Multinational companies sent fewer foreign employees to the Chinese mainland in 2009, as they aimed to cut costs during the global financial crisis, a consultancy firm said.

In contrast, the number of Chinese employees with overseas educational background and foreign staff hired within China increased, according to a report issued yesterday by Mercer, a global human resources and related financial advice provider.

"Because of the impact of global financial crisis, many multinational companies have re-evaluated the value brought by cross-board dispatch," Zhang Lei, business director of Mercer China, said.

Among senior management staff, the number of people sent from foreign countries dropped by 6 percent, compared to last year. But the number of foreign staff hired from within the Chinese mainland increased by 12 percent, the report showed.

The largest decrease - 10 percent - was among professional technical staff.

Liu Ning, a Mercer spokesman, said foreign employees sent to China bring experience and technology.

"Because they fully understand enterprises' global strategy, they can execute it better," Liu said. "Even through the global financial crisis has passed, the number of dispatched people at a senior level will not fall sharply in a short time, as local people cannot match their skills quickly."

"But for some relatively low positions, companies can find suitable people to replace them," Liu added.

Zhao Zhong, a professor at the School of Labor and Human Resources in the Renmin University of China, said the number of dispatched foreign employees would continue to fall, as local people have a better knowledge of Chinese society.

"Multinational companies can find qualified local staff in China, though the number is still limited now," Zhao said. "But there is a trend that companies no longer need to rely on dispatched foreign employees."

The survey also found 40 - 50 percent of multinational companies froze foreign employees' salaries this year. Among enterprises that raised salaries in 2009, the rise range was the same or even less than that of 2008.

About 38 percent of companies used 'local pay' scales for foreign employees in 2009, an increase of 26 percent on last year.

The survey investigated 91 leading multinational companies in various fields, including high technology, consumer goods, and the chemical and auto industries. The Chinese mainland had 217,000 foreign employees at the end of 2008.