Greater China · Recruitment
Recruit in China
Foreign employers in China now hire selectively rather than broadly. Demand concentrates in electric vehicles and batteries, semiconductor equipment, medical devices, specialty chemicals and premium consumer goods. Talent clusters around Shanghai and the Suzhou Industrial Park, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang plant corridors, Shenzhen and Dongguan electronics, and shared-service centres in Chengdu and Dalian. Searches are hard because strong candidates now weigh domestic employers seriously, counter-offers are common, and English fluency at plant level remains thinner than headquarters expects.
We source through Liepin, Maimai, BOSS Zhipin and 51job, plus mapped referrals inside comparable foreign-invested plants. Screening is bilingual: Mandarin for operational depth, English for the reporting line. Interviews run on WeChat video, with on-site rounds timed around Chinese New Year, when hiring stalls and bonuses lock candidates in. Statutory notice is 30 days, though director-level handovers stretch longer. Where no WFOE exists yet, ArkTalents employs the hire through an in-country employment arrangement and runs payroll and social insurance filings.
Roles
Roles we search most
General management
Country general manager
Foreign brands rebuilding China teams need a general manager who can hold a Shanghai P&L and outpace domestic competitors.
Local, with some expatriates · first shortlist 15-25 working days
Finance
Country CFO / finance head
China entities need a finance head fluent in SAFE filings, VAT invoicing and group reporting from the same Shanghai desk.
Local, with some expatriates · first shortlist 12-20 working days
Manufacturing
Plant director
Plants in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang corridors need a director who runs cost, quality and labour relations without headquarters supervision.
Local, with some expatriates · first shortlist 15-25 working days
Operations director
Multi-site operations across the Yangtze River Delta need one director owning capacity, supplier localisation and delivery to Chinese customers.
Local hire · first shortlist 15-20 working days
EHS manager
Chinese environmental inspections and the Work Safety Law make a credentialed EHS manager a licence-to-operate hire, not an overhead.
Local hire · first shortlist 12-18 working days
Supply chain head
Localising the bill of materials and dual-sourcing away from single Chinese suppliers is a supply chain head's core mandate here.
Local hire · first shortlist 15-20 working days
Regulatory
Regulatory / product-registration lead
NMPA and SAMR registration timelines decide launch dates, so the registration lead is often hired before the sales team.
Local hire · first shortlist 20-30 working days
Government relations
Government relations lead
Approvals, subsidies and land in Chinese development zones move through relationships, so government relations is a standing role.
Local hire · first shortlist 20-30 working days
FMCG & commercial
Commercial director
Splitting effort between Tier 1 modern trade and platforms such as Tmall and Douyin needs one commercial owner.
Local, with some expatriates · first shortlist 15-25 working days
Sales head
Provincial distributor networks and key accounts in China are too different to manage without a dedicated national sales head.
Local hire · first shortlist 12-20 working days
Volume and shared services
Production operators (volume)
New lines in Suzhou and Ningbo need operators hired in cohorts, with turnover after Chinese New Year planned for.
Local hire · first shortlist 5-10 working days
Technicians (volume)
Automation and maintenance technicians are the scarce layer in Chinese plants, and vocational school pipelines must be worked directly.
Local hire · first shortlist 8-12 working days
Customer-service agents (volume)
Shared-service centres in Chengdu, Xi'an and Dalian hire agents in batches for Mandarin, English and Japanese queues.
Local hire · first shortlist 5-10 working days
Field sales (volume)
Covering hundreds of Chinese cities means recruiting field sales locally, province by province, rather than from Shanghai.
Local hire · first shortlist 8-12 working days
Local vs expatriate
Who we shortlist
Almost every role here goes to a local national or a returnee educated overseas. Expatriates are now limited to a small number of country general manager and technical transfer posts. Foreign hires need a Foreigner's Work Permit and residence permit, graded A, B or C, with points for salary, degree and Chinese language. Shanghai processing typically runs four to eight weeks.
Search
How a search runs
01
Job briefing
Align on role scope, must-haves, and the target candidate profile.
02
Talent mapping and benchmark
Map the local market and benchmark compensation levels.
03
Phone screening
Screen motivation, language, salary, and availability.
04
Interview with our project manager
In-depth competency interview by our project manager.
05
CV and interview report
A structured written report is delivered with every CV.
06
Interview coordination
Scheduling, logistics, and feedback management with candidates.
07
Offer negotiation
Manage expectations on both sides and close the offer.
08
Background check
Verify employment history, qualifications, and references.
09
Probation follow-up
Regular check-ins with both parties through the probation period.
Questions
FAQ
- How long to a first shortlist?
- Ten to fifteen working days for commercial and finance roles in Shanghai. Regulatory leads with NMPA registration history, government affairs candidates and bilingual plant directors in second-tier cities take twenty to thirty, because the pool is small and English screening removes many otherwise capable people.
- Do you search local and expatriate candidates?
- Both, though the balance is heavily local. We map Chinese nationals and overseas-educated returnees first, since they carry the language, relationships and regulatory familiarity. Expatriate candidates are presented when a specific technology transfer, group reporting requirement or turnaround mandate justifies the work permit and relocation cost.
- Which roles do you run most often here?
- Plant and operations directors in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang corridors, regulatory and product-registration leads for NMPA and SAMR filings, government relations leads, and country finance heads. Commercial director and sales head searches follow, usually for consumer and industrial brands rebuilding China teams after restructuring.
- Can you run this as RPO as well as retained search?
- Yes. Retained search suits single senior appointments such as country general manager or CFO. RPO fits volume: production operators and technicians for a new plant ramp, customer-service agents for a Chengdu or Xi'an centre, and field sales across provincial territories. Both models can run at once.
Pay bands for China sit on the 2026 salary page. Labour-law detail is on the hiring guide.
Other markets
Other recruitment pages
Reviewed 11 September 2026
This is a hiring briefing for multinational employers, not legal advice. Statutory rates move by city, province, and sector. Confirm the place of work before you issue an offer.
Sources
- ArkTalents 2026 recruitment briefs for multinational employers
- Reviewed 11 September 2026
Brief a search in China
Tell us the city, the role, and whether this is a single retained hire or volume RPO.