Indians at Helm of U.S. Firms Cause Bit of Stir in China: Report

The report said that while India remains a "tough" place to live, China has become more comfortable in recent years, offering a good lifestyle to expatriates. "How do you get a Chinese to move to Brazil in a developmental sequence? That's a big challenge," said Emmanuel Hemmerle, a senior adviser to Korn Ferry, an executive search firm. "China is such a high-growth market. Everyone sees that's where the opportunity is." China, however, suffers from a "shortage" of top talent, despite its enormous pool of university graduates, with 7.3 million more expected in 2014, the report said,

citing onsulting firm McKinsey that fewer than 10 percent of Chinese job candidates would be suitable for work in a foreign company because of their "poor command over English and an education system that focuses on theory rather than practical skills."

Another reason why Chinese executives do not flock to western companies is that state-owned enterprises and private companies are bidding for home-grown talent. "With so much attention lavished on the most promising executives in China, many feel their opportunities are greater at home than abroad," the WSJ report said.

In some cases, multinational companies also want to keep their best Chinese executives inside China because the market is so important to them. A downside to being too attached to China is the risk that Chinese executives are overtaken in their careers by the next wave of Chinese managers, many of whom? have better language skills and a broader world view.

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