Room at top of high-tech firms

Executives with a global focus are being sought to help business growth, report Meng Jing and Gao Yuan.

As Chinese high-technology companies vie for market share all over the world, they are also trying to lure top executives from overseas competitors.

Industry insiders said that recruiting leaders from international giants, who often demand higher compensation, will boost innovation and the marketing strengths of Chinese players.

The latest example of executive job-hopping was in September when Zhang Yaqin, a long-time Microsoft Corp research executive, left the United States company for Beijing-based Web search provider Baidu Inc.

The 48-year-old software development veteran, who has called Bill Gates his mentor, said he was ready for new challenges.

Baidu, the world's largest Chinese-language search engine by user numbers, is investing heavily in building new business models beyond online searching. Adding talent with global exposure is part of that process.

In mid-May, Baidu opened a research and development office in Sunnyvale, California. Robin Li, company founder and chief executive officer, said Baidu plans to invest $30 million to expand the R&D center to employe more than 200 people in three years time.

The company's US office was set up in Cupertino in 2011 and had 28 employees by the end of 2013, most of them R&D engineers.

Months before Zhang joined Baidu, the Chinese company signed artificial intelligence scientist Andrew Ng from Google Inc. Ng, who headed Google's AI project, is now Baidu's chief scientist.

"As a true visionary and key contributor to the field of artificial intelligence, Ng is the ideal individual to lead our research efforts as we enter an era where AI plays an increasingly pronounced role," said Li.

"We are also strong believers of fully distributed R&D capabilities. Technology is very important. We are very willing to invest, but we understand that not everyone wants to go to Beijing to do engineering work," he said.

Liu Lee, Baidu's vice-president for human resources, said: "Only a few companies could have appealed to Andrew Ng, given his desire to push artificial intelligence forward."

AI research is very capital-intensive, requiring lots of data and computing power. Baidu - as Ng put it - can provide those things. Lee said hiring an industry leading researcher with a terrific reputation and solid experience is set to boost the company's business.

"Attracting top-flight technology talent is critical for Baidu wherever we are, and of course having him anchoring our research efforts in Silicon Valley is good for our brand as an employer," said Lee.

Baidu declined to disclose its number of non-Chinese high-level researchers but said it is hiring local employees in several countries including Brazil, Thailand, Egypt and Japan.

"We recruit overseas staff because local employees understand local markets, users and partners better," said Lee.

Baidu is not the only company actually hiring overseas executives. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd are seeking such people to expand their overseas businesses.

Jason Wang, managing partner of the recruitment company Experi, part of US-based Manpower Inc, said information technology companies began recruiting overseas executives about three years ago and activity is picking up.

"Apart from Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent, smaller companies and even startups are also looking for high-quality leadership outside of China," Wang said.

In May, Alibaba appointed Jim Wilkinson, a former senior PepsiCo Inc executive who also worked for the US government, as its new head of international corporate communications.

Wilkinson joined the company about one week after the group filed for its record US initial public offering. Global public relations and relationships with US investors are more important than ever for the Hangzhou-based company.

"As Alibaba extends its platform for entrepreneurs and small businesses around the world, it is important that we have the right people in place who have a track record of building bridges across geographic boundaries," said Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma in a statement.

Alibaba also hired Google's head of investor relations Jane Penner, who will be based in San Francisco.

The Internet is becoming a rich hunting ground for talent for Chinese companies.

The China branch of the world's largest professional networking company LinkedIn Corp has seen an increasing number of Chinese corporate clients who are eager to boost their presence among the networking system's 300 million global users.

Ever since it officially entered the Chinese market in February by launching a Chinese-language website, LinkedIn China has seen its paid corporate users increase rapidly to about 150. Most of them are trying to use the global networking system to find talent with an overseas background.

Derek Shen, head of LinkedIn China, said in a recent interview that the company's Talent Solutions, which helps human resources departments locate the people they want, are welcomed by Chinese companies that are coping with the talent shortage caused by rapid overseas expansion and business growth.

Chinese high-tech companies are among LinkedIn China's top corporate clients. According to Shen, Baidu, Tencent, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and Lenovo Group Ltd are among LinkedIn China's major clients.

"We just signed a high-value contract with Alibaba," he said. Apart from headhunting, LinkedIn can also serve as a platform to build up companies' brands and reputations.

Contact the writers at mengjing@chinadaily.com.cn and gaoyuan@chinadaily.com.cn.@chinadaily.com.cn