Members of the general public are being encouraged to apply for senior management positions in ten of China's largest State-owned enterprises including six positions which foreigners may apply for, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) explained yesterday.

Seven enterprises are each recruiting a vice-general manager or a vice-president while the other three are seeking chief accountants.

The six roles open to foreign candidates include vice-general managers at Wuhan Iron & Steel (Group) Corp and working with audio video product developer China Hualu Group Co Ltd. Also vice-presidents are sought by the Sino-coal International Engineering Design & Research Institute and the Shanghai Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry.

China Eastern Airlines and forestry machinery manufacturer China Foma (Group) Co Ltd are also both looking globally to recruit chief accountants, said sources with SASAC. The organization  supervises 160 of China's largest State-owned enterprises. .

Power giant China Huaneng Group is seeking a chief accountant and China Aviation Oil Holding Company requires a vice-general manager but both these positions are only open to applicants of Chinese nationality. Details of these jobs will be released on Monday.

In the past such senior management positions were direct government appointments. 

This latest round of recruitment is the fourth occasion that SASAC has organized such a campaign since 2003. In the coming months more central enterprises will participate in the hunt for top executives, said SASAC sources yesterday.

The recruitment drive aims to assist central enterprises acquire outstanding executives from the labor market and enhance their ability to compete globally. The three previous campaigns attracted around 2,600 applicants including foreigners and overseas Chinese.

Fifty executive positions were filled and these have included general managers, vice-general managers and chief accountants.

A spokesman for SASAC said yesterday the executives recruited in previous campaigns had won high praise from their employers. 

Though the majority of candidates were chosen from State companies or government departments and no foreigners had yet been selected some of the executives did come from private and overseas companies.

Fluency in a foreign language, overseas work experience and familiarity with the management of large State-owned enterprises are the common criteria for such positions.

SASAC Minister Li Rongrong said the recruitment process was fair and based on applicants' experience and ability.

Insiders said factors such as salary demands and an ability to adapt to cultural differences also had some impact on the selection process.

(China Daily June 15, 2006)