2000–2025: Foreign executives in China

In 2000, China was one of the most promising international assignments for ambitious foreign executives, offering adventure and advantage. In 2025 it remains a strategic destination, but the days of it being an obvious choice for top leadership talent are over. Gabor Holch contrasts the experiences of foreign business leaders in China at the start of the millennium and today across career prospects, motivations, living standards and strategic relevance.

At the turn of the millennium, a posting to China was considered a career breakthrough. In 2025, it still might be – depending on whom you ask.

The year 2000 marked the start of a golden era for foreign executives in China. With accession to the World Trade Organization underway, the country was opening to foreign investment at unprecedented speed. Multinationals in a range of sectors—from automotive to financial services—rushed to establish a foothold, often with nearly non-existent local experience. Leadership roles were offered to foreigners not just for their technical skills, but for their potential to build systems and connect China to global operations.

In 2025 China is no longer a frontier market, nor is it a blank canvas for foreign development. It is a global powerhouse with high domestic expectations, tightened political controls and a long line of local talent seeking lucrative jobs. This evolution has shifted the role of foreign leadership in the country – transforming China from a fast-track promotion into a specialised, often challenging, but still potentially rewarding assignment.

Economic standing: Attractions and tractions

2000: China was a rising giant. The world gazed in awe as its annual gross domestic product growth exceeded 10 per cent, foreign investment poured in, and the country became the workshop of the world. While the majority still underestimated its potential, to the few with unchecked global ambitions it was an unparalleled opportunity. A presence in Shanghai or Beijing was proof that a company was serious about Asia, and a leader who took charge was guaranteed a global stage.

2025: China is the second-largest economy in the world, but the growth narrative has become mature and muted. Political risk, regulatory unpredictability, and competition from emerging markets like India and Vietnam mean that fewer foreign nationals see China as the necessary next career leap. Today’s China is still important but increasingly viewed as one of many strategic markets, not the centre of global momentum.

Source: European Business in China Business Confidence Survey 2025 (BCS 2025)

Motivations to move: Hubris to harmony

2000: In surveys and interviews, foreign professionals often cited a dynamically opening economy, career growth and a chance to maximise their potential as top reasons for relocating to China. Roles came with expansive mandates, the freedom to move fast and take risks, combined with a sense of adventure. Multinationals sought people with high adaptability and in return offered steep upgrades in responsibility, visibility and income.

2025: According to recent surveys like HSBC’s Expat Explorer, motivations have shifted.[1] Post-COVID, managers working abroad value work-life balance, reliable services tailored for foreign nationals, support from company headquarters (HQ) and clarity of purpose. Fewer cite aggressively building a new business as their primary goal. Instead, they look for roles with realistic scopes, strong local teams and measurable impact – often with a side glance at long-term career goals after leaving China.

Assignment goals: Rainmaker to caretaker

2000: The average three- to five-year China posting came with clear expectations: establish operations, build teams, hit growth targets and send reports of rich spoils back to HQ. For foreign professionals, it was a springboard to senior leadership – often within Asia or into global roles. China was a testing ground for high-pressure, high-reward leadership ambitions.

2025: China remains a demanding post, but outcomes are more ambiguous. With fewer greenfield operations and tighter controls on foreign firms, leaders must focus on surviving intense local competition, maintaining local relevance, navigating policy shifts and ensuring compliance. They must also balance extensive stakeholder networks in person and virtually, and mediate between HQ and local teams that insist on localising leadership, operations and work culture. Career-wise, some thrive and others just survive, depending on industry, resources and luck.

Source: BCS 2025

Life in China: Perks and pitfalls

2000: Life for foreign executives was often luxurious. Salary packages generally included housing, drivers, housekeepers and nannies, private schooling, club memberships and even ‘hardship bonuses’. International schools had waiting lists. High disposable income and tailored services made life in China feel like an upgrade. Adjustment was eased by the growing presence of other foreign residents and a rapidly opening social environment in major cities.

2025: The ‘expat bubble’ first shrunk, then burst. Official numbers show the number of foreigners dropped from nearly a million in 2015 to about 700,000 by 2023, but foreign firms report much steeper falls in the number of foreign employees.[2] Meanwhile, compensation packages withered for all but the most senior leaders, leaving others to bargain with employers about local packages, health and education allowances. Many families left due to schooling or visa complications. Thinning expat communities complicate cultural adaptation, and even experienced managers face burnout from political, legal and regulatory uncertainty. Many foreign nationals enjoy a high quality of life in China’s top-tier cities, but they consider themselves settled residents rather than career-focussed professionals.

Business climate: Competition to caution

2000: China was not without risk, but the economy was slowly opening up. Foreign firms had access to new sectors, favourable joint ventures and a regulatory environment that, while inconsistent, seemed to incrementally improve year by year. Executives often acted as entrepreneurs, helping shape local ecosystems. Data flows were largely unregulated, and multinationals could align their China operations with global information technology systems and corporate protocols with relative ease.

2025: Geopolitical and national security tensions, as well as digital restrictions—including the consolidation of the Great Firewall around 2008—severed China from global operations and limited both professional and personal access to global platforms and communities. The Made in China 2025 initiative heightened the competitive heat for foreign firms, particularly in strategic sectors like artificial intelligence, biotech and automotive. Foreign executives now operate in narrower spaces under more constraints, with fewer guarantees of either access or success, and in an ever-changing regulatory space.

Visibility: Obvious to obscure

2000: As China rose to the top of corporate charts, executives who led local subsidiaries to success could expect visibility and promotion. Success was easy to showcase. Annual growth, booming sales, market expansion, ribbon-cutting at factories and offices: China was a boardroom darling. Achievements were celebrated and closely tied to a leader’s upward trajectory. Communication about upward numbers was straightforward and technology aligned with global reporting systems, making it easy to highlight wins.

2025: China experience is still respected, but awareness about developments often fades with time. The duplicate digital systems that companies created to circumvent internet restrictions make results less visible, with results often reaching company HQ through biases of economic rivalry and political alarmism. Being in China, speaking the language and empathy with local realities can isolate executives from the resources, information, support and opportunities available at, or close to, their head offices. Success stories still abound in developing industries, but remain local wins unless foreign executives proactively lobby boards, investors and influential global executives.

Life after China: Stellar to regular

2000: A successful China stint unlocked opportunities across the world. Managers were seen as pioneers capable of launching new markets or turning around underperforming ones. ‘China experience’ became something to highlight on a résumé. While many foreign professionals switched to local contracts or even became entrepreneurs to be able to stay, many others carried positive experiences to their next career location, putting into practice skills and techniques learnt in China.

2025: The value of China experience is more situational. Some executives leverage their insight in nearby hubs like Singapore or Bangkok: remotely running China-based teams has become a lasting trend since the pandemic. Others aim for global strategy or compliance roles. However, due to geopolitical tensions and reputational risks, a name card with a Mandarin flip side no longer carries the same authority. In fact, some HQs prefer to park China veterans in quieter markets before re-integrating them into senior leadership. Corporate careers are boosted elsewhere: in Mexico, the United Arab Emirates or South-East Asia.

Conclusion: From storming to norming

In 2000, China was a career frontier: full of unknowns and high stakes, but with huge upsides. In 2025 it is a highly localised, niche leadership trajectory that requires long-term investment and promises decent returns in one specific yet gigantic market. For the right executive, it is still transformational. But unlike a quarter of a century ago, that transformation now involves the risks of fading global networks and an uncertain future in China itself.

Despite the departure of about two thirds of its foreign national population, foreign leadership in China has not disappeared – it has simply entered a new era. The most successful leaders beyond 2025 will not be the ones with the best résumés or the most polished Mandarin. They will be the ones who can build bridges between local realities and global expectations, between politics and commerce, and between their China years and the next chapter in their international careers.

Gabor Holch coaches and advises multinational executives on upgrading their skills from competent managers to corporate leaders with global mindsets. China-based since 2002 and working globally, Holch is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) in Mandarin and licensed in major assessment tools. His book, Dragon Suit: The golden age of expatriate executives in China, was published in 2023.