China Seeks Global Talent for Top Posts in State Firms

China announced plans to fill 20 top posts at some of its largest state-owned enterprises (SOEs), according to a notice on its State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) website.

Posts to be filled include five general managers, four deputy general managers, three chief accountants, three legal advisers and five others, including a chief engineer, a chief designer, an institute president and two vice presidents. Eight of the hiring SOEs were on the 2010 Fortune 500 list.

The move is another effort to promote reform of China’s SOE personnel system, the SASAC notice said. Over 100 non-Chinese nationals had been hired from among tens of thousands of applicants seven previous global recruitment cycles.

As of the end of 2009, the number of managers at China’s SOEs hired through public competition instead of by administrative appointments grew from 334,000 in 2004 to 521,000, a56% increase.

Details on qualifications for the posts are announced in Monday’s China Daily.

BEIJING