It is Koji Nakamura's seventh year in the Dalian Dasen Numerical Controlled Technology Development Center -- an IT company located in Dalian, one of China's large northeastern cities. Although he retired from his Japanese employer and working in China, Mr. Nakamura currently spends half his time in Japan -- as the head of Dasen's Japanese branch.
"What I valued most is his devotion and competence; what he wanted most was a place to give play to his talent, and that's how our story began," said Mr. Yang Yuhong, general manager of the company.
Recruiting retired Japanese experts is one priority of the foreign brain introduction program in Dalian. Similar initiatives have been stressed in Shandong and Hubei provinces. According to available statistics, some 340,000 foreign technicians and experts now work in China, and about 100,000 of them are from Japan and many of them are retirees.
In recent years, people resembling Mr. Nakamura are becoming more and more popular in Dalian, a city that has mapped out favorable policies towards such programs. Government subsidies assist enterprises in recruiting retired Japanese experts. Specialized government agencies dealing with such recruitment have been set up. Moreover, foreign expert service centers, fully financed by government, are planned for the near future.
Another remarkable demonstration was the special recruitment fair held in May of this year. "'Japanese Week', as we call the fair, was very successful. We employed some Japanese retirees right on the spot and many letters of intent were signed," said Mr. Wang Yuanxin, a local government official. He said that their salaries would be covered by Dalian's enterprises once these Japanese experts get onto their payroll.
The payment Mr. Nakamura receives from Dasen is about 700,000 yuan per year, far beyond what an average Japanese expert can hope for in Dalian. But in fact many of the Japanese experts are only paid a few thousand yuan a month, according to Mr. Wang, because they act as a mix of employee and volunteer.
According to Xie Shijin, head of the Dalian Universal Human Resources, which participated in the special recruitment fair in May, it is not the high pay but the opportunity to fulfill themselves again in their life that matters to other Japanese retirees.
"A high salary is not important to Mr. Nakamura either," Mr. Yang echoed, "He retired as high level manager of a big Japanese company. He has a guaranteed cushy pension. Now he is after something that lies beyond money. ”
According to Mr. Wang, such re-recruitment is also welcomed in Japan, especially by retirees. Japanese retirees flock to China partly because of their country's large aging population. Japan ranks very high on the world life expectancy list. Baby boomers born between 1946 to 1949, the so-called Dankai Generation, are now retiring and seeking new employment.
The Chinese recruitment has caused much concern in Japan. As a Japanese newspaper reported, "In China, many companies ignore intellectual property rights protection. Foreign technicians recruited by these companies are often pressured into revealing patented technologies." However, Mr. Yang dispelled such worries by explaining that Japan is a close-lipped nation. Besides, Japanese like Mr. Nakamura always know what not to say.
For the fear that China is staging a talent war against Japan, Mr. Wang explained that outsourcing is an irresistible trend. After the war Japan's economy soared and benefited from recruiting American talent.
"Hiring retired Japanese experts would not undercut China's labor market," Cai Fang, director of the Population and Labor Economics Institute under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences stated.
"China lacks the high tech brainpower that many retired Japanese experts just happen to have. Recruiting them would certainly boost China's economy.”
(China.org.cn by Xu Jin, August 7, 2007)
