City of London lures Chinese speakers to handle surge of work; “I would be very surprised if any other European city had anything like the same number of Chinese speakers working in its financial sector.”
April 7, 2014 Leave a comment
March 24, 2014 2:38 pm
City of London lures Chinese speakers to handle surge of work
By Brian Groom, Business and Employment Editor
The number of Chinese speakers working in the City of London has jumped in the past year as London reinforces its position as the biggest renminbi trading hub outside China, research by a recruiter has found.
Mandarin has jumped from the eighth to fourth most commonly quoted language on CV applications, according to Astbury Marsden. Cantonese has also entered the top 10 and is now the sixth most commonly cited foreign language among City workers.
The company said the increases were the result of investment banks employing more Chinese speakers to deal with a recent surge in work for Asian markets and increased investment from China into London.
Last October, the UK government announced an agreement allowing British institutions to invest directly in Chinese stocks and bonds from London, while Chinese investment banks will benefit from lighter regulations if they wish to set up branches in Britain.
Chinese investors such as Ping An Insurance have also stepped up their investment in London property.
Jonathan Nicholson, managing director at Astbury Marsden, said: “I would be very surprised if any other European city had anything like the same number of Chinese speakers working in its financial sector.”
French was the most common language, followed by Spanish and German. Russian came eighth thanks to the City’s strong links with Russia, with many Russian companies holding dual listings in London.
Italian, Indian languages, Arabic and Portuguese were also in the top 10.
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