China to built vast database to match expat workers with jobs

Published:  18 Apr at 6 PM
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Tagged: Visas, China
China is looking to build a massive database containing details of foreign talent as a first step toward matching up experienced professionals with employers needing expat expertise.

The database will be China’s first mega-data project and is expected to include foreign workers’ areas of expertise, nationalities, city of residence and present employer. Director of the State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs Zhang Jianguo proposed the project at the Shenzhen Conference on International Exchange of Professionals held last weekend.

According to Zhang, an increasing number of expats are viewing China as the new land of opportunity, coinciding with the increasing number of companies in mainland China actively looking for foreign employees. He added that, although demand is now positive on both sides, many employers are experiencing problems in finding the right employees.

During the last four years, over three million visits to China were made by foreign professionals either on short or long stays, with most working in Beijing, Shanghai or the province of Zhejiang. In the past, said Zhang, talent projects and government policies monopolised overseas talent introduction, but nowadays these protocols aren’t able to react quickly enough to dynamic changes in the marketplace.

His idea is that the process of recruitment from overseas needs to be market-led, with government input creating a friendly environment and allowing straightforward visa application rules. He feels the digital platform will help bridge the information gap between supply and demand, especially in rapidly-developing technological fields.

According to global recruitment company Morgan Phillips, Chinese companies lack the skills needed in today’s international recruitment sector. Although Chinese firms are in the process of internationalising, they need input from foreign experts in the field as the traditional model used is too locally based and tends to ignore digital tools.
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