Recruiting in China

China has made better-than-expected progress in cutting overcapacity in the steel and coal sectors amid steadfast government efforts to push economic restructuring.

In Hebei Province, where the task in cutting overcapacity is tough, 15.72 million tons of steel production capacity and 14.08 million tonnes of iron were cut in the first half of this year, progressing faster than the same period last year, according to local authorities.

China's steel industry has long been plagued by overcapacity. The government aims to slash steel production capacity by around 50 million tonnes this year.

Nationwide, 85 percent of the target for excess steel capacity had been met by the end of May, through phasing out substandard steel bars and zombie companies, with Guangdong, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces already meeting the annual target, data from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) showed.

About 128 million tons of backward coal production capacity was forced out of the market by the end of July, reaching 85 percent of the annual target, with seven provincial-level regions exceeding the annual target.

As a large number of zombie companies withdrew from the market, companies in the steel and coal sectors have improved their business performance and market expectations.

Lifted by improved demand and lower supply due to government policies to cut steel overcapacity and enhance environmental protection, steel prices continued to pick up, with the domestic steel price index gaining 7.9 points from July to 112.77 in August, and increasing 37.51 points from a year earlier, according to China Iron and Steel Association (CISA).

"It is unprecedented, showing that overcapacity cuts have prompted the healthy and sustainable development of the sector and improved business conditions of steel companies," said Jin Wei, head of CISA.

Companies in the coal sector also gained profits. In the first half, the country's large coal companies registered total profits of 147.48 billion yuan (about 22.4 billion U.S. dollars), 140.31 billion yuan more than the same period last year, according to the NDRC.

Both Chinese and international companies should seize the opportunities offered by the Belt and Road Initiative, according to a report issued by global real estate services firm Cushman and Wakefield.

Since the initiative was proposed by China in 2013, governmental organs and companies from around the world have expressed their strong will to take part in it, the report said.

Some Chinese companies have increased their international competitiveness through self development and business management, while others sought global partnerships or foreign acquisitions to fill existing gaps between them and their global counterparts.

The number of overseas mergers and acquisitions executed by Chinese firms in 2016 increased by 21 percent from the previous year to reach 438, and the amount of actual investment involved grew to 215.8 billion U.S. dollars, up 148 percent than 2015, the report stated, quoting figures jointly issued this June by Shanghai-based advisory firm DealGlobe and Hurun, known for publishing an annual rich list. These deals were mainly made in the manufacturing, financial services and health sectors.

Business opportunities will arise for overseas companies, including outbound capital projects and infrastructure, especially in partnership with Chinese companies, and involvement in supplying equipment, technology and intellectual property, it also said, citing a report issued by PricewaterhouseCoopers earlier this year.

The Belt and Road Initiative, also knows as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes.

Over 100 countries, regions and international organizations have expressed support for or participated in the initiative.

China's job market is steadily expanding, with the survey-based unemployment rate falling to its lowest level since 2012, an official said Tuesday.

China's nationwide survey-based unemployment rate stood at 4.83 percent in September, the lowest since 2012, Ning Jizhe, head of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed at a press conference.[Special coverage]

Some 9.74 million new jobs were created in China's urban regions from January to August, which means the country has already fulfilled 88.5 percent of its official goal to create 11 million new jobs in 2017.

From 2013 to 2016, China's surveyed unemployment rate in 31 major cities stabilized at around 5 percent.

The number of migrant workers leaving their hometowns rose 2.1 percent in the second quarter compared with the same period last year, according to Ning.

The NBS survey-based jobless rate is usually higher than the registered jobless rate released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, which came in at 3.95 percent by the end of the second quarter.

Creating more jobs to stabilize unemployment is a priority for the government as millions of workers face the prospect of redundancy due to mergers and reorganization in industries bogged down by overcapacity.

China aims to maintain the registered urban unemployment rate at under 4.5 percent for 2017.

Some Chinese studying abroad have found it difficult to find a well-paid job when returning to China after graduation in recent years. This is quite unlike they'd imagined.

In fact, some of these job hunters may have just wasted their school time in another country. They thought an overseas diploma alone would guarantee them a decent job, but the job market disagreed, contrary to expectations.

A Xinhua report defined these people as "bathing crabs".

The Yangcheng Lake in East China's Jiangsu province produces a variety of freshwater crabs, called Yangcheng Lake Hairy Crab, every autumn. These crabs are raised in the lake for at least six months, which is what makes them authentic and fetch a high price.

But some counterfeit ones spend a short time - perhaps only a few hours, like taking a bath - in the lake before being passed off as genuine. Those who had not taken their academic careers seriously abroad are seen as "fake" crabs.

Beyond these bathing-crab students who find it difficult to obtain employment, the job-seeking destinies of haigui, or "turtles" - overseas returnees who have studied or been trained abroad - varies, too. Some haigui earn tens of thousands of yuan annually, while others net more than one million yuan (about $150,000) a year.

About 45 percent of haigui earn less than 6,000 yuan ($900) monthly in 2017, according to a survey by the Center for China and Globalization, a Chinese think tank based in Beijing. Nearly 70 percent of them think their current salary is far less than what they had expected.

"Take the United States as an example. A student needs at least $40,000 a year to study there, or $120,000 for three years. One returnee has to be paid at least 10,000 yuan ($1,500) monthly for seven years before he or she gets academic cost back," said Qi Lixin, president of the Beijing Entry & Exit Service Association. He thought this was why the haigui community has high salary expectations.

Development opportunities and favorable policies have attracted a growing number of haigui. According to data from the Education Ministry, about 430,000 came back to China for employment in 2016, 160,000 more than in 2012 — an increase of 58 percent.

There has been a dividing line taking shape to distinguish two groups of returnees, with one group having special skills and the other, not. Quite a few Chinese companies came to this conclusion, based on their recruitment experience. The former are called "big turtles" and the latter "small turtles".

"'Small turtles', without techniques or experience, are sure to be overshadowed in salary by 'big turtles' from prestigious universities and with hands-on backgrounds," said Xu Chuanhai, who represents an overseas education service agency.

In the IT industry, a returnee who has mastered the world's leading technologies can earn up to around 800,000 yuan ($120,000) a year, and those with further managerial experience can even get one million yuan (about $150,000), said Yang Zhiguo, himself an overseas returnee.

Yang studied in Germany for eight years before coming back to China in 2009 and starting up a tech company. His company has been well-developed.

In addition to factors within students' control, like making an effort in study or work, there are also reasons for employment difficulties which are totally objective. One is the choice of major — quite a few haigui had learned something that didn't match what the Chinese market needed.

More than 46 percent of returnees majored in business administration, while humanities and social sciences majors numbered 20 percent, applied science majors 16 percent and natural science about seven percent, according to a report on the haigui community's employment and entrepreneurship in 2017.

If "bathing-crab" returnees want to avoid losing out in job competition, experts said, they should seize every possible opportunity to gain valuable experience when they study abroad, and have more than just a diploma when they return.

As Ant Financial pushes its global drive to tap into Hong Kong's cashless payment market, the tech giant is forming a joint venture with tycoon Li Ka-shing's CK Hutchison Holdings (CKH) to sign up more local users.

The two companies are poised to set up a 50-50 joint venture to offer a consumer-oriented digital wallet under the AlipayHK brand. The deal is expected to be completed later this year, subject to obtaining the nod from regulators.

Neither company has disclosed the amount of their contribution to the joint venture. But market experts speculate that the parties are not disclosing the figures due to the negligible amount compared with the companies' massive portfolios.

Ant Financial, the financial services arm of Chinese mainland e-commerce titan Alibaba Group Holding and operator of the world's largest online payment app Alipay?entered the Hong Kong market with AlipayHK mobile wallet in May this year.

The e-payment app attracted more than 100,000 active users in the two weeks since its launch, and is now accepted at more than 4,000 leading retail brand outlets in the city.

Ant Financial's expansion in Hong Kong is highly aligned with CKH's line of business, which has a strong presence in retail, infrastructure, energy and telecommunications in the city. The group boasts personal care store Watsons, supermarket ParknShop and electronic store Fortress, among many other flagship companies in Hong Kong.

Ant Financial said in a statement that apart from mobile payment, Alipay's many in-app lifestyle features and third-party insurance products are among the traits that drew the attention of CKH. Currently, Hong Kong users can easily buy travel insurance and accident insurance from mainland insurance companies such as Ping An and China Life through AlipayHK.

Martin Bao, senior analyst of ICBC International, said the partnership is a big step in Alipay's global drive. Alipay has extended its cashless payment network in many countries but is mostly for the convenience of mainland tourists going abroad. The alliance with local partner CKH demonstrates Ant Financial's ambition to woo local users, he said.

Currently, the most dominant cashless payment in Hong Kong is the Octopus card, a rechargeable card that is widely accepted by Hong Kong residents to pay for transportation, as well as items at convenience stores and small retailers. Yet Bao said the pre-top up mode, which requires citizens to top up the balance before paying, occupies a portion of citizens' disposable capital, and is less convenient than Alipay's real-time payment system.

Ant Financial, hailed as the mainland's biggest unicorn with an estimated valuation of more than $60 billion, is considering going public in the mainland or Hong Kong.

The average pay for college graduates has gone up by 7.4 percent year-on-year, according to a survey published Wednesday by China International Intellectech Corporation, a State-owned human resources company.

The survey shows the pay for college graduates this year is 4,854 yuan ($741) for graduates, 6,791 yuan for postgraduates and 9,982 yuan for PhD graduates.

The salary in first-tier cities is 5,218 yuan for graduates, 7,612 yuan for postgraduates, and 10,077 yuan for PhD graduates.

It indicates 47 percent of the employers have hired more people this year, while 21 percent cut down on their recruitment numbers.

Sixty two percent of the polled enterprises said hiring desirable employees became more difficult this year, due to excessively high expectations of graduates and low name recognition of employers.

The survey polled more than 2,800 enterprises in sectors including finance, internet and manufacturing.

A record 7.95 million graduates entered the workforce this year.