In less than a month, a new set of rules allowing China to tighten its exit controls over Chinese scientific, technological, and other professional talent will come into effect.  These new rules will directly affect Chinese talent currently living in China and those returning to the country.  However, these new rules may also have significant implications for foreign talent who are considering relocating to China and building a future in a country that appears to have strong innovation potential.

China’s new regulatory changes contain complexities and ambiguities that all talent, be they Chinese or foreign, cannot ignore, as such talent may, due to these changes, need to reconsider their plans in China.  China’s potential loss of such talent could be a gain for other countries, especially those that are committed to advancing their scientific and technological developments while at the same time circumnavigating current geopolitical turbulence to provide safe harbor for such talent and their families.

Exit Controls and Chinese Talent

“[…] the ambiguous expressions therein will likely allow Chinese authorities to tighten their controls over Chinese citizens, especially those with scientific and technological backgrounds.”

In late July, China’s State Council issued the Regulation on Exit and Entry Administration to, among other goals, “safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests”.  Scheduled to take effect on September 15, 2026, the administrative regulation contains only 19 articles, but the ambiguous expressions therein will likely allow Chinese authorities to tighten their controls over Chinese citizens, especially those with scientific and technological backgrounds.

Two examples are illustrative.  First, according to Article 4 of the regulation, “relevant departments-in-charge under the State Council”, including the Ministry of Commerce, are authorized to issue decisions prohibiting Chinese citizens from exiting China if these citizens are deemed to act “in violation of provisions such as those on export controls or those on the administration of technology import and export” and their actions may endanger “national industrial security or technological security”.  Under normal circumstances, the authority issuing such a prohibition decision is required by Article 6 of the regulation to inform the person “in writing of the facts, grounds, and legal basis regarding the exit ban as well as avenues for legal redress”.  However, such notification can be withheld in “circumstances where national security or the investigation of a criminal case may be affected”.

The second example shows that Chinese authorities’ exit controls may go beyond formal decisions prohibiting departure.  According to Article 2 of the regulation, with respect to Chinese citizens preparing to travel to “countries or regions classified as having the highest risk level or experiencing a sudden, high occurrence of incidents seriously endangering personal safety [emphasis added]”, authorities in charge of reviewing these citizens’ “applications for exit-entry documents” or in charge of conducting “inspections at exit borders” from which these citizens attempt to leave China “should, if necessary, dissuade them from traveling”.  The definitions of the emboldened words in the preceding sentence are not clear, nor is it clear whether such dissuasion will be merely “advisory”—and may, therefore, be declined by the citizens being dissuaded—or will be more compulsory in nature.

Implications for Foreign Talent

None of the articles discussed above apply to foreign citizens.  This should be welcomed by foreign talent seeking to advance their careers in China by taking advantage of the country’s scientific and technological progress.  However, as foreign talent cannot be subject to these exit controls, one must wonder whether entities hiring them will be required to exclude them from job opportunities that may lead to their access to industrial or technological information deemed significant by authorities.  This exclusion, if it occurs, would defeat the goals and desires of such foreign talent to thrive professionally in China.

In addition, although foreign talent living in China are not subject to the exit controls discussed above, they, like anyone else in China, are expected to abide by China’s new Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress, which has controversial provisions, including one authorizing the extraterritorial application of the law to target organizations and individuals outside China.  With the stated goal to “promote ethnic unity and progress”, “advance the building of the community of the Chinese nation”, and “facilitate the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”, the law also includes a provision regarding how minors should be educated at home.  Article 20 provides:

[…]

Parents or other guardians of minors should, in accordance with law, perform their family education responsibilities to educate and guide minors to love the Communist Party of China, the motherland, the people, and the Chinese nation […].  They must not instill in minors ideas that are detrimental to ethnic unity and progress.

“Foreign talent raising children in China will likely find the above provision concerning […].”

Foreign talent raising children in China will likely find the above provision concerning, especially because the law explicitly encourages Chinese citizens—who may include teachers or peers with whom a foreign professional’s children naively share details about their family life—to report acts that undermine ethnic unity and progress.  Violations of the law could lead to administrative or even criminal punishment.

Lessons from the Past

All of these regulatory changes are likely to make Chinese talent currently living outside China and foreign talent less willing to consider pursuing their careers in the country.  The Chinese leadership should have predicted this.  Yet these changes were adopted, signaling that China is more concerned about taking measures to prevent the loss of domestic talent—and their proprietary knowledge and information—than worrying about how these measures might discourage potential Chinese returnees and foreign talent.

The recent passing of WANG Xiji, one of 23 recipients of China’s “‘Two Bombs, One Satellite’ Meritorious Service Medal”, coincidentally reminds us of the significant role played by China’s domestic talent in the country’s science and technology endeavors.  The term “Two Bombs, One Satellite” refers to China’s success in developing its first atomic bomb, intercontinental ballistic missile, and satellite in the 1960s and early 1970s.  Aged 105, Wang stayed active in his later years to lead China’s development of multiple recoverable satellites, making China the third country in the world to independently master satellite recovery technology.  Wang’s achievements, together with achievements contributed by other scientists, despite personal sufferings and persecution during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), may have led to the current Chinese leadership’s belief that exit controls and other radical measures are unlikely to weaken domestic talent’s will to take China’s science and technology to another level.

It is too early to tell whether such a belief is correct.  What is clear now is that China’s potential loss of Chinese talent currently living outside China and foreign talent considering settling down in the country could be a gain for other countries searching for talent to pursue their own scientific and technological breakthroughs.  If these countries can fully utilize such talent, their resulting scientific and technological success may make China regret adopting such radical measures, which clearly have the potential to push great and creative minds away.

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• The citation of this article is: Dr. Mei Gechlik, Chinese and Foreign Talent at Crossroads, SINOTALKS.COM^®, SINOTALKS^® In Brief, Aug. 26, 2026, https://sinotalks.com/inbrief/chinese-foreign-talent-crossroads.

• The original, English version of this article was edited by Nathan Harpainter.  The information and views set out in this article are the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the work or views of SINOTALKS^®. ↩︎

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