Fewer staff sent to China: Report

Multinational companies sent fewer foreign employees to the Chinese mainland in 2009, as they aimed to cut costs during the global financial crisis, a consultancy firm said.

In contrast, the number of Chinese employees with overseas educational background and foreign staff hired from within China increased, according to a report issued yesterday by Mercer, a global human resources and related financial advice provider.

"Because of the impact of global financial crisis, many multinational companies have re-evaluated the value brought by cross-board dispatch," Zhang Lei, business director of Mercer China, said.