Taiwan's human resource (HR) experts said the mainland is in great need of people with technical, management and planning skills, reported Xinhua News Agency.

The mainland's fast economic growth offers enormous opportunities for skilled people from Taiwan, said Cao Xiaoheng, deputy director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies at the Tianjin-based Nankai University.

Cao said skilled people are badly needed mainly in the banking, securities and insurance sectors and for the top management posts in both State-owned and private enterprises.

These sectors will be exposed to sharper competition from foreign counterparts with wider opening following China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Professionals from Taiwan can look forward to more job opportunities on the mainland, given the island's sluggish economy, he said.

According to the survey conducted by 104 Job Bank, a major HR company in Taiwan, 40 per cent of Taiwan personnel dispatched to the mainland majored in science and technology and less than 10 per cent in the arts.

Meanwhile, competition is becoming fierce in the mainland's big cities. More scholars returning from overseas have made the competition even more intense.

Starting this year, many cities such as Beijing and Shanghai will provide more preferential policies for the employment of highly-skilled people from Taiwan, who are allowed to purchase local houses and need not pay extra school fees for their children, reports said.

Indeed, Beijing has pledged to adopt a long-term policy of attracting skilled people from Taiwan as a major effort to sharpen the country's competitive edge.

Currently, more than 500,000 Taiwanese are estimated to be living and working on the mainland.

Experts suggested that skilled people from Taiwan who want to find a job on the mainland should make an appropriate assessment of the local employment situation and their relevant skills.

Experts reminded them to make systematic preparations for their future employment, such as consulting about medical care information as well understanding local conditions and customs, according to the report.

A recent poll by the Chinese Entrepreneur Survey System suggested that following China's WTO accession, more firms will turn their attention to developing skills and technological innovation.

(China Daily April 10, 2003)