Archives 2006

HONG KONG — The elusive China Dream is fast becoming reality for many US companies.

US corporate profits in China passed $2 billion the first six months of 2006, up more than 50% from the first half of last year, according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis. US companies are on pace to earn more in China this year than they earned there during the entire 1990s, notes Joseph Quinlan, chief market strategist at Bank of America.

The government numbers are consistent with private surveys: 81% of companies belonging to the US-China Business Council, a lobbying group, reported that their China operations were profitable. More than half said profitability in China matched or beat their worldwide profit margins, according to a recent council survey.

In 1999, the US State Department found that just 57% of US firms were profitable in China.

Equipment manufacturer Caterpillar cited strong growth in China, among other things, last week when it reported a 21% increase in third-quarter earnings. Like most US companies, Caterpillar doesn’t report China revenue and earnings separately and won’t talk about them in any detail.

But a telling sign of China’s importance to the company: Over the past 2.5 years, Caterpillar has doubled its China workforce to 5,000, says Jim Dugan, the company’s spokesman in Beijing.

“Just about any place you go in China, there are road and railroad and construction and energy projects,” Dugan says. “Those are all fields where we play ball.”

‘Business is good’

Starbucks, which already operates more than 190 stores in 19 Chinese cities, doesn’t break out its financial performance in China. But spokesman Eden Woon says, “Business is good. We are accelerating our growth.”

Not all successful US companies in China are household names: Greif, a Delaware, Ohio-based maker of industrial packaging, says profits are strong and growing in China, a market it entered five years ago when it acquired a competitor already operating there.

For centuries, Western businesses have cast covetous eyes at China, a dream market with the world’s biggest population, now 1.3 billion. And it’s virtually untouched by modern marketing. But their visions of profits, dating back to Marco Polo and before, usually came to nothing. They’ve been dashed by war, political turmoil, corruption, bureaucracy and grinding rural poverty.

“Time and again,” journalist Joe Studwell wrote in his 2002 book, The China Dream, “China has failed to fulfill the promise that foreigners ascribe to her.”

But now, China’s economy, which began opening to foreign investment and trade in the late 1970s, is booming, expanding at about 10% a year.

Living standards have improved in urban centers such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, creating a middle class — and opportunities for US firms from Starbucks to General Motors.

From 1999 to 2004, according to statistics compiled by the American Chambers of Commerce in Beijing and Shanghai, the number of broadband lines rose to 31.7 million from 2.2 million.

Automobile ownership rose to 22 per thousand Chinese from one per thousand. Cellphones surged to 111 per thousand Chinese from three per thousand.

Learning how to do business

China’s entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001 made it easier for foreign companies to operate there. The WTO deal required China in 2004 to start letting foreign firms distribute their goods without first entering into alliances with state-owned Chinese partners, which often siphoned profits and stole technology. These days, more US companies are going it alone profitably without Chinese partners. The percentage of American Chamber members operating as joint ventures in China slid from 78% in 1999 to 27% in 2005.

US companies have learned how to do business in China. “Companies have gained experience from the early years,” says Robert Poole, vice president of China operations at the US-China Business Council. “They trained people, established management systems, built reputations for their products.”

US firms still face problems in China. Good help is hard to find. Theft of intellectual property is rampant. Competition is fierce as young Chinese companies try to take on more-established Western firms. Greif, for instance, reckons it has 400 competitors in China. But for now the profits are rolling in, and US companies are confident about the future: 97% told the US-China Business Council that they were optimistic about their prospects in China over the next five years.

“When the economy is growing this fast, profits will increase,” says Studwell, founder of the China Economic Quarterly. “At the same time, foreign firms have learned hugely from their mistakes of the 1990s.”

Courtesy of USA TODAY

Procedures for foreigners working in China

Foreigners who want to work in China should first get in touch with a valid Chinese employer who has an employment license for foreigners issued by related labour administrative bureaus.

Foreigners with permission to work in China should apply for employment visas at the Chinese embassies.

Employers of foreigners should get employment permits for their foreign employees within 15 days after their entry into China by providing related documents.

Foreign employees who have received their employment permit should, within 30 days after their entry, apply for a residence permit from local public security bureaus. The term of validity of the residence certificate may be determined in accordance with that of the Employment Permit.

Chinese employers and their foreign employees should conclude a contract in line with law. The term of the contract should not exceed five years and such a contract can be renewed.

The employment permit of the employed foreigners shall cease to be effective upon the expiration of the term of the labour contract between the foreigner and employer.

(Source: Rules for the Administration of Employment of Foreigners)

Trade operation officer

Company Introduction:
A leading European Bank

Responsibilities:
1.Support Head of Trade Support to meet the budge requirements for the GTA on costs/ revenues
2.Assist Head of Trade Support to monitor the daily operation, display excellent operation supervision qualities to team members .
3.Assist Head of Trade Support to re-engineering the work flows wherever necessary
4.Handle all import transactions, guarantee, RMB discounting and bills irregularities.
5.Prepare various reports according to internal requirements
6.Perform the backup the function of Trade Support Head whe she is on leave or out of office
7.Familiar to all products and functions within the team and can backup if needed
8.Be an expert to the entire team , coaching team members.

Requirements
1.University Degree education level preferably in Economics/Trade/Business Admin;
2.At least 5-6 years’relevant experience with a foreign bank;
3.Familiar to UCPDC, URC, Bank Guarantee business, Facility lines of Clients, third Banks and financial institutions
4.Well versed knowledge of handling all import and export products including L/C SBLC, guarantee and collection
5.Skillfully handle irregularities
6.Have the knowledge of handling RMB business.
7.Familiar to PBOC regulations and can operate PBOC systems.
8.Ability to organise tasks/duties for subordinate colleagues
9.Capacity to identify the problems so that the same could be addressed to the right people at right time for solutions
10.Strong analytical capabilities
11.Good coaching skills
12.Computer proficiency (Word, Excel, Access, Power Point, Lotus Notes, Internet)
13.Fluent English both oral and written

* Please send us your complete resume (both in Chinese and in English) to: ‘topjob_fi117sh@dacare.com’

Investment Product Manager

Company Introduction:
A leading European Bank

Major Responsibility:
1.Design & structure investment/treasury products for retail banking business;
2.Work closely with internal parties, e.g. legal, compliance, credit risk, market risk, etc, to ensure timely launch of new products;
3.Provide product training to relationship managers and other internal staff;
4.Conduct product presentation in client seminars or in other promotion events;
5.Conduct timely market review & competitive analysis & product strategy.

Requirements:
1.Bachelor degree in Finance or Financial Engineering, Master degree is preferred;
2.5-8 years working experience in Commercial Bank or Investment Bank, ideally 28-30 years old;
3.rong knowledge in FX, Bond, Futures, Options, Fund management;
4.cellent presentation skills & sales skills;
5.A Level II or above holders are preferred;
6.erseas working experience, banking operation and/or risk management working experience is a value plus;
7.ry energetic, product innovative & have passion on great challenge & keen on success

* Please send us your complete resume (both in Chinese and in English) to: ‘topjob_fi116sh@dacare.com’

Treasury Product Manager

Company Introduction:
A leading European Bank

Major Responsibility:
1.Design & structure treasury products (esp. FX/FX Option/Interest Rate Option/Money Market) for retail banking business;
2.Work closely with internal parties, e.g. legal, compliance, credit risk, market risk, etc, to ensure timely launch of new products;
3.Provide product training & seminars internally & externally;
4.Conduct timely market review & competitive analysis & product strategy

Requirements:
1.Bachelor’s degree in Finance or Financial Engineering, Master degree is preferred;
2.5 years’working experience in treasury functions in Commercial Bank or Investment Bank, ideally 28-30 years old;
3.Strong knowledge in FX, Bond, Futures, Options, Fund management;
4.Bank operation experience is extra value plus;
5.CFA Level II or above holders are preferred;
6.Overseas working experience is a value plus;
7.Very energetic, product innovative & have passion on great challenge & keen on success

* Please send us your complete resume (both in Chinese and in English) to: ‘topjob_fi115sh@dacare.com’

Employer liability insurance available in China

Senior managers in China’s listed companies have a specially designed insurance plan which helps ease work pressure both in and out of the office.
AIU Insurance Company China branch, a member of the American International Group, yesterday presented a liability insurance plan for directors, supervisors and senior managers in listed companies. This is the first plan of its kind in China.

The liability insurance enables listed companies to meet the costs of compensation and legal fees for employees who are injured or take ill at work through the fault of the employers, be they directors, supervisors, senior managers or managing directors in the affiliates.

Bayer agrees Topsun purchase

German industrial giant Bayer said yesterday that its healthcare group had agreed to acquire Topsun Science and Technology’s over-the-counter cough and cold medicine business for 1.072 billion yuan (US$135.69 million).
Bayer said it would pay another 192 million yuan (US$24.30 million), subject to the fulfilment of certain performance criteria.

Topsun is one of the largest privately owned pharmaceutical firms in China. Its brands include White and Black, one of the leading cough and cold medicines on the Chinese market.

The transaction, which is now subject to the regulatory approval, will include the transfer of the Gaitianli manufacturing facility in Qidong, a city in East China’s Jiangsu Province, as well as the sales force and distribution network associated with the brands.

The transferred employees and assets will become part of Bayer Healthcare China Ltd and operate within its consumer care division.

“With this transaction Bayer HealthCare follows its global strategy to strengthen our over-the-counter business, as well as our presence in China, one of the fastest-growing over-the-counter markets,” said Bayer Healthcare Chairman Arthur Higgins.

Bayer Healthcare acquired Roche Consumer Health last year, making it one of the world’s top three over-the-counter businesses.
“The Topsun deal provides us with an entry into the very important cough and cold category in China. The transaction, which is expected to close within 2007, will double the size of our consumer health business in China and puts us within the top 10 over-the-counter companies in this important market,” said Gary Balkema, president of the Bayer Worldwide Consumer Care Division.
The over-the-counter medicine business is believed to have huge potential in China.

According to a study of China’s pharmaceutical industry issued in March by global consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, sales of over-the-counter medicines accounted for less than one-fifth of the country’s pharmaceutical market. But it grew 11.2 per cent last year to US$4.2 billion, making it the fourth-largest over-the-counter medicine market in the world, as well as the fastest growing of all major economies.

Bayer Healthcare, with an annual growth rate of 30 per cent, is the fastest growing global pharmaceutical firm in China, according to US-based market consultancy firm IMS Health.

Commenting on the deal, Topsun Chairman Guo Jiaxue said the firms “intends to develop its modern Chinese medicine as its core business.”

Corporate Counsel

Company Introduction:
XXX is a world leader in enterprise infrastructure software, delivering powerful standards-based platforms for building enterprise applications and managing Service-Oriented Architectures even in heterogeneous IT environments.

Job Description:
The ideal candidate will be an energetic, experienced self-starter with excellent communication skills and business acumen. The candidate must work well with minimal supervision under pressure, must be able to multi-task and take initiative and must be able to maintain a balance between protecting the company’s interests and driving business forward.

Responsibilities:
1.The Legal Counsel will primarily focus on software licensing, service agreements, support our channels sales teams, drafting and negotiating technology licenses and other commercial agreements;
2.This person will work closely with the Finance Department to ensure proper revenue recognition. In addition, the Legal Counsel will provide general corporate advice and compliance advice to senior management, as well as coordinating with outside counsel;
3.This individual should review, approve, and maintain all legal agreements in the PRC with the possible exception of standard-form end user customer licensing agreements, if any of these exist in the PRC.
4.Other responsibilities include devising and implementing PRC based initiatives and working closely with HR team members;
5.The position will report to the Asia Legal Counsel and demands a high level of individual responsibility and self-discipline as the team operates within a high-pressure environment to meet company goals;
6.The successful candidate will demonstrate the following attributes – hard working, high energy, positive attitude, adaptable, tolerant of others, willing and eager to learn, self-motivated, results-oriented, customer/client service orientated;
7.It would be beneficial to have worked, either as a lawyer or in another capacity, in a team environment, demonstrating an ability to self-manage multiple projects but also to indicate an ability to work as a “role player” in group projects. Solid research, analysis, and written and verbal communication skills are required.

Qualifications:
1.Excellent communication skills (Mandarin & English);
2.Excellent problem-solving skills and attention to detail;
3.A legal degree from a top-tier law school or university (China) with excellent academic credentials, excellent work references;
4.5-8 years of experience in IP licensing and/or corporate law at a top law firm or as in-house counsel at a public technology company; and familiarity with software and professional services revenue-recognition principles – an understanding of FCPA and SOX would also be very useful;
5.The ideal candidate should have:
6.Good business acumen and strategic thinking ability and experience with software related business and technology and revenue issues;
7.The successful candidate will have studied the legal system in the US and PRC in order to guide and advise senior management and management at all levels with respect to all of the areas outlined above. The successful candidate will have a demonstrated track record of success of academic and professional advancement with a major and recognized law firm or legal department.

Education: A legal degree from a top-tier law school or university (China) with excellent academic credentials.

* Please send us your complete resume (both in Chinese and in English) to: ‘topjob_oth023bj@dacare.com’

Traits That Turn a Good Recruiter Into a Great Recruiter

Identifying what RecruiterX would look like
Tuesday, October 24, 2006 | by Brian Whitfield

As an owner of an IT staffing firm, I am always looking for good recruiters and have had the pleasure to work with some very skilled people over the years.

If I could somehow blend the better traits of all of them into one mythical person (RecruiterX), he or she would show the following skills:

Understands how to source. These days, many recruiters think their job is to be great at using fancy Boolean searches to find candidates on the Internet or shuffle resumes from other sources. RecruiterX is proficient with the Internet to avoid ignoring a possible source, but he or she also uses every other avenue possible to find good candidates.

RecruiterX has an applicant tracking system and uses it well; has created a network of good people to network with (our recruiters are tasked with developing a network of the most talented people within a given skillset, which we call their “50 best”); go to industry events; and know which companies have similar candidates.

Since RecruiterX recruits for many of the same skills over and over, knows a lot of people in the industry, and calls them regularly, their contacts are happy to help them find good candidates.

Avoids wasting their customers’ time. Many recruiters seem to think their job is to send resumes. Resumes don’t get hired: people do. RecruiterX knows how to qualify candidates extremely well and only submits candidates who are “dead on” for the role, or at least they believe them to be. They usually only submit two to four resumes for any given requirement. Their customers know they only submit good people and say “here’s a resume from RecruiterX; I better at least look at it.” His managers usually interview one-half or more of all the people they submit, and hire one-half or more of those.

Understands the industry and customer requirements much better than the average recruiter. While they don’t know how to code Java, RecruiterX has a very good grasp on his industry’s buzzwords and what they mean.

They know that Javascript and Java are not the same thing. A developer doing HTML and javascript is not going to fit a java/j2ee requirement and they don’t present candidates that aren’t a fit. Recruiters who do lose whatever credibility they had. They definitely understand the terminology of the industry and what each job function is.

Many average recruiters never get past simply looking for buzzwords to truly understand job functions. Their great candidate has plenty of the proper buzzwords but lack the actual background required. RecruiterX doesn’t waste his customers’ time and only submits qualified people.

Understands what it means to truly qualify a candidate. Average and beginning recruiters think making sure someone has a particular skill set defines qualifying a candidate. RecruiterX knows it goes way beyond that. RecruiterX always verifies that a candidate’s commute is acceptable (and is skeptical when a candidate says he will drive 75 miles every day to the job).

They’re a pro at getting salary information and requirements, determining the candidate’s true motivations and seriousness, and getting any and all information that will help or prevent him from being able to close a placement. RecruiterX is an expert at qualifying someone and rarely has surprises when their candidates get an offer (e.g., the candidate says, “Oops, I really meant $125,000, not the $100,000 I originally said, because it is just too far of a commute.”).

They admit that most failures to close an offer are a result of failing to truly qualify a candidate upfront. They don’t blame the candidate, the company, or something else when a placement falls apart. They don’t end up in situations where they’re trying to relocate a candidate who tells you they’ll move, only to find out after they turned down an offer that they have children in high school, have lived next door to their mother-in-law for the last 17 years, and have a spouse who is vice president of the local bank. In other words, they were never going to relocate no matter how hard you wished they would.

Is an expert at salary negotiations. While this is a topic worthy of several articles, suffice it to say that RecruiterX knows how to uncover a candidate’s existing salary information, desires, and what it will really take to close the person on an offer. Although he or she earns $50,000 and will take $55,000, the candidate might also take $50,000 because the worker feels under-appreciated by the current boss.

Knows to pre-close the candidate at each step. Average recruiters believe 99% of the job is determining whether someone has a particular skillset. RecruiterX knows that it takes two to tango, and his job is to not only make sure a candidate is qualified, but to sell the opportunity and “pre-close” the candidate from the very first conversation to the last.

Without being pushy, he takes every opportunity to sell the position and verify that the candidate wants the opportunity at each step and that nothing has changed (“I know I said I wanted $70,000, but I really will only take $90,000.”). Average recruiters sell the candidate hard on the first conversation and rely upon faith that everything will still be okay in the end. They get a lot of surprises.

Maintains a laser focus. RecruiterX has the attitude, “I’ll quit when I die and not until.” When they get a requisition, they work it until they have filled the position, not until they’ve submitted one or two resumes that were kind-of-sort-of close and then wonder why more of their managers don’t respond to their resumes. They use every avenue possible to find hireable candidates and don’t do one-half of a search on 10 different assignments. They do 100% of a search even if they spend one-third of their time each day on three searches.

Displays high energy. RecruiterX is a high-energy person in both business and personal pursuits and does not tire as easily as others or avoid hard work. This person has a positive attitude and does not bring down others.

Shows a good work ethic. Ask an average recruiter what percentage of their time they are actually working, and they’ll probably tell you 50% to 80%. The true number is more than likely less than 50%. They are surfing the Internet, talking football, talking to their spouse on the phone, daydreaming about winning the lottery, and anything but recruiting.

RecruiterX actually works 75% of the time while knowing an occasional break is healthy. He or she may miss a few days a year for an illness or a personal day, but the boss knows the recruiter is a producer, has created a great relationship, and is generally very reliable.

Acts honestly. Let’s face it: some in our industry have helped give us a used-car salesman image. RecruiterX is honest and does not misrepresent a company to a candidate nor a candidate to a company. That’s just not good business. He or she does not steal candidates from clients or lie about salary information/rates, and maintains high ethics no matter what. RecruiterX refuses to work for an organization that bends ethics.

None of these traits should come as a surprise to a successful recruiter. If we are honest with ourselves, most of us should recognize we have some of these traits some of the time versus all of these traits all of the time. If you know any RecruiterX types, please send them my way.

Heirs of family enterprises start their own careers

Zhejiang University set up a special class to help 29 heirs of the family enterprises to build confidence and to gain experiences in management; however, none of them chose to go back to inherit the family heritage, but to start their own careers from scratch instead.

All the 29 graduates have started their own career. One started a game company, and all the other 28 found jobs in property, cars and Internet industries.

Wang Weixiao, an heir of a big hardware factory, now works in a car factory in Zhejiang. ¡°I don¡¯t want my career to be based on the achievement of my father,¡± said Wang. In fact, his father really wants Wang to help him, and the post of ¡°vice general manager¡± is left vacant for Wang.

The other reason for Wang to refuse his father¡¯s offer is that he doesn¡¯t like the atmosphere in the family enterprise, where all the important posts are taken by family members, and every decision must be based on an emotional basis. ¡°The ineffective organization of my father¡¯s enterprise really chokes me, ¡±concluded Wang.