Abstract: Based on the first-hand survey data which including 852 host country employees and 118 Chinese company samples invested in Laos Thailand and Cambodia, this paper aims at the problems of employee turnover and skill returns faced by Chinese companies' overseas investment. The study found that the host country's labor forces gained a high cognitive skill premium in Chinese companies, but the non-cognitive skill premium was not obvious. The relationship between occupational mobility and skill accumulation shows the "U"-type relationship. On the occupational mobility condition, non-cognitive skills returns of the mobile labor force is not obvious. But, weather occupational mobility or not, the relationship between labor mobility and cognitive skill returns are significant. Studies have also shown that too frequent flows can weaken the growth effect of skill returns, and the appropriate number of flows can strengthen the growth effect of skill returns.

Key words: Chinese companies overseas investment, occupational mobility, skill return, cognitive and non-cognitive skills