SOE job fair lures talent
By Hu Yuanyuan (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-12-22 08:45

Guo Fengliang, a manager with a Fortune 500 company in Australia, was busy looking for job opportunities in a State-owned enterprise (SOE) at a talent fair in Beijing yesterday.

"I still prefer working in SOEs although the salary of my current job is better," said 31-year-old Guo. "China's rosy economic picture and emerging business opportunities make SOEs pretty attractive."

Like Guo, over 500 returned Chinese scholars and students participated in yesterday's fair co-sponsored by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) and Chinese Communist Youth League Central Committee.

By providing 228 job vacancies and 57 projects, China's large State-owned enterprises are rolling out the red carpet to returned Chinese scholars.

The move follows the efforts of SASAC to introduce more qualified brainpower to help improve the management of SOEs. And SASAC has been seeking talent from around the world for top management positions since 2003.

The 48 high-level SOEs seeking new blood cover a variety of industries, such as China Petrochemicl Corporation, China National Cereals, Oil & Foodstuffs Corporation and Shenhua Group. Four of them are Fortune 500 enterprises.

"Returned scholars are more than welcome due to their sound foreign language competence and familiarity with international practices, especially when we embark on the 'go out' strategy," said Tang Zhen, a headhunter from China Nonferrous Metal Mining & Construction Co (CNMC).

CNMC took part in a similar talent fair last year and recruited a returned scholar who majored in finance. "We are quite satisfied with his performance," Tang said.

Wang Xiaodong, director of the National Institute of Biological Science (NIBC), is a scholar who returned to China in the early 1990s. He is thinking of luring more returned scholars to work at the NIBC. "We can provide a competitive salary if the scholar can demonstrate his productivity. Innovative ideas and communication skills also matter for researchers," Wang said.

"It is China's robust economy that is attractive to me," said Gao Jingyi, a student pursuing his postgraduate studies in Germany.

For Gao, development opportunities rather than salary are his primary concern. "I am hunting for a job that can enrich my practical skills as soon as possible. As for salary, 3,000 to 4,000 yuan a month is acceptable as I am still a newcomer who lacks work experience," he said.

Gao is planning to find an internship with a domestic enterprise during the winter holiday. The lack of information about the domestic job market and policies concerning returned scholars is a big problem for students abroad, he said.

For returned scholars with rich experience working abroad, China's huge market potential and plenty of business opportunities are very appealing.

Chen Fen, chairman of Chinader Group Co based in the United States, brought to the fair about 10 projects covering biology science, agricultural techniques and garment manufacturing, seeking business opportunities in the domestic markets.

"My company is like a match-maker, making domestic enterprises churn out products catering for European markets," Chen said. "We provide necessary help in terms of technique and planning."

Mike Duan, a web developer with Mohegan Sun, is also hunting for a domestic partner for potential business co-operation.

As more and more Chinese look to study abroad, their employment after graduation is receiving increasing attention. According to a recent survey by the China Youth Daily, about 87.7 per cent of Chinese students who study abroad will choose to come back to work or start businesses, of which 34.5 per cent will return once they finish their studies and 53.1 per cent will come back after working for some years abroad.

Shanghai and Beijing are the two premier destinations for retuning scholars as they boast the most business opportunities.

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