BEIJING, March 25 -- The majority of Chinese people living abroad want to return to China to work, but they expect to earn more than 10,000 yuan (US$1,235) a month and hold at least a mid-level management position, a recent survey suggests.

    High expectations have become the biggest obstacle for returned overseas Chinese to find a job in the country, said human resource experts.

    ChinaHR.com, one of China's leading Web-based headhunters, asked 3,097 overseas Chinese living in 49 countries and regions about their attitudes towards coming back to China to work.

    Nearly 88 percent of people surveyed said they would like to return to China to work, but more than 40 percent said they would have to earn at least 10,000 yuan a month.

    Only 2 percent of respondents said they would accept a salary of less than 4,000 yuan a month, which is nearly double the city's average income, the survey reported.

    Respondents also said they would prefer to work for foreign-invested companies in Shanghai or Beijing, according to the survey.

    "Returnees always have high expectations about their position and payment, and are picky about the job location and company," said Zhang Tingwen, director of ChinaHR.com's human resources research center.

    Those high requirements usually prevent them from taking jobs in China, he added.

    For instance, a 37-year-old Shanghai-native surnamed Xu returned to the city to find work last August after completing an MBA in France. While he has received several job offers, Xu is still waiting for a management position.

    "It will be a big waste of my overseas MBA degree if I can't be at least a manager," Xu said, adding that he would rather continue to wait.

    Xu is not alone. An earlier report indicated that 35 percent of returned overseas Chinese find it difficult to land a satisfactory job.

    Zhang said that China's gradually opening economy had created abundant job opportunities for returned overseas Chinese, who have stronger foreign language skills and more international experience.

    (Source: Shanghai Daily)