He is part of a growing group of returnees who are benefiting from government support for technology and new protections for private business. A few, like Shi, have become super wealthy by selling shares in their ventures on foreign stock exchanges.

Shi works 10- to 12-hour days and spends eight months a year on the road in Europe, the United States or China. But he said he wants to devote more time to charity work, including an environmental education program that he launched with his wife.

Shi said he has little time to enjoy his wealth.

"I'm a scientist," Shi said. "My hobby is solving technical problems."

Shi arrived in Australia in 1988 to spend a year at the University of New South Wales after getting his Ph.D. in physics in China.

China had little to offer, so when Shi's fellowship ended, he hunted for a new post in Australia. A friend sent him to see Martin Green, a New South Wales professor and solar pioneer. With no background in the field, Shi talked his way into a job.

"I really got into solar power by chance," he said.

Shi took a job at a company formed to commercialize advances made by New South Wales researchers. He and his Chinese-born wife bought a house in Sydney. He became an Australian citizen in 1993, with no plans to return to China.

"I never thought this solar business could take off or become commercially viable," he said. "I thought I just needed to concentrate on my research and publish papers to do my job as a scientist."

But in the mid-1990s, Shi started visiting China regularly to lecture on solar power. Friends lobbied him to return to China.

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