Automatic Data Processing completes ChinaLink deal

SHANGHAI: US-based Automatic Data Processing (ADP) announced yesterday it had completed the acquisition of a majority stake in ChinaLink Professional Services, a Shanghai-based human resources outsourcing (HRO) provider, despite the gloomy employment outlook facing China as a result of the global economic slowdown.

NASDAQ-listed ADP, one of the world's largest providers of business outsourcing solutions, hopes the merger will help the company build a more comprehensive national business line-up in China's fresh but promising HRO market, said Amer Akhtar, general manager of ADP China.

"We are dedicated to the China market and are looking to build a formidable long-term position here," said Akhtar, citing a recent IDC forecast that the overall revenue of China's HRO market will touch $1.5 billion by 2010.