Talent returns

In 2016, Sun decided to move back with the 600,000 yuan he had saved, along with his knowledge about flower nurseries and the market. He was also able to get an interest-free loan of 300,000 yuan from the local government－an amount that would be hard to get from commercial banks.

"Running my own business is much more energy consuming than working for others, but I have great expectations for the future," he said.

Zhu Huasheng, a professor of economic geography at Beijing Normal University, said the number of returnees began to increase in 2000, and the central government had called for policy support for the trend for six consecutive years in its "No 1 central document"－the outline of policy priorities for the year－starting from 2007.

"Coastal regions now aspire for industrial upgrading and therefore have higher requirements for their labor force," he said. "In the meantime, their hometowns have gotten increasingly attractive, with more job opportunities and lower living costs."

Local officials in Lankao estimate that local incomes have been increasing at an annual rate of about 12 percent over the last few years, and companies including Foxconn and Evergrande Group have set up a number of factories in the county.

In addition to the rising number of well-paid local jobs, Shi Tianyou, director of the county's human resources and social security bureau, said improved infrastructure has also helped boost local business opportunities.

Shi hailed the influx of talent like Sun, saying he knows too well the social problems left by the exodus of young people.

"The elderly and the toddlers were left behind to take care of one another," he said. "The absence of a working population posed a great challenge to local urbanization and rural revitalization."

Targeting poverty

China has pledged to eradicate poverty domestically by the end of 2020. The five-year period since 2012 has seen two-thirds of the country's impoverished population lifted out of their situation. But there are still some 30 million Chinese living in dire poverty－most of them scattered across the country's vast rural areas.

Last year, the central leadership put forward a rural revitalization strategy at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Early this year, the central government again prioritized rural affairs in its "No 1 central document" for the year.

Zhu, the economic geography professor, said the influx of farmer entrepreneurs is helping accelerate urbanization in Lankao, and contributing to the division of labor between urban and rural areas. "In addition to creating local jobs, the returnees bring back new ideas and business models, which instill life into the local economy," he said.

To facilitate the trend, the Lankao government has lowered the threshold for loans for those who start local businesses, and it organizes regular entrepreneurial tutorials where the returnees can share experiences and information.

According to the local human resources and social security bureau, some 1,500 loans amounting to 170 million yuan were handed out to startups last year, benefiting some 6,800 returnees who created another 21,000 local jobs.

Shi, head of the bureau, said his office also works with experts to develop business projects suitable for migrant workers that are tailored to local resource advantages.

Zhu said government should avoid levying too many taxes as startups grow bigger. "I know cases where startups are first given loads of favorable policies, but as they grow, they become the target of local tax authorities," he said.

The professor also said less-developed regions in Central and West China should strengthen institutional reform and reduce administrative costs to attract industries and migrant workers back from the east.