Microsoft's head count in China will grow 20 percent to 6,000, according to a Reuters report today. The news agency quoted Zhang Yaqin, Microsoft's chairman in China.

"There will be researchers, but most will be involved with product," Yaqin said.

The rapid growth of the company's work force in China fits with its real estate strategy there.

In an interview earlier this year about Microsoft's major Redmond campus expansion, Chris Owens, Microsoft general manager of worldwide real estate and facilities, described the scope of the expansion in China, as well as in India:

"We're building in Hyderabad. We're building in Shanghai right now and we're in design in Beijing. Those are all million square foot campuses. In Hyderabad, we already have three buildings out and it's the fourth building that takes us into the million-plus range."