China state firms in int'l talent search

Communist leaders want to build up 30 to 50 state companies as national champions in fields from oil to banking to airlines. Some are among the biggest in their global industries due to their protected position in China's huge market but authorities acknowledge they lag behind foreign rivals in skills and efficiency.

State industries have hired managers from abroad but Monday's announcement by the Cabinet agency that runs China's biggest state companies was the most high-profile recruitment effort to date.

The State Asset Supervision and Administration Commission wants “candidates from home and abroad” to help strengthen companies, said a two-page advertisement in the China Daily, the main government newspaper aimed at foreign readers.

State companies such as China Telecom Ltd. and PetroChina Ltd. are working hard to become efficient and profitable. But they face tensions between those efforts and frequent Communist Party mandates for costly initiatives such as investing in poor regions or creating a Chinese third-generation mobile phone standard.

New management recruits will have to defer to political decisions, said Albert Louie, a veteran business consultant in Beijing.

“Recruiting talent does not mean giving them authority,” said Louie. “The ultimate decisions still depend on the government.”

Jobs advertised Monday included general managers of the State Nuclear Power Technology Corp., the China State Construction Engineering Corp. and automaker Dongfeng Motor Corp., the local partner of Nissan Motor Co.

Some said Chinese citizens were preferred, indicating companies want Chinese-born executives working abroad or at foreign companies in China. Others said they would consider managers of any nationality.

Asked whether SASAC wanted only Chinese-born executives, a woman who answered the phone at its headquarters and would give only her surname, Wang, said, “Every position has its own criteria. If it does not specify, it means everybody can apply.”

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