Professional managers in demand amid deepening reform

SHANGHAI－Zheng Ke, in his 40s, was officially hired as the executive general manager of Shanghai North Bund (Group) Co Ltd, early this year. The professional manager, holding a double master's degree from Harvard and Stanford, has more than 10 years of experience in developing and managing large-scale real estate projects.

His background made him an ideal candidate for the position, taking charge of the group's project development and management. If all goes well, Zheng will stay in the post for three years, earning an annual salary of 1 million to 1.5 million yuan ($154,300-231,400).

Professional managerships are a burgeoning field in China as the country pushes for economic upgrades and further opening up.

The occupation first emerged in foreign-funded companies after China shifted from a planned economy to an open market, and has become more recognized among domestic companies in search of top-level executives over the past decade.

As China moves further toward high-quality development, a fleet of experienced managers has entered not only the private sector, but also State-owned enterprises which previously preferred in-house managers, in a bid to inject new blood and deepen industry reform.

A report from PricewaterhouseCoopers, a leading global professional services network, shows that only 25 percent of family businesses on the Chinese mainland in 2020 were managed by the new generation of workers, which is not only lower than in previous years but also below the world average. It speculates that professional managers will play bigger roles in China's family enterprises in the years to come.

Data shows that 621 subsidiaries of China's centrally administered State-owned enterprises have so far hired about 5,000 professional managers. Yuan Ye, deputy director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, says that China would promote the construction of a market-oriented salary distribution system that matches the positions of professional managers, to motivate the enterprises.

Unlike the common notion that professional managers are only active in big companies, they have actually become a new power to vitalize China's rural areas in recent years.

Late last year, six villages in the Lin'an district of the city of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, offered up to 1 million yuan to recruit professional management teams to take charge of the infrastructure construction of local scenic spots.

"We hope they can bring about more open-mindedness and lay a solid foundation for sustained development of the village," says Chen Weihong, deputy director of Lin'an district's culture and tourism bureau.

Experts believe that professional managers will exert their strengths in the education, technology and financial industries.

The North Bund Group, where Zheng now works, is participating in the development of the next "tallest building" on the west bank of the Huangpu River in Shanghai.

"Some professional managers have become partners in some companies, which is a very good development trend," he says.

Xinhua