The findings come from ZW HR Consulting, noting how China’s recent strong economic growth has been partly driven by multinationals. The types of companies tracked by ZW HR Consulting include banking and financial institutions.

A “source of concern”, the headhunter said, is that there are large “culture gaps” between multinationals and the local Chinese population.

“We have recently noted that more based in China have begun to reduce the number of foreign staff, especially in management-type positions, shifting focus to the local market; in fact, our ZW China Salary Guide for 2015 indicated that local Chinese candidates who are fluent in English are going to be paid better and hired faster by these companies,” Joyce Jing, ZW HR Consulting's general manager, said.

“Throughout the year, we have seen a high demand for business-savvy English-speaking professionals among the foreign multinationals," Jing said. "Skilled finance professionals fluent in English are currently in short supply and high demand; as a result, they are finding themselves in a strong negotiating position, with companies expecting to offer premiums of at least 20 to 30 per cent for the right candidate in 2015,” she said.

With globalisation becoming ever more powerful, large firms have begun to put even stricter English regulations on their office locations around the world. Some global companies are now adopting or mandating English as the global language for internal company communication, even among those whose share a common tongue other than English, the headhunter said.

In an earlier report (issued on 31 July), the firm’s China Salary Guide found an annual rise in pay from 5-10 per cent to as high as 35 per cent across sectors; there are more cases of firms searching internally for talent, with internal mobility on the rise, it noted.

(Editor’s note: The focus on the need for English language among multinational employees in China should not breed complacency in the West that it is not necessary to study Asian languages hard, such as Mandarin. It is likely that a focus on study of certain Asian languages will need to be part of a thorough talent management strategy for banks and wealth managers going forward.)