{{Short description|Chinese term for returning study abroad students}} {{For |the major tropical storm|Typhoon Haikui (2023)}} {{italic title}} [[Image:Chelonia mydas got to the surface to breath.jpg|250px|thumb|right|"Sea turtle" in Chinese ({{zh|t=海龜|s=海龟|labels=no}}) is a homophone of the term for a student returned from study overseas]]
'''''Haigui''''' ({{zh|t={{linktext|海|歸}}|s=海归|p=hǎiguī}}) is a Chinese language slang term for Chinese nationals who have returned to mainland China after having studied abroad.<ref name="C. Cindy Fan">{{cite news | last= Fan | first= Cindy | url= http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/educated-and-fearing-the-future-in-china/?ref=global-home#cindy | title= Materialism and Social Unrest | work= New York Times | date= March 7, 2010 }}</ref> The term is a pun on the homophonic ''hǎiguī'' ({{zh|t={{linktext|海|龜}}|s=海龟|labels=yes}}) meaning "sea turtle".
Graduates from foreign universities used to be highly sought out by employers in China. A 2017 study found that ''haigui'' are now less likely to receive a callback from potential employers compared to Chinese students with a Chinese degree.<ref>Fraiberg, S., Wang, X., & You, X. (2017). Inventing the world grant university: Chinese international students’ mobilities, literacies, and identities. Utah State University Press, An imprint of University Press of Colorado.</ref> Possible causes of this reversal include the rising quality of Chinese education institutions and the high salary demands of haigui.<ref name="China Daily">{{cite web | url= http://www.china.org.cn/living_in_china/news/2006-12/11/content_1191913.htm | title= Overseas Chinese Try to Build a Community in Homeland | publisher= China Daily }}</ref>
Over 800,000 recently graduated haigui returned to China in 2020, an increase of 70% from 2019, largely due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>[https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3102384/chinas-overseas-graduates-return-record-numbers-already China's overseas graduates return in record numbers into already crowded domestic job market] He Huifeng, ''South China Morning Post'', 21 September 2020</ref>
==Motivations== In 1950s, Sukarno government passed the Presidential Regulation 10 of 1959 which prohibits Chinese Indonesians into doing business in rural areas. The decision caused diplomatic tension between People's Republic of China and Indonesia and caused ambassador to Indonesia Huang Chen to urge Indonesian government to review the regulations. Toward the end of 1959, Peking Radio announced a campaign for ethnic Chinese to return to "The Warmth of Motherland". 199,000 Chinese Indonesians have said to applied for repatriation but only 102,000 people that have been repatriated.<ref>{{cite news |date=13–19 August 2007 |title=Terusir dari Kampung Sendiri |url=http://majalah.tempointeraktif.com/id/arsip/2007/08/13/LU/mbm.20070813.LU124736.id.html |accessdate=1 February 2009 |work=Tempo |pages=96–97 |language=id |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000036/http://majalah.tempointeraktif.com/id/arsip/2007/08/13/LU/mbm.20070813.LU124736.id.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{in lang|id}} Arsip. Majalah Tempo 24 November 1990 dimuat pada Majalah Tempo edisi 13-19 Agustus 2007.</ref>
In aftermath of 1967 anti-Chinese riots in Burma, tens of thousands of Chinese Burmese had left Burma for China due to safety concern among Chinese community staying in Burma.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fan |first=Hongwei |date=June 2012 |title=The 1967 anti-Chinese riots in Burma and Sino–Burmese relations |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-southeast-asian-studies/article/abs/1967-antichinese-riots-in-burma-and-sinoburmese-relations/32233393B60BBE02A8AFB7AD92EEFC8A |journal=Journal of Southeast Asian Studies |language=en |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=234–256 |doi=10.1017/S0022463412000045 |s2cid=159753249 |issn=1474-0680|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
Some haigui have returned to China due to the late-2000s recession in the U.S. and Europe.<ref name="lure sea turtles">{{cite news | last= Zhou | first= Wanfeng | url= https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE4BH02220081218 | title= China goes on the road to lure "sea turtles" home | publisher= Reuters | date= December 17, 2008 }}</ref> According to Chinese government statistics in 2019, 86.3% of the 6.5 million Chinese people who have gone abroad to study in the past 40 years have returned.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Statistics on Chinese learners studying overseas in 2019 - Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China |url=http://en.moe.gov.cn/news/press_releases/202012/t20201224_507474.html |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=en.moe.gov.cn}}</ref> According to the Higher Education Policy Institute, in 2023, 84% of Chinese graduates in the United Kingdom returned to China after finishing their studies.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nulimaimaiti |first=Mia |date=5 July 2025 |title=Chinese graduates struggle to compete in harsh UK job market: ‘it’s harder for us’ |url=https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3316972/chinese-graduates-struggle-compete-harsh-uk-job-market-its-harder-us |access-date=7 July 2025 |work=South China Morning Post}}</ref>
==Etymology and history== The word is a pun, as ''hai'' {{lang|zh|{{linktext|海}}}} means "ocean" and ''gui'' {{zh|t={{linktext|龜}}|s=龟|labels=no}} is a homophone of ''gui'' {{zh|t={{linktext|歸}}|s=归|labels=no}} meaning "to return". The name was first used by Ren Hong, a young man returning to China as a graduate of Yale University seven years after leaving aboard a tea freighter from Guangzhou to the United States.<ref name="apm forum">{{cite web |url = http://www.apmforum.com/columns/china19.htm |title = Hai Gui: The Sea Turtles Come Marching Home |publisher = Asia Pacific Management Forum |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://archive.today/20130117050030/http://www.apmforum.com/columns/china19.htm |archivedate = 2013-01-17 }}</ref>
==Notable haigui== *Sun Yat-Sen, first president of the Republic of China *Zhou Enlai, first premier and foreign minister of the People's Republic of China *Tang Xianhu, badminton player and coach *Deng Xiaoping, elder of the Chinese Communist Party *Qian Xuesen, father of the Chinese rocket program *Sutanto Djuhar, businessman *Loletta Chu, model *Wong Kwok-hing, politician *Sum Nung, martial artist
==See also== *Gireogi appa *Kikokushijo *Daigou
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== *[http://schott.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/hai-gui/ Schott's Vocabulary: Haigui] New York Times January 12, 2009
Category:Neologisms Category:Economy of China Category:Great Recession Category:Recruitment