China‑returned talents, commonly known as overseas returnees, have become a vital driving force for domestic innovation and industrial upgrading in recent years. This report briefly analyses their employment choices, entrepreneurial intentions, challenges and market demands across the Chinese job market. A large share of returnee talents choose employment over entrepreneurship after coming back to China. Most of them favour high‑growth sectors including biomedicine, advanced manufacturing, cross‑border trade, information technology and professional service industries. Many returnees hold master’s or doctoral degrees and bring overseas academic training, international vision and cross‑cultural communication capabilities. In the job‑hunting process, competitive salary packages, career promotion paths, platform resources and city welfare policies rank high among their concerns. First‑tier and new‑first‑tier cities remain popular destinations, thanks to abundant job openings, talent incentive programmes and sound supporting facilities. Nevertheless, practical gaps still exist between returnee expectations and real‑market conditions. Some overseas graduates face adaptation pressure from domestic corporate culture, local working standards and fierce competition from domestic high‑end talents. Salary expectations do not always match enterprise budgets. For young returnees, adjusting mindset and understanding local industry rules turns out to be essential for stable career development. Regarding entrepreneurship, only a portion of returnees start their own businesses. Returnee‑led projects concentrate on technology‑driven areas such as scientific research transformation, international education and cross‑border business. Government support including start‑up subsidies, incubation parks and tax relief provides convenient conditions. Even so, entrepreneurial risks remain prominent. Limited local market resources, capital shortages and unfamiliar domestic regulatory rules create obstacles for new projects. To sum up, overseas returnees bring valuable global experience to China’s economy. Enterprises should make better use of their international strengths, while returnee talents need to combine overseas knowledge with domestic realities. Balancing personal ambition with market reality will help returnees achieve better results in both employment and entrepreneurship.