Tag Archive for: chongqing

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16 Jan 2018 –  The first Chongqing ‘Innovate Entrepreneurial Ecology Summit’ was an event jointly organized by the Chongqing Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, Chongqing Municipal Finance Bureau, Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League, Women’s Federation of Chongqing, Chongqing Expressway Group and Chongqing Employment Service Authority in the Yuelai International Conference Center in Yubei District, Chonqing.

The purpose of the summit is to implement and encourage the ideas of innovation driven business strategy and entrepreneurship generating employment.

Municipal leaders, chairman of the New Oriental Education Group, Hongtai Foundation co-founder Yu Minhong, founder of zbj.com, Zhu Mingyue, Cerberus Lvke Group Managing Partner Li Jisheng, a total of 10 big ventures, 175 high-quality business incubators in all districts and counties , 44 venture capital agencies, 79 venture incubators and 8 well-known human resources organizations, plus a total of 1,000 people attended the summit.  All participating entrepreneurs can submit BP to investment institutions, hatching bases, headhunters and leading companies to discuss cooperation projects.

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Picture above:  WisenetAsia’s China GM Ms Karen Woong speaking at the summit.

In the summit, WisenetAsia’s China GM Ms Karen Woong shared with participants how headhunting firms work to help organizations in talent acquisition solutions.

WisenetAsia is established in year 2011 in Singapore, with an employment agency license issued by the Singapore Ministry of Manpower. The company specialized in high end talent acquisition from mid to senior level management, and has a database of more than 50,000 international talent information. Headquartered in Singapore, WisenetAsia’s other locations include Kuala Lumpur, Chongqing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

In 2017, WisenetAsia set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in Chongqing – 重庆中新巍海商务咨询有限公司.  It is the first overseas high-end headhunter company in Chongqing’s Human Resources Industrial Park. WisenetAsia is committed to implementing the Hongyan Project launched by the Chongqing Municipal Government which sought to bring in talents to Chongqing.

WisenetAsia works with customers in various industries including technology innovation industry, real estate, financial services, infrastructure, investment funds, health care, aviation, logistics, and so on.  It’s client base consist of state-owned enterprises, multinationals, start-up companies and private-owned companies. Every company has its distinctive corporate culture.  WisenetAsia team has the competitive advantages in skilled matching between different types of personalities with different types of company culture.  Ms Woong gave an example whereby people working in start-up companies need to be prepared to accept uncertainties in their job, need to be able to accept ambiguous situations, need to understand not everything will have an immediate answer, need to roll up their sleeve and be prepared to be really hands on and work overtime when required.  With experience working with different organizations, the WisenetAsia team understand what type of job candidates to match with each businesses.

WisenetAsia‘s successful placements coverage areas include China, Singapore, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Japan and South Korea, India, Australia, etc. It’s successfully placed positions include Applied Science, Finance, Investment, Marketing, Human Resources, Project Management, Legal Affairs, Asset Management, Procurement, Digital Technology, Operations Management, Quality Management and more.

Ms Woong explained to the audience ‘What is headhunting?’ In summary, headhunting is a bridge between the hiring unit and talents.  Headhunters will look for suitable  job candidates, including passive ones, based on the hiring unit’s requirements.

Ms Woong also shared the following reasons for engaging headhunters:

First, talent is hard to find. Talent shortage is the problem many companies are facing.

Second, by outsourcing cumbersome recruiting jobs to headhunters, companies can focus their energies and time better on business development or management.

Third, with talent shortages, enterprises cannot passively be waiting for talents to apply for their jobs. Through headhunters, companies have the opportunity to reach out to people who are not actively looking for a job, because headhunter will not just look at the existing talent in the market, but also take the initiative to contact those who are not actively looking for a job.

Fourth, when businesses want to expand into new markets, they can rely on headhunters to find suitable candidates in local markets.

Finally, in her speech summary, Ms Woong shared with the audience how headhunters operate.  According to Ms Woong, “Upon being commissioned by the employer, we will conduct an in depth study of the company’s background, business, strategy, challenges, culture and competitors.  We will also communicate with the employer and confirm the understanding of job vacancies, responsibilities, employment specifications and so on.  We will analyze the talent market according to the needs of our clients, list which industries or enterprises may have the necessary job candidates, and then through our talent pool and contacts, systematically and actively seek out targeted talent and discuss with them if they are willing to join a client’s company or position.  We will recommend interested candidates to the employer to consider for an interview, and finally assist in the staff on-boarding.  Throughout the whole process, we will keep in close contact with employers and personnel.”

WisenetAsia is honored to have this opportunity to interact with these start-ups in Chongqing.  Looking at so many entrepreneurs taking the stage and sharing their creative projects, we feel the strong support of the Chongqing municipal government in start up businesses.  We are convinced that the atmosphere of innovation and entrepreneurship in Chongqing will be increasingly prosperous.

 

On 18 Nov 2017, a Nursing Seminar was organized by Singapore Raffles Medical Group in Chongqing Sheraton Hotel. More than 300 nurses attended the Seminar.  At the Seminar, the experienced nursing team from Singapore Raffles Hospital shared on Professional Development in Nursing and Nursing Transformation. The Deputy Director of Inpatient Operations also gave an introduction of the Raffles Medical Group and a brief insight of the Chongqing Raffles International Hospital which is going to start operations in 2nd half of 2018.

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Participants attending the seminar listened earnestly throughout the 3-hour seminar and expressed keen interest to join the Chongqing Raffles International hospital when it opens.

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During the Q&A session, they asked questions about joining the hospital. At the tea-break, they surrounded and expressed great enthusiasm in communicating with the Raffles nursing team.

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Being the co-organiser and the Project Manager of this event, Wisenet Asia is delighted to see the great success of this nursing seminar.

Raffles Medical Group is one of the many Singapore companies who are establishing their footprints in Chongqing. Under the Chongqing Connectivity Initiative (CCI), more and more Singapore companies are going to Chongqing. Located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in Western China, Chongqing is a key city which links China’s Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road strategies.

Also amidst this background of increased business activities between Singapore and Chongqing, Wisenet Asia has established its branch office in Chongqing, with the objective of serving the human resources needs of Singapore companies entering Chongqing or China companies establishing their presence in Singapore. Wisenet Asia is a total HR solutions provider offering a wide range of customised services in headhunting, Talent e-Management, Talent Transition, Talent Development, etc.

For the Singapore Raffles Hospital Nursing Seminar held in Chongqing on 18 November 2017, Wisenet Asia played the key role in managing this project on behalf of Raffles Medical Group, starting from conceptualizing the event, managing the project from planning, co-ordination, implementation, setup and on-site management on the day of event. Wisenet Asia understands the needs, international standards and quality requirements of our client and is able to pull together resources to ensure a successful running of the event.

Written by TY Chin Copyright © 2017 WiseNet Asia Pte Ltd.  All Rights Reserved In the next three years, the Chongqing aviation industry will see massive growth through the development of an Aviation Economic Demonstration Zone. The zone will house an aviation economic ecosystem that consists of aircraft manufacturing, aircraft supporting industries, logistics and various intelligent manufacturing […]

Updated 7 Oct 2018

Written by TY Chin
Copyright © 2017 WiseNet Asia Pte Ltd.  All Rights Reserved

10facts bri1

1. Objectives

For Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) or One Belt One Road (OBOR) Countries:  China led shared economic growth through joint infrastructure developments and trade connectivity.

For China:  New markets for China products; exporting of China’s engineering and technology expertise, drive growth in the hinterlands.

2. Coordinating Government Agency

National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s premier economic planning agency.

3. The Routes

Silk Road Economic Belt consist of three land routes from China’s western region through Central Asia, extending up to North of Europe.

21st Century Maritime Silk Road consists of two shipping routes from Western Asia, through South East Asia, Africa and Europe.

4. Coverage

3 continents – Asia, Europe and Africa, 68 countries, 1/3 of the world’s GDP and 62% of the global population.

5. Common Traits of Belt and Road Countries

  • Belt and Road countries in Asia are mostly emerging economies with infrastructure deficits, except Singapore.
  • Suppliers of natural resources.

6. Major Beneficiaries

Banks in ASEAN, large scale infrastructure and townships developers, construction companies, construction engineering machineries, building materials, marine projects, water and power installations.

7. Financiers

  • China Policy banks: China Development Bank (CDB) and the Export-Import Bank of China (EXIM).  Both have extended $200 billion loans in Belt and Road projects as at 2017.
  • Multilateral development banks: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), New Development Bank (NDB). AIIB was set up specifically for funding infrastructure projects, it has a registered capital of $100 billion with 56 members countries.  ADB’s key mission is to eliminate poverty.  Southeast Asia and South Asia are major destinations for ADB’s lending.
  • Funds: Silk Road Fund. Renminbi Overseas Funds and China-Russia Development Fund.  The Silk Road Fund was launched in 2015 with $40 billion of initial capital.

8. Flagship project

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a massive infrastructure development program in Pakistan.  Started in 2013, the CPEC is budgeted to cost USD62 billion.  The project is estimated to create 2.3 million jobs between 2015–2030, and add 2 to 2.5 percentage points to the country’s annual economic growth.

9. China Outward Direct Investment in ASEAN

(in million US$)

Year\CountryThailandMalaysiaSingaporeIndonesia
20161071.911407.776037.70354.77
2017255.151600.464483.801840.82

10. Future of Trade in ASEAN

  • Internationalisation of RMB as OBOR countries increasingly used RMB for transactions.
  • Reduce trade barriers.
  • Shifting the global economic centre of gravity.

Disclaimer:  The opinions in this article are those of the authors and do not represent Wisenet Asia Pte Ltd.

Sources:

WiseNet Asia. (2017). China Insight: Bridging the gaps between China and Foreign Investments in Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) – WiseNet Asia. [online] Available at: http://wisenetasia.com/china-insight-bridgingbri/China-trade-research.hktdc.com. (2017).

The Belt and Road Initiative | HKTDC. [online] Available at: http://china-trade-research.hktdc.com/business-news/article/The-Belt-and-Road-Initiative/The-Belt-and-Road-Initiative/obor/en/1/1X000000/1X0A36B7.htmCia.gov. (2017).

The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency. [online] Available at: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2111.html

Navigating Asia Pacific, China’s One Belt & One Road Initiative. (2017). 1st ed. CIMB, p.58.

En.wikipedia.org. (2017). China–Pakistan Economic Corridor. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China%E2%80%93Pakistan_Economic_Corridor

Ft.com. (2017). China encircles the world with One Belt, One Road strategy. [online] Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/0714074a-0334-11e7-aa5b-6bb07f5c8e12

(“ASEANstats Official Web Portal”, 2018)

WiseNet Asia’s Executive Director, Wesley Hui was invited to speak at a business sharing session in Chongqing Industry Park of HR Services on 22 September.

In his speech, Wesley addressed the scope of executive search and how it still maintains its relevancy in the Information Age.

Role confidentiality and filtering out the talent clutter for in-house recruiters were two key reasons why companies today still seek out executive search services.

Wesley from WiseNet Asia at business sharing, in Chongqing Industry Park of HR Services

Wesley highlighted that senior level placements are mostly kept confidential – until role has been successfully filled – to prevent press leakage and loss of media control, or to replace an under-performing key executive.

With the ease of information flow and accessibility, in-house recruiters are constantly seeking ways to filter out high influx of job applications.  Executive search is one of the ways to help de-clutter. Well experienced search consultants are highly effective in sieving out irrelevant job applications and focusing their search on reaching out to relevant, passive job seekers.

Written by TY Chin
Copyright © 2017 WiseNet Asia Pte Ltd.  All Rights Reserved

 

Chongqing, the Investment Hot Spot in China

(Image Source: China Tour Map)

 

For companies that are looking to increase market size in the same region without high investment costs, Chongqing is gaining popularity with its large market size, gateway positioning, local government incentives, bilateral trade deals and strong local infrastructure development.

Chongqing is around 4 hours of flight from major South East Asia cities.  It is a municipality under the direct control of the central government.  The other three municipalities are Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin.  In terms of market size, Chongqing is the most populous municipality with over 30 million people.  Its gross domestic product is 11% year-on-year, the highest among Chinese cities, provinces and municipalities.  In the last few years, it has developed into a high growth engine for the western region inland market.

 

China GDP by Cities 2015

(Image Source: China Internet Watch)

 

The 13th Five-Year Plan

The Chengdu-Chongqing region is one of the city clusters identified under China’s 13th Five-Year Plan (2016 – 2020) for economic and social development. Chengdu and Chongqing are the two largest business cities in Southwest China. This city cluster consists of 11 cities and over 40 million residents.   The five year plan also includes the mandate to accelerate the development of the Wuhan and Chongqing shipping centers in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze.

City cluster is an urbanization growth strategy.  It is a clustered geospatial layout driven by principal cities, and supported by small and medium cities linked by commuting corridors.  By leveraging on the advantages of a combined cluster, economies of scale are created together with job opportunities. For ease of doing business, operating from city clusters enable companies to serve a larger market from a smaller location with lower operational cost.

Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

Chongqing is a key inland transportation hub for the Belt and Road Initiative.  The Belt and Road Initiative is China’s globalization project introduced by President Xi in 2013.  It encompasses more than 60 countries, 4.4 billion people and up to 40% of the global GDP.  The routes consist of the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” and the “Silk Road Economic Belt”.  The Belt is a land route from China’s western region through Central Asia, extending up to North of Europe.  The Road consists of shipping lanes from Western Asia, through South East Asia, Africa and Europe.

Chinese Government Economic Projects

(Image Source: 恩典在线; Translated by WiseNet Asia)

 

Geographical Advantages

Chongqing is situated on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the longest river in Asia.   Its location in the Yangtze River economic belt is intersectional with the transcontinental sea and land routes of the Belt and Road Initiative.  This geographical advantage has made Chongqing a major hub in Eurasian logistics and connectivity, where much of the Belt and Road actions are happening.

The China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiatives on Strategic Connectivity (CCI), the third government-to-government project between Singapore and China, is a major South East Asia trade deal and part of the bigger Belt and Road Initiative.  From its inception in Nov 2015 until end of 2016, a total of US$3.22 billion financing deals have been signed.  The major areas of collaboration are financial services, aviation, transport & logistics, and information & communications technology.

Chongqing is an air gateway to the world with the seventh largest airport of China.  For local transportation, the road and rail networks enable travelling time of 4 hours to the counties belonging to Chongqing, and 8 hours to the cities around Chongqing.  Chongqing is connected to Southeast Asia through a highway that connects to the port city of Qinzhou in southern Guangxi.

Chongqing Logistics City (Chongqing Western Logistics Park) aims to connect Chonqing to Asia Pacific and Europe.  It is a RMB 111.7 billion investment with 4 international routes and 5 domestic routes.  From it’s rail terminal, the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe (Yuxinou International Railway) is a 11,179 km rail route stretching from Chongqing to Duisburg, Germany.  It takes an average of 14 days to reach Duisburg from Chongqing, compared to the 36-day container sea transport time.  On May 2017, an extension to the Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe route, the Chongqing-Guangxi-Singapore express was launched.  The Chongqing-Guangxi-Singapore connects inland China with coastal areas in Guangdong and Guangxi, and Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Middle East and Africa by means of combined railway and sea transport.  In the same year, a free trade zone has commenced operations in the Logistics City.  With its favourable business policies and free trade status, the free trade zone aims to be a main hub of Belt and Road activities.

Chongqing Industry Park of Human Resources Services

Chongqing Industrial Park of Human Resources

Reception Area (Image Source: 重庆晨报)

 

Aerial View HR Industry Park

Aerial View (Image Source: 重庆晨报)

 

Recognizing talents as a key driver to growth, the Chongqing’s Industry Park of Human Resources Services is a RMB 20 billion, 158 acres industrial park that aims to be the centre of human resources solution for the western region.  The industry park will be the base of human resources companies that provide talent recruitment, learning and development, expatriates work permit services and other HR services.  The park’s operating model is an internet platform that provides for various talents solutions in Chongqing.  The City Council is also in the same location, providing the public services of overseeing workers’ social security, facilitating employment and entrepreneurship, providing vocational training and so on.  Being in close proximity enables closer working ties between the State authority and private HR companies.

In 2013, the city has a total of 265 human resources service agencies, employing 8819 people, with a turnover of RMB 10.4 billion. In a short period of 3 years, as of the end of 2016, the number of human resources agencies has grown to 1042 in total, employing 20373 people, with turnover of RMB 22.54 billion.  The strong growth in the HR industry reflects economic growth that is set to continue with ongoing push factors.

Final Thoughts

For the year 2016, China’s GDP grew 6.7%, the slowest in 26 years.  On the contrary, Chongqing continue to be the fastest growing major city with year on year growth of more than 10%.

Chongqing’s economic growth engine is running strong, propelled by government policies, bilateral trade deals and geographical advantages.  In particular, it’s bilateral trade deals have given favourable trade position for companies in South East Asia.

 

This article was last edited on 22nd August 2017.

Sources:

The 13th five-year plan for economic and social development of the People’s Republic of China.
En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Chongqing.
En.wmlip.com. (2017). Welcome to Chongqing Western Logistics Park.
Cq.xinhuanet.com. (2017). 西部第一家!重庆有个辐射全国的”人才聚宝盆”.

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