SHENYANG, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- China has a "growing need" for overseas Chinese professionals who return to China to support their country's development, according to the State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs (SAFEA).

Speaking at the 2006 Conference on the International Exchange of Professionals in Shenyang, spokesman Liu Yongzhi, said more and more Chinese professionals are preferred in various sectors because of their advanced technology and management experiences.

But Liu insisted that foreign experts will not be completely replaced by Chinese returning from overseas.

He said foreign experts have their own advantages, such as different cultural backgrounds and unique ways of thinking, and as economic globalization continues, the exchange of technologies and professionals between different countries is inevitable.

Liu said that some foreign experts have been replaced by returned overseas Chinese but foreign experts with innovative thinking, technological expertise and excellent decision-making are still in urgent need in China and will be introduced from abroad in the following five years. Enditem