Recruiting in China

Chinese graduates are being encouraged by the government to work for non-public companies to boost employment and promote the private economy.

The Ministry of Education on Friday promised to break down barriers so graduates can find jobs in private firms. It said it would also improve the welfare of employees working for private companies, according to a ministry statement.

China has been under increasing pressure to create more white-collar jobs with more people attending college.

Many graduates are trying to grab a position in public offices because of better health care and housing welfare, and slim chances of being laid off.

Statistics showed that applicants taking the civil servant exam this year totaled 1.52 million. However, on average 77 applicants competed for one position, and the enrollment ratio was 7,192:1 for the most wanted government post.

The latest move is also aimed to help spur the private economy's development in the country, which has developed mixed ownership while keeping the dominant role of public ownership.

According to a decision issued last month by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the country decided to lift the status of the private economy and allow more non-public capital into the market.

The central authorities acknowledged the market's "decisive" role in allocating resources.

In Friday's statement, the ministry also asked colleges to encourage graduates to work in small- and middle-sized cities rather than big ones like the provincial capitals.

Graduates are also encouraged to go to the less-developed west parts of China or start a business of their own.

The ministry also said it will establish an employment quality report system, under which various colleges and universities must gradually publicize the employment conditions of their graduates.

Bringing in international students is a bonanza or provinces... so where is Manitoba?

CHENGDU, China -- Sandy Prentice is the international program administrator for the Kootenay Lake School Division. The name rang no bells for me. It helped, however, when Sandy explained Kootenay Lake is the school division that serves Nelson, a town of 8,000 in southwestern British Columbia.

What on earth are you doing here? I asked.

"What everybody else is doing," she responded. "I'm recruiting students."

We were in a great exhibition hall at the impressive Shangri-la Hotel, built on park-like grounds at the forks of the Jin and Funan rivers in downtown Chengdu. The hall was filled with neat rows of booths, like streets along which thousands of students, many with their parents, window-shopped for an "international" school where they might study in English.

The largest "district" in this booth city was occupied by American institutions, but there were strong representations from the U.K., France, Italy, Spain, New Zealand, Ireland and on and on.

Canada occupied a couple of blocks, where, not surprisingly, B.C. and Ontario had the most storefronts. Quebec was there, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan... but not Manitoba.

They were all recruiting students, evidence not so much of a desire to spread "international" know-how, but of the vast amounts of money spreading know-how can earn.

"International education brings into B.C. about $2.1 billion a year," Colin Doerr, a director with the B.C. Council for International Education. "It's right up there with coal development."

B.C. attracts about 23,000 students a year, about one-quarter of the 80,000 international students who arrive in Canada annually. Extrapolating from B.C.'s experience, that makes the sector worth more than $8 billion a year to the Canadian economy.

Not all of those students arrive from China, although a great many of them do.

Sending children abroad to be educated has long been the practice for China's elites. But its popularity is growing as the middle class grows.
Recent Chinese government data indicate 20 per cent of Chinese families are middle-class, meaning 30 per cent of income is available for uses other than necessities. Given China's one-child policy (changed to two-child at the Communist party's recent third plenum) and a culture of saving, it means there are tens of millions of families that can afford to send their child abroad, and they are doing so in ever-greater numbers, and at ever-younger ages.

"Studying abroad is very popular," Ivy Zhang, my Canadian-educated translator said. "People realize that English is a very strong skill, even if you work in China."

Which brings us back to Sandy Prentice, an exemplar if ever there was of how even the smallest Canadian jurisdictions can benefit from reaching out to China, and in particular to the huge, largely untapped second-tier markets such as that offered by Winnipeg's sister city, Chengdu, population 14 million.

Prentice said Nelson realized some time ago there were benefits for both sides in recruiting international students, especially in recent times when Chinese families saw additional benefits in sending their children abroad at high school (and even younger) ages to prepare for university entrance.

Kootenay Lake today teaches 150 foreign students from 11 countries, the biggest contingent from Germany (for whom skiing is a big attraction) followed by Korea, Brazil and China.

Each student earns the school division $12,000 in tuition, a total of about $1.8 million a year, a lot of money for a division that serves a total population of 20,000 -- the 8,000 residents of Nelson and 12,000 more in its catchment.

Then there are economic spinoffs in payments to host families and to the wider B.C. economy as a result of family visits, usually in Vancouver during school breaks. Often families will buy a second residence in Vancouver to facilitate visits over periods that can span six years and more (three high school years and at least three years of postsecondary study).

Prentice explained Nelson is a "white-bread valley" that has few connections with the increasingly international tenor of globalization.

Part of the foster-parent program is designed to change that, if only a little, by requiring families to prepare Chinese meals and share Chinese entertainments. Relationships between foster and Chinese families often become permanent, as do bonds between students and "Mama Bears and Papa Bears."

Colin Doerr, of the B.C. council, said the one-to-one relationships 80,000 international students a year forge over their time in Canada are perhaps the most significant enduring benefit of international education programs... for both sides.
"They provide the single most important partnerships of all that we do," he said.

In the swirl of bodies, I was often stopped and questioned by students, who assumed because of my age and white beard, I must be a professor. Others would stop me for no other reason than to chat in English. One young man followed me for a time eavesdropping on my conversations. "I find it very interesting to listen to what you say," he explained.

At the Saskatchewan booth, we stopped an older woman, thinking she might be considering a career change, but found instead she was an "auntie" picking up brochures for a niece whose mother was at work and could not attend.

The involvement of extended family in educational aspirations is common in China, where traditional family fealty is now more narrowly focused.

The auntie said she was instructed to collect information about Saskatchewan because "it is safe and has clean air."
It was a recurring theme. Hosa, a strapping 6-2 Grade 12 student accompanied by his much shorter parents, said he was looking at Canada because of its "harmony."

His parents, however, were less philosophical.

"Definitely it will be Canada," his father said. "It is a good country with good air quality."

"Saskatchewan has become pretty aggressive about recruitment," said Ian Morrison, a recruiter for the Saskatchewan Institute for Applied Science and Technology. "Saskatchewan's population has grown 10 per cent in the last five years and will grow by 10 per cent again in the next five years, mostly from Asia. Traditionally, we never pursued them (international students) but now we have to. We need them."

He said the Moose Jaw institute has about 350 students from China and is seeking more.

"Most of them are using us for immigration purposes," Morrison said.

For the most part, Chinese students enrol in programs that also earn university credits. After three years, they graduate and are eligible for permanent resident status, which allows them to work. It also makes them eligible for resident tuition fees, which are about one-third of the $10,000 to $15,000 they had been spending as international students.

If all goes well from Saskatchewan's point of view, the students will remain in the province and became highly trained members of the workforce.

We stopped an intense-looking young woman with large, round owl glasses and short pigtails tied above her ears, her clothing and Ugg boots showing a meticulous fashion sense.

Rebecca said she was a Christian and had chosen her name from the Bible.

I confess an inability to guess women's ages in China, perhaps because they are, for the most part, petite.

I asked her if she was looking for a school to which she might go after graduating from high school.

"I am a master's student in linguistics and I'm looking for a school to purse a doctorate," she replied.

Ah, yes, of course.

Rebecca said she was looking for a school in Canada because "I have lots of friends there."

Her English was flawless, but her accent, like so many accents in China where English teachers might be from anywhere in the global village -- from England to India -- was impossible to describe.

She said, however, that the accent of the country in which she studied mattered -- she wants to sound mid-Atlantic.
I asked if she planned to remain in Canada, return to China, or go elsewhere.

"Maybe, it depends," she said.

Which struck me as an extraordinary thing to say. That a young Chinese woman in Chengdu confidently could contemplate a career path that would take her anywhere in the world of her choosing struck me as evidence of how quickly China has changed.

But when I said so, she responded instantly.

"It has always been this way for some people," she said. "Now there are just more of them."

China's maturing economy is creating enormous job opportunities and attracting more overseas students to return home. We hear many stories about lower-than-expected salary offers to people returning from study abroad - some believe the expectations and demands of these returning students are excessive. However, many returnees are already re-aligning their expectations on the basis that starting salary is of secondary importance to career prospects.

The 2013 Beijing autumn job fair for returning students was held on Nov 22, attracting 117 domestic enterprises and over 3000 applicants. Job seekers and employers confirm that there is a new emerging trend in the job market: many applicants are more realistic and have a more reasonable sense of their own value, while employers are willing to offer attractive benefits to recruit overseas-trained talent.

Mr. Xiao Wei is one of the ‘realistic’ job hunters at the fair. He holds a Masters degree in commerce from the Netherlands and has overseas work experience. When asked about his salary expectations during an interview with an auto company at the job fair, he proposed a discreet figure which the employer considered acceptable. Xiao explained that in the first years after returning to China it is vital to accumulate experience and improve all-round abilities and working skills; he is more concerned about whether a job is relevant to his major and offers promising prospects, rather than the salary.

Fei Fei is a young woman who holds a Master degree in legal science from America and has no work experience. She returned to China six months ago. Like Xiaofei, Fei Fei is also keen to find a job which is related to her major, and agrees that the starting salary is not a priority. It is more important to her that she proves herself worthy of a decent salary through work.

On the other side, the cry of “We need talent” was to be heard from employers at the fair. Many of them are willing to offer the best conditions to attract talent, but they are not finding it easy to find the right person who can meet their job requirements.

Bai Zhangde, chief of the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE) said that more than half of returning students have majored in economics, finance, or a related commercial specialty - they have put themselves into a very competitive environment. Meanwhile, in China more large-scale enterprises need staff who are specialized in new materials, new energy, and environmental protection. There is an imbalance in supply and demand in the job market resulting in returnees complaining that there are no jobs for them, while employers struggle to find people who can meet their requirements. Bai suggested overseas students should consider their future career when choosing majors; restricting their focus to today's "hot subjects" is not a smart decision.

Those responsible for recruitment from the employer side consider that returning students have good personalities and decent communication skills.

Zhang Xiaotang, chief of HR from Beijing Technology and Business University commented that they receive many CVs from applicants coming back from various countries, such the UK, the US, Australia, Japan and others. “We welcome people with different backgrounds to join us.” He suggested people who have just returned to China need to adapt to a new environment.

Although many overseas-educated student have advantages in understanding the international way of thinking and have global vision, once they come back to China it is important that they reacquaint themselves with China and adapt themselves to society and to current career requirements.

Many a Chinese company has found the going tough when doing business in Africa, so local entrepreneurs are grabbing the initiative by forming partnerships that will benefit both parties.

Tekeste Sebhat Negga, chief executive officer of Vingu Co Ltd, which deals in cloud technology, is one of them.

Africa often leapfrogs outdated technologies to catch up. It has done that with mobile phones. Cloud computing may be next in line.

"We believe that this is the right time for Africa to move to the future of computing," says Negga, an Ethiopian who is studying electrical engineering and automation at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

"These advances are key for Africa in not only leveling the playing field but also in staying ahead of the curve. Although there are challenges we are very optimistic and are working passionately to achieve our vision of 'Computing for All'."

His partner is VCN Corp of Beijing, which specializes in PC computing technology.

Negga says access to computing will drive the development of Africa. Computing and the Internet are now the foundation of the global knowledge economy but, unfortunately, most Africans do not have any access to the Internet or to computing.

"We started this company because we believed increasing access to computing and the Internet is something that is vital for the development of Africa. We believe that getting affordable and efficient computing in the hands of schools and enterprises in Africa will unlock a new dimension of application - of human potential, creativity, productivity and change."

A promising method is utility computing, he says, whereby computing resources are delivered as a metered service.

"This could be achievable in the future. Today we see cloud computing and virtualization technology as stepping-stones to utility computing. To deliver the future today, we have developed small islands of utility computing devices that will increase access while delivering affordable computing to users in schools, small enterprises and governments."

The word Vingu in the company's name is a hybrid of the English word virtual and the Swahili word wingu, meaning cloud.

The company's services are perfect for universities, Negga says, because they can ensure that all students have access to powerful computing very cheaply. That means they can easily connect to the school network and access files from anywhere on campus at home.

Zhou Tao, chief executive officer of VCN Corp, says the two companies had a common vision before forging their partnership.

"Negga brought some Ethiopian officials to my company for a visit and they became very interested in the desktop cloud technology, which may greatly strengthen the government's information security and centralized management capability," Zhou says.

"Then his team found this technology could be applied to nearly all business sectors, including finance, education, telecommunications, energy and manufacturing."

Given the huge potential of the African market and the relatively low connectivity in the region, Negga and Zhou agreed to share this technology and bring it to Africa.

"The vision is to set up at least one cloud access point in every African village to help them improve their education and information channel at a very low cost," Zhou says.

VCN, as the core technology and products provider, would work with Vingu to sell their technologies and products in Africa.

"I regard Africa as a significant market and my personal interest in and ties with Africa add a lot of non-commercial affection to my business in Africa," Zhou says.

"I believe if the virtual PC or cloud PC technology could be properly promoted, Africa could leapfrog directly to the cloud computing era. The technology VCN is developing is world-class and is as good as, if not better, than anything that is made in the US."

Negga says African technology companies have a lot to learn from their Chinese counterparts - for instance how to strike a balance between advanced technologies and a price point that is manageable for most people.

"Ultimately, we should not forget that technology is not an end in itself but a means to an end. Therefore, to achieve the desired and necessary impact, developing products in a way that is accessible to as many people as possible is crucial."

Chinese companies have managed to satisfy consumer demand in their own country and many may shift their focus to Africa, Zhou says.

VCN says it had had approaches from African companies on possible alliances but had never taken up the idea because it was focused on its home market, and it sees partnership with Vingu as something of a test run.

The Shanghai Gold Exchange plans to launch an international board in the pilot free trade zone to attract offshore yuan capital to invest in the Chinese mainland's gold market, a senior official said yesterday.

"We want to tap the opportunity from Shanghai's pilot free trade zone and launch an international board to attract offshore yuan to invest in the mainland," Xu Luode, chairman of the bourse, said at a precious metals forum in Shanghai yesterday.

The board will ensure that the onshore gold market correlates with the global market, said Xu, without disclosing a timetable for the launch.

Financial reforms in the free trade zone will allow free fund transfers between the zone and offshore markets for the first time, according to a directive issued by the People's Bank of China on Monday.

The Shanghai exchange will establish a system that publishes daily rates at which selected market participants are willing to lend gold in the mainland interbank market, which is similar to the Gold Forward Offered Rates by the London Bullion Market Association, according to Xu.

The world's biggest exchange for physical gold in Shanghai will also offer custody for the metal to retail investors.

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Wednesday issued 4G licenses to three Chinese telecom operators, marking the beginning of a new era in China's high-speed mobile network.

China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom received permits to offer fourth-generation (4G) mobile network services employing homegrown TD-LTE technology.

The ministry said the three companies have conducted large-scale tests of TD-LTE, or Time-Division Long-Term Evolution, one of two international standards, and their technology is ready for commercial service.

Zhang Feng, the MIIT's spokesman, said 4G technology will lower bandwidth costs and promise faster mobile broadband.

The ministry's figures showed that the Internet speed of 4G networks is 10 times that of 3G services, and allows mobile users to download a 7-megabyte music file in less than one second.

China Mobile said the rates for 4G services will be cheaper than those for 3G. In some cities where the company has launched the 4G network for trial commercial use, the tariff is 20 percent less than similar 3G network plans.

Li Yue, president of China Mobile, said the price of 4G smartphones will go down quickly following the approval of the 4G network for commercial use.

Now only a number of smartphone models in China are equipped with modules that support home-grown 4G TD-LTE technology, with their prices ranging from 350 U.S. dollars to 800 U.S. dollars.

Li said 4G terminals for as little as 150 U.S. dollars will be available on the market by the end of this year.

The MIIT also said Wednesday it will test a converged TD-LTE/LTE FDD network at a later date.

China is the major promoter of the TD-LTE standard and is also a major owner of the standard's core patents. LTE FDD is the other international 4G

standard and is popular in Europe.

The MIIT said the convergence of the two standards is gaining momentum in the global telecom industry. A total of 10 converged TD-LTE/LTE FDD commercial networks have been established so far worldwide.

"China will issue licenses for LTE FDD when the condition is ripe," said the ministry.

Experts believe the commercialization of TD-LTE will create a new impetus for China's economic growth, as the country is home to the largest number of mobile phone users in the world.

The ministry's statistics showed that the 3G network contributed 211 billion yuan (34 billion U.S. dollars) to China's GDP in its first three years of commercial use.

"The 4G industry chain, which involves terminal manufacturing and the software sector, will further improve the services of China's telecom sector," said spokesman Zhang Feng.