Category Announcements

China embraces the fast line

CHINA yesterday announced plans to push forward the reshuffle of its telecommunications industry which will split its smaller mobile operator and give its mobile business to two fixed-line operators.

The country has encouraged China Telecommunications Corp to “buy” China United Telecommunications Corp’s CDMA (code-division multiple access) network, while China Unicom’s GSM (global system for mobile communications operations) will be merged with China Netcom, the Ministry of Industry and Information, the National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Finance said in a joint statement.

The announcement came after China Mobile Communications Corp announced the takeover of fixed-line operator China Tietong Telecommunications Corp on Friday.

China will issue the licenses for third-generation, or 3G, mobile services after the reshuffle is completed, the statement said.

After the revamp, China will have three large telecommunications carriers.

The industry reorganization will cut telecommunication costs, avoid duplicated investment in networks and lift phone penetration nationwide.

It will also fast-track the merger of mobile and fixed-line communications, according to a KGI Securities telecommunications report.

China is seeking to boost competitiveness at fixed-line operators, whose revenue is slowing as more people choose mobile services, Xi Guohua, vice minister of the Ministry of Industrial and Information, said previously.

“The revamp will change the market structure,” said Sandy Shen, a Gartner’s analyst based in Shanghai. “China Unicom and China Telecom will benefit from it but China Mobile will continue to dominate the market for a period.”

It will take 12 to 18 months for the carriers to finish the reorganization and then China will prepare to roll out 3G services, which allow faster video and Web downloads.

China Mobile’s 3G trial service made its public debut in Shanghai on April 1 and attracted huge crowds.

Slowdown leads to hiring freeze, not redundancies

Employers are holding off slashing headcounts in the wake of the global slowdown – at least for now – with managers in Asia Pacific reporting a desperate shortage of raw talent.

Rather than mass redundancies, a global poll by recruitment firm Manpower suggests that what we have been seeing instead is vacant positions being left unfilled.

Many firms in countries such as the U.S, Spain, Italy, Norway and Ireland have either implemented a full freeze on hiring or sharply slowed down the numbers they take on, the research found.

But it’s a completely different picture across the globe in Asia Pacific, with firms in Singapore, Australia, India and Hong Kong – indeed China as a whole – reporting a continuing battle for talent and strong hiring intentions.

The poll has set a more positive tone compared with recent predictions by British HR body the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, which has forecast a sharp rise in the number of employers expecting to make staff redundant.

And just yesterday a poll by business school Pentacle raised fears that many managers were unprepared to manage the consequences of any downturn, such as the probable need to slash staff numbers.

The Manpower poll of 55,000 employers in 32 countries found employers in Singapore, India, Peru, Romania, Costa Rica, Argentina, Poland, Hong Kong, Australia, Greece and South Africa were all the most upbeat about their hiring plans for the next three months, with Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia the most optimistic since polling began there.

By comparison, employers in Spain – where the poll was conducted before this week’s victory by the country’s Socialist party – and Italy reported the weakest job prospects in the next three months.

“There has been a decided shift in employer sentiment in this quarter’s survey, with employers in many countries, including the U.S, pulling back their hiring plans in a bigger way than we have seen in several years,” explained Jeffrey A. Joerres, chairman and chief executive of Manpower Inc.

“The important change we are seeing is not about reductions in workforces, like we would typically expect in a recessionary period, but rather an increase in the percentages of employers who are planning to put a hold on hiring and forge ahead with the people they already have.

“This is definitely a ‘wait and see’ approach as they evaluate where their economies are headed, rather than a panic attack at this point,” he added.

Within Europe, the Middle East and Africa employers in Romania, Poland, Greece, South Africa and Norway were most optimistic about adding to their workforces, the poll found.

In contrast, hiring optimism among Irish and Spanish employers fell considerably from a year ago, with the outlook in Spain the weakest in the region, it added.

“The positive hiring prospects reported in the newly surveyed countries of Romania, Poland and Greece reflect employer demand for talent in markets where foreign direct investment and labour migration are increasing the competition for available talent,” said Joerres.

In Asia Pacific, the strongest employer hiring plans were reported in India and Singapore, while employers in China reported the weakest hiring outlook in the region for the third consecutive quarter, said Manpower.

But somewhat confusingly, Hong Kong was among the areas where employers were the most optimistic about their hiring plans than at any time since 2003, along with Singapore and Australia.

“Year-over-year hiring expectations are weaker across every industry sector surveyed in China, signalling a slowdown for the quarter ahead. However, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong are expecting improved hiring prospects,” said Joerres.

Across the Americas, employers in Peru, Costa Rica and Argentina were the most optimistic, with those in Canada the least and employers in Mexico reporting steady optimism

2008 Guide to Establishing a Subsidiary in China

Article by Jie Chen and Jianwei Zhang

As China’s strength in the global economy continues to grow, businesses need to consider the prospect of establishing operations within its borders. In order to successfully transact business in China or with Chinese enterprises, foreign investors, including financial investors and entrepreneurs, should consider setting up a subsidiary in China. This article provides general information on establishing a subsidiary by foreign investors, to help provide guidance and demystify the process.

Purpose Of Establishing A Subsidiary In China

Establishing a subsidiary in China should be considered by those who have long-term business objectives in China. Although foreign companies can enter into some commercial contracts with a Chinese entity or individual, such as sales contracts, license agreements, and distribution agreements, they cannot do business directly in China without an approved business license….

Download the full article from here:

http://www.fenwick.com/docstore/Publications/Corporate/Est_Subsidiary_China_2008.pdf

7 Things Great Interviewers Do Without Knowing

Techniques recruiters sometimes use subconsciously
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 | by Reut Schwartz-Hebron
After years of interviewing and hundreds, if not thousands, of opportunities to practice, you are an expert when it comes to sensing who is sitting right in front of you. You are so good at it that sometimes you surprise yourself with how quickly you pick up on things about candidates inside and outside of an interview session.

That’s intuition and, if it’s built on a feedback loop, it’s one of the best tools at your disposal when you need to identify traits and uncover delicate and important factors such as authenticity and flexibility.

The difficult part is that you can’t share this type of knowledge with new recruiters. Intuition and other automatic and subconscious thinking patterns (yes, intuition is a thinking pattern) often seem out of reach, and we assume the only way for people to learn them is to go through a learning process similar to the one we had to go through ourselves.

There are certain things we can’t trace and, hence, we can’t teach. We can’t trace the values we assign certain behaviors. When you notice a certain behavior during an interview and you instantly have a value assigned to that behavior (say you notice the candidate drumming his or her fingers on the table and you instantly know it is a sign of resistance to authority) the value-assigning part is out of our reach. You don’t know why you interpret a certain behavior in a specific way; if someone asked you to explain most of these conclusions, you probably wouldn’t know what to tell him. But, what you are actually doing is a lot more than assigning value to a specific behavior. Your mind is noticing gesture, tone of voice, and combining those and other clues to produce a conclusion.

We can’t teach new recruiters which values to assign. Though there are many theories that try, the result is a long list of combinations which, even if we put validity aside, are too numerous to remember and apply. But we can teach recruiters where to look for signs and how to practice combining them. Though experience and feedback loops are indispensable, knowing where to look cuts the learning curve dramatically.

Here are seven techniques you are probably using without knowing:

Make the Most out of the Resume.
Expert interviewers prepare well. They read and re-read a candidates’ resumes, treating these documents like a detective would a crime scene: Anything can be a clue, but nothing is valid until it is supported by concrete evidence. They look at the resumes for anything that could be even slightly off, and they assign meaning to the length of the sentences, the richness of the language, the use of space on the page, repeated words or themes, and much more. Expert recruiters build the most unsympathetic theories as they read through a resume, but they stay clear of coming to any conclusions.
Use Introspection as a Mirroring Technique.
Introspection is often used by experts to identify areas that need attention. By assessing their own reaction to the candidate’s behavior, interviewers can pinpoint manipulations of different kinds. If, for instance, a candidate is triggering a protective response in the interviewer, the interviewer (alerted by his or her own emotional response) can track back the behavior or response that triggered the reaction and assign it meaning.
Peruse Emotional Triggers.
We are most authentic, exposing our basic assumptions and values, when we are emotional. Any reaction that is off balance, and that includes an excess of positive or negative response (you are just as emotionally vulnerable when your team wins as when your team loses), falls into this category. Experienced interviewers notice emotional responses and follow their paths with additional questions that intensify emotions to asses the candidate’s evasive values, attitudes, and basic assumptions.
Collect Contradictions.
Anything that might seem like a contradiction that comes up through context or content is a great place to dig. When candidates have seemingly contradicting areas of interest or have invested time in contradicting efforts, expert interviewers pick up on that and ask for interpretations. The same principle applies to content, when things that have been said earlier could be interpreted as being contradictory to things that are being said now. It’s not so much the explanation that interests experts, but the way in which the response is presented. The response is a great telling sign about abilities like handling criticism, working with authority, accepting ambiguity, and much more.
Collate Repetitions.
Certain behaviors mean very little by themselves, but put together with other behaviors, when a pattern is created, they are very indicative of a personal of professional trait. Let’s look back at the example of drumming on the table. That behavior, if interpreted by itself, could mean many things. It could, in fact, mean the exact opposite of a defiant candidate and indicate insecurity and shyness. How did you know it was one and not the other? You looked at one behavior and created a pattern.
Look for Core Reasons.
Direct answers are often just the beginning of a long discovery trail. An effective interview feels more like a conversation to the candidate because the interviewer is focusing and stretching the understanding of the candidate’s basic assumptions through a certain example. Most soft skills can be located in pretty much any discussion, and as the interviewer asks core questions like why, the answers become more revealing.
Detach Yourself of Your Own Emotional Limitations.
Like therapists or anthropologists, interviewers must know how to leave their own imbalances and limitations outside the interviewing room. To interview well means to have control of the emotional responses you are trying to elicit. I know recruiters and managers who build up tension and as soon as they feel they made the candidate uncomfortable, they back away and try to soften the blow. That, of course, requires your new interviewers to be aware of their own limitations, but they’ll master this knowledge a lot faster if they know what to look for.
All of these techniques are expert skills that can easily be taught to a novice. All you need to do is provide practice, coupled with a feedback loop. If you can do that, mastery will come about faster than you could ever imagine.

Surprise results show US labor market firm

THE number of US workers filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell to a four-month low, helping to allay concerns about a weakening labor market.

Initial jobless claims declined by 15,000 to 298,000 in the week that ended Saturday, from a revised 313,000 a week earlier, the Labor Department said yesterday in Washington. The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure, dropped to 311,500 from 321,250.

Companies are holding on to employees, even while limiting hiring plans, as they wait to see whether the effects of rising mortgage defaults spread to other parts of the economy. Labor market health is closely linked to the outlook for consumer spending and confidence, which show signs of flagging.

“Labor market conditions overall are not deteriorating and remain pretty steady,” said Julia Coronado, a senior US economist at Barclays Capital Inc in New York, before the report. “So far we’re not seeing the losses spread beyond housing and finance.”

Fastest growth

Another government report showed the US economy grew in the second quarter at the fastest pace in more than a year before last month’s credit-market turmoil heightened concern the expansion might be cut short.

Gross domestic product rose at a revised 3.8 percent annual rate from April though to June, propelled by a surge in exports, figures from the Commerce Department showed in Washington. The economy advanced at a 0.6-percent rate in the first quarter.

After the reports, the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note yielded 4.61 percent, down one basis point from Wednesday.

Economists had forecast claims would rise to 316,000, from a previously reported 311,000 for the prior week, according to the median of 40 projections in a Bloomberg News survey. Estimates ranged from 305,000 to 330,000. Last week’s claims were the lowest since the week ended May 12.

The number of people continuing to collect state unemployment benefits rose to 2.551 million in the week that ended September 15. The prior week’s 2.540 million was the lowest since July 21.

Last month’s payrolls report unexpectedly showed a loss of 4,000 jobs, the first decline in four years.

The unemployment rate among people eligible to collect state jobless benefits, which tends to track the national unemployment rate, held at 1.9 percent in the week ended September 15.

Temporary Staffing in China – DaCare Staffing

DaCare Staffing is a leader in delivering temporary staffing solutions as well as innovative workforce technology solutions in a variety of industries in China, providing pre-screened, qualified and trained personnel to our customers through our quality service.

DaCare Staffing is part of the DaCare Group recruitment and staffing for China and Asia. Our Intelligent Staffing brand continues to serve both clients and job candidates through diverse branches across the country.

ShangHai, BeiJing, SuZhou, ShenZhen, GhuangZhou, etc

Contact:

Phone1: +86 21 5238 9083
Phone2: +86 21 5238 9081
Address: Suite 9D, No. 121-123 JiangSu Road ZhongXi Mansion
Shanghai 200050, China
Email: info[at]dacare-staffing.com

keywords: Chinese Staffing Agency, Staffing Headhunter, HRO Recruiter, Staffing Hiring, Staffing, Headhunting, Recruiting, Job, Career, HRO China, Rep Office, Start-up, Accountant, IT, Engineer, shanghai, beijing, guangzhou, suzhou, shenzhen, hong kong, asia, taiwan, singapore.

Legal Recruiting in Mainland China

(by Asian Legal online & DaCare Legal)

Over the last year or so the number of clients, both private practice and in-house, seeking to recruit lawyers for their operations in Beijing and Shanghai has seen a steady increase and this is expected to continue throughout 2004. Mainland China is a vast and complex market for most businesses and the position is no different for law firms operating there.

Recruiting the right people for offices on the ground is very difficult and for law firms it is often the case of making the upfront investment in people with the returns on the investment lagging far behind. Not only do language skills play a big part but also experience in the local markets is increasingly important. Beijing and Shanghai are different legal markets and if a client is recruiting for example in Shanghai their clear preference is to have someone already in the local market. The trend in the past has been to relocate people with the necessary skills from Hong Kong and, while this will continue, there will be a developing market in both Beijing and Shanghai for people already on the ground moving firms.

The development of local law firms is also worth noting. The writer on a recent trip to Shanghai met with a number of successful local firms who also face complex recruitment issues. While not an immediate trend, it is envisaged that major local players will eventually seek to recruit lawyers from Hong Kong for their offices in Shanghai or Beijing. The practising rules and CEPA already envisage this kind of movement with the only obstacle being the discrepancy in salary levels.

The Mainland in-house market will also continue to develop at a pace. Of all the legal recruitment markets over the last year, the in-house market has held up well. There is an ever-increasing need to recruit good quality local lawyers for in-house positions with multinationals. There already exists a well-organised in-house lawyers group whose members are being presented with an ever-increasing range of in-house opportunities.

There is no doubt that the legal market in Mainland China will continue to grow – the challenge for everyone involved will be how to attract the right people and how to make a return on the investment involved – there will be no easy fixes in this regard.

Search Firm: DaCare Legal Search
Website: www.dacare-legal.com

Office: shanghai, beijing, china
Keywords: legal recruiting, law jobs, attorney jobs in China

GE Will Focus On Water Quality In China

GE Water & Process Technologies, a unit of General Electric Company, has announced its upcoming World Water Tour, a series of seminars which will bring water industry experts and industrial water users together to discuss best practices and solutions capable of meeting industry’s growing need to minimize operational costs, create sustainable supplies of quality water, decrease energy consumption and meet increasingly stringent regulatory requirements.

The 14-city tour will arrive in Beijing and Shanghai in fall 2007 and will focus on best practices proven in balancing the competitive business and environmental demands that often face industrial water users, especially those located in regions confronting water quality and scarcity challenges.

“Some of industries costliest mandates are regulatory compliancy, as well as water and energy use,” said Jeff Garwood, president and CEO, GE Water & Process Technologies. “Experts will discuss ways industries can better meet business demands and improve productivity through solutions that can cut operational costs. And in competitive marketplaces, this can be an invaluable asset.”

Currently, industries consume as much as 22% of the world’s water. In developed countries, industrial water use is as high as 59%. For industrial water users in areas that lack access to adequate supplies of quality water, and often infrastructure too, creating a sustainable and dependable source of water can offer security, independence and increased opportunity for growth.

GE Water & Process Technologies’ World Water Tour will touch on challenges that can often arise during industrial processes, such as: washing, diluting, cooling, transporting, processing, fabricating products, sanitizing facilities, and producing commodities such as, refined petroleum, chemicals, food, paper and primary metals.

China’s biggest air show set to open

ZHUHAI, China The world’s major aircraft makers gather this week for China’s biggest air show, looking to the booming Chinese market to drive sales in coming decades as their industry’s growth elsewhere slows.

Boeing, Airbus and companies from 18 other countries including Russia and Brazil are displaying aircraft, radar equipment and other technology at the five-day show, which opens Tuesday in this southern town near Hong Kong.

China is expected to be the fastest- growing market for commercial aircraft over the next two decades. Boeing said last week that it expected carriers to purchase 2,900 new planes worth $280 billion over that period.

Held every two years, the Zhuhai show is the premier showcase for competitors hoping to break into China’s aircraft market and for the fledging Chinese industry to attract customers.

China signed a deal last week to buy 150 Airbus A320 planes, in a boost for the European aircraft maker, which has suffered costly delays with the A380 superjumbo jet. At the same time, Airbus signed agreements to open a final-assembly line in China, its first outside Europe.

At the Zhuhai show, Airbus was displaying a scale model of the A380 but no full-size aircraft.

Other exhibitors include Embraer, a Brazilian maker of smaller regional jets, which in 2004 became the first foreign aircraft maker to open a factory in China. Dozens of companies from China’s state-run aerospace industry also are showcased at the exhibition.

Displays include a model cabin of an ARJ-21, which is meant to be China’s first contender in the market for mid-range jets. The plane, which reportedly is to seat 78 to 105 passengers, is made by China Aviation Industry, also known as AVIC I. The company has not said when it expects to bring its first models to market.

Russian manufacturers are showing off fighter jets and military cargo planes, reflecting China’s importance to Russian arms exporters. The United States and the European Union have barred arms sales to China since its 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy activists.

Russian aircraft on display in Zhuhai included supersonic Sukhoi fighters, but there was no indication Monday that Moscow would be showing its most advanced aircraft. Russian military planners are reportedly uneasy about selling their best technology to China.

ZHUHAI, China The world’s major aircraft makers gather this week for China’s biggest air show, looking to the booming Chinese market to drive sales in coming decades as their industry’s growth elsewhere slows.

Boeing, Airbus and companies from 18 other countries including Russia and Brazil are displaying aircraft, radar equipment and other technology at the five-day show, which opens Tuesday in this southern town near Hong Kong.

China is expected to be the fastest- growing market for commercial aircraft over the next two decades. Boeing said last week that it expected carriers to purchase 2,900 new planes worth $280 billion over that period.

Held every two years, the Zhuhai show is the premier showcase for competitors hoping to break into China’s aircraft market and for the fledging Chinese industry to attract customers.

China signed a deal last week to buy 150 Airbus A320 planes, in a boost for the European aircraft maker, which has suffered costly delays with the A380 superjumbo jet. At the same time, Airbus signed agreements to open a final-assembly line in China, its first outside Europe.

At the Zhuhai show, Airbus was displaying a scale model of the A380 but no full-size aircraft.

Other exhibitors include Embraer, a Brazilian maker of smaller regional jets, which in 2004 became the first foreign aircraft maker to open a factory in China. Dozens of companies from China’s state-run aerospace industry also are showcased at the exhibition.

Displays include a model cabin of an ARJ-21, which is meant to be China’s first contender in the market for mid-range jets. The plane, which reportedly is to seat 78 to 105 passengers, is made by China Aviation Industry, also known as AVIC I. The company has not said when it expects to bring its first models to market.

Russian manufacturers are showing off fighter jets and military cargo planes, reflecting China’s importance to Russian arms exporters. The United States and the European Union have barred arms sales to China since its 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy activists.

Russian aircraft on display in Zhuhai included supersonic Sukhoi fighters, but there was no indication Monday that Moscow would be showing its most advanced aircraft. Russian military planners are reportedly uneasy about selling their best technology to China.

ZHUHAI, China The world’s major aircraft makers gather this week for China’s biggest air show, looking to the booming Chinese market to drive sales in coming decades as their industry’s growth elsewhere slows.

Boeing, Airbus and companies from 18 other countries including Russia and Brazil are displaying aircraft, radar equipment and other technology at the five-day show, which opens Tuesday in this southern town near Hong Kong.

China is expected to be the fastest- growing market for commercial aircraft over the next two decades. Boeing said last week that it expected carriers to purchase 2,900 new planes worth $280 billion over that period.

Held every two years, the Zhuhai show is the premier showcase for competitors hoping to break into China’s aircraft market and for the fledging Chinese industry to attract customers.

China signed a deal last week to buy 150 Airbus A320 planes, in a boost for the European aircraft maker, which has suffered costly delays with the A380 superjumbo jet. At the same time, Airbus signed agreements to open a final-assembly line in China, its first outside Europe.

At the Zhuhai show, Airbus was displaying a scale model of the A380 but no full-size aircraft.

Other exhibitors include Embraer, a Brazilian maker of smaller regional jets, which in 2004 became the first foreign aircraft maker to open a factory in China. Dozens of companies from China’s state-run aerospace industry also are showcased at the exhibition.

Displays include a model cabin of an ARJ-21, which is meant to be China’s first contender in the market for mid-range jets. The plane, which reportedly is to seat 78 to 105 passengers, is made by China Aviation Industry, also known as AVIC I. The company has not said when it expects to bring its first models to market.

Russian manufacturers are showing off fighter jets and military cargo planes, reflecting China’s importance to Russian arms exporters. The United States and the European Union have barred arms sales to China since its 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy activists.

Russian aircraft on display in Zhuhai included supersonic Sukhoi fighters, but there was no indication Monday that Moscow would be showing its most advanced aircraft. Russian military planners are reportedly uneasy about selling their best technology to China.

ZHUHAI, China The world’s major aircraft makers gather this week for China’s biggest air show, looking to the booming Chinese market to drive sales in coming decades as their industry’s growth elsewhere slows.

Boeing, Airbus and companies from 18 other countries including Russia and Brazil are displaying aircraft, radar equipment and other technology at the five-day show, which opens Tuesday in this southern town near Hong Kong.

China is expected to be the fastest- growing market for commercial aircraft over the next two decades. Boeing said last week that it expected carriers to purchase 2,900 new planes worth $280 billion over that period.

Held every two years, the Zhuhai show is the premier showcase for competitors hoping to break into China’s aircraft market and for the fledging Chinese industry to attract customers.

China signed a deal last week to buy 150 Airbus A320 planes, in a boost for the European aircraft maker, which has suffered costly delays with the A380 superjumbo jet. At the same time, Airbus signed agreements to open a final-assembly line in China, its first outside Europe.

At the Zhuhai show, Airbus was displaying a scale model of the A380 but no full-size aircraft.

Other exhibitors include Embraer, a Brazilian maker of smaller regional jets, which in 2004 became the first foreign aircraft maker to open a factory in China. Dozens of companies from China’s state-run aerospace industry also are showcased at the exhibition.

Displays include a model cabin of an ARJ-21, which is meant to be China’s first contender in the market for mid-range jets. The plane, which reportedly is to seat 78 to 105 passengers, is made by China Aviation Industry, also known as AVIC I. The company has not said when it expects to bring its first models to market.

Russian manufacturers are showing off fighter jets and military cargo planes, reflecting China’s importance to Russian arms exporters. The United States and the European Union have barred arms sales to China since its 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy activists.

Russian aircraft on display in Zhuhai included supersonic Sukhoi fighters, but there was no indication Monday that Moscow would be showing its most advanced aircraft. Russian military planners are reportedly uneasy about selling their best technology to China.