The growth cycle and rules of elite talents have always been a hot topic in academic circles.Draw-ing upon comprehensive data collected over the past two decades regarding"Changjiang Scholars,"this study ex-amines their career development cycle and influential factors.The study found that the average growth cycle of aca-demic elites is 13.1 years,which is close to the"ten-year growth rate"rule for elite talents found in foreign stud-ies.There are significant disciplinary differences in the growth cycle,with natural science scholars having the shor-test growth cycle.From the perspective of influencing factors,subject category,educational mobility and overseas study and work experience all have a significant impact on the talent development cycle.To promote better growth and faster development of academic elites,it is necessary to optimize the higher education training system,increase the weight of overseas work experience in talent introduction and evaluation,and treat the career mobility experi-ence of elites prudently.