China keeps more homegrown AI researchers, but few move there from abroad

In short: China’s growing AI job market is keeping more Chinese-trained researchers in China and bringing some back, but it is not yet attracting many researchers from other countries.

What's going on

China’s artificial intelligence industry is expanding, and that seems to be changing where many Chinese researchers choose to work. A New York Times report points to outside research showing more China-educated AI researchers are staying in the country instead of leaving for jobs abroad.

One analysis from Carnegie China looked at 10,280 researchers linked to the 2025 NeurIPS conference, a major annual AI research meeting. It found that 69% of researchers who finished their undergraduate degrees in China were working in China in 2025. That is up from 57% in 2022. The analysis tied the shift to better AI career options in China and, in part, tighter US visa rules.

Another analysis found a rise in “returnees,” meaning Chinese researchers who earned graduate degrees abroad and later moved back to China. In that sample, the share increased from 12% in 2019 to 28% in 2025. These numbers describe specific groups of researchers, not every AI scientist.

At the same time, China has been trying to recruit researchers from overseas through funding, university hiring, talent programs, and a newer science and technology visa. So far, the reporting suggests those efforts have not created a large wave of foreign researchers moving to China, especially people with no prior connection to the country.

What to watch

A key question is whether China can turn stronger “retention” into broader international pull. If more non-Chinese researchers start relocating, it would suggest China is becoming a destination, not just a place that keeps its own talent closer to home.

Source: NYTimes