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Shanghai professionals are the highest paid

Professionals in Shanghai overtook their peers in all other Chinese cities in terms of salary, according to the 2013 spring job market report released by Zhaopin.com.

The average salary of professionals in Shanghai reached 7,112 yuan ($1,133) a month, the highest among all the 24 surveyed cities.

Shenzhen ranked second with an average of 6,787 yuan per month. Beijing ranked third with a monthly average of 5,453 yuan.

In general, the industries that offer the highest salaries are energy, automobile and petrochemical.

The industry that offers the highest monthly salaries in Shanghai is the energy/mineral industry to with 9,711 yuan on average. The auto industry offers the second highest salaries in Shanghai with 9,644 yuan per month, and petrochemical is the third highest with 9,218 yuan.

The three industries that offer the highest salaries in Shenzhen are communications and finance with the average monthly salaries above 8,200 yuan.

In Beijing, communications tops the list with 7,633 yuan a month, while the property/construction/decoration industry is second with 7,095 yuan per month. Finance is third with an average of 6,950 yuan a month.

China has 48 million sci-tech personnel

China’s has 48 million people working in the fields of science and technology, but the pool of personnel still lacks high-level scientists for strategic needs, a former human resources official has revealed.

Though the numbers of both sci-tech current workers and graduates outnumber those of the United States, China is not a great power of talents, Xu Songtao, former deputy head of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said at a seminar on Monday.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Science and Technology, China has just over 10,000 people classed as high-level innovative talents, said Xu, also an adviser to the China Talent Research body.

Despite China being a marine leader, the number of Chinese scientists registered in a database of oceanic talents is less than 100, one-twentieth of that of the United States, he added.

“The innovative capabilities and competitiveness of Chinese talents are also weak,” Xu said, urging officials at all levels to pay great attention to the nurturing of talented people and to initiate a number of recruitment projects.

He also suggested creating a competitive environment to eliminate the incapable as well as to form a reserve of strategic talents.

Kindergartener tops list of Shanghai women’s favorite jobs

Kindergarten teacher is the favorite occupation of Shanghai women, according to the report from the East China Institute of Talent Science.

More than 35 percent of Shanghai females chose teacher as their preference when given an occupational choice, and most of them would like to work in kindergartens.

The Shanghai Morning Post listed the major reasons for the job’s popularity, including the job’s stability, economic security, and months of winter and summer vacation.

Shanghai needs at least 10,000 kindergarten teachers in the next three years, according to the Ministry of Education.

The new standards for kindergartens, drafted by the ministry, say that full-time kindergartens must be equipped with three teachers for each of its classes, while two teachers are needed for each half-day class.

Human resource and administrative positions followed kindergarten teacher as Shanghai women’s second- and third-favorite occupations, with 17 percent of them choosng the former and 14 percent the latter.

Employees less likely to change jobs: MRIC

With significantly less optimism in the Chinese economy, only 22.2 percent of respondents gave a definite “yes” to a MRIC survey in terms of the possibility of seeking a job change in 2013, while the figure was 33.2 percent a year ago.

Executive recruitment company MRIC said in its 2013 Talent Report released on Monday that Chinese mainland professionals are increasingly aware of life-quality issues. Given the longer distances needed to travel to work and days away from home, flexible time is the biggest driver behind the desire for greater work/life balance, which is particularly marked among women on the Chinese mainland.

And while junior professionals are still ambitious enough to seek personal development in the earlier years of their careers, most middle professionals, or 40.6 percent of respondents, said that jobs should meet flexible working needs.

Most top and senior professionals, or 39.9 percent of the respondents, said that fulfilling family obligations is the most important factor for them at present.

As a result, some employers in China have started to implement remote working policies such as working from home one day each week or have Friday afternoons off in return for longer working hours on other days.

MRIC recommended that employers consider implementing similar policies and practices in order to attract and retain women and younger professionals, who are not necessarily low performers but have different work/life balance needs.

Report: Foxconn Worker Jumps From Factory Roof Amidst Job Cuts

At least one employee at Foxconn, the manufacturing giant best known for making Apple products, has reportedly jumped from a factory roof in Shenzhen, China due to concerns over job security.

According to AppleInsider, which cited reports from Chinese micro-blogging website Sina Weibo, a female worker jumped from the roof at Foxconn’s Shenzhen factory this past Friday at 9 a.m. local time but survived. By noon, three other employees had also climbed to the roof of the building and were threatening to jump, the blog said.

According to other reports, a second person jumped off the roof, though there is no word about their condition.

In a statement to PCMag on Monday, Foxconn confirmed that a worker dispute occurred, but did not address whether anyone had jumped from the building.

“We can confirm that on March 29, three employees at our campus in Longhua, Shenzhen were involved in a workplace dispute over the company’s decision to offer them an opportunity to relocate to another Foxconn China facility as part of a shift in production linked to their business group,” the statement reads. “As a result of that dispute, the employees in question gathered at the top of a campus building and stayed there until local law enforcement authorities arrived at the scene. The dispute was resolved peacefully and no one was injured. Any reports to the contrary are totally inaccurate.”

Unfortunately, suicide at Foxconn is not a new phenomenon. At least 14 Foxconn workers in Shenzen and Chengdu have taken their own lives in a string of worker suicides since early 2010. Foxconn has since forced employees to sign a pledge promising that they won’t commit suicide and installed nets outside factory dormitories to deter potential jumpers.

The most recent wave of employee discontent reportedly stems from recent job cuts, lowered wages, and the end of some free amenities. Foxconn is said to have been encouraging some employees to leave the company as part of an effort to cut employee costs.

The electronics maker last month suspended recruitment of new hires, but denied that the hiring freeze was related to slowing iPhone 5 demand.

As of December, working conditions seemed to be improving at Foxconn’s mainland China factories. A New York Times article detailed positive changes at Foxconn’s China-based plants, which have been criticized by global labor rights groups and were audited last year by the Fair Labor Association (FLA), at Apple’s behest.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated on Monday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern with comment from Foxconn.

China manufacturing recovers modestly in March

The manufacturing sector in China grew faster pace in March 2013, indicating that Asia’s largest economy and the second largest in the world, is recovering modestly. The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) was 50.9 last month, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing released on April 1. The March PMI is the highest in 11 months an improvement from its 50.1 level in February.

A separate PMI released independently by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics rose to 51.6 in March from 50.4.

After adjusting for seasonal factors, the HSBC Purchasing Managers’ IndexTM (PMITM) – a composite indicator designed to provide a single figure snapshot of operating conditions in the manufacturing economy posted 51.6 in March, up from 50.4 in February, signalling a modest improvement. Operating conditions in the Chinese manufacturing sector have now improved for five consecutive months.

Production levels increased for the fifth month in a row in March. The rate of expansion accelerated from February to a solid pace, the second-fastest in two years. Behind the rise in output, total new orders rose solidly, and for the sixth month in a row. A number of respondents attributed growth to strengthened client demand. Meanwhile, new export orders also increased, albeit marginally, according to an HSBC press release.

Volumes of outstanding business declined for the second successive month in March. The rate of backlog depletion was broadly unchanged from February, and remained slight overall. Staffing levels, however, were relatively unchanged from the previous month.

Suppliers’ delivery times lengthened in March, following a slight improvement in February. That said, the rate at which vendor performance deteriorated was slight, with just over 6% of panellists recording longer lead times. A number of respondents linked the deterioration to increased orders placed at vendors.

Average input costs faced by manufacturers decreased, following a five-month period of inflation. However, the rate of reduction was marginal, with a number of respondents citing lower raw material costs. Output charges set by manufacturers also declined in March, and for the first time in since last November. The rate of discounting was modest, with approximately 10% of panellists lowering tariffs. A number of respondents attributed the fall to a combination of passing on lower input costs to clients and competitive market pressures.

Purchasing activity in the manufacturing sector rose for the sixth successive month. Growth quickened from February to a solid pace that was the third-strongest in two years. Meanwhile, stocks of purchases fell modestly for the second month in a row. Increased input buying and the depletion of stocks were both associated with increased production at plants.

Finally, inventories of finished goods increased for the first time in six months, albeit marginally. A number of respondents attributed the rise to increased production on the back of stronger client demand.

Report: Lenovo to design own chips

China’s second largest smartphone seller Lenovo will reportedly foray into the chip design segment. The company is expected to design own chips for smartphones and tablets.
“Lenovo is looking to expand its IC design team from 10 to 100 by the mid of this year,” EE Times quoted an industry source with direct knowledge of Lenovo’s recruitment of chip designers. The PC maker will be hiring 40 engineers in Shenzhen and 60 in Beijing.

This initiative appears to be driven by the company’s desire to control its own destiny in smartphones and tablets–a la HiSilicon at Huawei. (HiSilicon is a chip division of Huawei.)

Unlike Samsung or Apple, Lenovo has a checkered history of adopting different apps processors from a variety of suppliers for its smartphones. The company adopted MediaTek’s MT6573 in the Lenovo A60 smartphone in 2011, while it became the first company–outside Samsung –in 2012 to design in Samsung Electronics’ quad-core apps processor Exynos 4 in its LePhone K860.

Lenovo, however, announced earlier this year a 5.5-inch smartphone, dubbed K900, by integrating Intel’s first dual-core Atom chip for phones. The Atom Z2580 is said to have roughly doubled the CPU performance of Intel’s single-core Medfield processor used in Lenovo’s K800 phone, which was introduced a year ago.

While Lenovo might have been enjoying its freedom in choosing the best apps processor available on the market, reality bit hard, sources said, when Samsung Electronics refused to supply its newest version of the Exynos apps processor to the Chinese company.

Indeed, on the growing Chinese smartphone market last year, Lenovo became Samsung’s biggest rival–with Samsung holding a 17.7 per cent share, with Lenovo at 13.2 per cent and Apple at 11 per cent.

Meanwhile, Lenovo has been beefing up its senior management team to prepare itself to become a leading consumer electronics vendor.

The world’s second-largest supplier of personal computers last month (February) named Jerry Yang, the co-founder and former CEO of Yahoo, as a “board observer.” Further, Lenovo added Tudor Brown, one of the founders of ARM, as a non-executive director to Lenovo’s roster of seasoned veterans.

It’s far from clear if an internal group of mere 100 IC engineers can make a dent in the already crowded apps processor market. And yet, as Shao Yang, CMO of Huawei Device, recently said in an interview with EE Times, having a chip division of its own could help [the handset company] “negotiate better with other semiconductor companies.”

China launches its own ‘best job in the world’

A Chinese city is searching for a foreign traveller to become a “modern Marco Polo”, with a 40,000 euro ($A50,893) salary on offer to the winner.

Hangzhou in eastern China, renowned for its canals and bridges, was described as the “most beautiful and elegant city in the world” by the Venetian traveller, whose 13th-century journal was one of the first detailed accounts of China written by a European.

Now the city is “calling people around the world to follow Marco Polo’s steps”, said Chen Li, of Hangzhou’s tourism commission.

The promotion is akin to Australia’s “best jobs in the world” campaigns, the first of which required the winner to live on a tropical island for six months.

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The new Marco Polo will be recruited via Facebook – which is banned in China – and will undergo intensive training before being flown to the city for a 15-day trip, the tourism commission said in a media release.

Duties include making a short video about Hangzhou and promoting the city online. Both men and women are eligible, it said.

“To be a modern Marco Polo is a very interesting job, it will maybe change their life,” Chen said. “They may find inner peace, like Kung Fu Panda.”

The Travels of Marco Polo, composed in 1298, described a journey across Asia through realms of pygmies, exotic plants and cannibals.

The book had an enormous impact on European perceptions of the continent, but modern historians have questioned the veracity of Polo’s account, and some query whether he reached China at all.

China was the world’s third most visited country in 2011, behind the United States and France, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, with 57.6 million international tourism arrivals.

Meanwhile, more than a quarter of a million entries have been submitted for Australia’s ”Best Jobs in the World” promotion in just a week.

Tourism Australia is offering their pick of the best working holiday jobs to showcase the country.

Roles include being a ”funster” in NSW and an outback adventurer in Northern Territory.

Winners will be paid $100,000 each for a six-month contract starting in June.

In the seven days since the launch, Tourism Australia has received 275,000 applications from 150,000 people in 196 countries.

Applicants can apply for more than one job.

About 38,000 entries came from the US, 33,000 from France, 32,000 from the UK and 30,000 from Italy.

The most popular jobs are South Australia’s wildlife caretaker, NSW’s chief funster and Queensland’s park ranger.

The aim of the competition is to boost the number of working holiday tourists visiting Australia.

About 1.6 million people under the age of 30 travel to Australia each year, making up just over a quarter of all tourists and contributing about $12 billion a year to the economy.

Entries close 9am (AEDT) on April 10 and winners will be announced on June 21.

Visit www.australia.com/bestjobs to enter.

AUSTRALIA’S ‘BEST JOBS IN THE WORLD’

Wildlife caretaker, SA – wake up the kangaroos, swim with dolphins and sea lions, assist with conservation projects
Park ranger, Qld – check water temps, protect and promote native plants and animals, walk in the rainforest, visit waterfalls

Chief funster, NSW – promote food, lifestyle and sports events across the state, work behind the scenes of some of Sydney’s biggest festivals

Lifestyle photographer, Melbourne – create city and country photo shoots, meet local identities, designers and artists, explore the city’s hidden secrets, share trends

Outback adventurer, NT – meet the locals, journey through the outback, sleep under the stars in a bush camp, taste traditional bush foods

Taste master, WA – eat your way around the state, forage for the finest produce, uncover the best bars and restaurants.

Q&A on China’s Monetary Policy and Financial Reform

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced on March 16 that it had re-appointed Zhou Xiaochuan as the chief of China’s central bank, making Zhou the longest-serving central bank chief since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. The re-appointment of Zhou, who has held the position since 2002, signals the country’s bid to ensure policy continuity amid current global uncertainties, while deepening the country’s on-going financial reform.

Before the reassignment, Zhou and three other deputy governors of the PBOC attended a press conference regarding China’s monetary policy and financial reform on March 13. Selected questions and answers from the press conference can be found below.

Q: What kind of monetary policy will China’s central bank adopt?

A: China’s monetary policy mainly seeks to accomplish the following four objectives:

* Keeping low inflation
* Facilitating economic growth
* Encouraging employment
* Balancing international payments
* Where the four objectives are unable to be accomplished simultaneously, the central bank needs to adopt a monetary policy that can draw a balance among the four purposes.

In the Government Work Report presented by Premier Wen Jiabao, he suggests the country set its 2013 GDP growth at 7.5 percent, and the target for inflation (as measured by the CPI) at 3.5 percent. Meanwhile, the broad money supply (M2), which covers cash in circulation and all deposits, is suggested to grow by 13 percent.

The proposed growth of M2 is lower than that of last year, indicating that the monetary policy will stay prudent and neutral, and meanwhile, the government will put more emphasis on keeping consumer prices stable.

Q: Will China’s M2 growth present an inflation risk?

A: Countries with high savings rates and a heavy reliance on indirect financing usually have high M2 growth, which is the case with China. However, the high M2 to GDP ratio will not necessarily create an inflation threat. Japan, for instance, has an even higher ratio than China, yet still suffers from deflation rather than inflation.

For the central bank, stabilizing consumer prices is its first priority, the M2 figures will not necessarily put consumer price stability in jeopardy. If the growth of M2 can be controlled at a reasonable level, it won’t lead to sudden price hikes.

Q: Will the central bank support Taiwan to become an offshore RMB market?

A: The People’s Bank of China and the currency administration institution of Taiwan signed the Cross-Straits Cooperation Memorandum in Currency Settlement on August 31 last year. According to the Memorandum, financial institutions on both sides could undertake currency settlement through a correspondent bank or a clearing bank. The two sides may also discuss a currency swap agreement if cross-Strait trade demands a higher level of financial cooperation.

However, whether Taiwan will become an offshore RMB center needs to be decided by the market. Some important financial centers might become offshore RMB trading markets in the future as a result of market demands and competition.

Q: Will the central government provide a better environment for the opening of capital accounts? Are there going to be any adjustments on the opening schedule?

A: The Global Financial Crisis has created a special opportunity for the rapid growth of the cross-border usage of RMB in trade and investment, which is mainly due to a confidence crisis with the world’s major currencies, and closer regional cooperation between China and other economic entities.

With the development of cross-border usage of RMB, there will be greater demand for the exchangeability of RMB under capital accounts. However, making the RMB convertible under capital accounts is quite complicated. China has been pursuing the free exchange of RMB since 1993. Currently, the RMB has become convertible under current accounts, and its convertibility under capital accounts will be promoted step by step.

It is also important to notice that the convertibility of RMB under capital accounts will not only help promote RMB internationalization, but will also boost the development of an open-market economy in the country and strengthen confidence of domestic and foreign investors in the Chinese currency.

Investing in China worth the time, risk

Burton Malkiel, author of the classic investment book A Random Walk Down Wall Street (W.W. Norton), long has been a proponent of investing in China.

“The transformation of China is the economic miracle of the twenty-first century,” Malkiel says in his 2008 book, From Wall Street to the Great Wall (W.W. Norton).

“The pace of growth is so rapid that it takes less than a year for China to build a new city equivalent to the size of Houston. China is now central to the world commerce; and even if its growth rate slows, it will be the largest economy in the world by the 2020s, as measured in terms of purchasing power.”

That’s a mighty strong statement from the Princeton University professor. There may be good reason for his love of China. Malkiel is chief investment officer for AlphaShares LLC, a Walnut Creek, Calif., investment firm dedicated to providing investors with strategies and products to participate in China’s fast-growing economy.

Nevertheless, don’t bet the ranch on Chinese stocks and bonds. The region is riddled with political foreign currency and market risks because Chinese stocks are thinly traded. In addition, there are concerns about accurate accounting statements from both private and government-run Chinese companies. An investment in China requires patience over the long term.

Lately, China’s growth has been weakening. Chinese stocks were down around 1 percent this year, but they lost 50 percent in 2008, according to Morningstar Inc., Chicago. If you had bought and held Chinese stocks over the past 15 years, your investment would have grown at a 7.3 percent annual rate.

“Chinese (stocks) had a rough two years,” says Morningstar analyst Pat Oey. “China is facing a new normal: weak external demand for exports and slowing infrastructure spending.”

Good time to buy?

“We find the growth of domestic consumption to be very compelling,” says Greg Walker, J.P. Morgan Private Bank global investment specialist in Palm Beach. “It’s very hard to buy Chinese (stocks) and not get exposure to the mature government-owned industries, like banks, energy companies and insurance companies.”

Plus, Walker says, “there are a number of markets and economies in the Asian Pacific rim that benefit from China’s growth.” Singapore, Taiwan, Korea and Malaysia, he says, provide opportunities. Walker expects better earnings growth of around 10 percent in China this year.

Malkiel, in his book, suggests how much to invest in Chinese investments.

He advises conservative investors to keep about 5 percent to 10 percent for their total holdings in Chinese investments. The more venturesome should have between 10 percent and 20 percent.

The best way to invest in China, Malkiel says, is through exchange-traded funds. Exchange-traded funds generally are low cost, although you’ll often pay a brokerage commission to trade them. You also can hedge your bets with short sales.

Malkiel, whose company licenses exchange-traded-fund indexes, has suggested that half of your Chinese stock holdings be invested in China company shares traded in Hong Kong or New York. The other half should be in China’s major trading partners, excluding the United States. About 10 percent of this half of your investments should be in commodities and gold — the favorite savings vehicle in China.