He may have to do another postdoc before he can start job searching in US. Good for him since he chose to go back. BTW, as I said before, KL Guan is a good boss.
why do you still have this mindset? publication is not the most important thing in looking for a faculty job. most people with very good publications just don't get a faculty job even after vigorous job-hunting. it's like those people know very well how to trim a pretty branch but don't know how to plant a tree. (on the other hand, if you don't have good publication, it's difficult for you to prove your ability. so get at least one good publication for each stage of your training.)