International banks are eager to expand in China but a lack of local talent and the reluctance of bankers to relocate is holding back hiring.

Standard Chartered, for example, is recruiting aggressively to boost its current China headcount of 4,300. “Our mission is to build human capability and capacity to sustain a high growth momentum in China to cope with a market where supply of experienced talent is very limited,” says a spokesman for the bank.

Standard Chartered, and other banks with a track record in China, have the hiring edge over newcomers, says Hypatia Kingsley, a financial services consultant at Spencer Stuart. “Banks and asset management firms with a strong existing footprint in China will want to take advantage of the current global market turmoil by hiring aggressively there.”

Stephen Small, a director at Pelham Search Pacific, says recruiting is rising for China-based banking jobs, but obstacles, such as higher tax rates, remain. “Often the people who go to China have some personal pull, or they are PRC nationals returning home.”

Kingsley says lifestyle issues also deter bankers from making the move. In the long term, banks want to employ more local people, but expat talent is still needed for some senior roles because China’s workforce lacks the sufficient skills set, she adds. “Banks need people with sophisticated product knowledge, which is often hard to find in China.”

For bankers keen on a Chinese challenge, Kingsley says in-demand jobs include risk, compliance, credit underwriting, marketing and distribution roles. But the need for Mandarin skills and local connections can make it hard for Westerners to relocate.

Such is the senior-level talent shortage that international firms are recruiting from outside the financial industry, taking on staff with consumer sector experience from multinational corporations.

Kingsley explains: “There is a competitive talent market for people who aren’t investment professionals but are high-level operational executives or consultants who can help evaluate deals for principal investment arms of banks and private equity firms.”