To attract and hire high-level international faculty to leading universities is an important task in building world-class universities in China. However, there is much left to explore and to understand about international faculty in China. Based on a brief review of China's higher education system and international faculty, findings from "A National Survey of International Faculty at Chinese Universities and Colleges" (conducted in 2017), and case studies of four leading universities in Shanghai, this study explores the main characteristics and motivations of international faculty in China by discipline, age, gender, and so forth. More specially, it explores the individual, educational, and professional characteristics of international faculty at Chinese colleges and universities, how these characteristics vary among different groups of international faculty, and why they came to Chinese leading universities?