Human resources are a crucial aspect of the reform of State-owned enterprises (SOE).

Reforming the personnel system in the major SOEs was an important task of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) in 2003, a reform that will be pressed ahead with in 2004.

The commission has just ended a large-scale recruitment campaign to help six big SOEs fill seven senior executive posts, including deputy general managers and chief accountants.

Now it is planning to expand the practice this year in more major SOEs, said SASAC chairman Li Rongrong.

"The number of SOEs joining the open recruitment campaign for senior managerial staff will be much bigger than the first batch of six, and the range of positions to be offered will also be wider,'' said Li.

Foreigners and overseas professionals will also be offered more opportunities, he said.

Some enterprises will be chosen on a pilot basis this year to recruit independent directors from the public.

As the State investor, SASAC is entitled to assign directors to the board of SOEs.

Foreigners are encouraged to compete for the positions of the board directors, said Li. They can also apply for senior management positions if the SOEs need such professionals.

So far, only six of the central SOEs have built up boards of directors, and most members are recruited from within the enterprise groups. And the president or general manager still remains the first in command in most enterprises.

Li said that another six or seven central SOEs would be chosen to set up boards of directors this year. And some will externally recruit directors.

"We will try to separate the investor and management roles,'' said Li, ''A prerequisite is to build up the boards of directors. Then more enterprises should recruit professionals from the labor market to be the senior executives in order to upgrade the quality of their management.''

He said that subsidiaries of major SOEs, should recruit all of their senior executives in this way this year if the conditions allow for it.

Those with overseas expertise are welcome to join the managerial group and a fair and equal competition will be guaranteed.

For example, many domestic enterprises are facing a shortage of good chief accountants, as they adopt new accounting standards to further integrate themselves into the global market. Hong Kong, as an international financial center, has a rich resource of accounting professionals. So if conditions allow, some SOEs can recruit chief accounts from Hong Kong, said Li.

In the first round of the open recruitment campaign, 463 applicants competed for the seven positions, including 17 foreign residents.

Though no foreigners won out finally, the equity and fairness of the competition can be assured. The judgment was entirely based on the performance of the applicants during the exam and their previous experience, said Li.

(China Daily January 5, 2004)