National Day and Mid Autumn Festival 1st - 8th Oct 2009.

(JM Gemini return to work on Friday 9th Oct 2009 and their offices will also be open on Saturday 10th Oct 2009)

A recent quarterly survey of employment trends has found the percentage of organisations in China hiring professionals and managers has rebounded to 74% after a dramatic fall to 43% at the beginning of 2009. As a result job prospects for professionals and managers in China are now well ahead of the global average. In China,, 49% of businesses expected to recruit in the coming quarter. Only 34% were in the process of reducing headcount and this was expected to drop to 28% over the next three months.

After a substantial dip in hiring levels at the start of 2009, confidence seems to have returned to the Chinese job market in a dramatic fashion. The hiring and firing of staff is one of the most effective measures of business confidence and there is no denying that, with a few exceptions, the jobs market for professionals and managers is improving all around the world. We would be brave, or possibly very foolhardy, to state that the economic crisis that has assailed the world is over, but there is little doubt that there is cause for some optimism.

If you would like to know more about recruiting talent in China, please contact www.jmgemini.com

"In the coming decade, the greater Shanghai area will become a formidable region gathering populations larger than those of the United States or the EU"

Nicolas Musy, Founding Partner of CH-ina (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. and MD of the Swiss Centre Shanghai.

The global financial crisis has made it even more important for China to depend less on the rest of the world for growth and to rapidly develop its interior markets. Exports contribute 20 per cent of China's GDP, export growth accounted for half of 2008's economic growth.

90 per cent of China's exports are produced within a 250km of the seashore and the foreign investments and the know-how attracted have been the growth engines of the coastal regions of China. Developed of the interior depends on infrastructure financed by the government and the income that migrants working on the coast send back home.

Large container ports are being built along the Yangtze River that will make the shipping of goods almost as convenient as from the coastal cities. Wuhan, capital of Hebei province, already has a vast inland port, while Chongqing, 1,500km inland from Shanghai, is building its own.

Shanghai, at the mouth of the Yangtze river, is building one of the largest people transportation hubs in the world. It will bundle conventional and magnetic levitation super high-speed trains (up to 400 Km/h), five new metro lines, and the newly expanded Hongqiao airport. The hub will start operating for the World Expo in May 2010 and, by 2020, it is planned to handle up to 400 million passengers per year.

Hefei and Chengdu will be within 3.5 and 1.5 hours by rail of the Hongqiao hub. The new trains will allow day trips these two Yangtze River capital cities and their provinces will add 130 million inhabitants to the Greater Shanghai area.

In the coming decade, the greater Shanghai area will become a formidable region gathering populations larger than those of the United States or the EU and able to compete internationally both in low-cost and high-tech exports.

J. M. Gemini is recognized as one of the leading recruitment firms in China for Manufacturing, Supply Chain and Lean placements. Please contact wyns@jmgemini.com for more information regarding our services.

What was once perhaps the greatest source of entertainment for English-speaking travelers to Shanghai may soon become obsolete!

In the run-up to the Shanghai World Expo 2010, a campaign has started to rid the city of the language known as "Chinglish" - a comical blend of English and Chinese that can be found on signs, warnings, menus, etc. nationwide. Expecting millions of visitors, the Shanghai government wants to assure that its appearance in even the most obscure locations is correct and presentable. Shanghai's government has enlisted the English skills of student volunteers to seek out and report less than accurate English translations of signs. Students suspecting an incorrect translation are instructed to notify the government. Often the result of automatic translation software, Chinglish can range from confusing to amusing to occasionally scary:

In one Shanghai hotel lift there is the slightly misleading instruction to "please leave your values at the front desk."

At one of the "non-counterfeit" fake markets, a stairwell asks shoppers to "please bump your head carefully."

And, finally, one which blurs between hilarious and frightening, a sign which points to a fire extinguisher and declares, "hand grenade."

If you do find yourself in Shanghai in the near future, be sure to take heed of Shanghai police's dire warning: "if you are stolen, call the police at once."

Source: ChinaVest.

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