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China luring 'sea turtles' home

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-18 10:29

Financial professionals of Chinese heritage and Chinese people studying or working in the United States meet with recruiters for companies from Shanghai during a recruitment event in Queens, New York, December 13, 2008. [Agencies]

Some cities and firms in China are quick to exploit the opportunity to lure back native talent. Saturday's fair was led by the Shanghai municipal government and organized by about two dozen banks, insurers and securities firms from the city, including the Shanghai Stock Exchange, one of the two stock exchanges in Chinese mainland.

New York was the last stop in the delegation's efforts to poach back up to as many as 170 seasoned specialists in such fields as risk management and private wealth management. Its two earlier recruiting sessions in London and Chicago attracted a total of 1,200 people.

Earlier this month, Nanjing in Jiangsu province in eastern China held similar events in several major cities in the US, which attracted hundreds of people.

Overseas Chinese, who offer both international experience and language and cultural skills, have often become an ideal option for local firms.

Of the 1.2 million Chinese people who have gone abroad to study in the past 30 years, only one fourth of them have returned, according to the Chinese government.

It's been a tough year for many of the "gold-collar" Chinese on Wall Street. Some have lost their jobs and most have seen their personal wealth shrink.

"This is an unusual time. For some, this is their first experience of being unemployed and they're under enormous pressure," said Tony Tang, president of The Chinese Finance Association (TCFA), a nonprofit group based in New York.

"Now these Chinese companies are giving out positions and many are contemplating it."

Optimism over China

To be sure, the Chinese economy is also hitting a bump this year as export demand evaporates in response to the global economic slowdown. Sagging asset values are another cause of concern, with the local stock market down about 70 percent this year, one of the worst performers in the world.

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