CEOs wanted for state companies

By Huang Daohen

Nineteen of the country’s biggest state-owned companies are opening up their top management positions to global candidates, according to a recruitment advertisement publised Monday in major newspapers.

The advertisement, placed by the central organization department of the Chinese Communist Party and the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), is the government’ latest effort to raise the competitiveness of its state-owned companies (SOEs).

SASAC is the highest government body under the state council and oversees operations of the country’s 129 biggest state-owned corporation. In a notice, the cabinet agency asked candidates from home and abroad to help SOEs become more efficient and profitable.

State-owned companies have hired overseas executives before, but Monday’s advertisement was the ighest-level recruitment to date.

This time, the government is filling five general manager positions for Dongfeng Motor, China State Construction Engineering, China Travel Service (Hong Kong), State Nuclear Power Technology and Chinatex Corporation, according to the notice.

While many assumed Chinese citizens would be preferred during the recruitment, an officer at the SASAC surnamed Meng who answered the phone Tuesday said the recruitment would be fair and equal.

“Every position has its own criteria. Unless it says otherwise, then everybody can apply, be the Chinese citizens or global candidates,” Meng saidMeng said fluent grasp of a foreign language, overseas work experience and familiarity with the management of large SOEs would be the common criteria for the positions.

Such senior management positions used to be directly appointed by the government. But SOEs have found themselves lagging in overseas expansion. The SASAC has been posting similar recruitment drives since 2003.

Meng said the executives recruited in previous campaigns had won high praise within the enterprises.

SASAC currently employs 123 high-ranking managers.

Other positions offered in Monday’s advertisement included deputy general managers at China National Administration of Coal Geology, China National Gold Group and China uangdong Nuclear Power Holding, and other jobs at China Shipping Group, China Resources and China National Building Material Group.