It wasn't the adventure, the food or the exciting surroundings that made Julie Herreman so grateful for her six years as an expat in China. It was what happened next.

“As soon as I got back to France I was offered two job options,” said Herreman, 34, who is now the manager of the human resources Europe team for SMCP, a major French clothing retailer. She said her experience as a recruitment consultant in Shanghai made her a catch for French firms. Now she oversees a team of five and is responsible for all recruitment, payroll and training for the European zone.

“China still intrigues,” said Herreman, who said it would have otherwise taken her months otherwise to find the perfect job. “It opens a lot of doors.”

It’s a sentiment many former China expats are feeling after they return to their home countries.

Lack of talent in China a decade or so ago meant that companies were scrambling for people from other countries to fill positions, and were often quick to trust those who were bold enough to accept jobs there.

Many of these early expats in China fast-tracked their way up the corporate ladder. That gave them plenty to use to their advantage when they headed home—a trend that has continues as more expansion-minded companies across the globe recognise the value of having worked in China

Such was the case for Christina Aman-Riglet, 31, a restaurant marketing director who moved to Beijing in 2009. She was offered a sales and events manager’s position in a five-star hotel just out of graduate school. She parlayed that experience into a job as head of the marketing and business development arm of a small start-up group called Mosto. That proved smart: Mosto has become an award-winning brand with several restaurants scheduled to open across the Middle Kingdom.

Back in the United Kingdom since December, it took Aman-Riglet less than a month to land three job offers.

“It’s only now I realise what China has really given me. It’s definitely been a career boost,” she said.

Expat attraction

Figures published by the Centre for Future Studies show that the number of expats working in China reached 38,000 in 2011 from 31,160 in 2007. But most estimates say there are as many as 400,000 foreigners living and working in China, now, with that figure increasing about 5% annually.

Today many have returned home with unique professional and personal skills that could not have been acquired elsewhere. At a time when China boasts the world’s second-largest economy, and companies of all kind are scrambling to break into a growing middle class market of Chinese consumers, this group of professionals has in-depth knowledge of how things really happen in China, plus in-country contacts and an invaluable network that can be leveraged by companies worldwide.