Eleven of China's largest State-owned enterprises (SOEs) will open legal consulting vacancies to the public, the third round of public recruitment this year, the regulator of the country's 166 central SOEs said yesterday.

"The move is an important step to strengthen legal risk management in the SOEs," said an official with the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC).

"The legal consultants will play a vital role in the reshuffling and shareholding reforms of the companies as well as in financing and investment," he added.

It is the third round of recruitment this year after 10 SOEs opened up top management positions to the public in June. SASAC has been pushing public recruitment since 2003 to help SOEs gain outstanding executives from the labor market and enhance their global competitiveness. Top management positions were formerly appointed directly by the government.

Although foreigners are welcome to compete for the positions, none have yet been successful, Fan Changgang, a SASAC official in charge of recruitment, told China Daily. He declined to disclose how many foreigners had submitted applications.

"Cultural concerns are the major reason foreigners fail in the job hunt," an analyst told China Daily, citing the Shenzhen Development Bank (SDB) as an example.

Jeffrey Williams, the president of SDB, resigned after a 13-month stint at the Shenzhen-based lender in February this year. He was the first foreign president of a Chinese bank.

The previous two SOE recruitment campaigns this year attracted 896 applicants for 15 vacancies; the SASAC established that 269 were qualified for the positions.

Over half of the applicants had postgraduate qualifications or higher, and around 13 percent had studied or worked overseas, while 88 percent were aged under 45.

The evaluation process consists of an interview, written examination and a group discussion.

(China Daily August 25, 2006)