Center For NPOs Opens In Shanghai
April 6th, 2007A city based development center will open in Pudong, Shanghai this month to serve as an incubator of nonprofit organizations.
"The capacity and accountability of grassroots NPOs are not strong enough. Many of them lack regular offices, stable source of funds and professionals," said Lu Zhao, director of the incubation center. "So we have established an office center in Pudong for those NPOs for free."
Funded by the local Pudong government, the center aims to provide support services to Shanghai's growing not-for-profit sectors, especially grassroot NPOs.
As NPOs in China are still in their infancy, the center will provide professional training programs such as financial management, volunteer management, fundraising and strategic planning.
From this month, NPOs in the city run by members of the public can apply to become members of the incubation center.
Bureau hits target for overseas talents
April 5th, 2007MORE than 10,000 overseas professionals have been lured to Shanghai in the past 15 months - nine months ahead of a target set by the Shanghai Personnel Bureau.
The bureau said yesterday that as of the end of February, 10,324 overseas professionals had come to work in the city. Half of the number were overseas Chinese who have acquired foreign citizenship. Most come from developed countries including the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan.
"We are glad to see so many overseas talents coming to work for Shanghai's development, but how to retain them and use their expertise to the fullest remains a challenge that tops our work agenda in the following period," said Mao Dali, vice director of the bureau.
The bureau launched the recruitment drive in December 2005, and had initially aimed to reach the 10,000 mark before this December.
The city launched a similar drive in August 2003 and reached the 10,000 figure 27 months later in November 2005.
The bureau said yesterday that nearly 34 percent of the incoming professionals hold a PhD, nearly 10 percentage points higher than that of the first recruitment drive.
Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (Group) recruited seven doctorate holders from the United States as vice presidents or program directors to develop its own brands and clean-energy cars last year.
To date, more than 68,000 returned overseas Chinese and about 70,000 foreign professionals work in the city, the bureau said.
New bank branch
April 4th, 2007HANG Seng Bank yesterday opened its seventh outlet in Shanghai, further expanding its network in mainland China to 17 outlets. Occupying 600 square meters over two floors, the branch is located at Jing'an District and provides a full range of banking services.
China Moves to Meet Surging Demand for Chinese Language Teachers
April 3rd, 2007China is stepping up efforts to train more Chinese language teachers and plans to set up 60 more Confucius Institutes to meet the demand for Mandarin across the world, according to Chinese Language Council International.
"Each year, there are 10,000 positions of teaching Chinese as a foreign language in the world by conservative estimate, but only 2,000 teachers are available from China," said Xu Lin, director of the office. "The greatest challenge we are facing now is to meet the surging demand for Chinese teachers."
This year, a large number of college graduates, regardless of their major, will be recruited to attend a one-year training course to teach Chinese as a foreign language, according to Xu.
China currently has a pool of over 5,000 certified teachers of Chinese as a foreign language. Some of them will be selected to learn Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic for a year and then sent to teach in Latin American and Arab countries.
Last year, China sent 1,004 Chinese teachers to 80 countries and 1,050 volunteers to 34 countries.
In addition to recruiting more Chinese teachers, the office also plans to set up another 60 Confucius Institutes and launch Confucius Institute online and broadcast services.
In the Middle East and North Africa, the Chinese language has become increasingly popular as bilateral trade and cultural exchanges have expanded.
The first Confucius Institute in an Arab country was set up on February 27 in Saint Joseph's University of Lebanon.
Egypt will likely to have its first Confucius Institute soon, said Chinese ambassador Wu Sike to Egypt, who, on behalf of Xu, has signed an agreement with the University of Cairo on setting up a Confucius Institute.
"Along with the University of Cairo, three universities have Chinese language and culture departments. The number of students majoring in Chinese language has been on a steady rise in recent years," said Wu.
"Almost every term of the Chinese language training course is fully booked," he added.
The latest Confucius Institute was established on March 16 in the University of Zimbabwe, which enrolled over 50 students on the opening day, including scholars, government officials and entrepreneurs, said Yuan Nansheng, Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe.
The Chinese government donated US$100,000 to the institute and installed two well-trained volunteers as instructors.
"The teachers are expected to introduce China's cultural, economic and social development as well as giving students linguistic instruction, in the hope of cementing the two countries' friendship and promoting bilateral trades," said Yuan.
According to an agreement signed by China's Hunan Normal university and Russia's Kazanian State University, the third Confucius Institute in Russia will be set up to receive an ever-growing number of Russian students who want to learn Chinese.
A total of 10,000 people in Russia are attending Chinese-language training programs.
The Confucius Institute, headquartered in Beijing, is a non-profit organization aimed at promoting the Chinese language and culture. By 2010, 500 Confucius Institutes and classrooms are expected to be set up around the world.
Some Confucius Institutes, however, have encountered difficulties.
The first Confucius Institute in southeastern Asia has struggled since it was launched on February 14, 2006 in Bengal. Now only 10 students remain and teachers have nothing but a desk in the office.
"The teaching method is mainly to blame because most of the teachers are linguistics major graduates and not knowledgeable enough in other spheres. As a result, the institute has little influence on the upper class," said an insider.
"A way out may be to follow a successful model, like the 'Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme.' At the same time, we can train some local Chinese teachers in the hope of influencing more people of higher education or from a higher class," said Xu Guangyuan, headmaster of the Confucius Institute of Bengal.
Confucius, born in 551 B.C., was a great Chinese thinker, philosopher, statesman and educator. He was also the founder of Confucianism. Advocating the building of a harmonious society through individuals' self-refinement in manners and taste, Confucianism dominated the Chinese society for centuries and was spread to Europe in the late 16th century.
In an effort to promote the Chinese language and Chinese culture abroad, the Chinese government has set up 140 Confucius Institutes, schools or classrooms in 52 countries and regions worldwide.
Foreign banks list new retail services
April 3rd, 2007THE first four overseas banks to incorporate domestically held symbolic opening ceremonies yesterday to release details on the retail yuan-denominated products they will soon offer in Shanghai.
"Today we opened a new chapter in the bank's 142-year history in China," Vincent Cheng, chairman of HSBC Bank (China) Co, said in Shanghai yesterday. The new entity was set up with eight billion yuan (US$1.01 billion) in registered capital.
The others that will get a headstart in taking advantage of the full opening of China's banking industry are Citigroup Inc, Standard Chartered Bank and Bank of East Asia.
Completing the domestic incorporation process is the gateway for overseas banks to be able to provide the same retail services as their domestic competitors. Overseas banks were previously allowed to offer retail yuan services only to expatriates and retail foreign exchange services to Chinese.
Eight other overseas banks are awaiting approval of their incorporation applications.
The first four banks, which began operating under their new names yesterday, will all offer yuan-denominated mortgages, wealth management products, deposits and loans, starting in about two weeks. All but Citigroup said they may launch their own brand of credit card.
Citigroup plans to issue its own debit cards and will continue to offer credit cards with local partners Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co and Guangdong Development Bank.
The American financial-services company also wants to underwrite domestic bond sales, according to Richard Stanley, chairman of Citibank (China).
BEA and HSBC also said they will tap fund products in the future.
BEA has promised to waive its account management fees as an promotional incentive when it kicks off its retail yuan business in mid-April. The lender may impose fees later in response to market conditions.
The other three banks will charge management fees on small accounts.
HSBC will charge 300 yuan a month for value-added, premium-services to customers whose daily average balance is less than 500,000 yuan. There will be no fees for balances above that amount.
The bank will charge 150 yuan a month to its non-premium clients if the average daily balance is less than 100,000 yuan.
Citigroup and Standard Chartered Bank will disclose their charges later this month.
The four banks also indicated yesterday that they have big expansion plans for the Chinese mainland.
HSBC Bank (China) will open around 30 new outlets this year, up from its current 35.
BEA is scheduled to triple to 100 outlets by 2010 from its current 34.
Citibank (China), with four billion yuan in registered capital, plans to boost its outlet number to 30 at the end of this year from 16 at present, and Standard Chartered Bank will expand to 40 from the current 23 in the same period.
See more on B2
HSBC to hire 2,000 staff for 30 new outlets
April 2nd, 2007HSBC will hire 1,000 new staff this year and another 1,000 staff next year, as it adds 30 new domestic outlets on the Chinese mainland, bank officials announced this morning in Shanghai.
The bank opened its locally incorporated branches in Shanghai today and will offer unlimited service on the mainland after it undergoes Chinese banking regulator's inspection for readiness. Three other foreign banks -- Citigroup Inc, Bank of East Asia and Standard Chartered Bank ¨C also have been approved.
The four banks will be able to offer a full array of retail yuan business such as deposits from Chinese clients and issue credit cards.
Allowing foreign banks to set up branches in the country is part of China's commitment to open its banking sector as part of an agreement to enter the World Trade Organization.
In December, nine overseas banks including Hang Seng Bank, Mizuho Corporate Bank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, DBS Bank and ABN Amro Bank N.V. gained approval to prepare for local incorporation in Shanghai.