Wendy Zhang/ Shanghai Daily news

Domestic headhunters should prepare for the competition from their foreign counterparts, as foreign investors are allowed to hold controlling stakes of joint ventures in Pudong New Area starting this month, Youth Post reported today.
According to the trial plan in Pudong New Area, as of this month, foreign investors are allowed to hold a maximum stake of 70 percent in headhunting joint ventures, while previously the proportion was 40 percent. It is the first of its kind in China.
By the first half of this year, the Pudong New Area attracted foreign-invested companies from 100 countries and regions, while renowned foreign headhunter companies are quite limited. Foreign headhunters will bring their brand-new ideologies and experience to the Chinese market, said a spokesman with the Pudong Personnel Bureau.
Foreign headhunters are upbeat about the opening of the market. "The Chinese labor market is quite large and we have waited for this for three years, and finally the day has come," said a foreign headhunter. "Our main target is senior talents with annual salaries of more than 300,000 yuan (US$37,500). We plan to move our headquarters to Shanghai to tap the Chinese market," he pointed out, adding that Chinese headhunters are not as qualified.
Domestic headhunters are worried about the opposition. "Compared with foreign counterparts, we lack quality clients, and the market is not as standardized," explained a headhunter in Shanghai.