Beijing's decision to lift a ban on hiring Taiwanese employees by Chinese companies will not impact the local job market, as the work conditions and offers of the companies are inferior to those in Taiwanese or transnational firms, market watchers said yesterday.
"I don't see any incentives from the liberalization," Monica Chiu (
Chinese authorities on Wednesday announced it would scrap various limitations on Taiwanese citizens seeking to work in Chinese enterprises. In addition, Taiwanese who have lived in China for at least one year can apply for visa valid for as long as five years, and be exempt from entry procedures, state-run Xinhua news agency reported, citing Chinese government officials.
Currently, Taiwanese people must have work experience in the field to apply for positions in Chinese companies. But Chinese employers are not allowed to hire Taiwanese unless they cannot find suitable Chinese candidates in a period of three weeks. The two restrictions will be removed starting in October.
Even though "go-west" fever remains high, most Taiwanese who seek to work in China prefer to work in local or transnational firms that set up operations there, rather than Chinese firms that generally offer comparatively lower salaries, Chiu said.
The starting salary offered to college graduates with no experience in Chinese companies is about 2,500 Chinese yuan, or NT$10,000 per month; about one-third of what local companies offer, Chiu said.
"Qualified people will always choose preferable offers, including pay and benefits, and this is something local companies can do better than Chinese ones," Chiu said.
It's not only employees who are looking for better conditions, Chinese employers are also seeking better talents, said Kevin Zang (
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last