How do the top Chinese returnee entrepreneurs innovate?

Chinese government at different levels has elevated the competition for global talents to a strategic level. Against such a background, this paper presents a number of interesting findings on the basis of a study of three start-ups founded by Chinese returnees under the Recruitment Program of Global Experts plan: 1) The Chinese government has given preferences to returnees who start up businesses in the 7 strategic industries designated by the Chinese government; 2) Top-level returnee entrepreneurs prefer to select high potential opportunities positioning on global markets, while the domestic markets for such high tech products are yet to develop; and 3) Top-level returnee entrepreneurs tend to skip the product imitation stage, and directly engage in original technology and product development.