Archives March 2009

Coca-Cola to Invest $2 Billion in China Over 3 Years

March 6 (Bloomberg) — Coca-Cola Co., the world’s largest soft-drink maker, plans to invest $2 billion in China over the next three years as part of its attempt to win more of the nation’s 1.3 billion consumers.

The investment plan includes a $90 million technology center that opened in Shanghai today, the Atlanta-based company said in an e-mailed statement. Coca-Cola’s proposed investment is 25 percent more than the $1.6 billion it had already spent in China since returning in 1979.

Beverage companies including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo Inc. are expanding in China, betting demand will continue to grow as the recession erodes consumer spending in the U.S. Coca-Cola’s planned spending may also aid its $2.4 billion acquisition of China Huiyuan Juice Group Ltd., which was announced in September and is now awaiting government approval.

“Coca-Cola’s investment is a positive for the Huiyuan acquisition,” said Kevin Luo, a consumer goods analyst with Guotai Junan Securities HK Ltd. in Shenzhen, southern China. “This investment will help create jobs, which would obviously be welcomed by the government, so even though it won’t have a direct impact on the acquisition’s approval, it can’t hurt.”

Pepsi said on Nov. 3 it plans to invest $1 billion in China in the next four years. Japan’s Asahi Breweries Ltd. in January paid $667 million for a 19.9 percent stake in Tsingtao Brewery Co., China’s biggest beer company.

Market Leader

Coca-Cola controls 54 percent of the Chinese soda market and Pepsi 31 percent, according to research company Euromonitor International.

Retail spending in China may rise 14 percent this year, the National Development and Reform Commission, the nation’s top economic planning agency, said in a report distributed yesterday to the country’s legislature. China has also cut taxes and increased welfare spending in a bid to boost consumer spending amid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

“It’s wise for international companies to invest in China, especially at a time when China is trying to boost domestic consumption,” said Kenny Tang, executive director of Redford Securities Co. in Hong Kong. “There’s still room for growth.”

Coca-Cola’s sales by volume rose 19 percent last year in China and declined by 1 percent in North America, according to the company’s annual report.

“Our commitment and confidence in China never wavers,” Coca-Cola Chief Executive Officer Muhtar Kent said in today’s statement. The company will invest in new plants, distribution and sales and marketing, Kent said.

Coca-Cola and Huiyuan, which applied for approval from China’s Ministry of Commerce in September, said then that they expected a government decision by March 23.

“We are in very regular contact with the Ministry of Commerce, and we try to be as helpful as possible in answering questions and providing supplementary information,” Kenth Kaerhoeg, a spokesman for Coca-Cola Asia, said by e-mail today.

Business Development Director –Securities Software (fi201sh)

Job Title: Business Development Director –Securities Software
Report To: Financial BU
Location: Shanghai
It is one of the world’s leading software and IT services companies. They provide software and consulting solutions that are designed to meet the specialized needs.
Job Description:
Responsibilities:
1. Researching the financial services market, creating structured market analysis as a base for professional business development
2. Contacting foreign financial services companies to coordination.
3. Identifying new business opportunities by researching and developing the local financial services market, especially Securities, Fund and Futures
4. Be the senior consultant before sales
5. Make the mid and long strategy development of Securities Product
6. Designing and implementing a professional sales and marketing plan
7. Be in change of performance index (Securities Product)
Requirement:
1. More than 8 years business experience in the financial services industry.
2. Be family with the local financial services market, especially Securities, Fund and Futures
3. Be family with the market, current situation and development direction of local financial IT area
4. Excellent analytical skills and strategy making ability of business.
5. Fluent oral and written English is an absolute must

* Please send us your complete resume (in Chinese and in English) to: ‘topjob_eo157cs@dacare.com'(Please replace “#” with “@”)
* In the email subject please include the position name and job #

Tigermed, MacroStat forge Chinese CRO alliance

Win-win Cooperation Between China Leading CROs, Boosting Full Service Capability

HANGZHOU, China, March 3 /PRNewswire-Asia/ —

Tigermed Consulting Co., Ltd, a leading Contract Research Organization (CRO) in China, and Qiming Venture, a premier venture capital firm based in Shanghai join hands to grant asset injection to MacroStat, the unique CRO in China specialized in clinical data management and statistical analysis. The union between the two top CROs will significantly improve Tigermed’s clinical data management serviceability and broaden MacroStat’s business line.

”MacroStat has the leading talents and system in biostatistics, with absolute competitive advantage in China. Tigermed and MacroStat shall establish extensive strategic partnership in the management of clinical trials, data management and statistical analysis. Tigermed accumulated outstanding expertise in clinical trials, while MacroStat is an expert in biostatistics. Our cooperation shall expand Tigermed’s business line and add professionalism to Tigermed’s biostatistics services. The win-win cooperation between leading CROs with complementary advantages is conducive to constructing a higher level of CRO service chain and further updating full service capability, which also opens a fast track to the globalization of China CROs,” comments Dr. Ye Xiaoping, CEO and founder of Tigermed.

Ms. Cao Xiaochun, Vice President of Tigermed, added, ”Tigermed pays close attention to MacroStat advantage in data management and statistical analysis. Besides Ms. Cao Xiaochun, Dr. Ye Xiaoping (CEO and founder of Tigermed) and Hu Xubo (Director of Healthcare Investment Sector of Qiming Venture) will also join in MacroStat’s board of directors. The cooperation between Tigermed and MacroStat will not only satisfy global clients with international standards but also power the innovative drug development in China, making it possible to streamline clinical research cycle and considerably reduce drug R & D costs.”

”MacroStat has set up strategic partnerships with many multinational pharmaceutical and biotech companies and international CROs, and has become their preferential biostatistics vendor. MacroStat’s customers are mainly from USA and Europe. With the new capital, MacroStat will further accelerate its development effectively, on one hand, keeping the unique advantage in biostatistics, one the other hand, extending business line into clinical trials, so as to provide more extensive and comprehensive services for the pharmaceutical industries.” Comments Helen Yin, managing director of MacroStat China.

About MacroStat

MacroStat, an international CRO, founded in 2002 in USA, is one of the few professional CROs dedicated to providing clinical data management and statistical analysis services. MacroStat is specialized in providing data and safety monitoring board (DSMB) support for USA FDA, and statistical support to FDA, CVM, EPA, MAA, MCA and other agencies and Asian countries. MacroStat (China) was established in 2005 in Shanghai, and now becomes the unique CRO focused on biostatistics in China

About Tigermed

Tigermed Consulting Co., Ltd, a leading Contract Research Organization (CRO) in China, is expected to become the largest CRO in China within 3 years. With capital injection from Qiming Venture in 2008, Tigermed has entered into a period of rapid expansion. The combined asset injection to MacroStat marks a stride forward in Tigermed’s internationalization strategic development. The extensive cooperation between Tigermed and MacroStat allows both to make a big step forward.

Survey: 23% of China firms to freeze executives’ salaries

A report by the human resources consulting firm Mercer shows that 23 percent of companies surveyed in China said their senior executives’ compensation in 2009 wouldn’t increase as usual, showing the effects of the global financial slowdown.

The survey involved 59 companies in China, 76 percent of which were listed companies and 39 percent of which were multinationals. Mercer conducted similar surveys in other Asian countries, including India, South Korea, Japan and Singapore.

“In Asia, one third of companies surveyed said their senior executives’ salaries wouldn’t increase in 2009. The proportion in China is a little smaller than the average, reflecting China experiencing less impact of the financial crisis than other Asian countries,” said Zheng Wei, managing director for Asia executive remuneration business with Mercer.

“Considering the deferred impact on China’s market, we predicted that more companies in China will take similar measures to limit the senior executives’ salaries in 2009,” Zheng added.

China: Labor disputes up 95 percent last year

BEIJING: Labor-related lawsuits nearly doubled in China last year mainly due to mass factory shutdowns, a senior official with the Supreme Court said.

A manufacturing powerhouse, China’s factories were hard hit when overseas demand for their exports evaporated in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Shen Deyong, vice president of the Supreme People’s Court, said at a news conference Monday that the number of labor-related lawsuits filed in 2008 jumped 95 percent, marking the biggest on-year increase of any type of suit.

He said most of the cases were filed in the country’s coastal southeast, home to a string of factory hubs. In some areas, labor suits increased about 200 percent compared to 2007, he said, without giving specific figures.

The spike in labor lawsuits was “closely connected to businesses slumping and factories being shut down,” he said.

“When they face difficulties, these businesses often reduce their costs by cutting the labor force and salaries,” he said.

He said a new labor contract law that came into effect at the start of last year and rising public awareness of worker’s rights also contributed to the rise in cases.

Unemployment is a major concern for China’s communist leadership because of fears it could trigger social unrest and demands for political reform.

Taiwan’s Hon Hai increases workforce in China

TAIPEI, March 4 (Reuters) – Taiwan electronics giant Hon Hai (2317.TW) said on Wednesday it had recently increased its number of employees in China by 5 percent despite the global downturn.

“In the short term, things are not as bad as they are made out to be,” Chairman Terry Gou said at a signing ceremony between the company and IBM (IBM.N) on using green technology.

Gou did not specify when the company had increased its China workforce.

Hon Hai is a contract manufacturer that makes some of the world’s most famous gadgets, including Apple’s (AAPL.O) iPhone, Nokia (NOK1V.HE) cellphones and Nintendo’s (7974.OS) Wii game console.

(Reporting by Kelvin Soh; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)

McDonald’s names new China chief executive

BEIJING, March 3 (Reuters) – McDonald’s Corp (MCD.N) on Monday named Kenneth Chan as its new chief executive officer in China, replacing Jeffrey Schwartz, the company said in a statement.

Chan, a Singaporean, has been with McDonald’s for 12 years, most recently acting as regional manager in Malaysia, Taiwan and Korea, and managing director of its restaurants in Singapore.

Schwartz, a 40-year McDonald’s veteran, will retire from the company, the statement said. (Reporting by Michael Wei; Editing by Ken Wills)

Wen encourages self-employment among the jobless

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Saturday showed his concern over the country’s jobless migrant workers and other unemployed people and encouraged them to start self-employment.

Wen said he had been deeply concerned over the employment issue, including those of migrant workers, college graduates and jobless urban families.

He was in response to a netizen’s question on-line saying “as one member of the migrant labor force I felt very difficult to find jobs when the financial woes unfolded.” The netizen said he hoped to start his own business via small loans which could be repayed in three or five years.

“Your requirement is reasonable,” he said while chatting with netizens at the central government website (www.gov.cn).

“Employment is not only related to one’s livelihood but also one’s dignity,” Wen said.

Migrant workers were a special social group born in China’s social transition after the initiation of the reform and opening-up policy.

Earlier official figures show about 15.3 percent of the 130 million migrant workers had returned jobless from cities to the countryside against the backdrop of the global economic downturn.

Wen said he acknowledged that the statistics were not quite accurate as some people believed the number of laid-off migrant workers amounted to 20 million and others said the number was about 12 million.

“We do not want to comment the accuracy of the statistics at the moment. The fact is that the financial crisis has caused a huge impact on migrant workers,” he said.

As a saying goes “a city fire causes calamity to pond fish”, Wen said migrant workers bore the most severe impact of the financial woes.

He said migrant workers did not have much complaint over the government and quietly returned to their hometowns, “some engaging in farming again, others still seeking jobs.”

Wen said the government should encourage them to start their own business by offering tax stimulus and training opportunities.

China’s State Council, or the cabinet, issued a notice on February 10 that urged governments at all levels to make every possible effort to expand employment.

“I want to take the opportunity to extend my gratitude to our migrant workers,” he said, adding they had made great contribution to the nation.

America’s loss is China and India’s gain: US study

WASHINGTON: Loss of tens of thousands of skilled immigrants to countries like China and India “is an economic catastrophe that will hurt US

competitiveness for decades to come”, says Vivek Wadhwa, lead author of a new study done at leading American universities.

Wadhwa and his team at Duke, Harvard and Berkeley universities uncovered several trends in their study on the plight of 1,203 skilled immigrants who came to the US from China and India to work or study and returned home:

* Most returnees originally came to the United States for career and educational opportunities. The majority of returnees cited career and quality of life as primary reasons to return to their home countries.

* The most common professional factor (86.8 percent of Chinese and 79.0 percent of Indians) motivating workers to return home was the growing demand for their skills in their home countries.

* Returnees also believed that their home countries provided better career opportunities than they could find in America.

* Most respondents (53.5 percent of Indian and 60.7 percent of Chinese) said opportunities to start their own businesses were better in their home countries.

* Most respondents (56.6 percent of Indians and 50.2 percent of Chinese) indicated that they would be likely to start a business in the next five years.

* Being close to family and friends was a significant consideration in the decision to return home, with many returnees considering their opportunities to care for ageing parents to be much better in their home countries (89.4 percent of Indians and 78.8 percent of Chinese).

* Most of the Indian and Chinese immigrant subjects who returned to their home countries were relatively young (in their low-30s) and were very well educated. Nearly 90 percent held master’s and PhD degrees, primarily in management, technology or science.

* Immigrants historically have provided one of America’s greatest competitive advantages. Between 1990 and 2007, the proportion of immigrants in the US labour force increased from 9.3 percent to 15.7 percent, and a large and growing proportion of immigrants bring high levels of education and skill to the US.

* Immigrants have contributed disproportionately in the most dynamic part of the US economy – the high-tech sector – co-founding firms such as Google, Intel, eBay and Yahoo.

* In addition, immigrant inventors contributed to more than a quarter of US global patent applications. Immigrant-founded US-based companies employed 450,000 workers and generated $52 billion in revenue in 2006.

China Aviation Giant To Recruit Foreign Execs

China’s huge state aircraft maker AVIC said on Thursday it will look beyond national borders to recruit foreign executives who can help it compete internationally.

The unusual global recruitment effort comes just months after the Aviation Industry Corporation of China was formed by the merger of two state aircraft makers, focusing on big projects such as a locally developed regional jet to reduce China’s reliance on Boeing and Airbus.

The move by the AVIC group, which consists of more than 200 enterprises and 21 listed companies, was out of the norm for a secretive company that also builds the aviation hardware for China’s military.

“Our goal is to become globally competitive,” Gao Jianshe, the group’s executive vice president, told reporters. “And to do that, we need executives with international experience.”

The group, which notched up 2008 sales of CNY166 billion yuan (USD$24.3 billion), compared with USD$60.1 billion for Boeing, aims to recruit 13 vice presidents to assist in a broad range of activities including research, asset management, business development and marketing.

The recruitment move comes after Boeing posted an unexpected fourth-quarter loss and said it could cut 10,000 job this year, while expecting more plane order cancellations.

AVIC’s move towards globalisation is not confined to staff.

State media said last month that China welcomed investors to take a 30 percent stake in its newly incorporated jet engine company — in which AVIC holds a 40 percent stake — that supplies engines to the regional jet ARJ21.

China has signed up a total of 208 orders for the ARJ21, unveiled in late 2007, but the vast majority are from domestic carriers.