Category News of China

Google Targets Fake Sales Agents In China

Song Zhongjie, channel supervisor of Google China, has arrived in Nanjing and initiated the company’s battle against fake agents.

There are more than 300 Internet companies in Nanjing and local media report that over one half of them claim themselves to be agents of Google, but Song says they are mostly fake agents. Song says that Google has a total of 22 agents in China, but only one of them is located in Nanjing.

At present, the Nanjing market is disorderly as a result of these fake agents and many companies have been cheated by the fake agents who provide similar services to that of Google. Often the agents will claim to be able to be able to place advertisements on Google’s search engine, but they will instead take a client’s money and not provide any services.

Not Enough Jobs for China’s Graduates

Chinese university graduates are finding it increasingly difficult to land a job. China has more than doubled university enrollment during this decade, and educated job seekers are entering the labor force at a record rate. The government’s goal was to provide more skilled workers for the rapidly growing economy. However, for more than half of this year’s crop of university graduates — about five million young men and women — unemployment is the main prospect. Sam Beattie reports for VOA from Beijing.
Months before graduation, Beijing university students are already heading to job fairs, to start applying for positions and to gain valuable experience in the job-hunting process.

An estimated 100,000 positions will be offered at job fairs in Beijing this month, but there are many more students chasing those opportunities. Competition is fierce.

Li Yan

Li Yan has no brothers or sisters. She is a typical product of China’s one-child policy. She speaks for many. “My family has given me a lot, so I want to give a lot back to them. I am trying my best to make sure I am in a position so that I can give something back to my parents.”

Like many young Chinese, Li Yan did not have a part-time job in high school, and she only works at odd jobs when it suits her. Her parents covered all of her school expenses. In return, she will be expected to give around one-quarter of her salary back to her parents once she enters the work force. “I really want to support my family. I am over 20 years old now. I need to work hard and make money for my family, to make them happy and their lives better.”

But having limited work experience is making the job search process harder.

For a growing number of employers, good university grades are not enough. They want life experience as well as a good academic record. Yang Chun Xiu is with China HR, a leading personnel-recruiting company. “There are more and more graduates every year, but the graduates do not know where to position themselves in the job market. Most employers at the moment want people with experience, so it’s harder for graduates to find a good job.”

Yang says employers prefer candidates with two or three years’ work experience to help boost their growing businesses. Experts say the job crisis is mostly in the big cities. In the countryside, some companies face a serious shortage of qualified workers.

Hu Xingdou

Hu Xingdou is a professor of economics and China issues at Beijing Institute of Technology. He says graduates need to understand they cannot all land their dream jobs fresh out of university. “Some students feel because they have graduated university they are elite — and maybe they are — but really, they still need to join the common work force. There are not too many university graduates; they are just not in the right areas.”

He says graduates looking for work should consider moving from the major cities to smaller towns, or even the countryside. Through financial incentives, the government could make this more attractive.

Like young people everywhere, China’s graduates don’t seem to want to give up the bright lights and perceived opportunities of the big cities to go where life is less exciting. So job fairs will continue to attract scores of applicants for every available job.

The AmeriChinaB2B Connection Makes Distributor Recruiting in China Easier

PALO ALTO, Calif. ¡ª AmeriChinaB2B, the importing and exporting Internet marketing platform to China has launched its newest service, a web portal exclusively for recruiting distributors. The recruiting portal is designed to provide U.S. businesses with assistance in locating distributors, middlemen or manufacturing sourcing sites in China¡¯s vast industrial base.

Ben Lee, President of AmeriChinaB2B hopes that with his company¡¯s assistance U.S. businesses will be able to overcome the barriers that exist in China which block many businesses efforts to locate the right representative or access local markets.

AmeriChinaB2B, after launching its Internet import and export marketing platform in January, has now introduced a new distributor recruiting service portal. The web service, in addition to its existing services, will help small and medium sized U.S. businesses to recruit distributors within China¡¯s industrial trade channels. The Internet recruiting service is a unique recruiting web portal for U.S. companies to locate, recruit and hire distributors, sales representatives and local talents in China.

American businesses will be able to connect through the website with distributors, middlemen, agents and manufacturing sourcing sites to build sales channels in China. AmeriChinB2B, with its partners in China and combined knowledge of the Chinese culture, language and business markets, will be able to guide U.S. companies through the bureaucratic hurdles of regulations and policies that so often prevent entrance into Chinese markets.

Ben Lee believes that his company and its Internet web platform is the best way to begin to approach the Chinese export market. ¡°AmeriChinaB2B recognizes that there are many difficulties facing U.S. companies when trying to enter into the Chinese business markets,¡± Lee said.

¡°With our recruiting portal focused on connecting with trade channels in China, we are able to locate and recruit the right distributor organizations and manufacturing firms,¡± Lee added.

The AmeriChinaB2B recruiting process begins with conducting a distributor candidate search in all major industrial regions of China. By posting recruitment messages on the Internet recruiting platform U.S. companies are able to find sales agents, sales channels.

The Internet recruiting portal main function is to help U.S. businesses find sales agents, sales channels, and distributors through numerous job market sites, professional sites, chamber of commerce, and professional organizations. The recruiting portal offers an online filtering system, which chooses candidate¡¯s resume matching client¡¯s requirement based upon their industrial experience, sales and marketing experience, education background, and their locations.

This matching process is followed up with credential investigation system to verify the candidate¡¯s academic credibility, employment references, English certification and work ethic are checked through various domestic credit systems. After passing AmeriChinaB2B initial assessment, it¡¯s experienced Chinese recruiting experts subsequently interview the candidates to verify their qualifications. After these steps are completed, AmeriChinaB2B then recommends the pre-qualified candidates to U.S. companies.

And every effort of the AmeriChinaB2B Internet recruitment portal¡¯s focus is on helping U.S. companies have distributor or sales agents. Interestingly enough, many people and businesses in China have a great desire to work with U.S. companies. This connection helps both U.S. and Chinese companies do business better.

Hitachi to cut 11% of workers in hard disk unit

HITACHI Ltd, Japan’s biggest electronics group by sales, said it will eliminate 11 percent of its workers at the hard-disk drive unit and shut factories in Mexico and Japan to turn around the unprofitable business, Bloomberg said today.

About 4,400 out of the 40,000 jobs worldwide at the disk unit will be cut, saving about US$300 million over five years, the Tokyo-based company said today in a statement through Business Wire.

Hitachi, which also sells consumer electronics and nuclear power equipment, has about 327,000 employees worldwide. The company’s stock gained as much as 5.4 percent in Tokyo today.

The job cuts and factory relocations are part of Hitachi’s plan to return the unit to profit and tap growing demand for disks used to store computer data. The unit will probably report an operating loss of 43.7 billion yen (US$370 million) this fiscal year because of falling prices, Hitachi said in February.

“It’s a plus for Hitachi as it can increase the company’s production efficiency,” said Haruo Sato, a Tokyo-based analyst at Tokai Tokyo Securities Co. “The point is whether the company, which hasn’t been good at making products cheaply, can improve its manufacturing technology.”

Hitachi, which bought the hard-disk operations of International Business Machines Corp in 2002, ranked third among makers as of the third quarter of 2006, according to researcher IDC.

The company had a 17 percent share of a global market that will probably grow about 13 percent to 494,300 units in 2007, IDC forecasts.

Production of hard-disk drive parts known as sliders will move to an existing factory in Laguna, Philippines, and a facility in Guadalajara, Mexico will be shut, the company said.

Hitachi will concentrate manufacturing of the disks at its factory in Shenzhen, China, and will phase out production in Odawara, Japan by the fourth quarter of 2007. At its facility at Prachinburi, Thailand, the company will increase output of 2.5-inch automotive hard-disk drives, it said.

The company said in February will book 180 billion yen in depreciation charges this fiscal year, 89 percent of which is for the disk drive business, it said.

Hitachi had initially forecast a return to profit for the unit in 2006.

“Steeper than usual price declines were the main reason,” the company reversed its projection for the unit to a loss, Hiroaki Nakanishi, who heads Hitachi’s disk drive unit, said at a news conference in Tokyo today. “We also failed to introduce new products effectively.”

Shanghai Electric Signs JV For Renewable Energy Market

Xantrex Technology has entered into an agreement to form a joint venture with Shanghai Electric Group’s Shanghai Power Transmission & Distribution Company to design, manufacture and sell solar and wind power electronics products exclusively for the renewable energy market in China from a facility to be built in Shanghai.

“The establishment of this joint venture with a member of the Shanghai Electric Group is an important milestone in creating a strong presence for Xantrex in China,” said Mossadiq Umedaly, Xantrex’s Chairman. “The renewable energy market in China, which has the potential to be very large, is integral to our long-term growth plans, and Shanghai Electric is a resourceful and strategically attractive partner.”

Dinan Huang, President of the Shanghai Electric Group said, “We searched extensively for the best partner and are very pleased to secure this joint venture agreement with Xantrex. Together we will address the rapidly growing renewable energy market in China, which complements our leading electricity generation, transmission and distribution businesses.”

The joint venture, to be owned 49% by Xantrex and 51% by SPTD, will be known as Shanghai Electric Xantrex Power Electronics Company. The total initial investment will be US$20 million and the new entity will have a registered capital of US$10 million. The joint venture is expected to receive final approval from the Chinese government in the next few weeks.

China’s new Renewable Energy law has made one of the largest state-sponsored commitments toward renewable energy by requiring 15% of the country’s energy mix to be from renewable energy sources by the year 2020.

“This joint venture will provide Xantrex access to China’s Renewable Energy market, while ensuring that customers in China benefit from the quality and reliability of our proven technology made in China by our joint venture,” said Xantrex CEO, John Wallace.

Chinese Job Seeker Sues Nokia

A Chinese job seeker, identified only by his surname Li, has filed a lawsuit against mobile phone giant Nokia Dongguan, a subsidiary of Nokia China, for not employing him because he is a Hepatitis B virus carrier.

The job seeker says that Nokia Dongguan cancelled plans to hire him after a physical examination. Li believes that as a big company, Nokia should have better understanding of the disease and should not refuse him employment because of his illness. Li is asking Nokia to employ him and pay him RMB500,000 for mental suffering.

Nokia’s global employment policy states that the company will not turn down job applicants because of chronic illnesses unless they can’t do the job or if they impose serious danger to others. A spokesman for Nokia has told local media that Nokia is investigating the case and they will take necessary measures to correct any wrongs if the Dongguan company has really made a mistake in refusing Li employment with the company because of his illness.

A vaguely written Chinese law in 2004 does forbid discrimination against Hepatitis B sufferers in most areas except in the food industry.

China Career Builder Corp. Announces Plan to Acquire Asian Career Company Ltd. of Hong Kong

HONG KONG, March 14, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) (PRIMEZONE) — China Career Builder Corp., (Pink Sheets:CCBX) a Delaware Corporation, is focused on outsourcing human resource services and staffing in Hong Kong, China. The company is pleased to announce a plan to acquire Asian Career Company of Hong Kong. The company is expected to complete the transaction in the next Two (2) to Four (4) weeks. All additional information will be available upon finalization of the acquisition. The company will make further announcements in coming weeks.

About the Company

China Career Builder Corp. is a provider of outsourcing human resource services and staffing. The company provides recruitment services focusing on the professional, management, clerical, administrative, IT and industrial market in Hong Kong, China. Its services include screening, recruiting, training, workforce deployment, loss prevention and safety training. In addition it supplies pre-employment testing and assessment, background searches, compensation program design, customized personnel management reports, job profiling, description, application, turnover tracking and analysis, opinion surveys and follow-up analysis. It conducts exit interviews and follow-up analysis, and management development skills workshops. The company markets its recruitment services by way of a combination of direct sales, telemarketing, trade shows, and advertising.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain of the statements set forth in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements.” Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate, or imply future results, performance or achievements, and may contain the words “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” “forecast,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “planning,” “expect,” “believe,” “will likely,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “may” or words or expressions of similar meaning. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the company’s actual results and financial position to differ materially from those included within the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including those relating to the Company’s ability to grow its business. Actual results may differ materially from the results predicted and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the Company’s limited financial resources, domestic or global economic conditions — especially those relating to China, activities of competitors and the presence of new or additional competition, and changes in Federal or State laws, restrictions and regulations on doing business in a foreign country, in particular China, and conditions of equity markets. The Company disclaims any obligation subsequently to revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statement or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.

CONTACT: China Career Builder Corp.
Mona W. Y. Yim
852-3527-0661

Xara Group of Consultants Ltd.
Investor and Public Relations
Nixon Lau
302-261-2421

Baidu Will Offer Search Engine Service For The Blind

Chinese search engine service provider Baidu.com says it will soon launch a barrier-free service for the blind and those with visual disabilities.

Baidu began developing the barrier-free project about six months ago and named it “The Blind’s Lane Program”. This program has reportedly received great support from the China Blind People’s Association.

China has about 5 million blind people, accounting for 18% of the world’s total. It also has more than 6 million people who have visual disabilities.

Although there is a lot of software for the blind to use, most of the software are not specially designed for the blind to approach and search Internet information. Baidu says this is why it has launched this new service.

AutoMart To Offer Mandatory Exhaust Inspections In Beijing

AutoMart-China, the largest independent auto aftermarket company in Beijing, has signed a Letter of Intent with Beijing Wan Quan He Automotive Certificate Company as its first step in being able to perform mandatory safety and exhaust inspections at its repair and maintenance centers.

AutoMart said the non-binding LOI is with Wan Quan He, which is authorized by Beijing’s municipal government and Ministry of Communications to conduct annual tests for cars and motorcycles in the capital city. WQH is also authorized to conduct motor vehicle exhaust testing, as authorized by the State Environmental Protection Administration of China.

AutoMart, with more than 450 employees serving the auto aftermarket in Beijing, is currently working to finalize the agreement and add mandatory safety and exhaust inspections to its other services, including auto repair, parts, and insurance, said the company’s Chairman and CEO Pang Guisan.

“Annual safety and exhaust inspections are required by the government for the more than 4 million cars and motorcycles in Beijing,” Pang said. “AutoMart is excited about the opportunity to partner with WQH and serve this emerging market. AutoMart plans to work with WHQ in order to gain access to virtually millions of owners of cars and motorcycles, and be able to cross-market our other repair, parts and insurance products to them.”

Chinese Workers To Increase Salaries Faster Than American Counterparts

New research reveals real pay increases for workers in the United States will substantially lag those in China and India in 2007.

The Hay Group says their new research shows says administrative, professional and senior management employees are predicted to see real increases of just 1.4%, versus increases approaching 8% in high-growth economies.

“Much like their colleagues in Europe, US employees will be seeing relatively modest increases in base salaries when compared to the emerging economies,” said Iain Fitzpatrick, General Manager of Hay Group’s US Reward Information Services. “Projected 2007 increases are fairly consistent with real increases seen in the US over the past several years.”

Hay Group’s Global Pay Day analysis, compiled using Hay Group PayNet, one of the world’s most comprehensive global pay databases, predicts real base salary increases for administrative, professional and senior management in 2007 for 50 countries worldwide, based on employers’ projections once inflation has been considered. The PayNet database contains 7 million individual records from 13,000 organizations in 19 job families across a number of industries.

“The wealth created by rapid, focused economic development is resulting in a pay boom for Chinese and Indian workers, who will enjoy some of the largest real pay increases worldwide in 2007,” said Hern Yin Goh, Director of Hay Group Reward Information Services in Shanghai.

China tops the tables for each of the three job categories, with a predicted 7.9% increase for administrative workers, 7.8% for professionals and 8.9% for senior management. High pay increases in India last year ¡ª 7.2% across the board ¡ª look set to continue into 2007. The country boasts the second highest pay increase predictions for 2007, with increases of 6.2% forecast across the three job levels. Senior managers can anticipate a real increase of 6.9%, professionals and administrators 5.9% each.