Recruiting in China

Chinese companies are increasingly attractive to professionals: Study

China's workforce is maturing and giving priority to different aspects of corporate culture, a new survey shows.

The 2013 MRIC Talent Report by recruitment firm MRIC/MRI China Group surveyed more than 5,000 Chinese professionals and managers on the Chinese mainland, and in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan.

It found that Chinese professionals were "increasingly being lured" by local corporations, as State-owned enterprises and domestic private-sector companies expand within the nation and abroad.

Chinese companies are "increasingly attractive when compared with Western (multinational corporations) in terms of career growth and development," wrote Christine Raynaud, chief executive officer of MRIC, and Angie Eagan, managing director of MRIC in China.

Chinese companies may be able to "draw on strong nationalistic sentiment" with workers because there is "pride associated with working for a Chinese company - especially one that is seen as progressive and technologically sophisticated with good career opportunities," the authors wrote.

China's economy is no longer expanding at a double-digit pace, and MRIC found that foreign companies are not investing as aggressively as previously.

Therefore, Chinese workers are realizing that "foreign companies do not necessarily offer broader roles or great job security", according to the report.

Respondents in the survey said they valued companies with clear visions for the future, which helps clarify workers' career paths.

During times of fast economic growth, companies developed "fast-track promotion" programs, but "people now realize that a title change does not necessarily mean a broader role or greater job security".

Chinese professionals are now looking for companies with effective business strategies in China that allow for long-term growth.

As businesses in China mature, MRIC noted that leadership needs have also evolved.

"When we look at the most important aspects of culture to employees (and see) the belief in fairness and promotion on merit, we begin to build a picture of the expectations that are placed on leaders in China today," MRIC said.

Asked how their company culture rates in terms of fairness and promotion on merit, 18.9 percent of workers at Chinese companies rated their companies as "poor," compared with 15.4 percent of foreign firms.

In the area of work-life balance, professionals are facing more travel and time spent working away from home, as Chinese businesses expand.

Female respondents (42 percent) said that flexibility in work is the most important aspect of work-life balance, compared with 36.3 percent of male respondents.

Among women, 25.8 percent said it is important to have regular working hours with little or no overtime, compared with 17.4 percent of male workers.

As Shanghai builds out the Shanghai International Shipping Center and the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, the city's Baoshan district is pushing ahead with the construction of its own two development zones, the Chinese Cruise Tourism Development Pilot Area and the Shanghai International Cruise Industry Development Comprehensive Reform Pilot Area.

Baoshan, the heart of which is the Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal, is developing its own cruise industry, in a move to pour new vitality into the transformation and development of Binjiang New Area.

In September of this year, the Ministry of Transport of China and the Municipal Government of Shanghai jointly published their opinions concerning the implementation of the Overall Scheme for the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone as a means to accelerate the establishment of the Shanghai International Shipping Center. In the document the two authorities mentioned for the first time that they encourage the development of the cruise industry and support the establishment of a port of call for cruise ships in Shanghai.

Baoshan is presently considering the proposed ways to connect the Chinese Cruise Tourism Development Pilot Area to the Free Trade Zone, including setting up cruise service firms in the Free Trade Zone jointly with foreign cruise companies; partnering in ventures such as cruise travel agencies, cruise staff training, cruise staff recruitment agencies and cruise ship materials supplies; using the experience of foreign cruise service firms in market operation; and actively extending the cruise industry chain to enhance the growth and development of Shanghai's cruise industry.

Policies such as "allowing the establishment of bonded exhibition and trade platforms in certain areas" clearly specified in the Overall Scheme for the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone can be applied to Binjiang New Area in Baoshan, allowing the area to set up duty-free showrooms and trade centers specially for cruise ship passengers.

Baoshan aims to become the flagship cruise terminal in China and even in Asia, by proactively connecting to the Free Trade Zone, by furnishing all the services necessary for a cruise ship's port of call as well as by building out the infrastructure needed to encourage cruise companies to choose Baoshan for their headquarters. The district plans to actively develop ancillary markets related to the cruise industry and attract cruise liner, yacht and pleasure-boat firms whose main businesses are the offering of cruise-related services.

Ultimately Baoshan intends to expand the definition of what is meant by "cruise industry", by making Binjiang the pioneer in the development of the industry in China, so that the area can rightfully become known as the "Long Beach of Shanghai" and serve as the beachhead for the development of the sector across China and even Asia. The district will also explore the best ways to set up convenient customs clearance facilities in the demonstration area, including 48-hour visa-free transit and the set-up of duty-free shops and refund offices within the area. In addition to existing routes to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and to Southeast Asia, long-haul routes –including some to Europe and the United States- should be launched in the future from Wusongkou terminal. Wang Hong, secretary of the CPC Shanghai Baoshan District Committee, said Baoshan is actively seeking to become a core part of Greater Shanghai in line with Shanghai's urban development planning.

The Wusongkou Interational Cruise Terminal was approved for trial operation on March 1, 2012. The design of the terminal includes 1,500 meters of frontage facing the water, two large cruise ship berths which have already been completed as part of the 774 meters of frontage that were part of the first phase of the project. The two berths can simultaneously accommodate two 200,000 tonnage cruise ships. A 514-meter approach bridge connects the terminal with its rear clearance platform. The 23,000-square meter terminal with an annual passenger throughput of 608,000 people provides comprehensive entry and exit facilities for tourists, including the passenger terminal, boarding corridor and boarding equipment and other supporting passenger service facilities.

A second phase will add two more berths and extends the terminal by 736 meters to address the berthing demands of two large cruise ships. The Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal is the largest specialized cruise terminal in terms of capabilities, the size of cruise ships served and passenger traffic. By 2014, the terminal is expected to serve 239 cruise ships and 1.15 million passengers. Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal chairman Chen Xiqi advocates the development of marine tourism, cultural and leisure activities as well as high-end hotels to create a true cruise terminal "portal" in China and a global cruise hub port.

Microsoft Corp’s online chatting arm, Skype, announced a new joint venture in China after ending its six-year partnership with Li Kashing-controlled media conglomerate Tom Group.

Skype’s new partner will be GMF, an Internet communications company co-created by Founder Group and State-owned newspaper Guangming Daily.

Details of the partnership deal were not disclosed.

The lesser-known GMF will help Skype build a good relationship with the Chinese government because of its parent companies’ backgrounds, said Judd Harcombe, head of Skype’s global market development.

He added that Skype, which specializes in online instant messaging and video call services, will launch more localized services for Chinese users in order to boost its user base.

Chen Jiandong, vice-president of Guangming Daily’s flagship website, said the joint venture will help GMF to better engage the mobile Internet market and develop new-media business.

Established in 2003, Skype has more than 300 million active users globally. It entered the China market in 2004 and achieved a sizeable user population among high-end customers.

Microsoft acquired Skype in 2010 for $8.5 billion to replace its Windows Live Messenger instant-messaging service.

Local services such as WeChat and QQ have been mounting a strong threat to the United States company since 2010. QQ is said to be the most-used online chatting service in China based on customer count. The company declined to provide a figure.

Toronto has been named the “most youthful city” in the world, while Shanghai ranked No 20, according to a new survey released on Monday.

The Canadian city was followed by Berlin and New York in the first YouthfulCities Index, a ranking of 25 global cities based on 80 indicators within 16 categories of urban life, including youth employment, financial access, economic status, civic participation, food, sports, music and art.

Toronto scored among the top five in more than half of the 16 categories and ranked No 1 for diversity.

Shanghai, which was the only Chinese city on the index, ranked fifth overall in the category of public space, sports and gaming and had the lowest youth unemployment rate among all surveyed cities.

Other youth-friendly Asian cities included Tokyo, which ranked ninth but came in first for economic status.

Seoul, the 10th most youth-friendly city, ranked first for environmental sustainability.

Some 1,600 young people aged 15 to 29 were surveyed for the index.

The aim of the survey was to “measure cities from a youth perspective”, said Youthful Cities, an organisation that helps youth and civic leaders to build better cities.

“We want to transform the insights that we gather through the Index to inspire a programme of action that allows young people to make their cities more attractive places to live, work and play,” it said.

Chinese real estate developers owed at least 3.8 trillion yuan (US$623 billion) in land appreciation tax between 2005 and 2012, according to a China Central Television report.

However, property companies hit back, with one saying the report was based on a “misunderstanding.”

Another threatened to sue.

In a weekly consumer program on Sunday, CCTV said the firms should have paid more than 4.6 trillion yuan in land taxes, but authorities collected just 800 billion yuan.

The CCTV report cited Li Jinsong, a Beijing-based lawyer and also certified public accountant and tax agent. Li had tracked data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation.

The CCTV report did not say how many firms were alleged to have failed to pay taxes, but said they included 45 listed Chinese property developers, trading both domestically and overseas.

In China, developers must pay tax on the increase in the value of their land when they sell properties on the land or transfer the lease.

Developers which failed to pay the tax included China Vanke Co, SOHO China Ltd, Agile Property Holdings Ltd and Guangzhou R&F Properties Co, CCTV said.

Its report said the Beijing Huayuan Group owed around 540 million yuan, SOHO China 6.4 billion yuan, and China Vanke, the country’s largest homebuilder by sales, 5.8 billion yuan.

Huayuan President Ren Zhiqiang threatened to sue CCTV.

“I only know the stupidity and ignorance of CCTV after seeing this report,” said Ren on his widely followed microblog. “It wrongly assumed company’s provision for the tax as an immediate obligation for payment of the tax. The LAT will be due after developers complete the project.”

He added: “I’m studying how to publicly prosecute CCTV.”

Li, the lawyer cited in the report, defended his claims on his microblog.

“I only know your stupidity and ignorance in the field of taxation after reading your posts,” he shot back at Ren.
“Please consult your chief financial officer before posting.”

China Vanke said yesterday that it obeyed all laws and regulations in its business operations and remained an honest taxpayer.

“The CCTV report was probably based on a misunderstanding,” Vanke told netease.com. “It mistook ‘provision’ for ‘obligation.’”

Gemdale Corp, which was said to owe 2.6 billion yuan, told the website it was “inappropriate” to use the word “owe.”
It also questioned the accuracy of data used in the CCTV report.

Last night, more than 10 real estate developers named in the CCTV report, including Gemdale, Huayuan and COFCO Property, filed statements with the country’s two stock exchanges saying that they did not owe tax.

Huawei Technologies Co., which is struggling to break out of the mold of a Chinese company, is recruiting more Western executives and rolling out a long-term incentive program to attract foreign workers.

The moves come as the Shenzhen-based company expands aggressively overseas and tries to remake itself into a global brand. Huawei, which generates two-thirds of its revenue outside China, is now the world's second-largest supplier of telecommunications-network equipment after industry leader Ericsson. ERIC-B.SK -0.30%

Yet Huawei's senior executives are predominantly Chinese, and only about one-quarter of its 150,000 employees are non-Chinese nationals.

Huawei's fast growth in the telecom-equipment market has drawn criticism in the West.

A U.S. congressional report last year labeled the company a security threat and questioned whether it has close ties to the Chinese government. Similar concerns have been raised in Australia and the U.K. Huawei has denied the allegations.

To attract workers in India, where Huawei hires many engineers for its local research-and-development facility, the company earlier this year introduced an employee-benefit program modeled after its China share-ownership program. That program lets Chinese workers buy a stake in the company and profit when Huawei does well.

Huawei plans to roll out this benefit to other countries, said spokesman Roland Sladek. He declined to elaborate.

The move is significant because Huawei has called its Chinese share-ownership program a driver of the company's success. About 74,000 of the 110,000 Chinese nationals employed at Huawei are shareholders.

In India, Huawei employees become eligible after two years. But unlike its China program, overseas employees can't actually own a stake in the company.

Still, the program is likely to allow the company to "create a strong loyalty among the best talent" as it expands overseas, said Mr. Sladek, who joined Huawei last year from ST-Ericsson, a European joint venture of Ericsson and semiconductor-manufacturer STMicroelectronics STM +0.89% NV.

If Huawei is seen as an international firm, this could ease security concerns and give it greater access to local markets, said Sandy Shen, a Gartner Inc. research director based in Shanghai. "It's very important that they put on the face of a global company when they go into international markets."

Huawei's efforts to transform itself into a global company are becoming apparent at its Shenzhen headquarters.

Indians, Pakistanis, Chinese and Westerners are among the 30,000 employees who work on the nearly square-mile campus. The campus offers Western restaurants serving steak, and an Indian and halal canteen with freshly made chapati flat breads.

CT Johnson, a 45-year-old U.S. finance expert, left Ericsson last year to be Huawei's corporate controller. Mr. Johnson said he had qualms about taking the job, questioning whether "they might be hiring me as a Western guy just for show and without real responsibility." But, he said, those concerns turned out to be unfounded as he was granted access to Huawei's financial statements and details of its operations. Mr. Johnson has since changed jobs within the company, leading a division that negotiates sales contracts with customers.Still, all of Huawei's 13 board directors are Chinese, raising questions about how much impact a handful of foreign executives will have.

Huawei has also hired a number of other high-profile Western executives to diversify its management team, including Colin Giles, a former Nokia Corp. executive from Australia, and John Suffolk, formerly the U.K. government's chief information officer.

Other Chinese technology companies are taking similar steps. Lenovo Group Ltd. 0992.HK +1.77% , which bought International Business Machines Corp.'s personal-computer business in 2005, has hired more executives and managers from Western competitors in recent years.

Lenovo overtook Hewlett-Packard Co. HPQ +0.24% as the world's biggest PC maker this year.

Western executives are becoming increasingly receptive to Chinese companies, said Bhavya Sehgal, head of Asian-Pacific research for Frontier Strategy Group, as these companies expand and snap up assets around the world.

Huawei also has more opportunities to recruit executives, in part because some Western rivals have been struggling and cutting jobs, said Canalys analyst Matthew Ball.

In October, Alcatel-Lucent ALU.FR +0.77% of France said it would reduce its workforce by roughly 15%. In July, Huawei said its revenue for the first half of the year rose 11% from a year earlier to 113.8 billion yuan ($18.7 billion).

Mr. Johnson said he is adjusting to an "indirect" manner of communication at a Chinese company. In one of his first projects for Huawei, Mr. Johnson forged ahead with a new method of compiling financial reports, not understanding that colleagues' questions were really an objection.

"At Western companies, I would expect my subordinates to challenge me, in a direct but respectful way," Mr. Johnson said. "At Huawei, and I suspect in most Chinese companies, that's the same as cursing."

The project was later scrapped.

"Chinese companies are giving control, but the question is whether they give all the independence required for Western executives to be successful," said Mr. Sehgal.