THE Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone is attracting top-level finance talents from across China and, indeed, around the world. Wing Tan meets two professionals in the industry and learns what attracts them to Pudong.

From high-level corporate managers to those who have just started their career here, the Lujiazui financial zone in the Pudong New Area is a magnet that is attracting a steady flow of financial talents.

Helen Huang, deputy general manager

At first glance, Helen Huang is a stereotypical career woman with immaculate hair, a gray flannel suit with a fine silk dress and spotless leather high-heels. The Chinese-Canadian joined Fortune SG Fund Management Co Ltd in 2003 (the country's first authorized joint venture fund management company in the trust sector). She was promoted to deputy general manager two years ago.

However, unlike some career women who keep a poker face, Huang smiles often and is quick to make jokes.

Having worked and lived in Pudong for almost 10 years, the Nanjing native calls Shanghai her second hometown and jokes that she is growing with the Lujiazui financial zone.

A dinner with friends on the top floor of Jin Mao Tower in 2000 during a vacation was when she first thought of leaving Canada to work in Pudong, Shanghai.

"Back in 2000, there were not as many office towers as today. Back then there were China Insurance Building and the Bank of China Tower. The Super Brand Mall hadn't been built yet, not to mention this building where I'm working," the 40-year-old recalls.

"At that time, as an overseas Chinese who just came back, I found these buildings more elegant than those in Hong Kong and they have a stronger sense of design than Shenzhen (Guangdong Province)," she adds.

Her office sits on the 58th floor of the Shanghai World Financial Center, which boasts a magnificent view of Pudong.

The sound finance environment and a promising career future were the main reasons Huang decided to move back.

"Shanghai has earned its reputation as a financial hub and banking base since the early 1900s. For a 'financial person' like me, the city always holds a great attraction," she says.

After completing her MBA from Schulich Business School at York University in Toronto, Huang worked at TD Securities and Acthop Investment Co Ltd. With rich experience in financial analysis, corporate accounting and management, Huang joined Fortune SG in 2003 as chief operating officer and was responsible for corporate finance and strategy and fund operations.

"During the early 2000s, finance and banking in China were still in an infant stage, which means there was huge potential for the domestic market," she says.

Promoted to deputy general manager in 2009, Huang now focuses more on innovative areas such as quantitative investment and overseas investment business.

Long hours and tremendous pressure make it a demanding job. Huang regularly works until midnight, compiles loads of reports, digests piles of information, attends various meetings daily and participates in training programs.

"Sometimes I can't get to sleep and it's easy to wake up at night. We're tense," she admits.

However, having been in the industry for more than 20 years, she has found a way to balance the job and family life.

Reading and outdoor sports are her ways to relax.

"I found reading and outdoor activities have something in common, that is, both can give people a moment of peace," she says.

A real financial center

She hopes Pudong can have more parks and greenery. "Fancy buildings are, of course, beautiful but they can also make me feel strained when walking through the concrete jungle."

Each year she takes a holiday with her family. Her 10-year-old son studies in an international class of a local school in Pudong.

"Judging by the number of financial companies and the business volume, Lujiazui has been a real financial center in Asia. Its public facilities, to some degree, are even better than Hong Kong, New York and London," Huang says.

However, the manager also points out that Lujiazui has to attract as many financial talents as possible if it wants to stand shoulder to shoulder with global financial centers such as London or New York.

"Lujiazui should be acting like a magnet, drawing not only investment but also talented people, the latter which I think is more important for Pudong now," she says.

The local government has launched a series of preferential policies in recent years to attract financial professionals. The policies include tax reductions and exemptions as well as housing subsidies.

"The government is doing things, which we should give them thumb-ups for," Huang says.

"I hope Lujiazui will grow quickly and in a healthy way with more joining the zone, more free capital flow and more innovative products being launched. Above all, the value and culture generated from this financial zone will have a positive impact on people, who are open-minded, inspiring and passionate for creation," she adds.

Charlie Qiao, project manager

Charlie Qiao has finally found his niche in Lujiazui. The Sichuan native, who has been in Shanghai for almost three years, is a project manager at Zhongshan Securities.

"The open and broad financial platform is the reason I came here," he says.

Qiao clearly remembers his first visit to Shanghai in 2007.

"Standing on the top of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower and surrounded by the nearby glitzy office buildings, I felt thrilled," he says. "I didn't think that one day I could have my own career here."

Two years later Qiao returned and started his career life. As a newcomer, he worked hard to fit in with this fast-tempo metropolis.

"Numerous reports to write and clients to visit during the day, while at night my colleagues and I are reading loads of difficult books on accounting, laws and tax to gain various certificates," he says. "Working until late at night is normal for us."

However, the project manager admits he enjoys the challenges.

"No pain, no gain. Everyone engaged in this industry has to learn to shoulder the great pressure. It pushes your limits each time to make you a stronger person," he says.

Qiao's ambition in five years is to become a professional dealing with IPOs for corporate clients. His long-term blueprint is to settle down in Shanghai.

Outside work, he likes taking a stroll in the central green belt around the financial center to get away from the stressful office, at least for a while.

As one of the young financial professionals in Lujiazui, Qiao benefits from the shuttle bus lines between the Metro station and office buildings, the breakfast vans in the morning and the stock and securities information updated on the outdoor LED screens in the financial center.

"They are small things, but they do show care for those working in Lujiazui." he says.