"China is full of opportunities. I don't want to be a bystander."

Formerly a lecturer in the human nervous system at the University of Rochester in the US , he is a Sichuan native.

Recruited through the central government's "1,000 talent project", he recalls when he and fellow returnees went to Yan'an for patriotism education, which significantly boosted his morale to work in his hometown province and its capital Chengdu.

"You may think that I'm talking clichs, but I really think that national sentiment is a born thing," he told reporters.

He is now director of the department that studies the effects of medicine at Huaxi Haiqi Medical Co in Chengdu.

His major work is testing the safety of medicine before trials on humans.

Zhong is now preparing to start another company, a wholly owned subsidiary of West China Hospital.