More than half of firms on the Chinese mainland are expected to take on staff this year, according to a recruitment survey released on February 23.

The report by global recruiters, Michael Page, surveyed nearly 1,000 employers and found that 55 percent of domestic firms set to recruit more staff this year, compared to 41 percent of multinational corporations.

Peter Smith, managing director of Michael Page East China, sDaid, "The reason for the gap is that domestic companies are more optimistic about the economic outlook while the multinational corporations are struggling to achieve a better performance and to reduce the labor costs in China."

According to the 2017 China Salary and Employment Outlook from Michael Page, 44 percent of local companies will be offering salary increases of six percent to ten percent.

"As domestic companies mature, they are turning their efforts to employee retention and building a strong portfolio of business leaders. They continue to invest in recruiting and retaining quality professionals across all departments and levels of seniority," Smith added.

In 2017, key sectors in China set to hire aggressively include renewable energy, financial technology and financial payment processing, digital media and consumer electronics.

Primary manufacturing and industrial sectors will continue to struggle as demand weakens.

"We also notice that the establishment of Shanghai Free Trade Zone has had an impact on the recruitment market, especially in logistics, real estate, digital marketing, e-commerce and healthcare," said Xu Weiwei, director of Michael Page China.

(Xinhua News Agency February 23, 2017)