Archives March 2009

Cramer’s ‘Stop Trading!’: China’s Red Hot

“China is red hot and staying hot,” said Jim Cramer on CNBC’s “Stop Trading!” segment on Tuesday.

Vehicle sales are up in China, led by General Motors(GM Quote – Cramer on GM – Stock Picks). “People have to understand that the Chinese stimulus plan is really rooted in people’s spending,” Cramer said. It’s “enough to be able to change spending habits, buy more, drive more cars.”

He called China “the best market in the world” and predicted that it still has “far to go.”

But there’s a tradeoff, Cramer said, because China’s stimulus plan isn’t regulated by the rules of a democracy. “A democracy has a lot of different considerations to make it more difficult,” he said. “I’ll take the freedom over what they’ve got.”

Cramer said that Verizon(VZ Quote – Cramer on VZ – Stock Picks) is going higher, and he recommended ag stocks such as Terra Nitrogen(TNH Quote – Cramer on TNH – Stock Picks) and Monsanto(MON Quote – Cramer on MON – Stock Picks).

“Monsanto’s back,” he said, adding that it had a “good” quarter, unlike Deere(DE Quote – Cramer on DE – Stock Picks).

He likes Terra Nitrogen for its dividend. “TNH is a great fertilizer play,” he said.

HR: Top brass may get no pay hikes

Senior executives at nearly a quarter of Chinese companies would see no increase in their compensation packages this year, a survey by human resources consulting firm, Mercer, has found.

In all, 59 companies in China were included in the survey, of which 76 percent were listed companies and 39 percent, multinationals.

Around 34 percent of the surveyed companies said executive bonuses for 2008 would decrease. The average bonus level in Asia was 40 percent for 2008.

The global financial crisis has pushed companies to review executive compensation mechanisms. This is being done to tighten the relationship between executive pay and company strategy.

Around 49 percent of companies in China may adjust their performance evaluation standards in the next 12 months. Nearly 33 percent said they would adjust long-term evaluation standards, the survey revealed.

About 71 percent of the companies surveyed said they had a long-term incentive plan designed to retain talent. Due to the sluggish market, around 14 percent of the companies said the value of their long-term incentive plan (that will be met this year) would be lowered.

Mercer conducted similar surveys in other Asian nations, including India, South Korea, Japan and Singapore.

“In Asia, one-third of the companies surveyed said their senior executives’ salaries wouldn’t increase in 2009. The proportion in China is a little smaller than the average, indicating that the country is less impacted by the financial crisis,” said Zheng Wei, managing director for the Asia executive remuneration business at Mercer.

“Considering the deferred impact on China’s market, we expect more companies in China to take similar measures to limit senior executives’ pay this year,” Zheng added.

Ma Mingzhe, the chairman of Ping An Insurance (Group) Co, received the highest pay package for 2007 in the financial industry, at 66 million yuan. This was a nearly four-fold jump from his 2006 salary and was widely criticized.

About two thirds of Ma’s salary in 2007 came from the long-term incentive plan. “Because of the financial crisis, companies should pay much more attention to the validity and rationality of the salary mechanism and make it palatable to staff and public supervisors,” said Zheng.

Wanda to offer 60,000 new jobs in 2009

Wanda Group, one of the country’s largest private property developers, will offer 60,000 new jobs this year, a company executive said on Wednesday.

“Most of the jobs are created by our rapid expansion this year,” Wang Jianlin, Wanda’s chairman, told China Daily on the sidelines of the annual sessions of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Wanda plans to build eight shopping malls and two five-star hotels this year. The company has spent 11 billion yuan in grabbing five pieces of land in Shijiazhuang, Tangshan, Tianjin, Hefei and Hohhot since the fourth quarter of last year, despite the sluggish property market.

Xinjiang vows job offers to fresh graduates

Unemployed graduates will get a job offer within 12 hours of an application in the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, officials said Monday.

A record 58,000 graduates are expected to enter the job market in the region this year, up 9 percent from last year, prompting Xinjiang to roll out a slew of measures to help them find jobs amid the financial crisis.

“We can ensure that a graduate student can get at least one offer within 12 hours in Urumqi,” said Li Zhi, party head of Urumqi. Li is in Beijing to attend the ongoing session of the National People’s Congress.

Although he didn’t say what kind of positions would be offered to students, he said that priority would be given to ethnic minority students.

“We will encourage employers to hire ethnic minority students and the government at all levels will arrange positions for them,” Li said.

The efforts are part of a package for all Xinjiang graduates as the region aims to maintain an employment rate of over 70 percent among fresh graduates, said Tian Wen, party chief of Xinjiang personnel bureau.

Xinjiang’s relatively small economy, however, means that there will be fewer urban jobs than the number of new graduates. As a result, they will be urged to go to the countryside to teach or practice as medical workers. Five percent college graduates in the region have been working in rural areas since last year.

“We offer tailored positions to students to support medical and educational developments in rural Xinjiang,” Tian said.

She did not specify how many such positions are offered but said that 80 percent positions are reserved for ethnic minority students.

Both officials called for graduates to take frontline jobs, with Tian saying multiple vacancies exist in the public welfare sector.

Besides, the region has also established five job-training bases in Ili Kazak autonomous prefecture, Urumqi and Aksu. Among the other measures to boost employment among new graduates are subsidizing companies that employ graduates, offering small loans to graduates starting their own businesses, employment guidance to students and organizing specialized job fairs.

Customer Manager ?Credit Marketing?(mkt273sh)

Job Title: Customer Manager ?Credit Marketing?
Location: Shanghai
The largest independent local bank in Hong Kong, with total consolidated assets of HK$415.3 billion (US$53.58 billion) as at 31st December, 2008. The Bank is listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and is one of the constituent stocks of the Hang Seng Index.
They have long been known for the comprehensive range of retail and commercial banking services that it provides to a wide array of customers. Retail and wholesale banking services are delivered through the Bank’s Personal Banking, Corporate Banking, Wealth Management, Investment Banking, China, and International divisions.
Job Description:
Responsibilities:
1. The development of high quality customers, potential customers to promote the bank’s credit products and services
2. Keep good relationship with customers, the local regulatory authorities
3. Actively expanding in Shanghai and surrounding cities, or new business to collect, update customer information, prepare related reports;
4. Able to work under pressure and complete set of business indicators.
5. Make the mid and long strategy development of business development

Requirement:
1. More than five years working experience in marketing credit and commercial banking firm (Shanghai Area)
2. A strong credit business analysis capability and market development capabilities
3. Positive, be patient and careful and have team spirit
4. Have good customer resources
5. Bachelor degree or above
6. Fluent in English.
* Please send us your complete resume (in Chinese and in English) to: ‘topjob_mkt273sh@dacare.com'(Please replace “#” with “@”)
* In the email subject please include the position name and job #

Branch Manager (mkt274sh)

Job Title: Branch Manager
Location: Shanghai
The largest independent local bank in Hong Kong, with total consolidated assets of HK$415.3 billion (US$53.58 billion) as at 31st December, 2008. The Bank is listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and is one of the constituent stocks of the Hang Seng Index.
They have long been known for the comprehensive range of retail and commercial banking services that it provides to a wide array of customers. Retail and wholesale banking services are delivered through the Bank’s Personal Banking, Corporate Banking, Wealth Management, Investment Banking, China, and International divisions.
Job Description:
Responsibilities:
1. Lead the branch team to complete the allocated sales targets and to establish good customer relationship;
2. Ensure that the branch to reach the people trading banks, the CBRC and the State Administration of the standards of Foreign Exchange and other regulatory bodies;
3. Effective development and management of branch-wide marketing activities and channels to expand activities;
4. Monitoring internal processes and branch staff training;
5. Manage the implementation of internal organizational discipline in order to protect the branch daily operations and business development.

Requirement:
1. Over 8 year’s branch operations or retail management experience (Shanghai Area) with solid performance records;
2. Solid knowledge based in banking and market development capabilities;
3. Strong ability of analysis, decision-making adaptability and execution;
4. Gained solid customer resources;
5. Bachelor degree or above, MBA background in well-known institutions is A-plus
* Please send us your complete resume (in Chinese and in English) to: ‘topjob_mkt274sh@dacare.com'(Please replace “#” with “@”)
* In the email subject please include the position name and job #

Customer Manager ?Personal Finance & Wealth Management?(fi202sh)

Job Title: Customer Manager ?Personal Finance & Wealth Management?
Location: Shanghai
The largest independent local bank in Hong Kong, with total consolidated assets of HK$415.3 billion (US$53.58 billion) as at 31st December, 2008. The Bank is listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and is one of the constituent stocks of the Hang Seng Index.
They have long been known for the comprehensive range of retail and commercial banking services that it provides to a wide array of customers. Retail and wholesale banking services are delivered through the Bank’s Personal Banking, Corporate Banking, Wealth Management, Investment Banking, China, and International divisions.
Job Description:
Responsibilities:
1. The development of high quality clients, and actively promote the banking business;
2. To promote various types of personal financial products;
3. To provide customers with personal financial business training;
4. Able to work under pressure and complete the company target
5. To evaluate financial & wealth management markets to recommend mega investment themes and wealth management services trend
6. To monitor and analyze customer/branch’s feedback to improve overall customer experience.

Requirement:
1. Commercial banks more than Six years of personal financial products sales experience (Shanghai Area) ;
2. A strong marketing capability;
3. Have good customer resources;
4. Positive, be patient and careful and have team spirit;
5. Bachelor degree or above
6. Fluent in English.
* Please send us your complete resume (in Chinese and in English) to: ‘topjob_fi202sh@dacare.com'(Please replace “#” with “@”)
* In the email subject please include the position name and job #

Supply Chain Mgr. (log046nj)

Job Title: Supply Chain Mgr.
Job Description:
Company introduction:
Our client is a world leader in AFC systems for public transport. It successfully completed many metro projects for numerous cities around the world. With the fast development of metro industry in China, Asia and many other countries, our client will reinforce their entity in R&D, program management and other operational positions.

Report To: GM
Location: Nanjing
Responsibilities:
1. Take a full in-charge of SCM with complete functions including Planning, Sourcing, Purchasing, Shipping, Logistics,
2. Set strategic goals and direction for the department to meet the company goal of revenue, capacity, cost, and delivery
3. Further develop the supply chain focusing on planning, order management, logistics provider management as well as cost- and performance optimization in China.
4. Be responsible for the development and implementation of an effective, high-performance logistics network including definition of the warehouse and distribution structure.
5. Will be fully accountable to achieve the ambitious performance-, cost- and working capital targets together with your highly motivated teams in China.
6. Consistently improve the supply chain planning and order management function to ensure the integrity of demand planning, capacity allocation and operational order dispatching.
7. Executes business processes, drives accountability, collaboration and respect.
8. Oversees all facets of material management. Oversee purchasing and inventory control. In charge of planning and forecasting of customer orders. Oversee warehouse and shipping.
9. Establish material purchasing procedures and standards. Develop supplier/vendor qualification program.
10. Works with US and Mexico facility
11. Supports and gains consensus for the organization’s mission, vision and values.
12. Liaison with third party service provider on various support to the department
13. Lead and initiate continuous improvements to the department and related functions.
Requirements:
1. College Degree-BA or business related field.
2. 10 yrs. experience in the manufacturing field and a key managerial position in cable/fiber manufacturing will be preferred. 5+ Years of Western Mfg. experience, 5+ years working experience in supply chain management.
3. Working Experience ISO and TL 9000 knowledge. Understanding of lean-manufacturing and ability to apply principles.
4. Experience in global purchasing/supply chain. Experience in cost/inventory reduction/management
5. Professional Skills and Competency/Training/ Certificate
6. Must have proven track record in process improvement and cost reduction.
7. Spreadsheet applications. MRP experience. APICS or ISM certified a plus.
8. Speak English and Chinese fluently
9. Creative thinker. Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
10. Demonstrated strong problem-solving skills.
11. Ability to travel on a regular basis if needed
* Please send us your complete resume (in Chinese and in English) to: ‘topjob_log046nj@dacare.com'(Please replace “#” with “@”)
* In the email subject please include the position name and job #

Bank of China to hire 10,000 college grads

Bank of China, the country’s third-largest lender, plans to recruit 10,000 college graduates to staff its expanding networks, its president said.

The hiring “will be the biggest among the country’s commercial banks,” the Beijing Times reported, citing Li Lihui, president of Bank of China.

The nation’s biggest foreign exchange bank will also expand its networks this year and some of the new recruits will be assigned to those outlets, Li said on the sidelines of the annual sessions of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

The Beijing-based lender also said on Saturday that Temasek Holdings Pte, which owns 4.1 percent of the bank, would not sell its stake until at least June 30, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing Chairman Xiao Gang.

Temasek, Singapore’s government-owned investment company, has 10.48 billion Hong Kong-listed shares of Bank of China.

Xiao also denied rumors that Bank of China will take its Hong Kong subsidiary BOC Hong Kong private.

Job market stable as companies fold

Nearly 1,000 enterprises in Guangdong province’s Shenzhen went under last year, but the local job market remained stable, Mayor Xu Zongheng said yesterday.

“The global economic meltdown has had remarkable impact on Shenzhen’s development, which largely depends on the overseas market for economic and trade growth,” Xu told reporters on the sidelines of the ongoing National People’s Congress session in Beijing.

Up to 60 percent of Shenzhen’s foreign-funded enterprises are from neighboring Hong Kong, and most goods sent from Shenzhen to overseas markets are exported through the special administrative region, Xu said.

As many as 903 enterprises folded last year, leaving about 3 percent of the city’s labor force, or 90,000 migrant workers, jobless, Xu said. “More than 60 percent of these enterprises had to close their doors because they were unable to sustain business in the global financial crisis’ wake,” he said.

The rest – nearly 300 enterprises – were closed because they failed to meet environmental protection requirements, Xu said.

But the city last year approved up to 35,800 new enterprises, of which half are involved in the modern service and hi-tech sectors, Xu pointed out.

“These new enterprises have greatly helped create more employment for migrant workers, ensuring the job market remained stable,” he said.

About 4.5 million migrant workers left the city last year, but some 4.9 million have returned after the Spring Festival, Xu said.

“We attach great importance to migrant workers’ employment, and have used a series of measures to help them get back to work in the city since the end of last year,” Xu said.

These included free job markets organized by local labor authorities and enterprises, and free training courses for migrant workers, Xu said.

“Migrant workers who have been employed in Shenzhen for a certain period of time are allowed to apply for residence permits,” Xu said.

In another development, Xu said people with temporary residence permits in Shenzhen could also apply for Hong Kong tourism passes with unlimited entries from May.

Also, Shenzhen’s permanent residence permit holders would be able to visit Hong Kong with unlimited passes from April to enhance the two cities’ integration, Xu said. Shenzhen currently has 2.32 million people with permanent residence cards and 6.44 million with temporary permits, he said.