China's expatriate population is expected to grow this year, according to a recent study by Hewitt Associates, a global human resource services company. Traditionally that would mean more expatriate men working in China, but the newest tendencies indicate that international career women are entering the Chinese labor market, as well.

Shanghai holds a large concentration of China's expatriate population, in which the United States and Germany have large communities. According to the Shanghai Municipal Labor and Social Security Bureau, 51,000 foreign people were working in Shanghai in June 2006, of whom more than half were employed in the service industry such as marketing.

At the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Shanghai, the largest US chamber in Asia with 3,600 members, one-fourth are women, and the number is increasing. All of the members are mid- to top-level professionals.

Brenda Foster is both a high-profile member of the expatriate community and AmCham Shanghai's president. Recruited from Hawaii to take the position in September, Foster says Shanghai is a vibrant city and progressive toward expatriate women.

"There are many examples of successful businesswomen in this town, both expatriates and local women," Foster says. "As long as you are willing to work hard, there are few other cities in the world that offer as much opportunity as Shanghai does for professional women."

Another international businesswoman working in Shanghai is Gerda Wellnitz of Germany. In March 2006, she sold her successful marketing business in the Munich area before moving to Shanghai.

Now Wellnitz, 43, is the marketing and sales director of Yingyazhijie Advertising. She specializes in offering German customers a combination of marketing at the executive level and a knowledge of the intercultural challenges of working between Chinese and European companies.

Putonghua is important

"I am putting the culture gap to positive use," she says about her way of working in marketing in China.

Wellnitz started learning putonghua when she moved to Shanghai "because it is very important in the communication industry to know the local language, and it also improves my understanding on how Chinese people think".

"In order to succeed in Shanghai as a businesswoman, you need enthusiasm and a network," she says. "Things take time. Since I might live in Shanghai for only three or four years, I am not establishing my own business here."

Nearly 10 years ago, Sharon Rugebregt became the youngest woman in Indonesia to attain a high-profile position as director of sales and marketing. She managed the prestigious Hyatt Hotel in Jakarta until she moved to Shanghai in December 2005. Now, at 34, she provides marketing for Lufthansa as well as some local hotels in Shanghai.

"For me it is key to be recognized as myself, not just as Mrs Rugebregt," she says, suggesting when it comes to many jobs gender doesn't matter.

(China Daily January 25, 2007)