During a visit to a city in Zhejiang Province in March, a local talent recruiter for the government asked me that since places all over China are now trying to woo Chinese talent in the US back, are there any talented Chinese left in the US?

The reality is, however, quite the opposite. Based on my observations and the statistics available, over 70 percent of Chinese studying in the US didn't return after finishing school. And of the earlier batch of US-bound Chinese students, 80 percent didn't come back, especially those who were more successful in their studies.

The Chinese media has often covered the topic of returnees (known as haigui, or sea turtles), but the truth is that China continues to bleed talent rather than draw it back from overseas.

Those who didn't return are primarily worried over that they might have missed the golden time of China's development. Over 30 years after the opening-up, there might be few opportunities left.

However, although coastal areas, such as Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Guangdong, have caught up with the living standards of moderately developed countries, the vast undeveloped areas in the central and western region lag far behind, a gap that can sustain China's fast growth for several more decades.

And the Chinese economy is now undergoing major transformations.

From the 1980s to the 1990s, in the labor-intensive manufacturing industry, which was the bulk of China's economy, a small amount of start-up capital, plus hard work and perseverance could lead to success. Education and vision were not crucial elements.

By the end of the 1990s, competition became fierce in the traditional manufacturing sector, while IT and real estate industries, which require high amounts of capital above all else, boomed.