Ya-Qin Zhang, president of Microsoft (MSFT) China, has told local media that Microsoft China will recruit 1000 engineers in the new fiscal year and this would bring its total employee number in China to 6000.

Zhang said that the 1000 people would mainly work on product development. Zhang previously disclosed that Microsoft had purchased land in Beijing and Shanghai for building R&D parks and he said at that time that with the land purchase, Microsoft China would be able to provide office space for 8000 employees in the coming two to three years.

Microsoft was reportedly planning to spend US$150 million on human resources in the Chinese mainland last year and this year, the expenditure is expected to increase by about 40%.