Beijing seeks to attract talented overseas Chinese
June 15th, 2009Beijing is working to entice some of the talented Chinese people working overseas to return home.
The municipal government has established a program to assist overseas Chinese who are under 55 years of age, have obtained a PhD overseas, and can work in Beijing for more than six months a year.
Professors in famous overseas universities and research institutions and those who are employed as senior managers in well-known multi-national companies are the key targets of the program.
Beijing's goal for 2009 is to attract between 30 and 50 of these types of people back from overseas.
University graduates earn less money
June 12th, 2009University graduates who left school in 2008 are earning less money than their classmates did one year ago. That's according to a newly released Employment Report on China's university graduates. As CCTV reporter finds out, salaries for graduates from major universities fell at a steeper rate than graduates of vocational schools.
The report shows that graduates from major universities earn on average about 2,500 yuan a month. That's down 14 percent from the previous year. Meanwhile, monthly salaries for graduates of non-major universities fell to about 2000 yuan, on average. That down 11 percent. And the monthly salary on average for vocational school graduates is 1,600 yuan. That's down only 5 percent.
Wang Boqing, professor of Southwestern Univ. of Finance & Economics, says, "when the economy is good, enterprises are willing to hire graduates from good universities. But when the economy is bad, they are more willing to hire students from ordinary schools to save costs."
The report also says for graduates with bachelor degrees, engineering and business management majors have the highest employment prospects. But graduates with majors in law and philosophy have the lowest employment rate. As for vocational schools, students focusing on resource exploration and mapping have the easiest time finding jobs. But students studying tourism and cultural administration find the most difficulty in securing jobs.
The employment report also shows that more students in Yunnan, Jinli, Ningxia, Shanxi and Xijiang are willing to start their own business. But students in Shanghai, Hainan, Jiangsu, Fujian and Beijing are less willing to become entrepreneurs. This suggests that finding a good job is still the top choice for most university graduates. They seem to choose to start their own businesses, only if they can NOT, first, find a job.
China faces challenge as graduates seek jobs
June 11th, 2009This is a key period for college graduates looking for jobs. China is facing a great challenge to ensure millions of graduates nationwide find employment amid the economic slowdown.
In the northeastern province of Jilin, a series of job fairs are helping to address the issue. 17-thousand jobs are on offer at this job fair alone, which is free to both recruiters and job seekers.
So far nearly 50-thousand college graduates have secured jobs in Jilin Province, but that is only one third of the province's total number of grads.
Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangdong Province, where many major universities are clustered, are encouraging graduate students to seek work in smaller cities where competition for jobs is not so severe.
Shenzhen employment market warms up
June 10th, 2009The employment market in south China's major manufacturing hub of Shenzhen is heating up. According to the Shenzhen employment authority, the city requires 20-thousand more workers.
Workers are needed in sectors like printing, civil engineering, office maintenance, real estate and education.
Officials say the current labor shortage is due to both rising productivity of manufacturers and a massive return home of migrant workers in the last few months of 2008. But the employment situation has yet to return to its ideal past.
Before the global financial chaos there were 1.27 jobs available for every worker. Now that number has been reduced to only 1.04.
Strategies for Success in China Life Sciences
June 10th, 2009Daniel Marshak, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer and President, Greater China, PerkinElmer, Inc.
Drug Discovery & Development - June 09, 2009
China continues to emerge as a life sciences market with significant opportunity, despite the global economic downturn. For example, although pharmaceutical giant Novartis is decreasing its US investment, it is increasing its investment in China. Many other biopharmaceutical companies are following suit, and the life sciences tools community is close behind.
As China emerges as a primary market for advanced laboratory and research technologies in instruments, consumables, and services, several responsible factors in particular stand out. Above all, there is a growing realization within the industry that science in China, both in pharmaceuticals and in basic research, is quite sophisticated and has been for some time. This has resulted in Chinese demand for the same level of technology and support services as is present in the US and Europe, and will no doubt continue to grow as China emerges as a life sciences power in the coming years.
To meet this demand, tool providers have increased their investment in delivering advanced lab technologies and services despite the economic uncertainty. Companies that take the short-term view and downsize their Chinese operations are taking a serious risk. Only those who make the investments needed to initiate and maintain strong commitments to their customers, and to back them with highly trained and motivated staff, have a chance of winning.
One straightforward strategy for succeeding in this market is often the most undervalued or overlooked: increasing service capabilities, implementing resources and processes for lowering service response time, minimizing customer downtime, and maximizing first-time repair metrics. Research organizations in China are highly productivity-minded, and they will reward top-tier, highly responsive service following their investment. This is particularly true for laboratory automation workstations and detection systems for screening their growing compound libraries.
To ensure all this requires a strong local presence of experts, which means maintaining jobs, salaries, benefits, and bonuses, all investments worth making in the Chinese workforce. Initial installations will grow as our clients’ capabilities increase alongside China’s presence in the global market. Further investments must be made in language localization in every possible facet of a China operation. Stocking service parts and consumables locally, in addition to local expertise, are fundamental requirements for successful customer relationships in the region. Excellent local language at all levels of customer contact is an absolute necessity, going beyond the basics of user manuals into high-level, detailed scientific applications notes and even advanced software. For example, PerkinElmer has recently expanded its application labs in China, and also created a dedicated global development center for information technology that serves the region, as well as installed new software development initiatives based in China. To excel in these areas is a basic requirement of doing business in China today.
A guiding principle for life science tool makers in China is to ensure that their product portfolio matches the particular technology demands of local customers. For example, both local and global pharmaceutical companies in China place a high degree of emphasis on high-throughput screening (HTS) and high-content screening (HCS) in their research operations, as well as on biochemical assays that complement cellular assays and cellular image-based assays. In fact, most global pharmaceutical companies are moving much of their labor-intensive screening activities, and some assay-based development, to China. However, the latter trend of shifting labor-intensive research activities to Asia should not overshadow the increasing demand for sophisticated lab solutions for cutting-edge research. The ability to provide complete instrument, reagent consumables, software, services, and training capabilities to customers will be a key differentiator in the China market for years to come.
A key pitfall for vendors in the region is a lack of preparedness for advanced customer interactions in the introduction of new technologies. The importance of providing significant customer training opportunities, particularly in the use of cutting-edge techniques possible through their tools with regard to their specific applications, cannot be overstated. Furthermore, it is critical not only to invest in supporting current product portfolios, but also to keep customers in China abreast of new science being performed globally, as well as emerging technologies in the pipeline in the near future. Successful partners will not hesitate to dedicate their best staff and commit significant resources to maintaining a high degree of customer interactions, featuring frequent visits to various research and development and manufacturing sites in the region, continual technology demonstrations, and in-depth training and symposia, all of which are essential to keeping customers informed of the potential of their product investment in advancing their research and business goals.
Another important avenue for success in China is to have strong working relations with the central government as a partner, in both human health and environmental health. Government priorities in life sciences research, especially in testing technologies for food, water, air, and consumer products, have guided many regional advances in health and safety, and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future. The common goal of the central government and the life sciences industry is unltimately to provide a healthier life to people and the environment in China.
Trends in the Chinese life sciences’ market clearly indicate not only growing innovation with global applicability, but also an increase in the scale and the depth of demand for new technologies and applications. Tool companies must acknowledge China’s sophistication and locally-originated--as well as globally-imported--advanced research requirements. Those who seek to serve these needs accordingly, and above all, make the necessary investments to do so, will meet with success. This demand can only be met by global players who make the necessary commitments to localization, in the form of smart investments in people and resources.
Biotech company Commonwealth Biotechnologies (CBI) expands in China
June 10th, 2009Chesterfield-based Commonwealth Biotechnologies (CBI) is planning to expand its presence in China by acquiring all outstanding shares of GL Biochem in Shanghai.
The companies have reached a purchase agreement for an undetermined price.
CBI itself does not develop drugs, but it out-sources research and laboratory support for companies that do.
According to CBI’s due diligence report, the Chinese biotech company had revenue of $13 million and an after-tax profit of $2 million in 2008.
The deal is pending regulatory and shareholder approval. CBI is publicly traded on NASDAQ and closed today at $0.56 a share, up 44 percent on the day.
“When you are merging a non-U.S. company into a U.S. NASDAQ-listed company, there are some challenges to reconcile,” said Richard Freer, co-founder and chief operating officer of CBI.
Freer said the company hopes to close on the deal within 90 days.
GL Biochem is a market leader for an area of biopharmaceuticals known as custom peptide synthesis, Freer said.
“We then become, by extension, a major player in the peptide pharmaceutical discovery business,” he said.
The product is primarily used in the development of vaccines.
This is not CBI’s first foray into China. Last year, the company entered a $1 million deal with Beijing-based Venturepharm Laboratories. Under that agreement, CBI sold 463,426 shares at $2.15 a piece in exchange for $500,000 cash and $500,000 worth of Venturepharm stock.
Freer said China is not only a good location for low-cost research centers, but also – with a population of 1.3 billion – a future growth market for vaccines.