Not what I wanted to see:

COMPANIES on China’s mainland are expected to face less resistance from expatriates on localization of compensation packages amid the economic downturn, an industry survey said yesterday.

Corporations are still optimistic about the Chinese mainland’s economic growth and still see cross-border movements into the mainland increasing, said PricewaterhouseCoopers International Ltd yesterday in Shanghai, quoting a survey finding. The firm surveyed 112 companies on the mainland from July to October, with 92 percent of them multinational companies.

"China’s mainland remains the top assignment location in Asia," said Stacy Kwok, a partner of the accounting firm. He said that companies could find it easier to lure expatriates to work on the mainland even if compensation packages were to be localized, especially during the current economic climate.

On the other hand, "localized" is a very non-specific term. Technically, I’ve never enjoyed an expat benefits package the whole time I’ve been in China, that is if one defines that as annual paid trips home, housing benefits, all the bells and whistles. I do have health insurance at the moment, which is nice.

The point is, a localized package can still be pretty good, and the distinction doesn’t matter as much these days as it used to.

Still, that article did not make me happy.