These job agencies offer white- and dark-skinned clients to Chinese business owners, who hire them to pose as employees or partners at important meetings with dignitaries or potential investors.
The mainland is closed to foreign domestic help. But that is not stopping many from hoping the days of employing a Filipino housekeeper are close at hand.
A Frenchman and a Japanese have been named model workers - the first time expatriates in Beijing have been given the honor.
As part of a movement to attract overseas Chinese professionals to fill jobs in various cities across China, a delegation of high-level officials from Jinan in East China's Shandong province interviewed over 50 candidates in New York last week for 150 positions they aim to fill in stages over the next five years as part of the city's "5-150" jobs campaign.
When expectations are high, disappointment can be deep. This is true for both employers and job seekers in China's expatriate employment market.