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China’s returnees focus on career development rather than salary expectations

China’s maturing economy is creating enormous job opportunities and attracting more overseas students to return home. We hear many stories about lower-than-expected salary offers to people returning from study abroad – some believe the expectations and demands of these returning students are excessive. However, many returnees are already re-aligning their expectations on the basis that starting salary is of secondary importance to career prospects.

The 2013 Beijing autumn job fair for returning students was held on Nov 22, attracting 117 domestic enterprises and over 3000 applicants. Job seekers and employers confirm that there is a new emerging trend in the job market: many applicants are more realistic and have a more reasonable sense of their own value, while employers are willing to offer attractive benefits to recruit overseas-trained talent.

Mr. Xiao Wei is one of the ‘realistic’ job hunters at the fair. He holds a Masters degree in commerce from the Netherlands and has overseas work experience. When asked about his salary expectations during an interview with an auto company at the job fair, he proposed a discreet figure which the employer considered acceptable. Xiao explained that in the first years after returning to China it is vital to accumulate experience and improve all-round abilities and working skills; he is more concerned about whether a job is relevant to his major and offers promising prospects, rather than the salary.

Fei Fei is a young woman who holds a Master degree in legal science from America and has no work experience. She returned to China six months ago. Like Xiaofei, Fei Fei is also keen to find a job which is related to her major, and agrees that the starting salary is not a priority. It is more important to her that she proves herself worthy of a decent salary through work.

On the other side, the cry of “We need talent” was to be heard from employers at the fair. Many of them are willing to offer the best conditions to attract talent, but they are not finding it easy to find the right person who can meet their job requirements.

Bai Zhangde, chief of the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE) said that more than half of returning students have majored in economics, finance, or a related commercial specialty – they have put themselves into a very competitive environment. Meanwhile, in China more large-scale enterprises need staff who are specialized in new materials, new energy, and environmental protection. There is an imbalance in supply and demand in the job market resulting in returnees complaining that there are no jobs for them, while employers struggle to find people who can meet their requirements. Bai suggested overseas students should consider their future career when choosing majors; restricting their focus to today’s “hot subjects” is not a smart decision.

Those responsible for recruitment from the employer side consider that returning students have good personalities and decent communication skills.

Zhang Xiaotang, chief of HR from Beijing Technology and Business University commented that they receive many CVs from applicants coming back from various countries, such the UK, the US, Australia, Japan and others. “We welcome people with different backgrounds to join us.” He suggested people who have just returned to China need to adapt to a new environment.

Although many overseas-educated student have advantages in understanding the international way of thinking and have global vision, once they come back to China it is important that they reacquaint themselves with China and adapt themselves to society and to current career requirements.

Cloud brings knowledge to the fingertips of ambitious techies

Many a Chinese company has found the going tough when doing business in Africa, so local entrepreneurs are grabbing the initiative by forming partnerships that will benefit both parties.

Tekeste Sebhat Negga, chief executive officer of Vingu Co Ltd, which deals in cloud technology, is one of them.

Africa often leapfrogs outdated technologies to catch up. It has done that with mobile phones. Cloud computing may be next in line.

“We believe that this is the right time for Africa to move to the future of computing,” says Negga, an Ethiopian who is studying electrical engineering and automation at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

“These advances are key for Africa in not only leveling the playing field but also in staying ahead of the curve. Although there are challenges we are very optimistic and are working passionately to achieve our vision of ‘Computing for All’.”

His partner is VCN Corp of Beijing, which specializes in PC computing technology.

Negga says access to computing will drive the development of Africa. Computing and the Internet are now the foundation of the global knowledge economy but, unfortunately, most Africans do not have any access to the Internet or to computing.

“We started this company because we believed increasing access to computing and the Internet is something that is vital for the development of Africa. We believe that getting affordable and efficient computing in the hands of schools and enterprises in Africa will unlock a new dimension of application – of human potential, creativity, productivity and change.”

A promising method is utility computing, he says, whereby computing resources are delivered as a metered service.

“This could be achievable in the future. Today we see cloud computing and virtualization technology as stepping-stones to utility computing. To deliver the future today, we have developed small islands of utility computing devices that will increase access while delivering affordable computing to users in schools, small enterprises and governments.”

The word Vingu in the company’s name is a hybrid of the English word virtual and the Swahili word wingu, meaning cloud.

The company’s services are perfect for universities, Negga says, because they can ensure that all students have access to powerful computing very cheaply. That means they can easily connect to the school network and access files from anywhere on campus at home.

Zhou Tao, chief executive officer of VCN Corp, says the two companies had a common vision before forging their partnership.

“Negga brought some Ethiopian officials to my company for a visit and they became very interested in the desktop cloud technology, which may greatly strengthen the government’s information security and centralized management capability,” Zhou says.

“Then his team found this technology could be applied to nearly all business sectors, including finance, education, telecommunications, energy and manufacturing.”

Given the huge potential of the African market and the relatively low connectivity in the region, Negga and Zhou agreed to share this technology and bring it to Africa.

“The vision is to set up at least one cloud access point in every African village to help them improve their education and information channel at a very low cost,” Zhou says.

VCN, as the core technology and products provider, would work with Vingu to sell their technologies and products in Africa.

“I regard Africa as a significant market and my personal interest in and ties with Africa add a lot of non-commercial affection to my business in Africa,” Zhou says.

“I believe if the virtual PC or cloud PC technology could be properly promoted, Africa could leapfrog directly to the cloud computing era. The technology VCN is developing is world-class and is as good as, if not better, than anything that is made in the US.”

Negga says African technology companies have a lot to learn from their Chinese counterparts – for instance how to strike a balance between advanced technologies and a price point that is manageable for most people.

“Ultimately, we should not forget that technology is not an end in itself but a means to an end. Therefore, to achieve the desired and necessary impact, developing products in a way that is accessible to as many people as possible is crucial.”

Chinese companies have managed to satisfy consumer demand in their own country and many may shift their focus to Africa, Zhou says.

VCN says it had had approaches from African companies on possible alliances but had never taken up the idea because it was focused on its home market, and it sees partnership with Vingu as something of a test run.

China issues 4G licenses

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Wednesday issued 4G licenses to three Chinese telecom operators, marking the beginning of a new era in China’s high-speed mobile network.

China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom received permits to offer fourth-generation (4G) mobile network services employing homegrown TD-LTE technology.

The ministry said the three companies have conducted large-scale tests of TD-LTE, or Time-Division Long-Term Evolution, one of two international standards, and their technology is ready for commercial service.

Zhang Feng, the MIIT’s spokesman, said 4G technology will lower bandwidth costs and promise faster mobile broadband.

The ministry’s figures showed that the Internet speed of 4G networks is 10 times that of 3G services, and allows mobile users to download a 7-megabyte music file in less than one second.

China Mobile said the rates for 4G services will be cheaper than those for 3G. In some cities where the company has launched the 4G network for trial commercial use, the tariff is 20 percent less than similar 3G network plans.

Li Yue, president of China Mobile, said the price of 4G smartphones will go down quickly following the approval of the 4G network for commercial use.

Now only a number of smartphone models in China are equipped with modules that support home-grown 4G TD-LTE technology, with their prices ranging from 350 U.S. dollars to 800 U.S. dollars.

Li said 4G terminals for as little as 150 U.S. dollars will be available on the market by the end of this year.

The MIIT also said Wednesday it will test a converged TD-LTE/LTE FDD network at a later date.

China is the major promoter of the TD-LTE standard and is also a major owner of the standard’s core patents. LTE FDD is the other international 4G

standard and is popular in Europe.

The MIIT said the convergence of the two standards is gaining momentum in the global telecom industry. A total of 10 converged TD-LTE/LTE FDD commercial networks have been established so far worldwide.

“China will issue licenses for LTE FDD when the condition is ripe,” said the ministry.

Experts believe the commercialization of TD-LTE will create a new impetus for China’s economic growth, as the country is home to the largest number of mobile phone users in the world.

The ministry’s statistics showed that the 3G network contributed 211 billion yuan (34 billion U.S. dollars) to China’s GDP in its first three years of commercial use.

“The 4G industry chain, which involves terminal manufacturing and the software sector, will further improve the services of China’s telecom sector,” said spokesman Zhang Feng.

Why do most Chinese dislike their jobs?

Judging by the survey data, many Chinese workplaces are black holes of misery and despair.

Only 6% of Chinese employees said they are “engaged” in their jobs, according to a global Gallup survey released this month. China’s numbers equal the numbers out of war-weary Iraq.

Workers across all income levels and industries were surveyed by Gallup in China, defined by Gallup to mean they were “psychologically committed to their jobs and likely to be making positive contributions to their organisations”.

Out of 94 countries polled, only six countries scored lower rates of job engagement than China, including Tunisia, Israel and Syria. Unsurprisingly, 0% of Syrians admitted to being engaged at work.

In a related survey, China ranked near the bottom in a poll measuring job satisfaction among 22 Asian countries. Only 49% of Chinese respondents said they were happy in their jobs.

Part of the problem, I suspect, is that very few in China have the luxury of pursuing a career that truly interests them.

Even university graduates often feel they have no choice but to opt for positions with the government or state-run enterprises, since those jobs are thought to be stable and recession-proof.

That makes those who are happy at work in China a rare find indeed.

The BBC’s ongoing My Day series tracked a typical day in a selection of people across Asia who are immersed in rewarding jobs, including some from China – a maternity nurse and a jack of all trades designer.

The latest instalment in the series tracks the work of a Chinese genealogist. Huihan Lie runs the company My China Roots in Beijing, which traces family histories and tries to put them in the context of the time.

“With every project, you find things you weren’t expecting to find and the client wasn’t expecting to find,” he says. “Really, every person has their own little quirks and personal stories.”

We’ll continue to add to this series over the next few months. If you have any suggestions of interesting careers you think we should track, please add your comments below.

Online retailers seeking to change Made-in-China tag

E-commerce is considered an effective way to build a new competitive edge and avoid trade protectionism as it directly ships goods to consumers

As China’s foreign trade faces rising costs at home and sluggish demand abroad, flourishing e-commerce services are expected to boost cross-border trade and change the image of Made-in-China products, experts said.

China’s cross-border e-commerce companies are being confronted with challenges of credibility, varying standards, talent shortage and insufficient intellectual property rights protection.

Wang Kaiyuan, deputy director of the China International Electronic Commerce Center of the Ministry of Commerce, said at a forum on Nov 2 that the country should pay more attention to cross-border e-commerce services, which are developing in line with China’s economic restructuring process.

“China’s foreign trade is now facing a difficult time, not only because of a reduction in global demand but also because of rising trade friction and trade segmentation due to regional economic integration,” Wang said.

Overall trade rose 6.2 percent year-on-year in 2012 and went up 7.6 percent year-on-year in the first 10 months of the year, compared with double-digit growth in the past decades, according to the General Administration of Customs.

The autumn session of this year’s Canton Fair – a barometer of China’s exports – posted the lowest export volume since the fair’s autumn session in 2009, suggesting weak overseas demand and a grim outlook for the world’s largest exporter.

“Cross-border e-commerce will be an effective way for China to build a new competitive edge as it will directly ship goods to consumers and avoid trade protectionism,” Wang said.

Li Xiaogang, chief engineer of the customs agency, said that cross-border e-commerce has great significance in expanding overseas demand and transforming the country’s trade developing model, as well as upgrading China’s economy.

“Boosting cross-border e-commerce, especially under the current circumstances, will help small- and medium-enterprises reduce costs and solve urgent challenges such as tax rebates,” Li said.

In late August, the State Council, China’s cabinet, issued policies to support the development of cross-border e-commerce. Those measures include increasing payment services, easing customs inspections and improving the tax rebate regulations.

Planning for the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone also took into account the acceleration of cross-border e-commerce services as well as the trial of a supportive system including customs supervision, inspection and quarantine, tax rebates, and cross-border payment and logistics services.

Data from the ministry showed that the trade volume of China’s cross-border e-commerce rose 25 percent to 2 trillion yuan ($328.4 billion) from 2011 to 2012. Experts estimated that the trade volume will hit 3.1 trillion yuan in 2013 and 6.5 trillion yuan in 2016, with annual growth of about 30 percent and accounting for nearly one-fifth of the country’s overall trade volume.

Surging business

Zhang Guofang, chairman of Qingdao Mingyue Seaweed Group Co Ltd, said that overseas orders for the second half of the year were significantly lower than in the first half due to rising costs for raw materials, labor and fees and taxes.

“We started our cross-border e-commerce services a couple of years ago, and the new business has brought us rewards and will be our major business model in the future,” Zhang said.

“We’ve long been a processor and supplier of seaweed products for big overseas buyers. Good quality and low prices were the major competitiveness factors, but now we’re becoming a manufacturer of new products, such as cosmetics made of seaweed and we directly sell them to consumers with the help of e-commerce services.

“As the company grows, we must have our own consumer products, our own brands and sales networks. It’s not easy, but e-commerce is the way forward,” he added.

Xu Cheng, administrative deputy director of Bosideng International Holdings Ltd and Shanghai Bosideng International Fashion Co Ltd, said that the down clothing producer started its e-commerce services in 2008. Sales surged from around 30 million yuan in 2008 to about 400 million in 2012 and are expected to hit 500 million yuan this year.

“Cross-border e-commerce is still at an initial stage in China, but it will develop very fast as long as the trust problem is resolved,” said Zhang Tianran, senior manager of Global Market Group, a global platform that connects Chinese manufacturers with overseas buyers and consumers.

A survey made by the company that polled 20,000 buyers showed that they spent more than 85 percent of their time on the platform sorting out the right suppliers as China has more than 42 million companies, according to Zhang.

“Overseas buyers don’t lack information, but their main issue is sorting. The key is the credibility of domestic suppliers. The credibility issue is the most important one to change the Made-in-China image,” Zhang Tianran said.

In 2005, the group launched a standard known as the Global Manufacturer Certificate, joining hands with T0 5V Rheinland AG and Underwriters Laboratories Inc. The standard evaluates Chinese manufacturers on eight areas including effective quality control, standard social and environmental responsibility and professional research teams.

“As for the M2B business, which connects Chinese manufacturers with overseas buyers, we now have 30,000 domestic manufacturers, mostly SMEs, and 1.08 million overseas buyers. The manufacturers are all the leading suppliers of different industries. When the buyers send us their full-year orders, we can get them the right suppliers within a week,” Zhang said.

Challenges

Unlike China’s overall trade performance in the past two years, the trade volume of Chinese companies, especially small ones, engaged in cross-border e-commerce services has maintained fast growth, said Yang Jianzheng, director of the Institute for Economic and Trade at the School of Commerce of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, noting a survey of 1,009 trade companies in the spring session of this year’s Canton Fair.

But most companies engaged in cross-border e-commerce services have low-level logistics capabilities and poor ability to use e-commerce platforms for effective network marketing, while they remain unfamiliar with electronic customs clearance procedures, Yang said.

“We don’t have enough professional talent for cross-border e-commerce, which is a big challenge. In addition, it’s more difficult to protect our IPR during online transactions,” Xu from Bosideng said.

Li Wenkai, director of Ecovacs Robotics (Suzhou) Co Ltd, added that the advertisement costs on e-commerce platforms are also becoming higher.

Also, Ni Zugen, chairman of Lexy Electric Appliances Co Ltd, noted that consumer loyalty is not solid for brands that made their name in the e-commerce space.

China helps expats climb the corporate ladder

Moving your entire life to a foreign country can be hard. Finding housing, schools, medical care, not to mention a decent job, are just a few of the hurdles expats face.

Now China hopes to entice more skilled experts to its shores, by making the task of relocating and securing a dream job that little bit easier.

The newly revamped Shanghai Employment Promotion Center (SEPC) has been modeled as a one-stop-shop for foreign job seekers.

With more than 430 of the world’s Top 500 companies now based in Shanghai, one step is to attract experts in short supply.

China’s economic hub Shanghai is home to more than 160,000 expats. In 2013, they again ranked Shanghai as the most attractive city in China.

But while Shanghai may wow with its good looks, it’s the overall package expats are looking for.

The Shanghai pilot free trade zone, launched on Sept. 29, is China’s latest move in expanding economic dealings with the outside world.

Once upon a time, Chinese bureaucracies like the SEPC were little more than a rubber-stamp department, drowning applicants in mountains of paperwork.

But, at its base in Shanghai, staff here are now trying to woo workers from all corners of the world, with the benefits of grabbing a job in the city.

Ding Feng, the center director, said the center is the first port of call for companies seeking a recruitment permit, a requirement for hiring foreign workers in China.

“Foreign job-seekers could get work visas with the recruitment permit and then apply for a foreigner employment permit,” Ding said.

Documents here are in English, allowing foreigners with little knowledge of the language to register for employment or extend their visa.

“This is my first time and so far it seems to be very efficient,” one American job seeker told Xinhua in the bustling service hall of the center. “The staff are very helpful.”

Beyond the paperwork, the center has now extended its scope to helping expats utilize educational, medical and social networks.

It’s all part of the government’s recent endeavour to make their departments more service-oriented. The foreign employees, who are referred to as “foreign experts” in China, are among the target population of such services.

Rose Oliver from Britain is one of them. The 49-year-old works as a professor at Shanghai University.” I found it more than just a bureaucratic-like agency,” Oliver said.

“It is more than an office that facilitates visas. They are actually concerned with expats’ working lives, their lifestyles and the quality of life they have in China.”

Oliver said it’s the department’s personal touch which has helped her to “have real exposure to Chinese culture”.

One such personal touch are the cultural events run by the center which provide foreign experts with knowledge about living in China.

Huang Weimao, vice director of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Foreign Experts Affairs, said streamlining all-important social security services was another vital role. The SEPC is under the jurisdiction of the bureau.

“We have close contact with expats, to give them help with obtaining child education, medical care and even housing,” Huang said.

Its help is appreciated by expats like Oliver. “They provide a lot of security.”

“When we have problems, I contact Huang. We don’t necessarily have daily contact. But at least there is the knowledge that they are there if you need them,” Oliver said.

Besides basic medical insurance, the bureau has coordinated with a state-owned company to offer tailored medical services for expats. “Foreigners tend to have higher requirements,” Huang said.

The offerings of assistance have been expanded as part of the Expats Residence Law. The law, which took effect on July 1, grants foreign workers with a bachelor degree or above, equal access to investment, government jobs, schooling, and an all-important driver’s license.

Russian biologist Philip Khaytovich works in a joint scientific research center established by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Germany’s Max Planck Society.

“Before it was not clear what to do with us, because there was no legal framework to deal with foreigners, like how to provide social insurance,” Khaytovich said. “Now it changed.”

Khaytovich is part of China’s “1,000 Foreign Talents” program, used to recruit scientists from around the world.

“I was fortunate to get into the talent program, as it provides generous support for our work. “I think this can make China a very attractive place for research.”

The Bureau is responsible for the program’s talent recruitment. And as the Top 500s are on the look-out for executives and managerial experts, the Bureau is helping them to do that.

Right now Huang is head-hunting experts in the ship-making, automobile, electromechanics and new materials industries.

As part of not only luring but securing expat workers, China has plans to introduce a long-term visa, to replace the working visa, which must be renewed annually.

“A lot of expats are willing to stay for a long time,” said Oliver. “They aren’t just coming for a year or two. “They are coming to make a life here.”

Huang put it just another improvement in the pipeline. “Foreign experts require a flexible visa policy,” Huang said. “The creation of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone provides a new chance for change.”

Despite being the tender age of just 40, Khaytovich has already considered retiring in China. “How to deal with foreigners when they retire?” Khaytovich said. “If someone like me works here for a long time, maybe they will stay in China for the rest of their life.”

The new residence law for expats has allowed foreigners to collect a pension, but Huang still admits new provisions may take some fine-tuning.

“Old-age services for elderly foreigners may prove to be new challenge for the bureau in coming years,” Huang said.

Majority vote for longer Oct vacation in national poll

Over 50 percent of respondents in an online poll have voted to keep the seven-day Spring Festival and National Day holidays.

This shows that there is a strong desire in China for people to have longer holidays than currently, a tourism expert told the Global Times Monday.

Nearly 3 million people voted online to choose from three different holiday proposals for 2014 from China’s holiday authorities.

The schemes, while leaving the total number of 11 public holidays unchanged, offered options for the October 1 National Day Holiday of three, five or seven days, while leaving the Spring Festival break unchanged.

Fifty-four percent voted for the seven-day October holiday, while 27.9 percent preferred the five-day break and 18.1 percent voted for three days.

“The survey results reflect the public’s desire for longer holidays,” Zhang Shangzheng, a tourism professor with Anhui University said Monday.

“People prefer longer holidays for family visits or tourism to faraway destinations.”

China’s public holidays are too short compared to more developed countries, he noted.

Some of those who chose to keep the seven-day October break said that it was simply because there was no better choice.

Others want a return to the seven-day May Day Holiday, which was dropped in 2008 in favor of the current system of several shorter holidays throughout the year.

Many appealed to lengthen the Spring Festival holiday and to increase the total number of public holidays, the Legal Mirror reported.

The paper claimed to have an “anonymous insider” that said the final results of the holiday scheme will be published a week later.

China manufacturing exceeds market forecasts

Manufacturing on the mainland grew more last month than analysts estimated, indicating the economic recovery is sustaining momentum amid government efforts to rein in credit growth.

The purchasing managers’ index was 51.4, the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said yesterday.

The reading was the same as in October, which was an 18-month high, and exceeded 24 out of 26 estimates in a survey.

Stability in manufacturing growth in the world’s second-biggest economy may give Premier Li Keqiang more room to implement policy changes laid out after a key meeting of top Communist Party leaders last month.

While industrial investment is picking up and retail sales have increased 13 per cent so far this year, the mainland faces headwinds that include industrial overcapacity, excessive corporate debt and slower export demand.

“This is good news for policymakers, as the expected slowdown in growth appears pretty mild,” said Shen Jianguang, the chief Asia economist at Mizuho Securities Asia in Hong Kong.

“As policymakers can be assured of growth over 7.5 per cent, the attention is now firmly on reform.”

The stock market’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 3.7 per cent last month, the biggest monthly gain since August, on optimism that the reform package outlined on November 15 will bolster the economy and corporate earnings.

Economists estimate growth in gross domestic product will slow to 7.5 per cent next year from 7.6 per cent this year. The government set a target for 7.5 per cent expansion this year, and Li said in October annual growth of 7.2 per cent was needed to keep unemployment stable.

The PMI figure contrasts with a decline to 50.4 from October’s 50.9 in the preliminary reading of a separate gauge from HSBC and Markit Economics released on November 21, the final number for which is due tomorrow.

Numbers above 50 signal expansion in manufacturing, while those below point to a contraction.

The PMI for large companies in the official report rose to 52.4 from 52.3 in October, the highest level in 19 months, while the gauge for small companies slid to 48.3 from 48.5, the statistics bureau said.

“It’s clear that the improvements are coming from the big enterprises, and there’s little improvement in the structure” of demand, said Hu Yifan, the chief economist at Haitong International Securities in Hong Kong.

“Small companies will only recover when the overall macroeconomic situation recovers, once the economy starts to push from the bottom.”

The PMI survey from the statistics bureau is based on responses from purchasing managers in 3,000 manufacturing companies. The HSBC survey is based on responses from managers at more than 420 businesses, and is weighted towards smaller private companies.

A gauge of output in the official survey rose to 54.5 from 54.4 in October, and an index of employment rose for a second month to 49.6, the highest level since March.

A measure of new orders declined to 52.3 from 52.5, and a gauge of new export orders increased to 50.6 from 50.4.

Tycoon Li Ka-shing denies pulling out of China

Hong Kong businessman and Asia’s richest man Li Ka-shing denied speculation that he is withdrawing investments from markets in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, a media report said Thursday.

“It’s a big joke that I am withdrawing capital” from Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland markets, Li Ka-shing was quoted by Guangzhou-based Nanfang Daily as saying.

Li’s group sold an office building in Shanghai in October and a shopping plaza in Guangzhou in September with a combined value of around 10 billion yuan ($1.64 billion).

Commenting on these sales, Wang Shi, chairman of China Vanke Co Ltd, the largest Chinese real estate developer in terms of market value, said in his personal Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, in September, that “it is a signal to be wary,” raising market expectations about a downturn in China’s commercial property market.

Hong Kong media reports said in October that Li’s company will possibly sell 70 percent in equities of Hong Kong Electric Co Ltd and seek an independent listing, adding to public concern that the business tycoon is withdrawing money from Hong Kong.

Li was quoted by the Nanfang Daily as saying that his Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd has businesses in over 50 countries and regions, and it is a normal and strategic commercial acts for him to sell or buy assets in any of these places.

Li also noted that the registration locations for his Cheung Kong (Holdings) and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd will always be in Hong Kong, denying rumors saying Li will leave Hong Kong and transfer its investments to other global markets.

Industry watchers had optimistic attitudes about the outlook of China’s commercial property markets.

“Li’s selling move was just a strategic activity to cash in once he thought the return for his capital investment had hit a margin of safety,” Yang Song, national director and head of commercial services at Knight Frank, a global real estate consultancy, told the Global Time Thursday.

Yang noted that buyers purchasing commercial properties sold by Li at relatively high prices also indicated that investors have confidence in prime properties in China’s major cities such as Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.

“Both the rents and asset prices of scarce office buildings in major Chinese cities such as Shanghai still have a room for growth,” said Yang.

The number of inquires for rents of office buildings in Shanghai have increased in the third quarter, as some multinational enterprises restarted their plans of expansion in China, which is seeing an economic recovery, according to a report by Jones Lang LaSalle, a global commercial property consultancy, that was e-mailed to the Global Times Wednesday.