Archives 2007

Operation Manager/Director – A Top semiconductor Company

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES
1. Manage a manufacturing operation section which activities include production and FGS/Store.
2. Effectively manage human resources to ensure high level of productivity.
3. Responsible for quality level of the manufacturing process.
4. Improve equipment utilization through effective maintenance management.
5. Manage TPM small group activity & lean manufacturing.
6. Manage the budget and cost of the department to ensure that the company is cost-effective in all its operations.
7. Formulate plans & lead a team to achieve MFG goals & objectives
8. Lead & guide staff to achieve operation/engineering/technical solutions as well as maintain competitiveness
9. Other duties as assigned by top management

JOB PURPOSE
Managing the overall responsible for manufacturing operations assigned to achieve all volume commitment, on time delivery of quality products at competitive cost, also managing the overall activities & execute tactical plans for equipment & process engineering

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES
1. Good knowledge of the manufacturing operations/lean manufacturing concept.
2. Project management skills.
3. Able to lead across department and motivate teammates

QUALIFICATIONS
1. Degree with preferred ¡·10 years managerial experience or equivalent or Diploma with preferred ¡·13 years relevant experience or equivalent.

* Please send us your complete resume (both in Chinese and in English) to:
‘topjob_eo109sz#dacare.com'(Please replace “#” with “@”)

Key issue for China’s new labor law: enforcement

By Jude Blanchette | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor

Shanghai, CHINA – The comprehensive labor law that China’s top legislative body passed Friday includes provisions that have appeared in previous legislation. But what may be different this time, some observers say, is the government’s willingness to enforce mandates protecting workers’ rights.

Scheduled to come into effect on Jan. 1, 2008, the law stipulates that employment contracts must be put in writing within one month of employment. It also says that employers must fully inform the worker of the nature of the job and of their working conditions and compensation. Furthermore, it limits the ability of employers to use temporary laborers.

But the law’s impact lies in how the government interprets and enforces it. “As is always the case with China’s laws, the real question will be in whether the new laws are enforced, how they are enforced, and against whom they are enforced,” says Dan Harris, an expert at the law firm Harris & Moure.

But, he adds, “there is a feeling the new labor law is more likely to be enforced than the old and, in particular, will be enforced against foreign companies.”

Indeed, organizations representing firms doing business in China have objected to certain provisions they say are unclear. In comments last year, the US-China Business Council warned, “The Draft Law may … reduce employment opportunities for PRC workers and negatively impact PRC’s competitiveness and appeal as a destination for foreign investment.”

On Friday, Xin Chunying, the deputy chairwoman of the National People’s Congress Law Committee, tried to allay the fears of foreign companies. “If there were some bias,” she said, “it would be in favor of foreign investors because local governments have great tolerance for them in order to attract and retain investment.”

The law gives oversight power to labor unions for collective agreements and the implementation of new employment regulations, but because independent labor unions are illegal in China, this duty will fall to the government-sponsored All China Federation of Trade Unions, an organization with deep ties to the Communist Party and local government officials.

Since the first draft of the law was made public in 2005, it has gone through three drafts and elicited more than 190,000 comments from the public.

In a statement issued Sunday, the European Chamber of Commerce welcomed the law’s passage, in part because it moved the labor market in the direction that many European countries have gone. According to a statement posted on their website, “After the comprehensive drafting process, the European Chamber is not concerned about the effect of the law on European investment in China.”

Since its emergence as an economic powerhouse more than 20 years ago, China has been dogged by criticisms of poor working conditions, the use of child labor, and willingness to placate multinational corporations.

Friday’s law comes as the government tries to deal with these complaints and dampen social unrest in rural areas. Indeed, the government is in the midst of a campaign to reduce the impact of the recent discovery of slavery-like conditions in Shanxi Province’s brick factories.

Early last month, more than 400 parents from Henan Province whose children had been abducted posted an open letter on the Internet. Their children, it came out, had been sold to work in brick factories in Shanxi Province.

It has since been revealed that thousands of others have met similar fates at brick kilns, many of which are unlicensed After Chinese journalists picked up the story, it rapidly spread around the world, causing outrage and shame in China.

Last week the draft law was amended to punish officials who ignore labor abuses with prison time or other penalties. Ms. Xin said that “The labor contract law makes detailed provision concerning this issue following the exposure of the forced labor scandals.”

Fifteen New Partners For Davis Polk – Law Firm & Legal News

NEW YORK– LAWFUEL – The Law Firm Newswire –Davis Polk & Wardwell today announced that Bjorn Bjerke, Mary Conway, Michael Davis, Avi Gesser, Harald Halbhuber, Kimberley D. Harris, Kirtee Kapoor, Jinsoo H. Kim, James C. Lin, Arthur S. Long, Mark M. Mendez, Edmund Polubinski III, Lanny A. Schwartz, Sarah K. Solum and Mischa Travers have been elected partners of the firm effective July 1, 2007. Davis Polk now has 160 partners in its offices in New York, Menlo Park, Washington, D.C., London, Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid, Hong Kong, Beijing and Tokyo.

Mr. Bjerke is a corporate lawyer focusing on complex structured products and derivatives including asset-backed debt instruments, fund linked instruments and credit based arrangements. His recent transactions include representing a large real-estate fund complex in a multi-billion dollar lending arrangement; representing large financial institutions in developing various fund-linked structures and derivative trading platforms and establishing synthetic CDO structures. He also represented ISDA as drafting counsel in connection with the 2006 ISDA Fund Derivatives Definitions and Delta Air Lines in connection with certain financing arrangements linked to Delta Sky Miles.

Ms. Conway is a tax lawyer concentrating in investment management matters, including the formation and operation of private equity funds, hedge funds, mutual funds and other pooled investment vehicles. She has provided advice to Chilton Investment Company, Credit Suisse, Crestview Partners, FrontPoint Partners, HRJ Capital, Integrated Finance Limited, J.P. Morgan, Magnetar Capital and Morgan Stanley, among others. Her practice includes partnership matters and international tax matters.

Mr. Davis is a corporate lawyer concentrating in mergers and acquisitions. The matters he has worked on recently include advising IPSCO in connection with its proposed sale to SSAB Sventskt Stål; Marsh & McLennan in connection with the proposed sale of Putnam Investments to Great-West Lifeco; IPSCO on its acquisition of NS Group; FrontPoint Partners on its sale to Morgan Stanley; MCI on its sale to Verizon; Ford on its acquisition of plants from, and the restructuring of its business relationship with, Visteon; and various other private equity and venture capital transactions.

Mr. Gesser is a litigator concentrating in securities class actions and enforcement, white-collar criminal defense matters and complex commercial cases. Currently, he is representing a major investment bank in class actions involving analyst independence issues. He also recently served as a lead negotiator of a multi-year comprehensive agreement between a large consumer products company and multiple governmental bodies related to international trade issues. He has represented corporations and individuals in various investigations that have been resolved favorably prior to trial. He was also part of the litigation team representing Delta Air Lines in its Chapter 11 restructuring.

Mr. Halbhuber is a corporate lawyer in the London office. His practice focuses on a broad range of corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions transactions. In corporate finance, he has advised both issuers and underwriters on debt and equity transactions. Most recently, he worked on several high-yield debt issuances by European issuers. He has also worked on several initial public offerings and rights offerings. His recent M&A transactions include advising Morgan Stanley on acquisitions in Russia, Italy and the U.K., and Carl Zeiss SMT in the structuring of a joint venture with Cymer and the acquisition of a U.S. nanotechnology company.

Ms. Harris is a litigator with extensive experience representing corporate clients in a variety of criminal, regulatory, and complex civil matters. Recent representations include: the Audit Committee of an auto parts manufacturer in connection with an internal investigation, as well as related criminal and regulatory investigations by the federal government; a major investment bank in connection with criminal and regulatory investigations of the bank’s IPO allocation practices; a former director of the New York Stock Exchange in connection with an investigation by the New York Attorney General and the SEC; and a major pharmaceutical company in connection with multiple complex civil class actions in both state and federal court.

Mr. Kapoor is a corporate lawyer who has had extensive experience in corporate finance, restructurings, workouts and mergers and acquisitions transactions. His experience also includes several transactions in India. His recent matters include advising The Gillette Company in connection with its $57 billion acquisition by The Procter & Gamble Company; Oracle Corporation on its $600 million acquisition of a majority stake in i-flex solutions; Oracle Corporation on its $5.85 billion acquisition of Siebel Systems and Delta Air Lines on its Chapter 11 restructuring generally and in connection with the over $10 billion unsolicited bid from US Airways.

Ms. Kim is a corporate lawyer concentrating in lending and other corporate finance transactions. She represents corporate clients and financial institutions in secured acquisition and other leveraged financings, unsecured financings, debt restructurings and exit financings. Recent representations include Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold in a $11 billion senior secured financing in connection with its acquisition of Phelps Dodge, J.P. Morgan in a $4.5 billion debtor-in-possession facility for Delphi, Delta Air Lines in a $2.5 billion senior secured exit financing, and Goldman Sachs Credit Partners and Credit Suisse in a leveraged acquisition financing for Education Management.

Mr. Lin is a corporate lawyer in the Hong Kong office, advising on public and private corporate finance transactions, including initial public offerings, high-yield debt offerings and private equity investments. He advised China Merchants Bank on its $2.66 billion HKSE listing, Air China on its $1.24 billion HKSE/LSE listing; and the underwriters in the privatization and NYSE/HKSE listing of Aluminum Corporation of China. Mr. Lin has also worked on several NASDAQ IPOs, including the $124 million listing of Baidu.com and the $468 million listing of Himax Technologies. He regularly advises a number of Asian high-technology companies on U.S. law matters.

Mr. Long is a corporate lawyer advising U.S. and foreign banks on the regulatory implications of M&A transactions; private equity investments; the offering of new financial products, including derivatives; enforcement , compliance and bank insolvency issues; and, in the case of foreign banks, establishing U.S. offices. Representative matters he has worked on include Banco Santander’s investment in Sovereign Bancorp; SLM Corporation (Sallie Mae) on its proposed sale; the acquisition by Citizens Financial Group of Charter One Financial; Citigroup’s acquisition of Banamex; Banco Bilbao Vizcaya’s merger with Argentaria; and JPMorgan’s investment in KorAm Bank.

Mr. Mendez is a corporate lawyer focusing on equity derivatives. Recently, he has advised Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs as book-running managers of a $1.5 billion offering by General Motors of convertible senior debentures and a Citigroup affiliate on the related capped call transaction; CVS Corporation in connection with a $2.5 billion collared accelerated share repurchase; Montpelier Re Holdings in connection with two variable share forward sale agreements; Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch in connection with the issuance of debt securities mandatorily exchangeable for shares of Class A common stock of Nuveen Investments; and JPMorgan in connection with the Microsoft Employee Stock Option Transfer Program.

Mr. Polubinski is a litigator representing corporations and individuals in a wide range of securities, professional liability, products liability, general commercial and acquisition-related litigation in federal and state courts. He also represents corporate and individual clients in investigations and other proceedings before various regulatory agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Internal Revenue Service, and the New York Stock Exchange. Recent matters include the defense of an investment banking client in putative class action antitrust litigations; the representation of a corporate issuer and individual clients in class action securities litigation and a related SEC investigation; the defense of a major pharmaceutical company in nationwide consumer protection and product liability litigation; and the representation through trial of a big four accounting firm in litigation arising out of the failure of a large national bank.

Mr. Schwartz is a corporate lawyer advising on securities compliance, regulatory and transactional matters. His clients include major international banks, broker-dealers, securities exchanges, consulting firms, a securities industry trade association and a large life settlement provider. From 1999 to 2005, he was executive vice president and general counsel of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange. Previously, he was managing director and counsel at Bankers Trust Company, specializing in bank and broker-dealer regulation and investment banking. He speaks and writes regularly on securities market structure and regulatory issues, and was formerly a member of the adjunct faculty of Columbia University School of Law.

Ms. Solum is a corporate lawyer in the Menlo Park office, advising on capital markets transactions, mergers and acquisitions, SEC disclosure and corporate governance. Recent capital markets transactions include convertible debt offerings for Cadence Systems, Cypress Semiconductor and Equinix; investment grade debt offerings for Comcast, Oracle and Seagate; follow-on offerings for Kaiser Aluminum, Wet Seal and Onyx Pharmaceuticals; initial public offerings for Chipotle Mexican Grill and CAI International; and McDonald’s spin-out of Chipotle Mexican Grill. Mergers and acquisitions she has worked on recently include advising NetIQ on its sale to Attachmate WRQ and Oracle on its acquisitions of Siebel Systems and PeopleSoft.

Mr. Travers is a corporate lawyer in the Menlo Park office, advising technology companies and their underwriters and investors on mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings and other corporate transactions. Recent matters he has worked on include KLA-Tencor’s acquisitions of ADE, Therma-Wave, SensArray and OnWafer; Software AG’s acquisition of webMethods; Affymetrix’s acquisition of ParAllele; Comcast’s strategic partnership with TiVo; a $2.25 billion debt offering by Comcast Corporation; Affymax’s initial public offering; convertible debt offerings by Borland Software, Boston Properties, Informatica, Intel, Macrovision and Xilinx; and various investments in private companies by affiliates of Richemont.

How to find a job in China (FAQ, information & tips)

How to find a job in China (FAQ, information & tips)

USEFUL WEB SITE SERVICES FOR CHINA JOB SEEKERS:

To get a quick and easy list of China job postings, although limited, look at the following. Also a good idea to keep these in your pocket so you have one ear on the street all the time:

Check out China Insight’s very own China job listing board, or list yourself on our China job seeker board.

Sign up with Asia Net, which posts jobs on its web site and delivers e-mail regularly with job postings. Will send e-mails specifically for jobs in Asia for people with Chinese, Japanese, and Korean language skills. Most are techie jobs, but once in a while something interesting comes up.
Wang & Li has all the top spots for Greater China, and competitive market information.
Alliance – mainly jobs for PRC locals, but an on-the-ground, professional recruitment group with exclusively PRC job listings.
Global Villager/ CareerChina has a full array of China oriented information.
Surf for jobs in China.

OUR PERSONAL ADVICE ON THE JOB SEARCH:

In our four years in Beijing, we have seen many friends come to China and find jobs. Many we have helped, and frequently we are asked the same questions by those considering taking the leap in coming to China. Briefly and succinctly, below are our own views on: the various paths people have taken, the types of jobs they have found, and advice if you are looking for a China job. This advice is primarily for college graduates or 20 somethings just getting their feet on their ground. If you have an MBA from a top business school or can command a top job by virtue of your experience, much of the below probably may not pertain to you.

Send us info on changes in the job market so we can update this page

MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Can I find a job?
How much can I expect to earn?
How and where should I start my job search?
How should I prepare before I come?
What are key issues when coming?
What’s important in the job search?
What types of jobs are out there?
What are key elements of a package?
What’s your final advice?
Return to (a little) China Insight main page

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DETAILED INFORMATION:

CAN I FIND A JOB? Yes. You will need to be resourceful, a bit lucky (all jobs are like that), and you may have to bite the bullet by sleeping on the floor of many apartments and eating fang bian mian (instant noodles) for several months, but it can be done. The key is being persistent, patient and lucky. More important is that you first set your own goals and parameters: what field do you want to be in, what salary do you expect, how long can you live without a salary, what is your ultimate goal in coming to China, etc.?

HOW MUCH CAN I EARN? If money is most important to you, you had best look first for a China job in the States or from Hong Kong. Any company that sends you overseas will most likely give you a full package plus great benefits. The downside is that these jobs are harder to find, especially if you have limited relevant experience; it also generally means working/training in the States for 1-2 years before heading over, but not necessarily. Even if money is not important to you, before you leave the States you ought to do a heavy job search on that end. If you find a job in China (see details below on compensation levels), they will most likely pay you less, although you can live well and still save money on a decent salary. See details on compensation below.

HOW AND WHERE SHOULD I LOOK FOR A JOB? Many people come and then look for a job. It’s probably the true China person who chooses this riskier strategy. We do advise you to first look in the States, though, or in Hong Kong, before packing your bags. Hong Kong can be a prime job market, but unless you have a friend there, it is very expensive to stay and hang out. Who knows also? Maybe you get a good job in Hong Kong and they send you into Mainland China. Don’t come here without first trying your luck in the US and/or HK. First try the web sites we recommend above, mailing out lots of resumes and using any network(s) you may have.

HOW SHOULD I PREPARE BEFORE I COME/WHAT SHOULD I BE PREPARED FOR? Be flexible: prepare all sorts of resumes, with different slants. Be prepared to be patient and not find a job for several months. At the very minimum, before coming prepare at least one resume with the “teacher” slant, as this is a sure backup to make money.

Also, if you arrive without a job, be prepared to spend 3 months getting settled, brushing up on your Mandarin, making connections and finally landing a job. Hopefully you won’t need that long. Have at least enough money in your pocket to cover your expenses for this period. Figure about 1000 USD a month should cover you no problem, but that’s if you are resourceful. The big chunk of that is housing, so if you find a dorm or crash with a friend, you can live on less. Many of us can live on 200 USD a month, outside of housing, in fact. Eat cheaply, not much western food, don’t party a lot, take public transport or ride a bike, and live in a dorm, crash on someone’s floor, or find a cheap hotel. Be creative. Housing and visas will be your main concern (see below), and oftentimes it’s advisable to come first and study or work as a teacher, just to get your feet solidly on the ground and have housing and visa problems resolved right off the bat..

WHAT IS IMPORTANT IN THE JOB SEARCH? Get to know people: network, network and network. Send out resumes; reach as many people as possible. (But don’t bombard us with e-mail). Many people who come as students also intern at companies or for the US embassy commercial section, or U.S. companies. The internships in the commercial sections can often lead to good job offers. Unpaid, but you are working for your future right? If you work in a certain sector of the commercial section, you’ll be able to somewhat become an expert on it, and you can impress all those US companies in that sector who come through the embassy wanting to know about China. Latching on to a big multinational from the China side, save having incredible working experience or a top degree, is extremely difficult. However, local and many small western companies can offer interesting opportunities. Likwise, another advantage of coming on a study program first, particularly the better ones, is that they will help place you in an internship. This internship sometimes can turn into a job.

If you come to Beijing without a job, it is obviously better if you have some work experience or great Chinese. Best is both. You have an advantage if you can push one of these when job seeking. Take the position of the company you are interviewing with: why would they want to hire you? A Chinese person who is experienced and already knows the environment here earns probably 1/10 to 1/2 of the salary that you might command. Or a company could hire an experienced expat who knows their company and send them to China. Your chances improve if you have relevant US job industry experience or great Chinese. Gone are the days where good Chinese will get you by, or so I have been told. Many companies are also rethinking their China strategies and cutting back, and in the wake of the the rest of Asia’s economic woes, the next year or so may be a period of retrenchment. But maybe you are just lucky. Remember, for as many local expats who say it’s hard to find a job here, almost 90% of them, when asked how they found their job in China (and most got their foot in the door with little work experience behind them), will say, “Oh, I just got lucky.”

WHAT ARE THE KEY ISSUES TO CONSIDER WHEN I GET OFF THE PLANE? Your immediate problems will be your visa and housing. Come to China on a tourist visa and you will most likely have to leave to change it’s status or to extend the visa eventually, which may mean taking an expensive trip to Hong Kong. Because of the visa problem many people come and teach (resolves both visa and housing issues right off the bat) or come as a student (also resolves both issues). This allows you to get your feet on the ground and build up connections and language skills. If you come and then look for English teaching, they will seldom give you a visa. If you take the student/teaching path, you will usually have to be locked in for 6-12 months, but that’s alright. Not cool to skip out on a teaching job.

WHAT TYPE OF JOBS/OPTIONS ARE THERE?

Teaching English
Being a student
Interning in the U.S. embassy/a western company.
Translating services
Legal assistant
Journalism
Business
Odd jobs for local Chinese companies
Be creative – think outside the conventional job box
Start something on your own – be an entrepreneur

WHAT SHOULD A PACKAGE INCLUDE? There are several issues here to consider, which I elaborate on below: salary, housing allowance, healthcare, vacation/plane ticket, visa, taxes, other issues.

Your package will depend if you are hired as an expat from abroad or a local hire. Obviously if you are brought in from overseas, you can expect [spam word detected] and a full range of benefits. Salaries range in the industry, but if you are sent here, figure you will get $25-100K, hardship posting pay, standard bonuses, housing allowance of at least $1500-6000 a month, 3-5 weeks paid vacation, and round trip air ticket once a year (and perhaps more for R&R leave time), full US standard healthcare, evacuation insurance through AEA, SOS, or MEDEX, tax coverage, shipping fees covered; and all other reimbursable expenses and training that would accrue to you as an employee. Sometimes language lessons are paid for as well. If you are high enough up or the position requires it, you will get a car and/or driver, a mobile phone, or at least have travel to and from work reimbursed.

If you are hired locally, the story is drastically different, and you should have no illusions about landing the above. Your compensation of course varies on the company, your background, the industry, and your position. Nevertheless, here’s what you can expect, as an expatriate local hire:

SALARY: As a journalist or clipper, you might get $500-1500 a month and up; As a translator or legal assistant $15K – 30K; In business typical salaries are between $15-50K, but can be higher if you have experience in the industry or get lucky enough to latch on to a big company. As a teacher, you can earn $5-20 an hour, but work can be patchy. Remember that your salary is only as valuable as the rest of the package: housing allowance, tax coverage, health insurance, etc. can tilt the balance.

HOUSING ALLOWANCE: Housing in Beijing is the biggest ma fan (nuisance) for expats. Living in a _legal_ apartment can run $1200 at the cheapest, and up to $2000 for something reasonably located. Don’t expect much for housing allowance, but figure the cheapest “non-legal” apartments will run about $300-600 per month. Lots of local expats live in these apartments. Some expat packages don’t include housing; others will give you perhaps $1500 a month at most. Few local hire expat jobs will provide you an apartment – you’ll have to find one on your own. If you choose to live in local housing, you can save money, but you will always live with the fear of the gong an ju (PSB) knocking on your door. (Yes, I’ve been booted from my apartment more than once, but that is another topic – see separate section – seeking local housing). The good news amid all of this is that housing prices are coming down in Beijing; overdevelopment has changed the real estate scene from a seller to buyer’s market (though legal housing still ain’t cheap), and the government has gotten a little more lax with living in “local” housing.

HEALTHCARE: Ideally you should get a US healthcare package or evacuation service through SOS or AEA, the two biggest providers in Beijing. Figure the US healthcare package to be worth $200 per month in your salary. If you get evacuation insurance (your parents would want you to have this), it will run the company $300 per year, but doesn’t mean as much if you don’t have health coverage also. (A visit at Beijing United Family Hospital is around $80). In Beijing, aside from Beijing United Family Hospital, you might check out AEA and IMC for western healthcare. Cheaper but OK are the Sino-German Health clinic or the Hong Kong Medical Clinic. Otherwise, if you go to a Chinese hospital, you’ll pay less and still get decent treatment at Peking Union or The Sino-Japanese Hospital. There is a difference is the healthcare provision, though; I didn’t spend three years setting up Beijing United for no reason at all! For inquires about Beijing United plans, send them an e-mail

VACATION/PLANE TICKET: Standard for an expat who signs on for 1-3 years is 3-4 weeks of paid vacation, and one roundtrip ticket back to the States per year. But sometimes you won’t even get this.
VISA: Your company should handle this. If you are lucky, maybe they send you to Hong Kong every 3-6 months to get a new visa. This works out well (go buy some new clothes and get a needed rest from Beijing), and also helps you avoid taxes in China. Visas are a major tou teng (headache) if your company refuses to handle this for you. Insist on your company handling your visa and all related work permits.

TAXES: Big companies will handles your taxes for you (meaning what they quote you as your salary is after tax). Smaller ones probably will deduct taxes from your pay; others will not report it and leave it up to you. If everything is done in accordance to China and U.S. law, however, you can expect the following: Around 8% of your salary should be deducted for Social Security and FICA by your company (if it is a US company). If you earn less than $72,000 year (and if you don’t, I’ll trade jobs with you), you are totally exempt from US personal income taxes if you spend more than 330 days of the year outside the U.S. Just make sure you file (you get an automatic extension until June 1, by the way) the 1040 form as well as the 2555-EZ form available in the States or at the US embassy. If your company follows Chinese law (not all do), you pay a graded tax (meaning you pay x% on income from 0-3000 RMB/month; y% for the amount from 3000-5000 RMB/month; z% for the amount from 5000-7000 RMB/month, etc. – note figures not accurate). Whatever you earn, figure China taxes are less than your equivalent grade in the States. For example, if you earn 25,000, you might pay on average 20% income tax in the States (correct me if I’m wrong – I’ve never worked there!); in China, the level is closer to 13%. In short, if you are thoroughly confused: if you work in China, make a real salary, and follow all US and China laws, you pay less taxes than if you worked in the States for the same salary — but not THAT much lower. If you can find ways to get the company to cover taxes, all the better. If you don’t pay China taxes, the burden should be on your company.
Other issues: It’s always good to get perks on the job: e-mail, mobile phone, pager, computer, reimbursed rides to and from work. Standard bonuses are a month salary or less, or if you are in sales, commissions. Throw these jobs in to sweeten the deal. Standard raises vary from year to year, but are between 3-15%.

FINAL ADVICE: No matter what job you land and what compensation you get, know there will always be someone who earns more than you. The grass will always be greener on the other side, as they say. Pick a job that you are interested in, and offers you a chance to develop. If you want to know China and speak Chinese, pay attention to the company culture: will you speak Chinese? Who are the expats? What life do they lead? At the same time, remember that you have to negotiate your contract. Look out for yourself, as no one else will; that’s why we’ve written this and put it in public access cyberspace.

[Please keep in mind too this is written based on our experience, which is all in Beijing. We hear Shanghai is a good market, if not better than Beijing, and the terms may all be different. Also I haven’t updated this; if China’s rapid changes are any indication of change in the job market, maybe all this will be different tomorrow.]

FINALLY, will you be able to find a job? Of course. It may not be easy and it might not be what you like right off the bat, but there are jobs out there. Know what your goals are and also know how long you can stay without real employment (read: income). Worse comes to worse, you work on your Chinese and travel and witness first-hand the greatest economic and social revolution of all time. That’s not so bad, now is it? The longer you stay and dedicated you are, the better your chances become of finding something interesting (and interesting jobs there are). Also remember that once you work, and if the job is demanding, you won’t have time to bum around and see the craziness of Beijing/China. If you can’t find a good job, use the time to study Chinese — trust me, you’ll never regret it.

This page authored by: Michael Wenderoth[/b]

Here are a few links that will save you loads of time finding a job.

http://jobs.amcham-shanghai.org – Quality jobs from many fortune 500 companies. Mostly managerial and Director positions.
www.51job.com – Top Chinese Website: Milions of jobs and viewers, but you gotta get past the advertising first.
www.zhaopin.com – similar to above. 2nd in race.
www.chinahr.com – linked with Monster. Similar to 2 above.
www.thishanghai.com – good variety of jobs, not always best quality.
www.asiaexpat.com – Shanghai page has loads of jobs. Good amount of traffic also keeps jobs fresh.
www.shjob.cn – Shanghai version of 51 job. Recently with multi million Euro injection.
www.chinaonline.cn.com – good site in general, but not loads of postings.

All of the above are useful in finding work, the Chinese websites are more catered to Chinese obviously, even though they do have english version. The local community websites, like Shanghai Expat, are good for general range of jobs and have good response to postings or requests. Chambers of Commerce are good to find quality jobs as their members have a majority of big companies, multinationals and such.
There are plenty of ways to find jobs in Shanghai and China, but websites are certainly a good start!

How to apply a Chinese working visa (Z) from PRC consulate in US

Employment Visa

(Z-visa)

Requirements:

1. One completely filled out Visa Application Form for the P.R. China (Q-1). Right click to save E-form, Pdf form, or Jpeg form.

2. One recently taken 2X2 in. photo showing entire face and without a hat on. Please affix the photo to the application form.

3. Original passport with at least 2 blank visa pages and valid for at least 6 months beyond the date of application.

4. An invitation letter or telegram from the relevant department of the Chinese Government or Government-authorized company.

5. Original Foreign Experts Working Permit issued by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affaris, or orginal and copy of Alien Employment Lisense issued by the Ministry of Labour amd Social Security, or other relevant permit of employment.

6. The spouse or children of the Z-Visa applicant who are following the applicant to stay in China are required to be listed in the above-mentioned invitation letter or telegram. Otherwise original and copy of Marriage Certificate or Birth Certificate to prove their relationship are also required.

7. An applicant born in China who is applying for a Chinese visa with his or her new foreign passport is required to submit his or her Chinese passport or last foreign passport.

8. A child of Chinese descent and born in a foreign country who applies for a Chinese visa for the first time is required to submit his or her Birth Certificate and foreign passport or foreign permanent resident permit (e.g. Green Card) of one of his or her parents.

Reminders:

1. No visa application can be done through mail, email, internet, or any express delivery service such as UPS, FedEx, etc. Visa application should be submitted and picked up by the applicant or someone else entrusted.

2. Z-visa is generally valid for 3 month. Applicants should apply for a residence permit from a local county level Public Security Bureau within 30 days after entering China.

http://www.nyconsulate.prchina.org/eng/lsqz/VisasforChina/t42204.htm#4

China to raise wages to offset price hike

BEIJING: Minimum wages in China will be increased this year to offset the sharp rise in food prices that has particularly hurt low-income families, state media reported on Friday, citing the labour ministry.

Local governments must raise minimum wages before the end of 2007 in regions where salaries have risen slowly or are markedly lower than the average, the Xinhua news agency said, citing the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.

“Local governments must adjust minimum wages in a timely manner and ensure that real standards do not fall with the consumer price index going up,” the ministry said.

China’s inflation rate rose 3.4 per cent in May from a year earlier, above the government’s annual target of 3.0 per cent, but food prices have accelerated at a much faster pace.

In a circular cited by Xinhua, the labour ministry said low-income families were particularly feeling the heat after meat and poultry prices jumped by 26.5 per cent in May and the cost of eggs rose 37.1 per cent.

Premier Wen Jiabao also warned in late May that the rising price of pork, the most commonly eaten meat in China, could threaten social stability.

In China, minimum wage standards vary from region to region. At the end of last year, southern China’s Shenzhen city had the highest minimum wage in the country at 810 yuan ($105) per month, while eastern Jiangxi province was bottom with a salary of 270 yuan, Xinhua said.

State Grid Corp launches worldwide recruitment plan

BEIJING, June 28 — State Grid Corp of China (SGCC), the nation’s largest electricity transmission company, yesterday launched a worldwide recruitment plan for its five research and development (R&D) institutes.

Under the plan, the company will recruit 100 top scientists for its R&D work, including four academicians.

The five R&D centers are China Electric Power Research Institute, Nanjing Automation Research Institute, Beijing Electric Power Construction Research Institute of SGCC, Wuhan High Voltage Research Institute of SGCC and State Power Economic Research Institute.

The five institutes now have 2,699 staff members, including four academicians.

“The move will increase the company’s R&D capabilities. Last year, we made many breakthroughs in the R&D field,” SGCC said in a statement.

The company last year started to build China’s first ultra-high voltage (UHV) transmission line. The pilot project will see 1,000 kilovolts of alternating current linking the southeastern part of Shanxi Province with Jingmen city in Hubei Province, passing Nanyang city in Central China’s Henan Province.

(Source: China Daily)

China, India pose different hiring challenges: Survey

Hong Kong, June 28: Multinational companies in China have a hard task hiring people with leadership skills while in India they face unreasonably demanding fresh graduates, a survey shows.

The fast pace of business expansion in Asia’s two emerging economic powerhouses has created a talent shortage and a host of challenges for employers.

“Staff are impatient and there are a lot of jobs out there,” said Shalini Mahtani, chief executive of Hong Kong-based Community Business. “If companies are not providing good career opportunities, staff will leave.”

Community Business, an organisation promoting corporate social responsibility, conducted the survey in Shanghai and Mumbai with Schneider-Ross, a UK-based business consultancy.

Pay is still important as staff in China have no qualms in leaving a company to pick up a higher salary elsewhere, according to the survey. In India, employers say younger professionals are demanding excessive compensation packages, inflated job titles and immediate opportunities for overseas assignments.

One multinational talked of a fresh graduate who came for interview saying he had four job offers on the table and how could the company better that. Such demands were not unusual, the company said.

Pay is talked about openly in India and employees are liable to switch jobs if they know that their fellow graduates from business school are earning more. This makes it difficult for companies to reward good performance, survey participants said.

In China, competition for staff is so acute that one company reported losing a junior member of staff to a local company that more than doubled her salary and offered a position for which she did not have any experience.

The survey interviewed 25 senior managers and HR directors at foreign companies in Shanghai and Mumbai and conducted a focus group in each of the two cities.

A lack of leadership skills among staff poses a real challenge in China and many employees there leave a company because of the attitude or behaviour of their boss, survey participants said.

Western multinational companies are no longer routinely seen as the preferred employer, as staff in both countries often see local companies that are expanding globally as a better opportunity to gain visibility and climb the career ladder. Multinationals now are having to approach second and third tier colleges for staff.

Diversity in the workforce, whether by gender, generation or culture, is also difficult to implement because local managers either are not sensitive to the issue or business is growing so fast they have no time to focus on it.

In India stereotyping of women is still common.

“There’s an assumption that women will get married and they’ll leave the workplace,” said Mahtani.

In China, poor leadership skills means companies often have to bring in expatriates.

People with disabilities are largely unrepresented in both markets, according to the survey.

Long working hours are another problem, particularly in India where colleagues in different timezones expect staff to be available at irregular hours, the survey showed.

Foreign firms to get tax rebates for hiring disabled Chinese

Foreign companies with disabled Chinese on the payroll will qualify for tax rebates from next year.

The maximum tax rebate per disabled worker will be 35,000 yuan (US$4,550) a year. Meanwhile, salaries of disabled workers will be exempted from employees income tax.

Companies whose work force comprises more than 25 percent of disabled workers will be eligible for rebates on both income and value-added tax, according to the new policy announced by the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation (SAT).

Those with less than 25 percent of disabled employees will only get income tax rebates.

China has issued a series of preferential tax policies since the 1980s to promote the employment of disabled people.

But a SAT official said that current policies had left many private and foreign companies out in the cold, unable to qualify for tax rebates.

The new policy, which will apply nationwide from next month, is aimed at “creating a favorable taxation environment for fair competition and promoting employment for disabled people,” the official said.

Statistics show that China has nearly 83 million disabled people, with only 22.7 million in employment and about 8.6 million officially listed in unemployment statistics.

Playboy will hire bunnies in China soon

Entertainment complex with bunnies, gambling slated for debut in 2009

HONG KONG–Playboy Enterprises Inc., publisher of the most widely read men’s magazine, plans to open a 40,000-square-foot entertainment complex, including gambling facilities and bunny-suited waitresses, in Macau, located on the southeast coast of China.

Playboy Mansion Macao, to be completed in 2009, will include dining, entertainment and retail shops, company chair and chief executive Christie Hefner said in an interview in Hong Kong. It will be part of the Macao Studio City complex, and the gambling operations will be run by casino operator Melco International Development Co., Hefner said in another interview, in Macau.

Billionaire Stanley Ho’s gaming monopoly ended in 2002 when the government awarded licences to five other operators in the city, the only place in China where casinos are legal.

By this year’s first quarter, 25 casinos were operating in the 26 square-kilometre territory, creating concern the industry may be starting to get crowded.

“I am less bullish about the ability of demand to soak up the capacity that’s coming on line for both retail and hotels,” said Peter Drolet, a Hong Kong-based analyst at UOB Kay Hian Pte.

Macao Studio City, a $2 billion (U.S.) joint venture between Hong Kong-listed ESun Holdings Ltd. and partners including Silver Point Capital LLC, is next to the Lotus Bridge, which will link Macau and the mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai. It will include a film studio, a million-square-foot shopping mall and gaming and convention facilities.

“Macau has vast growing power as a travel destination, with the number of visitors expected to double between 2006 and 2011,” said Hefner, daughter of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.

“We will look for the most beautiful, personable women from Asia and the United States” to possibly hire as Playboy bunnies, Hefner said.

She said it was “too early” to disclose how much will be invested in Playboy Mansion Macao and how much gaming will contribute to its revenue. Hefner also didn’t say how much Playboy will pay Melco to run the project’s gaming operations.

Macau’s economy grew 16.6 per cent last year, compared with 6.9 per cent in 2005 and 28.4 per cent in 2004, the year the city’s first foreign-operated casino began operating.

Macau, with a population of 500,000, is the closest location for the 1.3 billion people in China to gamble legally in casinos.

Gambling revenue in the former Portuguese colony surged 22 per cent to $6.95 billion last year, surpassing the Las Vegas Strip.

Playboy is the world’s best selling men’s monthly magazine with its U.S. paid circulation of 3 million.