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Stories of Chinese highly educated returnees

from the Netherlands

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Mayke Ebbers

Master’s Thesis Contemporary Asian Studies 2014/2015 Graduate School of Social Sciences, University of Amsterdam Supervisor: Dr. Shanshan Lan

Second readers: Dr. Tina Harris and Prof. Dr. Leo Douw

Sea turtles returning home

Stories of Chinese highly educated returnees from the Netherlands

Mayke Ebbers Student number: 10003174 Tolsteegplantsoen 29-III 3523 AJ Utrecht maykeebbers@gmail.com Submitted on 29-06-2015 Number of pages: 79

Word count body of text: 24.829

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Mayke Ebbers

Acknowledgement

This thesis is based on a yearlong process of writing the research proposal, conducting the fieldwork and writing the actual thesis. This process resulted in this research, focusing on the expectations and experiences of Chinese high skilled returnees in the Netherlands as well as in China. I want to thank all who helped and guided me throughout this process.

First of all, and at the heart of this thesis, I want to thank the 42 informants who I was able to interview during the fieldwork phase of three months. Without your honesty and openness writing this thesis would not have been possible. A special thanks to Lijie and her family, who acted as real gatekeepers in the Netherlands as well as in China. Thanks to Renmin University, especially Mai, who helped me with my stay and other practicalities while being in China. I also want to thank the Dutch embassy and Neso China; both organizations helped me in finding participants, showing me around and making me feel welcome in Beijing.

I am very thankful for the help of prof. dr. Mario Rutten, who, as supervisor, provided feedback on the research proposal and the fieldwork reports. Prof. Shanshan Lan, thank you for your guidance and pleasant collaboration during the writing process of the actual thesis. As for preparing this fieldwork and thesis, I want to thank Gerben Nootenboom for his help in writing the research proposal. I want to thank classmates of the CAS program 2014/2015 for feedback and inspiration during the past year.

Finally I want to thank friends, family and Wim Pieter. Mom and dad, thank you for not only helping me correcting English mistakes and supplying relevant contacts, but also by supporting and guiding me through this master’s program.

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Abstract

This master’s thesis focusses on the expectations and experiences of Chinese highly educated returnees from the Netherlands. The number of returnees from the Netherlands is growing, making it interesting to look at both their expectations while still being in the Netherlands, and their experiences after return to China. This thesis shows that potential returnees want to leave the Netherlands in the near future due to the lack of knowledge of the Dutch language and the lack of a strong network that can help them in finding a job in the Netherlands. China is the destination, mainly because the Chinese economy is perceived as booming, and the best place to start a career. As a secondary reason for return, returnees want to be closer to family members and friends in China. Potential returnees expect to find a job after their return to China, and to settle down by starting their own family in one of the major cities in China.

When we look at the daily reality of returnees in Beijing, the expectations portrayed by informants in the Netherlands are partly met. In their professional career returnees in this study are successful; most were able to find a job before returning or a few months afterwards. But there is also a disadvantage in this experience abroad, which is often described as a lack of guanxi; lacking a strong Chinese network important in developing one’s career in China. Family is often a secondary reason for return, after having talking to both returnees as well as to some of their parents, this thesis shows how there is friction between the ideas of parents and child when it comes to the abroad experience and their lives after return. Although most returnees themselves also would like to find a partner to settle down with, informants experience enormous pressures from parents to do so. On the Chinese marriage market, high education abroad leads to a higher social position, which could lead to a better marriage partner. But where returnees have more social capital, they increasingly lack material capital which is very important in the increasingly materialistic Chinese society.

So, although some parts of the expectations of potential returnees are met, there is an increasing trend where young returnees struggle more and more in showing their ‘added value’ compared to all the other fresh graduates entering the job and marriage market in China. Where youngsters used to gain different forms of capital through the oversea diploma after return, the Chinese changing society is also changing its view on the added value obtained abroad, influencing the individual lives of returnees from countries such as the Netherlands.

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Content of this thesis

Page:

Acknowledgements 2

Abstract 3

Content of this thesis 4

List of graphs 6

Chapter One: Research Framework 7

1.1 Introduction of the subject 7

1.2 Theoretical background 8

1.2.1 Returning home

1.2.2 Returnees and the state 1.2.3 Life after return

1.2.4 Cross Cultural Capital

1.3 Theoretical and social relevance of this study 14

1.4 Research questions 15

1.5 Major argument of this thesis 16

1.6 Fieldwork setting 17

1.7 Informants and methodology 19

1.8 Outline of this thesis 21

Chapter Two: Historical Background 23

2.1 Migration between China and the Netherlands 23 2.2

The rise of China 25

2.3 Policies influencing Chinese students in the Netherlands 27 2.4 Structural factors influencing the daily lives of returnees 28

2.4.1 Social and environmental consequences 2.4.2 The Chinese hukou system

2.4.3 The Chinese one-child policy

2.5 Conclusions 32

Chapter Three - Expectations of potential Chinese returnees 34

3.1 Leaving the Netherlands 34

3.2 Primary reasons for return 35

3.3 Secondary reasons for return 37

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3.3.2 The influence of policies

3.4 Expectations of potential returnees 39

3.5 Conclusions 40

Chapter Four: Experiences of returnees in their professional career 42

4.1 Career of returnees in Beijing 42

4.2 The advantage of studying abroad 44

4.3 A foreign network or Chinese guanxi 45

4.4 Conclusions 48

Chapter Five - Returning to family life 49

5.1 Differences in perceived pressures 50

5.2 Advantages in the Chinese marriage market 52 5.3 Difficulties of returnees on the marriage market 52

5.4 Coping strategies 54

5.5 Conclusions 55

Chapter Six - The changing experiences of ‘sea turtles’ 57

6.1 The life of Dewei 58

6.2 The life of Shaohan 60

6.3 The changing attitude towards ‘sea turtles’ 62

Chapter Seven - Conclusion & Discussion 65

7.1 Sea turtle returning home 65

7.2 Theoretical and social implications of this research 66

7.3 Recommendations 68

7.4 Reflections and future research 68

Bibliography 70

Appendix 1: Graphs 74

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Mayke Ebbers

List of Graphs

Graph 1: Model on Return migrations decision making process (Cassarino 2004:275). Presented on page 9.

Graph 2: Division in amount of time and participants between fieldwork settings (made by author). Presented on page 18.

Graph 3: Division in informants during fieldwork in the Netherlands (made by author). Presented on page 19.

Graph 4: Motivation of Dutch alumni to study in the Netherlands (Nuffic 2011:12). Presented on page 15.

Graph 5: China National Bureau of Statistics Database Quarterly Data (China statistic Database: http://219.235.129.58/welcome.do). Presented on page 35.

Graph 6: Simplistic diagram illustrates the interdependence among the growth (reinforcing) loops of consumption, the economy and resource depletion (Higgins 2013:16). Presented on page 50.

Graph 7: Trends in Gini coefficients in China (The World Bank: http://data.worldbank.org /indicator). Presented on page 33.

Graph 8: A graphic representation of the different factors influencing the decision-making process of Chinese students in the Netherlands (made by author). Presented on page 66.

Graphs in Appendix one: information on informants and related pictures (made by author). Presented on page 79 and 80.

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Chapter One: Research Framework

1.1 Introduction of the subject

After the opening up of the Chinese borders, migration from China to the 'developed world' intensified and became more diverse from the 1990's onwards (Fong 2011:12). Currently, Chinese Diaspora, present in all stages and socio-economic levels of society, migrating to all over the world (Pieke 2004:19). One category of Chinese migrants that increased in the last decade are Chinese students.

Chinese students are now responsible for a large part of the Chinese emigration, especially to countries such as the United States, Japan, Australia and parts of Europe (Fong 2011:8). Some of these students have the will and the possibility to stay in these developed countries like the Netherlands after finishing their study, they become Dutch citizens. Others move to different countries after graduation, the rest returns to China.

This thesis focusses on the expectations and experiences of these highly educated Chinese returnees from the Netherlands. To gain an overall view on these topics, I have conducted research among two groups. The first group of returnees consist of Chinese students who are currently in the Netherlands, and who plan to return to China after their study; so-called potential returnees. The second group of returnees is of those already living in Beijing, China. Most informants in Beijing went to the Netherlands for a PhD, some for their Bachelor or Master degree. By looking at these two groups I was able to compare the expectations and the realities, as well as the different times of studying abroad or returning to China.

As the number of returnees increased, the Chinese term Hai Gui was introduced to describe these former students who returned to China (Wang et al. 2006). Hai gui means “return across the sea”, which sounds similar to that animal’s name 'sea turtle'1. Especially in the media, this term 'sea turtle' is regularly used. Although the term itself is viewed as neutral, 'sea turtles' were viewed as highly relevant and valuable for Chinese society, well compensated in China for their foreign knowledge. But recently this attitude changed to a more nuanced view on ‘sea turtles’ and their comparative advantage compared to locally trained graduates. Now the term ‘big sea turtles’ is used to resemble those returning with a PhD degree, ‘small sea turtles’ refers

1 Term explained in

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to those returnees with a foreign bachelor or master degree. As the terminology is different for these groups, this thesis will show that their expectations and experiences also differ. The attitude towards highly educated returnees shifted, this is why the distinction between ‘big sea turtles’ and ‘little sea turtles’ will be made throughout this thesis.

By both portraying returnees’ professional career as well as in their personal life in China, this thesis will show how some expectations of potential returnees in the Netherlands are met. Especially in their professional career, returnees’ cross cultural capital gives them an comparative advantage to locally trained graduates. However, returnees also face difficulties in terms of communication with parents and finding an ideal spouse in the Chinese marriage market. In both their professional life as well as in their personal life, returnees face challenges combining their cultural and knowledge capital obtained abroad with the opportunities and constraints in a fast changing Chinese society.

These observations will contribute to theoretical knowledge on return migration of former students. Firstly, by acknowledging economic factors very much part of the decision to return. But the experiences of the informants also show that other factors such as family relations and policy implementations also contribute to the decision to return. Secondly, by showing how student mobility is not just a ‘back and forth movement’. Although this might be the case for returnees who studied abroad ten years ago, the flexible character of student mobility is to a lesser extend visible among the younger generation returnees. They struggle more and more with finding an ideal job after return, and experience a mismatch between their expectation and reality.

This introductory chapter will start with a theoretical overview on the subject of return migration of students. Secondly, the theoretical and social relevance of this study will be discussed, followed by the research questions that will be answered in this thesis. In paragraph four the major argument of this thesis will be explained, where after the fieldwork setting will be elaborated. The chapter will end with the profile of the informants and the methodologies used in this research.

1.2 Theoretical background

Migration is a phenomena which has interested many scholars of all kinds of disciplines within the social sciences. This is mostly due to the fact that migration is a process which affects every dimension of social existence, and which develops its own complex dynamics (Castles and Miller 2009:21). Migration is not something new, but it has intensified and shifted in the

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era of globalization. Globalization has led to global interconnectedness, where people, goods and ideas are traveling across national boundaries.

The scholarly debate which focuses on migration of Asians for example, usually focuses on low skilled migrants who are migrating to western countries for better economic opportunities (Gmelch 1980:156). But in the movement of people, we can identify different motivations: migrants in search of better economic opportunities, with personal motivations and a diversity of refugees (ibid.). This led to more and more research on the diversity of migrants, like migrants from the middle and upper class (Uphadya 2013:203). Their motivations for movement are often different from low-skilled migrants, consequently, their migration experiences are also different, which makes it highly relevant to look at these groups individually (Uphadya 2013:204).

In the literature on migration, migration is often portrayed as a definite step; migrants are in the ‘host country to stay’ (Murphy 2000). But recently there is an increasing stream of migrants returning home (Gill 2010; Ho 2010). In this literature review I will zoom into the debate on return migration, the different motives and different groups of people returning 'home', including students. This theoretical framework will thus not focus on the return of Chinese migrants from the Netherlands, this will be examined in the second chapter.

1.2.1 Returning home

Return is one of the multiple steps of a continued movement that makes up mobility (Cresswell 2010:29).

Scholars have used many terms to describe the flow of return migration: reflux migration, homeward migration, remigration, return flow, second-time migration, repatriation, and even "retro-migration" (Gmelch 1980:135). All in all, these terms describe the movement of emigrants back to their homelands to resettle (Gmelch 1980:137). Not much is known about the exact numbers of returnees, there is a large grey area when it comes to return migration due to a large flow of irregular and undocumented migrants. Studies on global return migration indicate that around 20% to 50% of the migrants leave the host country within five years after their arrival, either to return home or to move on to a third country (Gill 2010:72). Here some dominant approaches to the decision-making process of (return) migrants will be portrayed:

Focusing on reasons for returning 'home', scholars have long used economic push and pull factors (Cassarino 2004:253). One of the pull factors can be found in macro-economic changes in one's home country or host country, such as more job opportunities and growing wages in

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the home country. Push factors are related to negative economic changes in the host country. This idea led to the first theoretical approach to return migration, the neoclassical economic approach sees these economic macro changes as most important in pulling or pushing an individual 'back home' (Todaro 1969:140). Return migration is thus a 'calculated strategy' of migrants (Cassarino 2004:255), where returning home is more profitable compared to staying in the host country.

As return migration became the subject of analysis, researchers became more and more aware of the social and contextual issues influencing motivations for returning home, instead of looking solely at economic factors. The second theoretical approach to return migration, the structural approach, became the theory that looked at both the personal as well as the structural reasons, defining various kinds of return migrants (Cassarino 2004:257). Some migrants go back to their home country because of personal issues, others because of increasing career opportunities in their home country, or decreasing career opportunities in the host country. This last motivation for return is very visible when we look at the current situation in Asia, with its high quantity of return migration (Xiang 2013:13). The study of Uphadya (2013) shows that the rapid growth of economy liberalization in Asia, as it is explained in the neoclassical economic approach. But there is also a large group of returnees returning for their retirement, as is described by Ramji (2006) in the Indian context. This group of return migrants longs for their country which they have once left behind. which is closely related to their identity (Ramji 2006:646).

The third approach sheds light on the overseas networks of (return) migrants, important in all forms of mobility. The connection between (return) migrants and their network can be explained through the concept of transnational relations. Fong (2004, 2011) shows in her study of Chinese students that her informants often have positive feelings towards China, which is one of the main reasons for students to return. Returning is in this case a filial obligation. Uphadya and Rutten (2012) also show the transnational relationships between high skilled migrants and Indian society. Returning to India is often represented as a form of reciprocity, a way to repay their debt to the nation by contributing to economic development and social renewal (Uphadya 2006:159; Uphadya & Rutten 2012).

In line with the flexible character of transnationalism, the concept of flexible citizenship arose (Ong 1999). This concept states that elites are moving back and forth between their home country and host country easily (Zweig 2004:735). They go where the opportunities are highest at that point, while staying connected to their social network. These elites, as stated by Ong,

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departure or stay after finishing their study (Dumond, Spielvogel 2007:163). Multiple locations such as India, Hong Kong and Mainland China, show that mobility is related to socio-economic changes which results in back-and forth movement rather than a complete and final step of returning (Long & Oxfeld 2004; Manying 2006; Ley 2010; Teo 2011; Upadhya, Rutten 2012).

I will use the model developed by Cassarino (2004) is presented below. He attempts to combine the different theories described above. The model is appropriate as it not only looks at the host or home country, but also shows the connections of the different actors and environments. The returnees’ preparedness for example, not only depend on the migrant’s experience abroad, but also on significant institutional, economic and political changes that have occurred at home (Cassarino 2004:272). This model thus combines macro processes, such as economical changes, with micro processes such as readiness and willingness of individuals to return home (ibid.). The ‘circumstances in host and home country’ as they are portrayed in this graph are highly related to the relationship between the returnee and the state, mainly portrayed in policies on (return) migration.

Graph 1: Model on return migrations’ decision making process (Cassarino 2004:275)

1.2.2 Returnees and the state

Cassarino (2004) emphasizes that return migration cannot be examined without looking at the relationship between the migrant and the state. A reason for choosing a certain country to move to often depend on national regulations (Gmelch 1980:62). The limitations migrants experience is often overlooked by viewing migration as an unchangeable flow of mobility. The developed countries often have strict rules concerning visas (Ley 2010:17). When a migrant is not able to get a permanent visa, the migrant is obligated to move, in this case back home (Ho 2010:7). Through policy issues, migrant sending countries also actively encouraging the return of citizens. When we look at the return of highly educated citizens by encouraging return, governments are trying to limit so called permanent brain drain. The idea of ‘brain drain’ states

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that the outflow of highly educated citizens damages the ‘home’ country. Stimulating migrants to return is thus a logical way to attract them back to their ‘home country’ (Chacko 2007:131).

Having looked at the multiple reasons for migrants to return to their home country (such as economical, personal as well as policy issues) what happens after the resettlement of returnees in the place they once left behind?

1.2.3 Life after return

Once returned migrants are entering their 'home country' again, there are multiple influences returnees might have as described in previous written literature, both positive as well as negative (Gmelch 1980:139). Chacko (2007) describes the financially positive effects of high skilled return migrants; some returning professionals try to positively affect the development of their hometowns (Chacko 2007:138), injecting their knowledge in education, science, culture and health. Returnees can play a big role in growing economies; the lack of highly skilled managers in the commercial sector in Asia, for example, is high, a gap that is often filled by high skilled returnees ( Xiang 2013:13).

On a personal level, returnees might also experience difficulties after return. Many migrants are badly prepared for their return. They do not realize how much they or their communities have changed during their absence (Gmelch 1980:143). Although most migrants do not return home in hopes of getting rich, economic conditions are sometimes worse than anticipated (Gmelch 1980:144). Their expectations are therefore too high, compared to the outcome and reality of their lives in their home country. This can be seen as a reverse culture shock, with negative consequences for their wellbeing (Gmelch 1980:145).

My previous study among Chinese knowledge migrants in the Netherlands also illustrates this. China is often called the "home you will never come back to" (Ebbers 2014:42). During short visits to China, Chinese studying in the Netherlands were hoping to visit China as they remembered it from when they left. But, China has changed, leading to feelings of ‘not fitting in’ or ‘feeling lost’ in their country of origin. This thesis will go further by looking at experiences after ‘definite’ resettlement in China. As actual returnees might experience difficulties, previously written literature shows how there are multiple ways returnees deal with these difficulties. One important strategy of both migrants as well as returnees is the use forms of capital, a concept defined by Bourdieu.

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1.2.4 Cross Cultural Capital

To find a balance between ‘structure’ and ‘agency’ as dichotomies, Pierre Bourdieu developed different forms of capital to transcend the oppositions prominent in social sciences. In his empirical fieldwork he stated that capital is not just your material possessions; humans interact in a social space where they use all different forms of capital to form social relations. Inequality in society is in relation to the ability to access forms of capital, not just resulting from structural problems or agency alone (Bourdieu 1984:63). Economic (what you own) and social capital (who you know) can influence cultural capital (cultural knowledge through education) defining one's position in society (Bourdieu 1991:15).

People use different forms of capital to position themselves. Aihwa Ong (1999) examines the strategies of Chinese elites in the United States. She argues that these wealthy migrants are using all forms of capital, not only money, to fit into the American high class society. Linguistic capital by learning English, educational capital through their educational level and social capital through a strong network. All these forms of capital are important to position themselves in the wealthy environment they interact in. But despite these forms of capital, there are limitations to the acculturation of her informants into the American society, mainly because of the color of the Chinese people's skin (Ong 1999:139).

When looking at returnees who entered the host country as students, we can also identify forms of capital they obtain while being abroad, such as educational capital or linguistic capital, that might lead to possible advantages in their profession and personal life after return. An important concept arisen from Bourdieu's capital is cross-cultural capital. Especially used in management and human resource studies, this term can be defined as human capacities of a person to interact / work in a culturally diverse environment. Ang and Van Dyne’s (2008) show how this cross cultural capital is not just formed through skills, but how this is also a mindset or psychological process of adaption and openness, often formed through experience abroad (Ang and Van Dyne 2008:4). I will use the concept of cross cultural capital in this thesis to describe the comparative advantage of returnees over locally trained graduates, and to show how they use their knowledge and soft skills gained abroad in their life after return. Especially in their career this cross cultural capital is useful, which will be described in chapter four.

We have looked at important approaches on (return) migration in this theoretical overview, explaining why migrants return to their home country. I will use these different approaches in order to see how they apply to highly educated Chinese, most likely to return after their stay in the Netherlands. In line with the argument of Cassarino (2004) I will do this, not only by looking at economical or personal factors alone, but also by looking at policy issues influencing the

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decision to return. I will react to previously written literature by not only focusing on their professional career, but also on the experiences of returnees in their personal life. As mentioned in this last paragraph, I will use the concept of capital, especially cross cultural capital in order to understand coping strategies; how they deal with possible difficulties in both their professional as well as personal life after return.

1.3 Theoretical and social relevance of this study

Much is written on the increasing stream of Chinese studying abroad, for example in the book of Vanessa Fong (2004, 2011). She gives a great overview of the Chinese youngsters portraying the Western world as paradise. But, the daily reality of returnees today is giving us a totally different view on the study abroad experience and the live after return. This shows how relatively recent literature is already outdated. Chinese society is changing at a fast pace, which leads to the urge to look at the phenomenon now. One denominator of this change are the new terms used to describe a nuanced view on returnees, such as ‘little sea turtles’ and ‘big sea turtles’ described above.

The theoretical relevance of this study is related to two issues, namely the gap in literature on student mobility, as well as the gap in literature on how family relations influence the lives of returnees. Firstly, most authors agree that students abroad cannot be viewed in the same way as, for example economic migrants. Scholars have amplified the flexible character of students, portraying returning or moving student as phases that make up student mobility. But this thesis will show how portraying the return of students as just another phase of circular migration is to be too simplistic.

Secondly, the work of Frank Pieke (2004, 2007) and others show how transnational relationships between migrants and their network in their ‘home country’ are very important in the mobility of Chinese migrants (Pieke, 2004; Manying 2006; Ho 2010). Proceeding with the importance of relationships, this research will show the importance of networks in two ways; first in the career of returnees and secondly in relationship with their parents. Returnees use guanxi with friends and acquaintances, as will be shown in chapter three. In personal life, their parents are of great influence on their experiences after return. This is why this study also included the insights of three parents of returnees, who certainly play a role in both the decision to return, as well as returnees’ experiences once entering Chinese society again.

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Looking at the social relevance of this study, this thesis shows how the increasing wave of returnees is reacting to larger changes in Chinese society, both economically as well as socially. These major changes result in certain expectations among Chinese living in the Netherlands who plan to return to China. But, after return, not all expectations are met, for example in the position of returnees in the marriage market. Especially in communicating and fitting into Chinese society their experience difficulties. This is leading to disappointments, but also to conflicts between generations. The enormous amounts of returnees we are talking about, combined with the age of returnees as young professionals urges the need to know more about their life after return.

1.4 Research questions

Resulting from the gaps in literature on return migration and the social relevance of the theme, the main research question of this thesis is as following;

What are the expectations and experiences of (potential) Chinese returning students from the Netherlands?

I will answer this research question through the following sub questions:

1. What are potential Chinese returnees' motivations for leaving the Netherlands to return to China?

2. What are potential Chinese returnees' expectations about their future life in China?

3. What are the experiences of returnees in their professional life? With ‘professional life’ this sub question refers to the professional career of returnees, both their ability to find a job, their job satisfaction and communication within the job.

4. What are the experiences of returnees in their family life? With ‘family life’ this thesis refers to the returnees relation with their parents and own (future) nuclear family.

5. How do (potential) Chinese return students cope with possible differences between expectations and experiences? Here ‘cope’ will be addressed through the ‘coping strategies’. As portrayed in the theoretical overview, the concept of capital will also be used to address the coping mechanisms.

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1.5 Major argument of this thesis

To examine the expectations and experience of high skilled returnees, the argument will start by looking at the situation of Chinese in the Netherlands, planning to return to China. Most of the informants leave the Netherlands due to the lack of knowledge on the Dutch language and the lack of a strong network that can help them in finding a job. China is the destination, mainly because structural changes in China. The Chinese economy is (perceived as) booming, whereby returnees expect to start their career in China instead of the Netherlands. As a secondary reason for return, returnees want to be closer to family members and friends in China. So, when looking at the decision making process, this thesis acknowledges the economic factors very much part of the return process. But there are secondary factors such as family relations and policy issues influencing the choice of Chinese students in the Netherlands. Potential returnees expect to find a job in China after return and to settle down to start a family in one of the major cities such as Beijing or Shanghai.

When we look at the reality of returnees in Beijing, the expectations are partly met. In their professional career returnees in this study are relatively successful; most were able to find a job before returning or a few months after entering Chinese society again. Cross cultural capital, such as language and communication skills has increased thanks to their time abroad. But returnees also experience difficulties after return. A lack of guanxi, a strong Chinese network important in developing your career in China, is seen as a disadvantage of the study abroad experience. The lack of guanxi (social capital) in the workplace is seen by employers; the foreign diploma is not a gateway to success in one’s career.

As family relations are the secondary reason for a lot of returnees to return to China, but this issue of family relations is double sides; Chinese in the Netherlands who are planning to return expect to be able to find a partner in China, and hope they will settle down to form their own family. Secondly, in relation to their parents, returnees expect to experience more pressure from parents after return. By talking to returnees in China they indeed experience pressures from parents, mainly to get married and to have a child, influenced by structural factors such as the one-child policy in China. On the marriage market, returnees expectations are not entirely met; although the majority of the informants have a partner and returnees still experience an advantage in ‘social capital’, they lack economic capital, very important in the increasing materialism society of China. The changes in attitude towards the study abroad experience, and the pressure from parents makes it difficult for returnees to find an appropriate marriage partner. Informants deal with these difficulties in different ways, some by keeping a

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So, when we look at the situation of high skilled returnees in China, this research shows how the high education abroad leads to a higher social position compared to locally trained graduates. Returnees obtained cross cultural capital abroad, which they are able to use after return to start their career. This added value is appreciated and can be converted to social capital. But, this social capital is highly influenced by both the returnees’ time abroad and their highest educational level. Especially in looking at the experiences of ‘big sea turtles’ and ‘small sea turtles’, the experiences of young bachelor or master graduates is very different from the PhD’s who were able to study abroad more than ten years ago. Theoretically, this shows that, although student mobility is often portrayed as a ‘back and forth movement’, where returning home is often just a phase that makes up mobility, this is just partly the case in this research. Returnees who studied abroad ten years ago, the flexible character is part of their international lifestyle, but this flexibility is less visible among the younger generation returnees. Although some parts of the expectations of returnees are met, there is an increasing trend where young returnees struggle more and more in showing their ‘added value’ compared to all the other fresh graduates entering the job and marriage market in China.

1.6 Fieldwork setting

To show both the expectations and experiences of Chinese returnees, as stated in the research questions, this research has been focusing on two subgroups; Chinese students in the Netherlands planning to return to China and actual returnees currently living in Beijing, portrayed in this diagram:

Graph 2: Division in amount of time and participants between fieldwork settings (made by author)

Group A as portrayed in the diagram is located in the Netherlands. Here I conducted four weeks of fieldwork among Chinese students planning to return to China after their education in the Netherlands. I choose the Netherlands as country of study to be able to work from my previous study on Chinese students in the Netherlands. As will be explained in the second chapter, the Netherlands is not the most common country to study for Chinese students, but as most European countries, the amount of Chinese students in the Netherlands increased rapidly in the last decade, making it an interesting country to look into the stories of Chinese students. In one month of research, I was able to speak with fourteen Chinese students in the

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Netherlands, who are planning to return to China. More information on the informants will be given in the next paragraph. Most of them (70%) were also informants in my previous master thesis, only a few were new informants. Knowing them already made it easier to talk with them about the issue of returning and the struggles and doubts they experience.

Group B illustrated above is already living in Beijing, where I have conducted two months of fieldwork in China among Chinese returnees who studied abroad, mostly in the Netherlands. But, why is China an interesting field to conduct this research? Although migration was present before, the post-Mao era reforms resulted in a more diverse stream of migrants from China. This diverse stream of migrants is now returning to China (Xiang 2013:13). As this group is increasing we can see new terms arising, such as the ‘little and big sea turtles’, showing the changing attitude towards returnees, already mentioned in the introduction. In the public debate 'little sea turtles' are often seen as children of rich parents, running away from the fierce Chinese education system (Ebbers 2014:12). This negative view is less present for 'big sea turtles' who are still seen as valuable for Chinese society. Not much academic literature has been written on this new phenomenon and changing attitudes towards so-called 'sea turtles'. The dynamics in the terminologies used to describe the different (return) migrations shows that “mobility is a socio-cultural construct" (Salazar and Smart 2011:iv), constantly changing and partly shaped by public opinion. This makes China a very significant place to study the phenomenon of highly educated return migrants.

As we look closer to the statistics on return migration to China we can see that the majority of the highly educated returnees are moving to big cities in China like Beijing or Shanghai (Gill 2010:370). I choose to conduct this fieldwork in Beijing being the capital of China with all its opportunities to meet returnees in a variety of professions and locations. Secondly, around 60 percent of the informants in the Netherlands stated that their destination for return would be Beijing, showing the attractiveness of Beijing. Thirdly, on a more practical note, gatekeeper during my fieldwork in the Netherlands in 2014 and 2015 is from the city of Beijing, she was able to help me finding informants in China. I was also able to meet her parents, who were of great help during the fieldwork period. This made it clear for me that Beijing was the best place to conduct fieldwork among Chinese returnees from the Netherlands.

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1.7 Informants and Methodologies

As mentioned above, I was able to speak with fourteen Chinese students in the Netherlands. As presented in the diagram on the right, four of the informants in the Netherlands had already booked their ticket to China. Seven informants are planning to return, but not sure when. Three of the informants in the Netherlands are not planning to return in the upcoming years, but they were able to give me contextual information on the experiences in the Netherlands as a Chinese (former) student. In appendix one a graph of both the research in the Netherlands as well as that in Beijing is illustrated.

Graph 3: Division in informants during fieldwork in the Netherlands (made by author)

Among these informants, the majority, namely ten out of the fourteen participants are currently a PhD student in the Netherlands. Most are in their third year, with one year or less to go until graduation, they are deciding what to do after finishing their PhD. Other informants are Master (14%) or Bachelor students (14%). The major of the PhD students, as well the Bachelor and Master students were diverse, from social sciences, to law and computer sciences. Unfortunately I was not able to interview many students working in the department of technical studies. This might be because the Chinese network I was located in is mainly living in Utrecht and Leiden, where universities in cities such as Delft and Tilburg are more focussed on technical studies. This group of informants in the Netherlands consists of six boys and eight girls, between the age of twenty and twenty-eight.

During my fieldwork in Beijing (part B), I was able to meet twenty-one returnees. The majority of the informants in China studied in the Netherlands, a smaller proportion studied in other European countries or outside the EU. Most of the informants returned to China between five years and six months ago. This was interesting as they had some time to settle in China, but were still able to explain their resettlement process. Five of the informants in China returned more than five years ago, who were able to give more historical context on the issue of return. The majority of the informants studied abroad for their PhD, although the proportion of Master graduates was higher (namely thirty percent), the percentage who obtained a bachelor degree abroad was the same (14%). The former PhD’s and Bachelor students stayed abroad for four years or longer, master students generally stayed abroad for one or two years. When we look

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at the major of this group in Beijing, it is much more diverse compared to the informants in the Netherlands; ranging from engineering to philosophy. Apart from these returnees, I also interviewed five people, not returnees but policy makers and university personnel, who were able to give me insights on the internationalization of China and the growing numbers of returnees. I was able to speak with three parents about their views on the study abroad experience of their child. More information on the informants is given in diagrams viewable in appendix one.

To answer the research questions, I used multiple methods within social sciences. Conducting interviews, from informal to structured interviews, was an essential part of this research. Interviewing is essential when questions cannot be answered through observations or statistics alone (Merriam 2009; Bryman 2008). Because this research focuses on the expectations of the returning Chinese (former) students, interviewing is essential and used to answer all sub questions. In this research semi-structured interviews and unstructured interviews were prominent. All interviews with returnees were conducted in English, only when speaking with the three parents of returnees I used the help of an interpreter to translate from Chinese to English. Almost all interviews in the Netherlands as well as in China were individual interviews, in about ten percent of the interviews I conducted a group interview. I developed a topic list (portrayed in Appendix two) as a guideline in these unstructured, informal interviews. In my study I made use of life histories to get a better understanding on the decision making process of moving to the Netherlands for study, or for returning to China. Life histories place these decisions in family societal context (Leydesdorff 2004; Charlton et al. 2007). From these life histories I used three cases more extensively, portraying the stories of different returnees (Lian, Dewei and Shaohan) in chapter two and seven.

Next to interviewing, participant observation was essential in this qualitative fieldwork. As Sensul defines, participant observation refers to a process of learning through exposure to or involvement in the day-to-day routine activities or of participants in the research setting (Sensul 1999:91). Through interaction, I was able build a relationship with informants and receive information on the research topic that cannot be examined through conversations alone (Bernard 2006:43). Two important situation of participant observation in this research was the visits to families during Chinese Spring festival and the Alumni event described in chapter three. Also by hanging out with informants or before interviews, visiting a museum together or having dinner I was able to receive more information, especially on the difficulties returning and the pressure returnees experience from their parents.

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Reflecting on the fieldwork, most of the Chinese student currently studying in the Netherlands are within the major of technical studies or economic, the informants in my study in the Netherlands are more centered around law and social sciences. Although one might argue that this may result in different outcomes, previously written literature on student mobility showed how the major of students is not a differentiating factor in the study-abroad process (Fong 2011:9). Secondly, I think the diversity in gender, age and background has resulted in a representable group of Chinese students in the Netherlands. In China, I was able to speak with a range of different returnees, with very different backgrounds. Factors as the amount of time abroad, the number of years back in China and age are important differentiating factors of this research. Compared to my fieldwork in the Netherlands, I was also able to interview more informants from technical or economic majors. The diversity in informants worked for this research to get an overall view on the differentiating factors of high skilled returnees.

I analyzed the data from the fieldwork in the Netherlands and China by ‘coding’. The different categories identifiable are named in codes that are portrayed in the code tree in appendix one. Categorizing data through these codes can portray similarities and discrepancies in data (Boeije et al. 2009:268). I have not used special devices or programs to analyze, just different pens and papers for ‘open coding, ‘axial coding’ and ‘selective coding’ (Boeije 2010:93-102).

1.8 Outline of this thesis

This thesis will start by giving more contextual and structural information, functioning as an historical background chapter. This chapter will reflect on the rise of China, changing migration, but also the one child policy and inequalities, all important in understanding the situation of returnees. The third chapter will focus on the expectations of Chinese students living in the Netherlands of their future life in China. ‘Reasons for entering China’ is separated in two parts, namely the primary (professional) and secondary (personal) reasons. This will lead to the question of what future returnees expectations are, on both a professional as well as on a personal level. Chapter four will look at the reality of returnees in Beijing in their professional career. Although returnees in this study are relatively successful, this chapter will also show returnees’ struggles in the professional career. The fifth chapter in this thesis will focus on returnees experience in their family life, mostly in the marriage market. Parents are often an important reason to return, but parents are also a source of struggle after return, where informants cope with in different ways. Chapter six will look at an important factor resulting in different experiences between returnees. Through the lifelines of Dewei and Shaohan I will show how the idea on the study abroad experience changed, ultimately influencing the daily life and struggles of returnees. Where the study abroad experience led to the very successful

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life of Dewei as a ‘big sea turtle’, the experience of Shaohan show the changes and attitude towards ‘little sea turtle’, or even ‘seaweed’. The conclusion of this thesis will give a short overview of the line of the argument. It will reflect back on the theory described in the introduction and research that is necessary in the future to get a better understanding of the fast changing situation of Chinese students and returnees.

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Chapter two: Historical background

As this thesis focused on the expectation and experiences of Chinese high skilled returnees we have to look at the historical background explaining the return of students to China and their experiences after return. This chapter will start by portraying the migration history between China and the Netherlands, that has changed drastically since the 1980s. Where Chinese migrants in the Netherlands were first mostly working in the food industry, after the turn of the millennium, large numbers of Chinese students started to enter countries such as the Netherlands. But, as we will see, more are leaving the Netherlands after graduation to return to China. Driving force is the extraordinary and rapid economic growth of China. Apart from the growing Chinese economy and employment opportunities, there are also policy issues that may influence the choice of Chinese in the Netherlands to either stay in Europe or to move back to China, which will be discussed in paragraph three.

What are the structural issues returnees might encounter? This chapter will show that despite China’s rise and favorable government policies toward high skilled returnees, there are still structural constraints that shape the different job hunting experiences and family relations of different groups of returnees. Here I will introduce two important factors: the hukou system and the one child policy. These two issues are essential in understanding my analysis of returnees experiences in chapters four and five.

2.1 Migration between China and the Netherlands

Chinese migrants already entered the Netherlands in the beginning of the 20th century. After the Second World War many Chinese migrants came to the Netherlands and other Western countries for employment opportunities in the lower professions (Benton & Pieke 1998; Chio 2011). Predominantly Chinese men migrated to the Netherlands, (Linder et al. 2011:28), this was a relatively small group. These first-generation immigrants were predominantly less educated. They entered the Netherlands through chain migration and worked in and around the ports, and later on in the food industry in the Netherlands (Linder et al. 2011:28).

The opening up of China in the 1970's (which will be described in the next paragraph) resulted in a growing awareness of the capitalist world which increased the desire among Chinese to become part of the global community (Fong 2004:633). As Liu describes, that the reforms “set the population on the run” (Liu 1997:110). Enormous amounts of Chinese took the opportunity to migrate to other parts of the world. The presence of Chinese in the Netherlands became increasingly heterogeneous. This means that the place of origin of the Chinese migrants in the Netherlands became more diverse, as well as their socio-economic profile. The Chinese population in the Netherlands did not only consist of economic migrants mainly from the

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province of Fujian anymore (Pieke 2004). Especially after 2000 also students and highly-skilled professionals entered the Netherlands (Castles and Miller 2009:140). This resulted in a doubling of the the amount of Chinese migrants in the Netherlands between 1999 to 2003 (CBS Statline2). Vanessa Fong (2004, 2011) describes how studying in a developed country, in this case the Netherlands, is a ticket to a brighter future according to students in China (Fong 2011:12).

When we look at the situation now, there are currently 82.000 first and second generation Chinese living in the Netherlands3, 51 percent of them entered the Netherlands as students (Gijsbert et al. 2011:26). The increasing amount of Chinese students studying abroad is not only visible in the Netherlands, but also on a global level; with 60 million people, Chinese are now the largest diaspora group in the world, with a large proportion being Chinese students4. This makes it highly relevant to zoom into this group of Chinese students abroad, in this case the Netherlands. Chinese students in the Netherlands are young, mostly single, highly educated and more often female than male (Gijsbert et al. 2011:30).

Fong shows in her study (2011) that Europe (including the Netherlands) is often not the first choice of these Chinese students, mainly because of language issues. Studying in a Dutch university is often based on personal relations in the Netherlands, or based on sudden and unexpected contacts (Ebbers 2014:19). The primary motivations for studying in the Netherlands is examined quantitatively by Nuffic, an institute focusing on the internationalization of Dutch education. They conducted a survey among their foreign alumni. As presented in the graph underneath, for Chinese students, the study in the Netherlands is seen as a way to enhance their career opportunities, a percentage high compared to foreign students from other countries. Another twenty-two percent of the Chinese respondents chose the Netherlands first of all for the study program they were enrolled in.

2 Information provided on:

http://statline.cbs.nl/Statweb/publication/?DM=SLNL&PA=81442ned&D1=a& D2=5&D3=0&D4=l&VW=T.

3 De Volkskrant G. Hablous and J. Buller, presented

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Graph 4: Motivation of Holland alumni to study in the Netherlands, percentage per country (Holland Alumni Barometer 2011:8)

But what are the steps Chinese students in the Netherlands take after graduation? Around the turn of the millennium, about 30 percent of the Chinese students decided to stay in the Netherlands, 30 percent moved to China, and about 30 percent moved to other countries (Gijsbert et al. 2011:32). But there is an increasing trend; now, instead of thirty percent, more than half of the Chinese students are moving back to China after their study in the Netherlands5. This group of emigrants can be identified as Chinese highly educated returnees, returning mainly to big cities in China such as Beijing or Shanghai (Gill 2010:370). As shown in quantitative research, Chinese graduates motivations to return to China is often based on the growing Chinese economy (Holland Alumni Barometer 2011:9) .

5 Presented in:

http://statline.cbs.nl/Statweb/publication/?DM=SLNL&PA=82350ned&D1=0&D2=0&D3= 0&D4=a&D5=0,13&D6=1-2,12&D7=l&HDR=T,G3&STB=G1,G2,G4,G6,G5&VW=T

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2.2 The rise of China

Beijing as you can experience it today transformed drastically after the socialist Mao era (1949-1976). Not only in the city of Beijing, but China as a country experienced rapid changes as a result of the reforms implemented by Deng Xiaopeng in 1978, as visible in the graph underneath. After implementation, the ‘market based economic reforms’ were defined as: “A gigantic social system engineering project, which involves straightening out the relationship between the Party and the government, power and judicial organs, mass organizations, enterprises and institutions, and between central, local and grassroots organizations; it concerns hundreds of millions of people. This is an arduous and protracted task” (Peoples daily, 1 July 1987, quoted in Jaques 2012:176-177). The first economic reforms were implemented in the agricultural sector by ‘farm privatization’ (Gittings 2006:186). After that, China opened its borders to foreign investors, especially within Asia (Brandt 2008:15). Free from bureaucratic regulations, the Asian area became the engine for Chinese economic growth, visible in the graph as ‘Shenzhen SEZ’. Almost in an instance the economical growth in the Mao period of 4-5 percent was transformed in an economical growth of 9.5 percent between 1978 until 1992. Although disrupted by political chaos in 1989 and the ‘Asian financial crisis’ in 1997, the opening up continued to change the Chinese market (Jaques 2012:179). The support and recognition from the United States a few years later that resulted in China entering the world trade organization (WTO) in 2001, became another driving force of further Chinese economic growth (Jaques 2012:178).

Graph 5: People’s Republic of China’s nominal gross domestic product (GDP between 1952 to 2005)

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As presented in the graph above, through the reforms, it took China around ten years to double its per capita output, compared with 58 years in the UK, and 47 years in the US. The economic growth per capita increased from 388 US dollars in 1990 to over 4000 US dollars in 2010 (Jaques 2012:185). This growth resulted in a massive movement from “farm to factory” sharply accelerating the growth of productivity7, creating a transformation in the labor market. With the increase of employment and labor market reforms, employment patterns changed dramatically (Cai and Wang 2010:71). This resulted in more management, academic and other high skilled positions. Today, the Chinese government is taking new steps to reform its labor market, especially in cities of Beijing and Shanghai, where they are implementing policies pushing factories out, and high tech companies, universities, and startups in. Creating a character where "Beijing is a large talent pool where the vibe for startups is good"8.

As well as from the Dutch point of view, the relationship between China and the Netherlands is important, especially for Dutch companies. In April this year (2015), Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte visited China for the third time in one-and a half year. Economically, the direct investments of China in the Netherlands is now worth 3.2 billion euros9. Combined, the export and import between the two countries leads to a total trade volume of 43.9 billion euros’10. As the trade between the two countries increased, so did the migration, that transformed drastically after the market-based economic reform. This also influenced the policies of both counties. What are the policies that influences Chinese students in the Netherlands?

2.3 Policies influencing Chinese students in the Netherlands

Chinese students can enter the Netherlands on a temporary residence permit for study. This permit is given by the IND (immigration and naturalization service), on grounds of their application at a college or university. After finishing their study, the former student can stay in the Netherlands for one year to find a job as a knowledge migrant, a so-called ‘zoekjaar’11. When the former student finds a job with formal contract in the Netherlands, he or she can

6 Graph portrayed in: http://219.235.129.58/welcome.do

7 ‘The world at work: Jobs, pay, and skills for 3.5 billion people’. June 2012, by Richard Dobbs, et al.:

http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/employment_and_growth/the_world_at_work 8 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/tech/2014-10/28/content_18811900.htm 9 NRC of 0th of May 2015 http://www.nrc.nl/handelsblad/van/2015/maart/30/wow-wow-wow-en-nu-een-panda-1482106 10 NRC of 30th of March 2015: http://www.nrc.nl/handelsblad/van/2015/maart/30/wow-wow-wow-en-nu-een-panda-1482106

11 Information on the website of the immigration and naturalization service (IND) in the Netherlands:

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stay. When he or she cannot find a job, the migrant is forced to move to another country or to return to China.

In line with diminishing the permanent brain drain, there are multiple Chinese policies aiming to attract highly educated Chinese back to China. One of these policies is structured through the so-called CSC (Chinese scholarship council). Students can apply for the scholarship to study abroad. Consequently, the CSC provides: “financial assistance to the Chinese citizens wishing to study abroad (…) in order to develop the educational, scientific and technological, and cultural exchanges and economic and trade cooperation between China and other countries”12. When receiving this scholarship, there are certain rules affiliated. One of them states that the Chinese student must return after graduation for at least two years to work in China. I expect that for those informants receiving the CSC, the contract might be an important reason for them to return to China after graduation.

There are other policy issues that might influence returnees as well. Returnees with a rural hukou are able to receive preferential treatment in obtaining an urban hukou after return. As will be explained in the next paragraph, an urban hukou is important to improve the quality of life in urban China, and receiving one might be a reason for ‘rural’ Chinese abroad to return to China after graduation. Smaller benefits are added to the hukou policy for returnees, such as being able to apply for a tax free car after return. In the academia, returnees are able to apply for research scholarships when they would return to China, where it is easier for them to set up their own research team, in comparison to Chinese locally trained scholars.

After deciding to return to China, due to economic changes, policy issues i.e., what are the factors that might influence the daily lives of sea turtles after they return to China?

2.4 Factors influencing the daily lives of ‘sea turtles’

Despite China’s rise and favorable government policies toward returnees explained above, there are constraints that shape the job hunting experiences and family relations of returnees, as will become visible later on in this thesis. These structural constraints are; increasing materialism, inequalities between rural and urban areas, and the one-child policy.

2.4.1 Social and environmental consequences of economic growth

As Martin Jaques states in his book ‘When China rules the world’ (2012), the reforms (explained above) pulled 700 million people out of poverty, to make China the second largest economy in the world. However, it has not come without a price. Forty years of reforms have

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also led to environmental problems, namely the severe air pollution in China, especially in major cities like Beijing (Chong 2008:12). The CO2 emission from energy use in China (EIA) increased substantially from 2000 onwards, with an annual growth rate of 11.7 percent13.

The rapid economic growth in China also resulted in increasing materialism, changing the social environment. Karen Higgins graph presented underneath shows how we can link the loop of economic growth to the loop of consumption and materialism through purchases; “Material desires instigate purchases intended to bolster significance which fosters more materialism (graph 6); purchases increase GDP which creates jobs and financial well-being and facilitates more purchases” (Higgins 201314).

The correlation between booming economies and increasing materialism is also amplified through large scale research conducted by Ipsos, which illustrates how emerging countries such as India and China are more materialistic compared to countries in Europe or the US. “Those most likely to agree to feel under a lot of pressure to be successful and make money are from China (68%). 71 percent of the respondents in China agree that their success is measured by what they own”15.

Graph 6: This simplistic diagram illustrates the interdependence among the growth (reinforcing) loops of consumption, the economy and resource depletion. (Higgins 2013:16).

Another consequence of the changing economics in China that might influence the lives of returnees in China is the increasing inequality in China, especially between rural and urban areas. Ravi Kanbur and Xiaobo Zhang present in their article a longitudinal perspective on inequality in China. According to them, there are three peaks in inequality: “the Great Famine of the late 1950’s, the Cultural Revolution of the late 1960’s and 1970’s, and finally the period of openness and global integration in the late 1990s (Kanbur and Zhang 2005:87). This last peak can be identified as resulting from the changes in Chinese economy described above. Xie and Zhou also focus on inequality in China, where the growth of the inequality statistic Gini portrayed in this graph:

13 Information on China’s CO2 Emissions (EIA) from 1980 - 2009 presented in: www.sourcewatch.org 14 Article by: Karen L. Higgins, PhD, Posted on 16 May 2013:

https://www.elsevier.com/connect/economic-growth-and-sustainability-are-they-mutually

15 IPSOS survey result visible on:

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Grap 7: Trends in Gini coefficients in China (The World Bank16).

According to all authors presented here, the rural / urban divide is responsible for a large part of China’s inequality, especially in relation to other countries such as the U.S.; “about 12% of the overall income inequality in China can be attributed to differences across provinces, whereas variation across states in the United States accounts for no more than 2% of the overall inequality” (Xie and Zhou 2015:6931). Different elements in Chinese society contributed to this rural / urban division, especially heavy-industry development strategies in the rural areas against subsidies, investments, and credits developing urban (often coastal) areas (Kanbur and Zhang 2005:101). The enormous migration flow of rural citizens to urban areas face difficulties because of the hukou registration system.

2.4.2 The Chinese hukou system

The inequality between rural and urban citizens described above is severe due to the Chinese hukou system. A person's residency (hukou) is related to a certain region where the resident is born (Chan 1999:818), dividing people into urban and rural citizens. This official registration has major consequences in the individual lives, especially for migrant workers in cities. Owning a rural hukou you are not able to receive certain benefits while working and living in urban areas (Chan 1999:819). To apply for an urban hukou, such as a Beijing hukou, one must work in a company that is able to apply one for you17. But the amounts of urban hukou’s are limited, increasing the amount of competition for a job including a, for example, Beijing hukou.

16Graph visible on:

http://journalistsresource.org/studies/international/china/income-inequality-todays-china

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Consequently, in the findings of this research I expect rural returnees to have more difficulties in finding a job, with a Beijing hukou, after returning to Beijing.

Looking at structural issues influencing the lives of returnees, we have to zoom into the one-child policy, affecting not only individuals but also the entire Chinese society.

2.4.3 The Chinese one-child policy

The one-child policy was implemented in 1979 as a reaction to social and geopolitical issues in the major cities of China, where overpopulation was becoming a serious problem. Consequently, when the policy was implemented, the only child became the focus of attention for both his or her parents and grandparents (Wang et al. 2006:294). Financially, both generations, parents and grandparents, were able to invest in the only child, enforced by the economic growth of Chinese society explained in previous paragraphs. This led to increasing opportunities for youngsters to study and to develop themselves outside school. The spoilt character of these only children led to the mainly urban phenomenon of the ‘little emperors’. Shown in the research of Cameron et al. (2013), singletons grew up coddled and unsocialized. According to the researchers, this affected the personalities of children, where they are less trusting and more pessimistic. But, “these seeming personal and individual changes could have real-world impacts, the researchers say, creating a relatively risk-averse generation that may hinder innovation” (Cameron et al. 2013:954).

Consequences of the one child policy are big, influenced by the ancient Chinese concept of Xiao. Often translated as ‘filial piety’, Xiao is a concept largely elaborated in my previous thesis on Chinese students in the Netherlands. “Xiao is an essential part of Confucianism as a guideline in life. It is a concept of both kindness and hierarchy, which will lead to a balanced and harmonious society. (...) Closeness to the family is perceived as the most important heritance from Chinese civilization (...) which must be viewed in relation to China's patrilineal society. The family name is proceeded through sons, the father provides for his family. This also means that the son is expected to care for his parents when he is an adult. The bond between the (male) child and parents is thus very important” (Ebbers 2015:22-25). As the child is the only one in the family, he has the filial obligation to take care of his parents, grandparents, parents-in-laws and his own nuclear family. The pressure returnees experience will be examined in chapter five, where males might experience more pressures compared to females. Problems are arising from the one-child policy, namely the aging Chinese population. Especially in cities such as Beijing, not enough babies are born to solve this problem. Chinese government changed the one-child policy in 2013. Now, couples where at least one parent is an only child, are allowed to have two children. But, as life in the cities is expensive, more and

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