Recruiting in China

China's manufacturing sector is set to climb the adoption curve of cloud computing and artificial intelligence this year, after the service industry reaped early gains from the internet, said Pony Ma, chairman of Tencent Holdings Ltd.

As new technologies cascade through markets, less productive business models will cede ground to more innovative ones which are streamlining business processes and optimizing supply and demand, he told a packed audience at a digital economy conference on Thursday.

"With initial strides being made in the service sector, manufacturing, which is the backbone of China's economy, has begun heavily investing in the building blocks of the internet economy. Traditional manufacturers, rather than internet firms, are leading this wave of disruptive innovation," Ma said.

Tencent, the gaming-to-cloud computing conglomerate, will play its part as "an infrastructure provider and a connector", he added, by sharing its big data analytics, location-based services, artificial intelligence and payment solutions with industrial players.

As part of that initiative, Tencent is providing its cloud computing might to build an industrial big-data platform for Sany Group Co Ltd, the nation's leading machinery equipment maker.

The virtual platform connects Sany's existing 300,000 devices globally and uses predictive analysis to head off problems before they happen, according to He Dongdong, Sany's senior vice-president. Through remote monitoring, malfunctions can be detected in real time and repaired within 24 hours, he said.

Ma told the conference that digitally-enabled innovation is likely to penetrate into the agricultural sector. Similar improvements are taking shape in the marketing and distribution of Tongwei Group, a feed and aquatic products maker.

Ma said it relied on Tencent's WeChat service to pair supply with demand. The increased digital engagement, including the adoption of location-based services, also expanded the company's reach and enriched customer interactions, he said.

Yang Yuanqing, chief executive officer of Lenovo Group Ltd, said Chinese manufacturers are exploring ways to employ big data on inventories and shipments to improve product planning, and were banking on artificial intelligence to provide predictive analysis and self-servicing capabilities.

"Companies will realize broad productivity gains in their operations by automating processes, streamlining product development and digitally reinforcing their supply chains," said Zhou Qiren, a professor of the National School of Development at Peking University.

Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province have set up a 100 billion yuan ($14.54 billion) joint railway fund to boost regional integration, authorities announced on Tuesday.

About 54 billion yuan, or 90 percent of the initial installment, comes from social capital with a time period of 10 years, according to Tianjin Daily.

The fund plans to invest 70 percent on inter-city railway construction, and the rest on land development along the routes.

Regional projects, including Beijing-Tangshan rail, Shijiazhuang-Hengshui-Cangzhou rail, and a second one connecting Beijing and Tianjin, which stops at Binhai New Area, will start construction this year.

Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Railway Investment Co, the lead coordinator of the fund, signed agreement with 12 financial institutions, including the country's big five banks, Ping An Asset Management Co, and Capital Development Investment Fund Management Co in Beijing.

The fund is part of year-long effort by local authorities to renovate financing model in railway construction and attract social capital under market mechanism.

In all, Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei will see an addition of nine inter-city rail lines by 2020, with a total estimated investment of 247 billion yuan, according to a notice released by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). Commute time between major cities and their surrounding counties will be significantly reduced.

China rolled out the integration plan for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei in 2015 to address urban problems such as traffic and air pollution and seek balanced development of the region.

Skoda CEO Bernhard Maier showcases the company's electric car Vision E on April 17.

Czech carmaker Skoda Auto has unveiled its first ever electric concept car in Shanghai, declaring that electric cars will be a pillar of its development strategy.

The Vision E has a maximum output of 225 kilowatts and can run at a top speed of 180 km/h, with a mileage of 500 km.

The concept also features Level 3 autonomous driving, which means it can drive itself on express ways and park itself without human intervention.

The first of these electric cars will hit the market in 2020.

Skoda CEO Bernhard Maier said it will launch five entirely electric cars in various segments of the market before 2025.

In addition to the concept car, Skoda announced it will release an estate car, Octavia Combi, into the Chinese market later this year.

China has been Skoda's largest market worldwide.

It sold 317,000 cars to Chinese customers last year, and Skoda plans to double sales by 2020 with its growing portfolio.

Skoda entered the Chinese market in 2007 and has since localized its models with SAIC Volkswagen. Statistics show that it has sold more than 2 million cars in China in the past 10 years.

Chinese people's disposable income expanded at a faster pace than economic growth in the first quarter of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday.

Per capita nominal disposable income of Chinese nationwide rose 8.5 percent in the first three months from a year ago, and per capita real disposable income after taking into consideration the effects of inflation increased 7 percent, outpacing the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6.9 percent in the period, NBS figures showed.

Breakdown figures showed that urban residents' per capita real disposable income grew 6.3 percent year on year in the first quarter to 9,986 yuan (about 1,452 U.S. dollars), while per capita disposable income of rural residents rose at a faster pace of 7.2 percent in the period to 3,880 yuan.

Other indicators released by the NBS on Monday, including fixed-asset investment and industrial production, pointed to stabilization in the world's second-largest economy.

NBS spokesperson Mao Shengyong said the economy had achieved a rosy start this year and the income gap between rural and urban residents narrowed, laying a solid foundation to realizing its full-year economic target.

The government trimmed this year's growth goal to around 6.5 percent from a range of 6.5 to 7 percent for 2016.

The head of a human resources market research company in China has called for companies, based throughout the nation, to strengthen integrity management processes in China's job market, as well as encouraged government officials to improve relevant laws and regulations.

Tian Yongpo, from the Chinese Academy of Personnel Science, said "integrity at work is even more important in such an era with explosive information about jobs", and added for example the mobility of Chinese labor forces gradually increased from 2010 to 2014.

Tian said, at a forum held by people.com.cn in Beijing on Wednesday, China's floating population grew 12.65 percent, moving from 221 million to 253 million people, from 2010 to 2014.

"Huge information about jobs have accumulated during the process," he said.

"Among explosive information, a problem will certainly arise about information transfer and distortion.

"As a result, our credibility at work is greatly influenced."

His comments came shortly before a survey, published at the forum, which stated more than 80 percent of respondents said the credibility of Chinese workplaces were poor.

The survey collected information from more than 6000 people, as well as 3000 human resources managers, and was carried out by a website that helps companies investigate personal information, 17zhiliao.com, between March 10 and April 10, 2017.

More than half of the respondents to the survey believed dishonest behavior had resulted in a loss to companies and individuals.

Guo Wenlong, the deputy head for Labor Law Studies of Shanghai Law Society, said the "call for a law is natural since one could not get all the information he needs to (determine if a person in focus is credible or not)."

Guo went on to mention authority figures should improve laws and regulations on the non-competition agreement in the labor law, as the occasional employee has operated in a grey area to avoid company requirements and restrictions.

HR managers listed the worst behavior as missing job interviews, slacking off at work and even job-hopping.

Individuals overstating work performance and experience, as well as falsifying their educational background, were recorded as the most common dishonest behaviors to be seen.

To avoid hiring these types of candidates, 97 percent of HR mangers believed it was necessary to investigate the information job seekers' provided during the early stages of recruitment.

More than 90 percent of job seekers agreed to the necessity of a background check; however, most people believed companies should seek the candidate's approval before undertaking their enquiries.

Li Aijun, a law professor with the China University of Political Science and Law, urged companies to follow China's rules, regulations and laws while undertaking investigations into personal information.

She cautioned the act of obtaining sickness records, property information and particular criminal history records, as these acts could become illegal after a certain point.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Chinese mainland rose 6.7 percent year on year in March, slowing from February, official data showed Thursday.

FDI reached 87.8 billion yuan (12.8 billion U.S. dollars) in March, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said in a statement.

The growth rate was lower than the 9.2-percent increase recorded in February.

Total FDI in the first three months of the year edged up 1 percent year on year to 226.5 billion yuan, the MOC said.

During the same period, 6,383 new foreign-funded enterprises were established on the Chinese mainland, up 7.2 percent year on year.

Most investment went to the service sector, which saw FDI expand 7.1 percent year on year in the first quarter to account for 73 percent of the total FDI.

Investment in utility services soared 165.6 percent year on year, while high-tech services attracted 28.7 billion yuan of investment, up 12.4 percent year on year.

Investment from the European Union grew 11.2 percent in the first quarter, the MOC data showed.

Last year, China attracted 126 billion U.S. dollars of foreign direct investment, the largest recipient among developing countries, data showed.