A nuclear scientist from Princeton. A mechanical engineer who worked with NASA to find out how to make things in space. A neurobiologist at the US National Institutes of Health. Famous mathematicians. And more than six AI professionals. The list of researchers who are leaving the US to work in China is long and getting longer.According to a CNN count, at least 85 scientists who were already working in the US and were on the rise have joined Chinese research institutions full-time since the start of last year. More than half of them made the move in 2025. Experts say this trend is likely to continue as the White House pushes to cut research budgets and pay more attention to foreign talent, while Beijing invests more in homegrown innovation.
Most of them are part of a so-called "reverse brain drain," which is making people wonder if the US will be able to attract and keep top foreign scientists in the long term. This is a unique quality that has made the US the clear leader in tech and science since World War II.
And it might change the fight between Washington and Beijing to control businesses that will shape the future, such AI, quantum computing, semiconductors, biotech, and smart military hardware.
For years, the Chinese government has tried to find ways to bring in talented scientists from other countries, including the thousands of Chinese researchers who left China to get advanced degrees in the US and other countries. Many of these researchers later became leaders and pioneers in American science and technology.
That objective has become even more important now that the US is keeping a close eye on China's technology and Xi Jinping, the leader of China, sees the country's capacity to develop as the only way to keep the economy stable.
The mission is getting a boost now that US President Donald Trump's administration is pushing for huge cuts to federal research budgets, increasing government oversight of research, raising the cost of H1-B visas for specialized foreign workers by a lot, and using federal funding as leverage against universities.
Yu Xie, a sociology professor at Princeton University, told CNN when touring Chinese universities earlier this year that Chinese institutions saw changes in the US as "a gift from Trump" that will help them hire more and better people.
Xie stated, "You will see a lot of new, stronger, and better research and training programs in all areas of China."
One headhunter in eastern China who specializes in finding IT specialists from other countries to work in the commercial sector, particularly the semiconductor industry, told CNN that developments in the US might lead to more applications for a government-backed funding scheme he specializes in.
The US Congress is about to say no to some of the most draconian cutbacks to research funding that the Trump administration wants to make for the next fiscal year. But the recent efforts to cut funding for science and change it, as well as the increased scrutiny of overseas students and researchers applying for visas, have already had an impact on university labs and left scientists with questions that will linger for a long time.
Researchers with links to China, which has sent more scientific and engineering PhD students to the US than any other country for a long time, are especially worried and anxious.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration exploited visas for Chinese students to get something in return. In July, senators urged for the China Initiative to be brought back. This was a very contentious US national security initiative that was started during Trump's first term but was stopped later because it was seen to make people suspicious and biased against academics of Chinese descent.
China has been welcoming more and more academics from the US and other countries in recent years. This is because China's own scientific skills and goals have gotten better. And some of the most recent steps were probably planned before Trump came back to the White House. But all of the changes happening in America right now might make it easier for Chinese institutions to get in.
A recent editorial in the People's Daily, a daily that is a mouthpiece for the Communist Party, indicated how Beijing views that opportunity. It offered China as a "safe harbor" and "platform to excel" for Chinese and Chinese-American researchers who are being "recklessly interfered with" by "some Western country."
People who know what's going on tell CNN that a lot of the response to the moment is happening behind the scenes at China's universities, as colleges quietly try to get US-based experts to join them.
Lu Wuyuan, a protein chemist who was a tenured professor at the University of Maryland before going to Shanghai's famous Fudan University in 2020, told CNN that "there was a clear surge in the number of job applicants from overseas."
Lu added, "I know that Chinese universities are going above and beyond to take advantage of this chance that a 'perceived' enemy has given them." He also claimed that scientists who have studied abroad and then returned to China is already a "strong trend, perhaps an irreversible one."
Liu Jun, a chair professor of statistics at Tsinghua University in Beijing, stated that there was not a "systemic attempt" in light of developments in the US. He returned to China for family reasons in 2024 and took up his new job after retiring from Harvard this year. Instead, he added, particular departments, like his own, "definitely like to take advantage of these opportunities" by reaching out to coworkers and utilizing conferences to spread the word that they are growing up their departments.
Some initiatives to hire people can be seen online. Earlier this year, Wuhan University posted on social media that they were looking for "talents from all over the world to apply" for teaching jobs.
A compensation plan that went along with it indicated how students who concentrated on robotics, AI, or network security could make the most money from the school's research funds. The institution also promised to match national grant funding of up to 3 million yuan (nearly $400,000).
Every year, colleges all throughout China promote these kinds of offers, which might include things like preferential access to research funds, bonuses, housing stipends, and family assistance. These offers are generally linked to the central government's fund for "outstanding young talent" from other countries.
People in Beijing gather around a case that has lunar rock and debris that China's space program retrieved. This picture shows the case on exhibit in 2021. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
Earlier this year, robot players fought it out in an AI-powered robot football match in Beijing.
Earlier this year, robot footballers played against each other in an AI-powered robot football match in Beijing. Wang Zicheng/VCG/Getty Images
The initiative is part of a well-known network of grant and recruiting programs in China. These prizes are viewed as prestigious in China, and analysts say they are typically open to scholars from both China and other countries.
And not all of them are focused on school.
For instance, the Qiming program wants to bring in top academics to work in China's commercial tech industry. According to job postings and interviews with two recruiters for the program, candidates usually need to have a PhD and experience working abroad.
One of those headhunters told CNN that his province Jiangsu was looking for individuals with experience in semiconductors. The chip-making business there is already strong, but it has to come up with new ideas because the US has stopped exporting the important technology.
"Since the US has been 'bottlenecking' us, now everyone is focused on the integrated circuit field..." According to the headhunter, "The demand for talent in integrated circuits knows no regional boundaries—everyone needs it." He added that most of his recruitment had been from Europe because of his own personal ties. He asked that his name not be used in this piece because it is sensitive work.
He also said that "artificial intelligence and quantum science, especially in quantum communication and precision measurement," may become more important in the next year.
The Chinese government is also making it easier for researchers to come to the nation.
According to a Jiangsu headhunter, the Qiming program had an extra intake round during the summer just for talent from the US and Europe. They labeled it a "unprecedented" action.
Last month, authorities said they will start giving out a new type of visa for young people with scientific and technological skills. The visa, called the "K visa," will be available starting October 1. In July, the National Natural Science Foundation opened up another round of applications for a program that gives research funding to "outstanding young talent" from other countries. This was on top of the standard yearly intake that happens at the beginning of the year.
The US government has considered Chinese efforts to lure talent as a concern for years. The FBI says they are part of an attempt to steal foreign innovations to help the Chinese government and military reach their aims. Experts say that China's Thousand Talents program often led to professors taking part-time or research jobs in China instead of moving there. In recent years, the program has at least nominally been phased out because participants were closely watched by the US, including as targets of the China Initiative.
In June of last year, Xi Jinping, the leader of China, gave out medals and diplomas for the country's highest scientific and technology award in Beijing.
Xi Jinping, the leader of China, gives out medals and diplomas for the country's top scientific and technology award in Beijing in June. Ju Peng/Xinhua/Getty Images
"A nation thrives"
China has been trying to keep and attract talent for a long time, and the country's own economic growth and technological progress are also helping.
Lu, a protein chemist at Fudan University, has seen this change. He noted that when he opted to pursue his doctoral studies in the US in 1989, China was "poor, lacking in resources, and behind in science and technology."
He remarked, "I'm grateful to my adopted country for giving me the chance to grow as an academic researcher that I wouldn't have had if I had stayed in China at that time."
But a lot has happened in China since then. The economy has grown quickly, and the government has spent more on research and development. According to the latest OECD figures on gross domestic expenditure, China spent more than $780 billion on research and development in 2023, while the US spent over $823 billion.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping gave a historic address in Beijing last summer to a group of academics, leading scientists, and senior officials. He said, "A nation thrives when its science and technology thrive." Xi promised that by 2035, the country will be a "strong" and self-sufficient nation in science and technology.
Those efforts are already paying dividends. China's ambitious space program sent back the first samples from the far side of the moon last year. The country is also at the cutting edge of military technology like hypersonic missiles and renewable energy and quantum communications. Earlier this year, a little-known Chinese startup called DeepSeek stunned Silicon Valley by saying it had a chatbot that could do almost the same thing as OpenAI's o1 model for a lot less money.
According to the Nature Index, Chinese scientists are publishing more research in high-quality natural and health sciences journals than their US counterparts. Chinese colleges have also moved up the list of the top 50 universities in the world.
Experts think that China still has a long way to go to catch up with the US as a leading science power. Its research and development effort might be affected by its own faltering economy. Some others also say that the Communist Party's control over business and schools creates a very different environment from the one that has supported American research.
Experts claim that China's more restricted political climate and lower quality of life are also factors in where scientists desire to reside and raise families.
The stats show that. According to statistics from the National Center for scientific and Engineering Statistics, more than 83% of Chinese students who got scientific and engineering PhD degrees in the US between 2017 and 2019 were still residing there in 2023.
For scientists who don't have any experience with China, moving to a nation where it's hard to get about without knowing Chinese is also hard. And in a China that is becoming more and more nationalistic, there have been cases of social media reaction against academics who are seen as pro-American or who were born in China, worked overseas, and then came back.
Yu Hongtao, dean of the School of Life Sciences at Westlake institution, China's first public-private research institution, says that even if researchers in the US are worried about the future of science, anyone who want to join the faculty of his school should consider carefully.
Yu, who worked at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center for 20 years, said, "If it's a decision based only on negative factors, that is, if they just want to run away from (the situation in the US) and aren't looking at China as an opportunity, I would discourage them from coming." He also talked about the problems that those who work in China face, such cultural differences and how funding are given out.
But CNN talked to a lot of scientists and professionals who said that researchers' primary goal is a place where they can keep working in peace and with enough money. They argue that things might change in the US that would change the existing situation.
Yau Shing-tung, a famous mathematician and Fields medalist who retired from Harvard University after 35 years and started working full-time at Tsinghua University in 2022, said, "If American universities keep funding at the same rate, China will take a long, long time to catch up to the same level."
"But if they make mistakes, they might lose the greatest individuals, not just to China, but also to Europe and other nations. That might be a big problem for colleges and universities in the US.
Scientists who have moved to China have given a lot of reasons, such as being closer to elderly parents, wishing to start a new career, and wanting to help teach the next generation.
This article was inspired by material from Wikipedia, where content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC BY-SA 4.0). The text has been substantially rewritten and is not a direct copy of the original.