherland regardless their political position in the past; 3) local authorities were encouraged to "adopt specific measures to make it convenient for students studying abroad to come home, simplify entry and exit formalities and make proper arrangements for work and lives of returned students".

On the basis of this circular the central government announced the launch of a new long-term National Talent Development Plan. The main aim of this plan was the formation of "a highly skilled national work force" during the decade from 2010 till 2020 and conversion of China into a world leader in innovations through the increase of the number of highly skilled workers from 114 million to 180 million by 2020 [Simon, Cao, 2009: 215].

The project of the development plan was established by the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council in June 2010. The participation of two high ranking governmental body showed the importance of the new project for the Chinese leadership. Furthermore, on the official national-televised announcement of the Development Plan president of the PRC Hu Jintao declared that "talent is the most important resource and it is a key issue that concerns the development of the Party and country" [Quoted by China Daily: On-line]. This plan became the core of all legislations concerning the policy toward overseas Chinese students and scholars.

In October 2013 the National Project to Provide Support to the Post-Graduate Student was announced by the country's top personnel administration, and the China Scholarship Council was appointed as the responsible authority. According to this document, in 2014 more than 7000 post-graduate students, including 4500 doctoral students, will be sent to the best foreign universities at public expense. However, only young scholars under 35 years old with high scientific achievements can take part in such program. Moreover, special privileges are granted to students who have already studied abroad for a long time. Among other things candidates need to know two or more foreign languages. First of all, they need to have fluent English language; moreover, they also need to know one of the following languages: German, French, Russian, Japanese, Italian or Spanish. Furthermore, all candidates are obliged to sign up an agreement that they are engaged to come back to China after graduation and work for Chinese government or in private company on the territory of the PRC.

In other words, in the 2000s was made a completely new step in development of the policy toward Chinese scholars working abroad. The Chinese leadership finally understood that it was almost impossible to attract students back to the motherland, and it was much easier just to receive their knowledge and experience by other ways: short-term training courses in Chinese companies and educational institutions, participation in expert commissions and work groups in China, and so on. Finally, the slogan of "returning to serve the country" (huiguo fuwu) was officially replaced by another one - "serving the country" (wei guo fuwu) [Quoted by Simon, Cao, 2009]. Although the Chinese government continues to develop new facilities to attract overseas Chinese scholars, however it gambles more on the free participation of the foreign scholars in economic and scientific activities in China through various exchange programs and simplified entry/exit regulations.

The PRC, despite its impressive economic progress is still a developing country in term of social improvements: the welfare system is still far from covering all groups of citizens. Moreover, education and medical services still remain on a low level. Like all other developing countries China continues to face an acute shortage of qualified specialists that able to make quick decisions in a changing global economic environment. Meanwhile, China is losing its most talented scientists who prefer to live and work in more developed countries.

Since the beginning of economic reforms Chinese leadership has made several attempts to encourage Chinese students to go abroad for study: 1) the Ministry of Education with the support of the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs concluded several agreements concerning educational exchanges with the U.S., Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and many other countries; 2) the number of different research grants and scholarships awarded to students with the best academic achievements increased much; 3) the Chinese government provided students studied abroad guaranteed employment with adequate salaries; 4) self-funded students were granted equal rights with state-funded students.

Due to these measures, the number of students went abroad for study increased much. However, at the same time the Chinese leadership met with another obstacle: not all of the young people studying or working abroad decided to come back to the motherland. So in the 1990s the Chinese government had an acute question how to attract most talented overseas Chinese scholars and scientists to China. For that an active propaganda work among Chinese students abroad were held: special journals, newspapers and electronic editions were created to provide overseas students with the latest information about the economic and political achievements of the Chinese government, more and more delegations were sent abroad to strengthen ties with the overseas Diaspora, and so on. The leadership of the country was interested much in overseas Chinese with working experience to come back to China and run high-tech enterprises. To achieve this goal, special industrial zones were established to attract returned overseas Chinese and provide them with all necessary facilities for living and for business. The Chinese scholars and specialists that returned to China were provided with working positions and high salaries. More and more new organizations supported overseas Chinese were established all over the country for various groups of returnees.

However, not many overseas Chinese were inspired by these programs and came back to China. Although in the 2000s the Chinese government continued to develop different stimulating programs aimed at attracting overseas Chinese back to the motherland, however finally the Chinese authorities decided to use the experience and skills of overseas Chinese without returning them to the country. New programs of the short-term visits and participation in expert commissions were established, and the new simplified visa system was designed specifically for overseas talents. It was a completely new approach in the development of the policy toward the human resources of the Diaspora. The overseas Chinese scholars received an opportunity to hold their positions in foreign universities and research centers, but at the same time they could take part in further development of the country.

There are still many issues that still demand solution. Perhaps, now the Chinese leadership needs to focus all the attention on the already-returned talents, rather than to attract more and more overseas Chinese specialists into the country. Especially, when there is no adequate assurance that returnees have supportive working environment. However, even taking all these factors into account, China's last initiatives accepted by the central government and local authorities are likely to be more successful than the earlier programs.

Chapter 2. The mentality of overseas Chinese

Scientists began to study the process of cultural interactions only in the end of the 19th century. The first serious researches on this issue were published in the late 1880s, when there was the barest necessity to investigate the process of cultural changes in the tribes of the North American Indians [Herskovits, 1937]. With the beginning of the labor migration boom in the early 20th century this topic received further development, especially in the United States and European countries. During the American Civil War in 1861-1865 more than 600 thousand people died and infrastructure of the South was destroyed. The same situation was in Europe after the First World War in 1914-1918. During this period the influx of labor migrants was marked. So scientists of these countries were interested in the cultural interactions between the local population and foreign migrants. Thereupon, a new term "acculturation" has appeared. Acculturation refers to the process "in which individuals negotiate two or more cultures" [Yeh, 2003: 35]. This process is always very dynamic: immigrants interact with a new environment and often have to change their behavioral patterns to meet new social standards. Thus, the term "acculturation" can also be defined as "changes in an individual's behavior, social and work activities, thinking patterns, values and self-identification as a result of contact with another culture" [Sam, 2000: 7]. In this regard this term should be distinguished from the term "assimilation", which means a complete loss of language and cultural peculiarities.

It is important to notice that the term "huaqiao" appeared after the establishment of the Republic of China in 1911 [Vasantkumar, 2012]. From this moment we can talk about the Chinese nation-state. Now such definitions as "huaqiao" and "overseas Chinese" refer to all natives of China, regardless of their actual ethnicity. It is quite well known that on the territory of the PRC live 56 different ethnic nationalities. According to Communique of the National Bureau of Statistics, the Chinese that belong to ethnic group "han" make up 91% of total population [National Bureau of Statistics, 2010: On-line]. Thus, all general researches, related to the phenomenon of huaqiao, focus mainly on this ethnic group. The cultural features of this ethnic group have appeared under the influence of the three main doctrines - Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, which have determined the Chinese mentality.

Although many different dialects still exist in China (many of them are significantly different from each other in term of phonetics), all Chinese dialect groups use the same Chinese characters. Therefore, hieroglyphic writing is a strong glue of the whole Chinese cultural sphere and one of the main factors that determine the Chinese way of thinking.

The Chinese culture is extremely rich in local differences that often are very strong. If the European culture is based on the doctrine of the original sin and the primordial human sinfulness, that has come from Christianity and changed slightly during the Renaissance, the Chinese cultural basis is much less clear. Nevertheless, we can find a certain core, which has become the main base for the development of Chinese contemporary mentality.

The core of Chinese culture is often defined as a commitment to collaborative and harmonious life. Any Chinese on the question what is the highest value do not hesitate to answer: the consent or harmony ("he") between people [Maljavin, 2007]. In China for centuries the collective interests have always considered to be much more important than the interests of the single individual. Therefore, such concepts as identity and individuality have not been developed in China.

Apart from a large number of regional differences in recent years the impact of modernization and westernization on Chinese society can be marked. The differences between city dwellers and peasants have increased. Not so long ago under the increasing influence of the Western world have appeared new social groups, which representatives have completely broke away from traditional system. However, they still remain Chinese: they consider themselves as "bearers" of Chinese culture, and the rest of the world perceives them as natives of China.

In many respects it is closely related to the fact that Chinese people pay much attention to the "symbolic forms of communication", such as all sorts of courtesy, normative gestures, body language and other symbolic ways to express wide range of emotions and feelings [Ibid]. In Chinese literature we can find a lot of various methods of hints, allusions and hidden passages, which are often beyond the comprehension of European people. At the same times all these techniques are significantly different from conventional methods as metaphors, antithesis, epithets, etc., known by Western writers.

A good example of this symbolism is Chinatown. Every Chinatown is a special space, filled with signs and tokens that outsiders cannot understand. Chinese Diasporas live in a complete system of signs and symbols. These communities are not closed for strangers, but they are totally self-contained systems, precisely because of their symbolic structure. Foreigners can live in this system, however without special fund of knowledge they cannot understand even a tenth of what is happening around them.

At the same time, Chinese people perceive their social environment as an important part of their lives and even destinies. Society that surrounds them evaluates the merits and demerits of its individual members. This is based on the conception that every person can meet his deserts even in this life, trough the attitude of the society, in which he lives. Such representation allows Chinese society to regulate the behavior of its members, so it is considered to be better that Western doctrine of the retribution for the sins in the afterlife.

Moreover, the Chinese really believe in social institutions, so all kinds of relations between them are very strong [James, 1997]. This fact can explain, in particular, the success of Chinese emigrants in such sphere as commerce. Their competitors from local population are most often involved in internal conflicts, while the Chinese work as a united and cohesive mechanism.

Thus, the basic category of the Chinese perception of the world is not an individual, but a sort of community, which has hierarchical nature. In this community every individual is subjected to a certain higher, collective unity.

Therefore, the Chinese are so attached to their families and overcome huge distances to meet the Spring Festival at home. Family is the key to a harmonious development of an individual within the society. A person by oneself does not cost anything; only as a part of a family he acquires a certain importance. Among wealthy and lonely Chinese is widely distributed a very strange for Western mind practice to "hire" family members on high days and holidays. Thus, family occupies a really important place in the lives of ordinary Chinese.

However, the Chinese collectivism in some cases also plays a negative role. The Chinese, who live in foreign environment, also depend on it and give a lot of importance to the way people think about them. Jeremy Wang who wrote an article about his emigrant experience recalled his childhood spent in America: "I grew up in a homogenous, white neighborhood, and at a young age, I realized that I was different from the other kids on my block. […] However, as a child, I desperately tried to fit in and assimilate into modern mainstream America. When I was in elementary school, my parents were unfamiliar with American holidays and customs, but they did their best to adopt those customs because they feared that the community would ostracize our family for being different" [Wang, 2008: 184].

Therefore, the overseas Chinese are subjected to assimilation, although not in a direct way, but at the level of mentality. The Chinese do not fight the system, because the strict subordination to society is one of the most important parts of Chinese way of thinking. From this follows the dual nature of the overseas Chinese mentality: on the one hand, they are still attached to the precepts of their ancestors, on the other hand, their perception of the world is changing under the influence of the society, in which they live.

The Europeans and Americans perceive the Chinese and most Asians in general as very prim, non-emotional, passive and conservative people, who pay much attention to some strange rituals. However, every emigrant by definition cannot be passive, because in any case he takes a risk by moving to a completely different and unfamiliar country, even without knowing the language of this country.

This contradiction can be solved by examining the structure of Chinese emigration. Most of the overseas Chinese come from the Southern coastal provinces. This region has historically been the center of navigation, so the local have often been familiar with the features of foreign culture and the travel spirit has been in their blood. At the same time, this area was quite far from the metropolis, morals and manners here have always been freer and people have had an opportunity to travel without the appropriate governmental regulations [Liu, 1995].

The familiarization of the overseas Chinese with Chinese culture now is an integral part of the governmental policy [Larin, 2008]. The leadership of the country believes that even those Chinese who live abroad should feel a connection with their historical homeland and should be proud of the new rise of the country.

At the same time, different groups of Chinese immigrants treat differently to their motherland. For many emigrants with the low level of education, especially for the older generation, China, first of all, is the land of their ancestors, so they are very attached to their home country. First-generation migrants, who left the country during the period of the economic reforms, retain extensive personal contacts with their relatives and friends, who still live in China.

However, the young generation of the overseas Chinese is often not so attached to their ethnic homeland. According to experts, the number of young overseas Chinese reached 10 million. A significant proportion of them have a high level of education, many of them have degrees of prestigious foreign universities. However, a lot of young Chinese living abroad do not know Chinese language and are even not familiar with the Chinese culture.

The Chinese leadership is very concerned about this situation, because the young generation of overseas Chinese is considered to continue the modernization of the country.

In order to strengthen cultural ties with the overseas Chinese different governmental organization publish a lot of academic books about Chinese language, culture and history. All these books are specially designed for young emigrants [Zhang, 2010]. Also there are three special educational centers in China opened for young overseas Chinese: Jinan University in Guangzhou, Huaqiao University and Beijing University of Chinese Language and Culture. All these universities are controlled by the migration services [Liu, 2005]. These universities and other public entities every year organize special educational trips for young overseas Chinese to mainland China. In 2006 more than 5000 young people took part in this program [Zhang, 2010]. For China 5000 people is not a big number. However, these young men are called to be the engine of further modernization of the country.

On the one hand, such governmental policy increases the level of national pride among the overseas Chinese. On the other hand, some Chinese experts criticized this policy, arguing that thus many emigrants from China find themselves in the "cultural vacuum" [Hong, Wu, 2002] in the country of residence. They maintain that the assimilation process is slowed down because of the permanent obtrusion of the Chinese way of life and tradition values. Moreover, many Chinese that live abroad have already received the foreign citizenship, so this strategy of the Chinese leadership can be interpreted as interference in the internal affairs of other countries.

For example, in the United States, where the idea of ethnic development known as "melting pot" is actively promoted, stereotype that all people from China are "perpetual foreigners" is still very strong [Goranda, 1999]. In other words, it is assumed that overseas Chinese are not able to adapt to a new environment, regardless of that how long they have stayed in another country. One of the Chinese emigrants argued: "unlike African and Native Americans, the Chinese challenged the superiority of white culture" [Wang, 2008]. So it is quite predictable that the overseas Chinese immigrants retain their cultural identity for a really long time. In this regard, the influence of the Chinese government on emigrants should be very careful. Otherwise, the overseas Chinese, especially those who has foreign citizenship, can be jeopardized.

Another important feature of Chinese emigrants, which is reflected in the stereotypes about Chinese people, is constitutional bias towards labor. Jeremy Wang in his article wrote about one incident which happened with him at school: "after receiving our report cards in the tenth grade, a close friend who was frustrated with his grades said to me, "[…] Chinese people are smart and do well at school, but they will never become successful because they cannot carry on coherent conversation". […] He did not see the value in studying as diligently as the Chinese students" [Ibid: 187]. So it is believed that overseas Chinese are even not averse to the most tedious and difficult work which is considered to be a real punishment for a Western man. Here we should take into account the differences between Western and Eastern mentalities. Western way of thinking is focused primarily on "science": the main aim of any work is to increase the standards of living and to decrease the quantity of the so-called "extra work' which is often hard and boring. Therefore, the fact that science and technology have not received a large development in Imperial China is real surprise for Western mind. Although such fundamental inventions as magnet, gunpowder, paper, etc. belong exactly to Chinese civilization, the Chinese as many other Asian nations are guided by one principled reason: it is necessary to love life as it is, but not to turn it into a tool of achieving something [Suzuki, 1990].

As a good illustration we can take the parable, which was probably written down by one of the most famous Chinese philosophers Zhuang Zi [Ibid]. The farmer used the water from the spring to irrigate his field. A passer-by asked him why he did not want to build a well with a sweep, because it could help him to do his work faster. The farmer replied that he did not want to rely on a sweep, because he did not want to become a slave of an invention. Such slavery, he added, could lead to idleness and laziness.

It does not mean, of course, that Chinese people deny the achievements of scientific and technological progress and advantages of new inventions. However, the disposition toward labor and real aspiration to find harmony even in very difficult and monotonous work are inculcated in them from the childhood. Even the Chinese who live on the territory of China love comfort and want to live better. With the rising standards of living, the needs of ordinary Chinese are growing too. In 1980-s, when girls got married, they expected to receive "three big items" - a bicycle, a watch and a sewing machine. In 1990-s, they expected to receive new "three big items" - a television, a fridge and a washing machine. Now they want to have prestigious apartments, cars and so on [Liu, 2008]. However, the special attitude to work is always considered to be a special feature of ethnic Chinese.

The concept of mentality can be defined as the characteristic way of thinking of people that belong to certain social or ethnic group. The main features of Eastern mentality are traditionalism, respectful attitude to the past, the superiority of collective interests over individual interests, the inclination to introversion, etc. All these features characterize Chinese people, including the overseas Chinese. Under the influence of the people with a different way of thinking the mentality of the emigrants is gradually changing. Especially, it concerns youngest generation of the overseas Chinese. Now in the mentality of the overseas Chinese have gradually appeared such social patterns as a thirst for competition, the egocentrism, a sense of ownership, firmness of purpose.

Nevertheless, the main specific features of the Eastern mentality cannot be obliterated, because of the big role that is played by a family in the lives of the ordinary Chinese people. After all, the vast majority of the social behavioral patterns are formed in the childhood, and children are most susceptible to learning process. According to the theory of cultural dimensions, developed by Dutch sociologist Geert Hofstede, the so-called "mental programs" can be traced for several generations of emigrants [Hofstede, 2001]. In this regard, overseas Chinese are considered to "freeze" at the interfaces between two worlds - Eastern world and Western world.

Chapter 3. Overseas Chinese sholars and students as a new socil elite group

According to the definition that was stated in Chapter one, social elite is a rather small well-organized group of most educated and highest-income people that influence on the political decision-making process and can determine the life of the whole society. Due to that, the group of people that is considered to be social elite should meet following requirements: 1) high-level of education; 2) high working positions and salaries; 3) political representation; 4) social organizations as forums for discussion; 5) territorial communities as an indicator of the strong ties between members of the group.

This chapter analyzes the distinctive features of the returned overseas Chinese social group in compliance with the characteristics mentioned above.

3.1 High level of education

In recent years along with the economic success the level of education in China, especially higher education, has increased much. There are more than 2,000 institutes of higher education on the territory of the PRC, and about a quarter of the total number of young people at the age of 20-24 years old study there (according to the statistic data published in 2011) [China Statistical Yearbook, 2011: 741]. For comparison, in 2008 in the European Union about 28,7% of the total number of young people of the same age study in the higher education institutions, in the US the number of students is higher - about 34,7% [OECD, 2012: On-line].

However, several problems have not been solved.

a) Shortages of financing

According to the statistic data in 2012, education financing in China makes up about 4.3% of GDP, while the same figure in developed countries exceeded 5%. For example, in 2010 the public expenditure on education in France was 5.9% of GDP, in the US - 5.4% of GDP, in Norway and Sweden - about 7% of GDP [The World Bank, 2013: On-line]. However, the main problem of education financing in China is insufficient supervision on education spending in rural areas that leads to the stagnation of education development in the countryside [Zhao, Sheng, 2008]. Along with the profit-orientation of private education institutions, tuition fees, especially outside big urban center, is much higher than the average salaries.

b) Lack of professionals

The second problem is the acute lack of professors, lecturers and their assistants. Although every year in China more than 100 thousand of new teachers go down from universities and institutes of higher education, their teaching experience is minimal [Zhao, Sheng, 2008]. Moreover, every year about 6% of experienced teachers retire on pensions [Wang, Hou, 2007: 151]. In general, the number of teachers that have a degree is increasing; however they have low qualification, so the quality of education is not good enough.

In 2007 the Beijing University conducted a survey that showed that one-third of all students were not interested in their future profession, and more than 50% of teachers believed that there was an acute shortage of free hands, while working load was really huge [Zhang, Guo, Qi, 2011: 36].

c) The problem of employment

It is quite difficult for students that have graduated from the prestigious universities to find a job, while graduating students that have finished technical secondary schools and colleges can find a job easily. It can be explained by the fact that the need for working hands is much higher than for intellectuals [Zhao, Sheng, 2008].

d) Private education problems

The government supports both the state universities and the private universities, the so-called "minban" (people's colleges). In the beginning of the reform policy, the society had a strong demand for higher education, but because of the insufficient public funding the state universities could not develop quickly. Private higher education institutions received their funding form tuitions, so they had more opportunities for further development. Moreover, they were much more sensitive to the need of the labor market, because "they were growing quickly side by side with the private enterprises" [Ozturgut O., 2011: 5].

However, private universities are not very popular now: it is too hard to control the quality of education in "minbans", because they are not financed by the government. As the result, not many private higher education institutions can get an official permission to grant academic credentials. Along with that, the tuition fees at "minbans" are growing, so in many cases it is easier to go abroad and get guaranteed high-quality education.

Consequently, it is important to open branches of the leading foreign universities on the territory of China. For example, currently, there are three British universities that have their representatives in China: the University of Edinburg at the Nankai University, the University of Nottingham at the Ningbo University, and the University of Liverpool at the Xinan Jiaotong University.

Besides the problems mentioned above, the corruption, disparity between cities and villages and the lack of academic freedom are still burning issues of the Chinese education system.

Therefore, more and more Chinese students that have suitable financial support choose to go abroad for study. Moreover, most of all they are seeking the high standard of education [See App. 2, Picture 2]. According to the Institute of International Education and the US Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, in 2010-2011 in American universities there were more Chinese students than from any other countries. At that time about 22% of the total number of international students (more than 157,000) was from China [Helfing, 2013: On-line]. Moreover, the most popular fields of study among Chinese students were business management and engineering that gave young scholars after graduation very good job opportunities, especially in China [Ibid].

The number of Chinese students that have decided to go to Europe for university education is increasing dramatically too [See App. 2, Picture 2]. For example, in 2010 the number of Chinese student in European universities was more than 120,000, and it was 6 times more than in 2010 [Wang, Li, 2012]. According to China Daily, the main reason for Chinese students to study in Europe is that almost all of the European universities do not charge special tuition fee to international students [Zhang, 2014]. Moreover, The Peace Tour Award has been set up with the support of the Europe-China Cultural and Educational Foundation in order to grant special awards to Chinese students with high academic achievements. The main aim of this award is to support promising young researchers studying on the territory of the European Union (EU) and increase cultural and educational exchanges [UNICA, 2014: On-line].

The active interest of Chinese students in prestigious foreign universities can be proved by the spreading of the offices of the Chinese Students and Scholars Associations located in such high-ranking universities as Cambridge University (UK), Berkley University (USA), Columbia University (USA), British Columbia University (Canada) and so on [CSSA, 2014: On-line]. The main aim of this organization is to solve all problems of the Chinese students and visiting scholars and build up strong ties among all students regardless their origin.

In such a way many Chinese students go to prestigious foreign universities for study, and they are supported not only by the Chinese leadership, but also by the local governments. Now more and more Chinese students have an opportunity to study abroad in high-ranking universities and receive high-quality diplomas.

3.2 High working positions and salaries

Governmental supporting programs aimed at attracting more and more foreign specialists promote high salaries among returnees. The statistic data shows that the annual income for a family in 2012 was about 13,000 RMB. The average family income in big urban centers was higher than in rural areas - 25,000 RMB and 11,400 correspondingly [National Bureau of Statistic, 2012: On-line]. At the same time, according to the statistics of 2011, the average annual income of the returned overseas Chinese specialists was much higher: more than a half of the returnees have an average annual income more than 120,000 RMB, while 35% of the returnees have an average annual income more than 36,000 RMB [See App. 2, Picture 3]. Moreover, about 75% of the overseas Chinese students found job within 3 months [Hao, Welch, 2011: On-line]. The most demandable occupations with good job opportunities were high-tech engineering and business management [Helfing, 2013].

Furthermore, as the result of the state policy, 77% of the presidents of Chinese universities, 84% of the academicians of the Chinese Academy of Science, and 75% of academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering have studied or worked abroad [Zhao, Zhu, 2009: 37]. Local authorities also welcome overseas Chinese returnees to work for the governmental bodies. More and more provincial governments opened country lead level positions specifically for returned talents [China Daily, 2013]. Moreover, among the Chinese political establishment there have always been officials with foreign academic degrees: founding father of the Chinese Republic Sun Yat-sen and other core members of the first central government studied abroad. So this tradition is still popular among government officials, even despite the fact that it is still quite hard to get good appointment without connections with certain "influential figures, who are powerful enough to access special channels for governmental positions" [Chen, 2014: On-line]. However, according to the study conducted by the Chinese newspaper Sothern weakly, even now 31 out of 68 national leaders and 18% of heads of provincial governmental bodies have studied abroad [Ibid].

Besides that, in 2002 was signed an agreement between the Harvard Kennedy School and the Tsinghua University's School of Public Management [Bloomberg News, 2012]. According to this agreement Chinese high-level officials form central and local governmental bodies can spend 6 weeks on the territory of the U.S., during which they can take four-week study course at Kennedy School training management skills. In such a way the Chinese leadership tries to increase the number of officials with foreign degrees.

The most famous returnees are, probably, Jack Ma, Robin Li and Charles Zhang, the creators of high-tech and Internet corporations in China. Jack Ma had worked in the U. S. as an interpreter, before he came back to China and started his own business. Now he is Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group, a group of Internet-based commercial portals and services. The company operates mainly on the territory of the PRC, and it has already outrun the main competitors, eBay and Amazon, in sales. Another Chinese Internet entrepreneur Robin Li is a co-founder of the Chinese search system Baidu and one of the Chinese richest people. He studied information management at the Buffalo University and at State University of New York in the U. S. Charles Zhang, China's Internet pioneer, is a co-founder of the Sohu.com Corporation and one of the major business investors in China. When he was only 22 years old, he received a full scholarship from the Tsinghua University, where he was studying physics, and went to the U. S. to attend graduate school at Massachusetts Institute of Technologies.

Due to the governmental supporting programs the returned overseas Chinese now have the income much higher than their compatriot without foreign degrees. Moreover, more and more returnees work in the government and research centers and institutions. The Internet-based technologies are also in the hands of the overseas Chinese entrepreneurs. Of course, foreign degree does not guarantee quick success; the most important things are talent diligence and ambitions. However, the experience of studying or working abroad can be very useful, especially if it concerns high-tech technologies and public management, which are very demanded in China now.

3.3 Political representation

The overseas Chinese have been always in opposition to the Chinese leadership, as they have always supported nationalist and democratic parties rather than the communists. However, the overseas Chinese and the Chinese Diaspora in general have their own representatives on the political arena of the PRC.

The link between the main political force of the PRC, the Communist Party, and the overseas Chinese Diaspora is realized by the Zhigongdang of China (Zhonguo Zhigongdang), one of eight legally recognized political parties in China. The Party was founded in 1925 in San-Francisco as a part of the so-called Society of Heaven and Earth (Tiandihui) - anti-Manchu organization that actively supported Sun Yan-Sen in his revolutionary efforts to overthrow the Qing dynasty [Pogorelov, 2014]. After that, the Party actively supported Chinese soldiers during the anti-Japanese war. In 1949 after the establishment of the People's Republic of China the members of the Zhigongdang attended the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and took part in the election of the Central People's Government.

Today the Party primarily consists of returned overseas Chinese and their relatives, overseas Chinese scholars and other prominent figures that have overseas ties. Zhigongdang supports the "multi-party co-operation" and political consultative system with the leading role of the CPC [Ibid]. Moreover, the Party plays an important role in many state political activities. The members of the Party often play the role of the conciliator between foreign political delegations and the leadership of the PRC.

Furthermore, the head of the party Wan Gang in 2007 became the head of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and the first minister since the 1950s that was not the member of the CPC. Wan Gang has a long overseas experience, first, as a doctoral student at the Department of Mechanical Engineering in Clausthal University of Technology (Germany), and then as an expert in German Audi Corporation. He made an important contribution to the development of the Chinese Automobile Industry, and he is considered the greatest expert on automobiles in China.

Overseas Chinese also have their representatives in other political parties officially recognized in the PRC. Even the General Secretary of the CPC Xi Jinping has a short experience of studying abroad: in 1985 he visited the US with the Chinese delegation to study American agriculture [Daily Mail, 2012]. The vice chair-woman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and the leader of another officially recognized political party "China Association for Promotion Democracy" Yan Junqi obtained the doctorate degree in the department of naval engineering at Technical University of Denmark [China Vitae, 2014: On-line]. The leader of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Democratic Party, another legal political party, Chen Zhu also obtained his doctoral degree in foreign university, namely in Diderot University of Paris [Ibid].

The most impressive experience of studying abroad, probably, has the present Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng. In 1975 he went abroad for study at the National University of Zaire in Kinshasa, the capital city of Zair (nowadays, the Democratic Republic of Congo). After that he received the doctoral degree in sociology from the Diderot University of Paris [Ibid].

In order to strengthen cooperation between foreign countries and China, more and more overseas Chinese returnees take part in local political life. Nevertheless, it is important not to overestimate the role of the overseas Chinese in China's policies. However, now China has an urgent need for advanced innovation, but the development of new technologies could take decades. The access to necessary high-tech projects can be provided by the overseas Chinese scholars that like Wan Gang have experience of working and studying abroad. Thus, the overseas Chinese returnees that maintain strong cultural and family ties with China are valuable assets for economic development. Local government on all level support actively returnees' participation in the development is such high-tech industries as IT, new sources of energy, media and communication. Moreover, both sides will benefit from such cooperation, as far as the overseas Chinese Diaspora has already invested much into China's industry.