Project China 2008 Stockholm, August 2008 Text: Project China 2008 Layout: Vincent Vennberg Cover image: Zhang Kan Photos: Yu Lei, Zhang Kan, Wong,

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2 Project China 2008 is a non-profit student project that takes place during the course of one year, involving twelve students from the Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm School of Economics. Since the beginning in 2003, it has now grown to become Sweden s largest international student project. The aim of the project is to provide meeting opportunities for Chinese and Swedish companies and students. This is done through a series of events in Sweden as well as in China throughout the year. As a vast country with the world s largest population, it is not possible for us to delve into all aspects of China. This Project Book aims to explore one of the most important aspects to both Swedish students and companies the young Chinese. In a globalizing world, they will interact with us sooner or later, whether as fellow students and colleagues, or as future employees and competitors on the global job market. Thus, the purpose of this book is to provide an introduction to the Chinese education system and its students today, as well as an insight to the young employees in various Swedish firms in China. We hope it will be of interest not only to our fellow Swedish students and our Partner companies, but to everyone curious about the modern young Chinese today. Enjoy!

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4 Project China 2008 Stockholm, August 2008 Text: Project China 2008 Layout: Vincent Vennberg Cover image: Zhang Kan Photos: Yu Lei, Zhang Kan, Wong, Kang Le, Yuan Fang, Mao Yu from the Communication University of China and Project China 2008 Print: Brommatryck&Brolins AB, Sweden

5 Preface Preface China is a country too vast to comprehend, too diverse to completely grasp, too interesting to let go and today, too important to ignore. It is far beyond our reach to give a full description and analysis of all aspects of this country, and the aim of this book is to simply shed some light on a few of the issues facing China today and in the future is both domestically and globally a year of great importance to China. China will not only host the Olympic Games for the first time in history, the country has also faced its biggest earthquake in 30 years. The economy is still growing at remarkable speed, but the country has already overtaken the US as the world s largest producer of carbon dioxide emissions and sustainable development is a critical problem. In the midst of all these aspects are the young Chinese, those born after the Reform and Open up-policy was established 30 years ago. They are already now changing the cultural, social and economical landscape, and they will shape this country in the years to come. In our opinion, understanding their present situation and future development will contribute to understanding future and present China in a different context. We have strived to make the book an interesting, current introduction to young Chinese people, focusing on their role as students today and as employees, managers and entrepreneurs tomorrow. The book is based partly on recent literature, but mostly on interviews in China and Sweden, in order to provide as complete and multi-faceted a picture as possible. We hope everyone with an interest in China will enjoy reading this book, with special regard to the students at the Royal Institute of Technology and Stockholm School of Economics. We also hope all our partner companies will enjoy the reading, because without you all this would not have been possible. Finally, we would like to thank everyone who has contributed to this book in any way, whether it be with time, knowledge, material or opinions. This book is a collective result with the help from all of you. 3

6 Table of contents Part I - Young Chinese: The students Little Emperors 10 The Chinese one-child-policy generation is criticized for being spoiled and too dependent on their parents, but the society places enormous pressure on them as well. 1.2 The road to university 14 China is a crazy country, but craziest of everything in China is without doubt Gaokao; the Chinese entrance examination for higher education! Le Kang, student at the Communication University of China 1.3 Education systems in the face of globalization 24 Who will be assigned to design your new mobile phone? A comparative view on the differences between the Chinese and Swedish education systems, as well as its students. 1.4 Meet the young Chinese 44 Young Chinese men and women share their opinions on both personal and social issues. Part II - Young Chinese: The employees Introduction and background 58 The Chinese universities churn out huge numbers of university graduates, and yet, there is a severe shortage of qualified labor force on the Chinese employment market. 4

7 Table of contents Case studies Insights through real-life examples from Swedish companies in China. 64 Stora Enso 65 Sandvik 66 Ericsson 68 IKEA 69 Atlas Copco 70 Vinge Conclusion 74 References 76 About Project China Kinabloggen Selected blog posts from the China Blog on Svenska Dagbladet s website. 102 Acknowledgements 5

8 Introduction Introduction Year 2008 is China s year. For the first time in history, China will host an Olympics, and the capital has gone through a rapid, transformation in preparation for this event. The country s economic development is still continuing in a remarkable pace, and China now has the largest number of Internet users in the world, after having surpassed the US. Internationally, it is now an increasingly important actor on the global political and economical arena, with all the rights and responsibilities this entails. But outside of the Olympics, China has also had to deal with many problems. Some of these have come in form of natural disasters, of which there has been no shortage. The snow storm during Chinese New Years, the flooding in southern China and above all, the devastating earthquake in Sichuan, have had enormous consequences that China needs to resolve in several years to come. The country also faces increasing social and economical problems, with the steep price inflation directly affecting millions of people s daily lives and the social gaps widening day by day. All these aspects of China, and many more, are issues that need to be discussed and dealt with. But at the core of everything, these things need to be done by people. This year is the 30th anniversary of the beginning of Deng Xiaoping s Reform and Open up-policy. During this relatively short time, China has gone from a tightly controlled planned economy to a flourishing market economy, whose growth rate outpaces most countries. China has developed a relatively well-functioning legal system in these 30 years, and a financial market in the last years. China is one of the largest Foreign Direct Investment recipients in the world, and has the largest foreign reserve in the world. Even though large social gaps persist, around 300 million people have been lifted out of poverty, and in large cities like Beijing and Shanghai, many people enjoy a Western living standard or better. But now China is facing both a generational and a demographic shift. The people that have brought about China s development these past decades will soon leave room for the new generation, the ones born and raised in a burgeoning market economy. Because of the one-child policy, which begun in 1979, the family constellation in China today has changed drastically from one generation to the next is an apt description of the situation today, where the first one-child policy generation is starting to build their own family. One child has to support both parents, as well as the two pairs of grandparents, which can lead to over-indulging the single child, as well as placing an enormous amount of pressure on him or her. And these young men and women are not only the future political leaders in this country, they are also the driving force in China s future economic development. They are China s future employees, employers, managers, entrepreneurs and global leaders, and to everyone with an interest in China, it is essential to know what influences and drives them. In this 6

9 Introduction globalized world, there are a variety of factors, such as friends, family, social values, international influences and so on. However, we have chosen to focus on the education system. Education plays a large role in all young people s lives, but it s of significant importance in China especially. Because of the life-determining exam results and the amount of time spent on studying, education is one of the most defining parts of the lives of young Chinese. And in a globalizing world, a national education system with over 323 million students 1 is something whose influence stretches beyond national borders. Today s Chinese students will enter the global job market in the future, together with today s students from Sweden and the rest of the world. From Swedish students point of view, these Chinese students are not only our future colleagues but also, directly or indirectly, our future competitors. Thus, the first part of the book discusses the changing demands on modern education today, and explores the faults and merits of the exam-centered, highly competitive Chinese education system. In a comparative perspective, our own Swedish education system is discussed as well, in order to provide a more nuanced view. Bluntly put, how do we compare to our Chinese counterparts? When these young Chinese students enter employment, most of them will enter a rapidly changing, paradoxical Chinese job market. On one hand, the deluge of university graduates has led to an intense competition for qualified jobs, and employment is an increasing concern even amongst students at top school. On the other hand, China is facing severe employment shortages in several industry areas, which in a long-term perspective risks stunting the country s economic development. This is something all foreign companies in China have to factor in and adapt to, whether recruiting managers, qualified employees or skilled laborers. At the same time, all these young Chinese employees are, in a sense, results of the Chinese education system. Naturally, there are many more aspects of the human resources issue in China, but for Swedish students and companies alike with an interest in China, this is an introduction to the topic. Thus, the second part of the book focuses on case studies of a few Swedish companies in China, in order to provide further insight into the Chinese job market and the young Chinese employees. 7

10 Part I - Young Chinese: The students 8

11 Part I - Young Chinese: The students Part I - Young Chinese: The students 1.1 Little Emperors 10 The Chinese one-child-policy generation is criticized for being spoiled and too dependent on their parents, but the society places enormous pressure on them as well. 1.2 The road to university 14 China is a crazy country, but craziest of everything in China is without doubt Gaokao; the Chinese entrance examination for higher education! Le Kang, student at the Communication University of China 1.3 Education systems in the face of globalization 24 Who will be assigned to design your new mobile phone? A comparative view on the differences between the Chinese and Swedish education systems, as well as its students. 1.4 Meet the young Chinese 44 Young Chinese men and women share their opinions on both personal and social issues. 9

12 Little Emperors 1.1 Little Emperors One world, one dream, one child The one-child policy is a unique but controversial measure, launched by the Chinese government as a part of the Reform and Open upprogram in Its effects and consequences have been subject to heated debate in both China and abroad. On one hand, it has been praised as one of the factors facilitating the rapid economical development in China. According to government demographic experts, the policy has prevented some 300 million births 2 lowering the number of children per woman from 2,75 in 1979 to 1,7 today. 3 Even if China still has a large population in both relative and absolute numbers, many of the consequences of severe overpopulation have been reduced or avoided. On the other hand, the one-child policy has been heavily criticized for making Chinese people resort to selective abortion of female fetuses, skewing the ratio of men and women in rural areas especially. In a relatively short time, it has also altered China s demographic distribution, where a shrinking number of people of working age will support an increasing number of retired and elderly people. It has also caused great individual pain through forced abortions and heavy fines on families giving birth to more than one child. Families with two or more children are still fairly common in the rural areas, but the rigid enforcement of the one-child policy in urban areas has resulted in a whole generation of young Chinese being raised without siblings. Approximately a 100 million Chinese are estimated to have grown up as only children in a standard family constellation of 4-2-1, with four grandparents, two parents and one child. The only child shoulders the hopes and dreams of two generations, and in a time of increasing living standards and a skyrocketing economy, parents and grandparents lavish attention and resources on this one person. Thus, the young Chinese generation, spoiled by overprotecting parents, is often ridiculed as Little Emperors, an epithet that refers to their selfcentered attitude and alleged inability to compromise and socially interact. 10

13 Little Emperors Culture clash The young Chinese generation grew up in a world entirely different to their parent s generation. They do not know the pre-1978 hardships of political and social turmoil, international isolation and famine. They are shaped in an atmosphere of greater individualism, with international influences and increasing material standards. The new Chinese generation does not belong to the same culture as any generation before it, and this has resulted in some intergenerational friction. Young Chinese are often accused of being spoiled and too dependent on their parents. Stories about parents following their child into the room at job interviews are not rare, and even after employment, the parents often buy an apartment for their child or continue to pay for their living expenses. Kids these days are self-centered dreamers incapable of handling conflicts, a middle-aged policeman in Beijing mutters. The little emperors may be fortunate in many aspects, but they have to endure a lot to please their enthusiastic supporters. From a young age, their lives become a struggle to achieve the academic results and acquire the skills needed to boost their chances in the future. Parents carefully design the lives of their only child, and the obsession for investing in children s capabilities has made education one of the fastest growing markets in urban areas of China. According to research by the China Academy of Social Sciences in 2004, Chinese parents spend up to 50% of their total household income on their child. 4 Delegations of Chinese middle-class mothers can be seen at American Ivy League university campuses, showing their children where to study in twenty years. It is not easy being a little emperor. And the criticism against the little emperors may not be entirely fair. We may be spoiled and we do not like to endure hardships as our parent generation did. But we are more internationally oriented, we are more open to new things and we have dreams and visions. Wang Fang, a student at Beijing Art Academy says. Don t judge us by the standards of yesterday! 11

14 Little Emperors Creating a prodigy When I grow up, Chen, a seven-year old boy living in Shanghai says, I want to be a driver. His father laughs and replies quickly. If you are going to be a driver, you must be a Formula One driver! Despite his young age, Chen has already finished the curriculum of the fifth grade in compulsory school. In the private school he attends, he is the youngest child in his grade and yet one of the top students. After the final examinations each year, the children are divided into different classes depending on their test score. As Chen s next goal in life is to enroll into one of the top private junior high schools in Shanghai, he has to work hard in order to defend his position in the elite class. Every morning, his grandmother picks him up and takes him to school, where he studies Chinese, Mathematics, Classical Chinese and English. School starts 7.45 a.m. and he does not return home until 6.30 p.m. After dinner he starts his tightly scheduled evening session of homework assignments. Chen s skills are not confined to academic performance. In his spare time, which is essentially limited to weekends, he attends courses in oral English, Olympic Mathematics, badminton and piano. You need other skills than just performing well on standardized tests, Chen s mother says as Chen s fingers dance across the piano keyboard. He used to take courses in salsa dancing as well, but his ambitions in this field were abandoned when his private Olympic Mathematics teacher asked him the rhetorical question: Are you going to dance yourself through the entrance examination for junior high school? The salsa course was replaced by an additional hour of mathematics and a Saturday in Chen s life is now scheduled as below: Olympic Mathematics course Essay writing course Piano lesson Dinner Badminton class Asking his parents, the final goal for Chen is to enter a good university in Shanghai to become a valuable resource to the society. The competition is fierce and you don t want your child to be left behind from the start. We know he has to endure a lot of pressure but we have no choice, his mother says. We want to provide him with the possibilities to choose his own course of life, but in order to do that, you need to be competitive. Chen is a top achieving young boy, but he is far from exceptional in Shanghai. For a middle class family, spending a 12

15 Little Emperors significant part of the family income on the child is rather common. One of our neighbors is a girl, who at the age of five already has cleared the fifth level proficiency test in piano, Chen s mother admiringly says. She then tells us about another neighbor s efforts to optimize her chances of giving birth to a talented baby. She is in her sixth month of pregnancy, and has quit her job to stay at home and let the fetus listen to recordings of advanced English conversation and classical music, while she eats lots of fish oil to enhance the brain development of her future baby. Finishing the primary school curriculum several grades in advance is necessary for enrollment into a renowned private primary school. Studying at a good primary school increases chances of enrollment into a good junior high school which in turn is necessary to get accepted into a good high school. A good high school provides optimal environment for passing the university entrance examination and a university degree is the best guarantee for good employment. The race starts from early pregnancy and getting onto the right track from start is essential to surviving the competition. Chen does not seem to be noticeably affected by the pressure and expectations. He laughs, plays and chatters happily, and as soon as he gets some time over which is not very often he amuses himself with his portable Playstation, playing didactic games with episodes from the curriculum of Chinese history. When asked about his favorite university is it Harvard, Oxford or Tsinghua? Chen seems somewhat upset. I haven t even passed the entrance examination to junior high school yet. Do you think I have time to think about university?! 13

16 The road to university 1.2 The road to university Make it or break it We are used to this, we can handle stress. Our entire education is focused on high performance on examinations; this is not the first time. The high school student looks surprisingly calm, but determined, as she heads for lunch break during the first day of Gaokao - the Chinese Entrance Examination for Higher Education - at the Renmin University Affiliated High School. Hundreds of restless parents are nervously waiting outside the school while their children leave the building in pajama-like school uniforms. The air is thick with expectation and anxiety. Gaokao is one of the most pressure-filled entrance examinations in the world. The performance during these two days of frenetic writing and calculating more or less determines a student s entire future. In China s booming economy, the competition for attractive employment is fierce. Since a degree from a prestigious university is still the best job guarantee, Gaokao has become an intense battleground for striving young men and women. Public examinations have a long history in China. The imperial examinations determined admission to the state bureaucracy, and they were used for 1300 years until their abolishment in the beginning of the 20th century.5 Academic performance is, in other words, something deeply ingrained in Chinese society, and these meritocratic values contribute to the massive pressure put on the children facing Gaokao. That the one-child policy has created a family situation, where the hopes and dreams of two generations are placed on one child, is another source of pressure related to the test. Since many parents invest the largest part of their time and income on their only child, Gaokao is a critical event that determines the future of the entire family. Students with outstanding Gaokao results can expect admission to one of China s top universities; the rest find places in provincial universities or shorter educational programs in colleges. Only about 28 % of the examinees are enrolled into four-year 14

17 The road to university university educations, while another 28 % enroll into vocational schools or technical educations. In other words, over 40 % of the examinees, or more than 4 million hard-working high school students, are not admitted to any institution for higher education beyond high school. As Gaokao is held only once a year, giving the exam a second try means one more year of stressful preparations. Usually, about one third of the exam takers are Gaokao repeaters. 6 For those who cannot afford another year of preparations, Gaokao is definitely a make-it-or-break-it event; failure means failing their parents expectations, and facing an uncertain and harsh future as a blue-collar worker. For students from less affluent Chinese families, a university degree is one of their few chances to a better life. Had I failed Gaokao, Wei Xiao, a student at the Beijing University of Foreign Languages says, I would have ended up as a factory worker or a housewife. Preparing for the test, I knew Gaokao was my only chance to a good and interesting life and I also knew my parents future would depend on my test score. It made the pressure unbearable. I was depressed and paranoid and I even avoided drinking too much water as I didn t want to waste any time going to the toilet. Without the mental support from my teachers and parents I don t know what would have happened. My Gaokao story had a happy ending, but for me, Gaokao is still not a positive memory. 15

18 The road to university Birth control pills, diverted flights and endless cramming Preparing for Gaokao requires rigid self-discipline, perseverance and all the support possible from family and teachers. Due to its central role in Chinese society, there is a growing industry emerging around Gaokao, with everything from expensive prep schools with high-qualified teachers to nutritionists designing optimal meals for the best possible performance. According to students in Beijing, it s not uncommon for examinees to use birth control pills in order to delay the period, during which time academic performance risks being reduced. In some cases, desperate parents are said to have provided their children with ADHD medication or other cognitive enhancers, in order to improve their concentration and focus on studying. During the Gaokao period, there tends to be a show of sympathy and support in the entire society for the examinees. The night before Gaokao a lot of construction work around the country is suspended, in order not to disturb sleeping students. In Anhui province, a group of parents managed to make local politicians divert flights from an airport near the test site, because the noise might disturb the students. 7 Other reports include police running red lights in order to send an examinee to the exam site in time, and even authorizing breaking into an optometrist s office to fit a pair of glasses for an examinee. 8 For most high school students about to take the exam, the year before Gaokao is a year of rigorously planned days, usually with 12 to 16 hours of studying each day. Preparing for Gaokao leaves little room for entertainment or hobbies. I studied until midnight and woke up 6 a.m. every day the year before Gaokao. I promised myself not to sleep more than six hours a day and through diligence, I made it, says Beth Zhao who took the test in

19 The road to university A social stabilizer In teaching, there should be no distinction of classes. This Confucius quote implies the important role of Gaokao as a social stabilizer. The national entrance exams are, at least theoretically, an equal chance for all students to measure their pre-academic skills against each other. The best-prepared are selected to enter the prestigious universities, an achievement that will increase their chances to reach a privileged position in society. During examination it is your cognitive skills and accumulated knowledge from years of preparations that will determine the outcome; your class or background is irrelevant. This sense of justice is one of the reasons why the Chinese, especially the poor, so broadly embraces Gaokao, since they regard it as the only way out of their situation. The stress and psychological suffering of the young competitors is considered outweighed by the symbolic value of a fair race. In modern China, Gaokao is the fairest way to measure a student s talent. It is a safeguard for children from poor families and an opportunity of great symbolic value to them. This in turn stabilizes society by conveying a sense of justice to these people, Peng Wei, a student at Peking University says. Unfair Gaokao However, admission to renowned universities through Gaokao is not a fair process. The public universities operating directly under the Ministry of Education are the most prestigious. When recruiting students these universities are allowed to reserve up to 30 % of their places to candidates from the region in which the university is located. Consequently, to be accepted to top universities such as Tsinghua, Fudan or Peking University, you need significantly higher Gaokao scores if you come from rural areas or underdeveloped regions, since the key universities often are located in developed urban areas. The fierce competition in some provinces mean only the very best and brightest are accepted to top schools in e.g. Beijing, whereas their local classmates have much lower Gaokao results, and thus sometimes less academic talent. The regional discrimination is undermining the sense of fairness. I think it is some kind of regional protectionism but I cannot understand what it is good for, says a student in Beijing who wants to be anonymous, as this issue seems to be very sensitive. Another problem with Gaokao are the limitations on parallel applications. The scores come back two weeks after the exam, but you still don t know if it will 17

20 The road to university be enough for admission to your primary choice. You can apply to one school as your first choice, but if your scores are insufficient you may not be able to apply to your second choice because the application period has expired. Then you have to enroll in your third or fourth choice instead. You have to examine the scores required for enrollment the previous year, and then carefully consider your choice, Shi Ying, a student at the Beijing Foreign Studies University, explains. It s a gamble. It s like switching lines when queuing, but then your new line turns out to be longer than the last one. You have to calculate the risks. Rote-learning and regurgitation The inevitable consequence of Gaokao is an exam-oriented education system. Since only the Gaokao score determines university admission, any activity outside the Gaokao curriculum is often considered worthless. A commonly held view is that the test teaches the children merely to rote learn and regurgitate. In addition, Gaokao-preparations keep children away from extracurricular activities and hobbies. In high school I was obsessed with preparing for Gaokao, I spent all day trying to solve problems faster and more accurately. My parents had to force me to participate in sporting activities at school and I joined them only reluctantly, Andy Wang, a student at the Beijing Foreign Studies University says. The Gaokao system may be successful at finding children with the best capacity to rote learn and to reproduce information, but it is merciless to those who cannot. Michael Pettis, an American professor of Finance at Peking University denounces the test, as it screens out students with other intellectual abilities than rote learning. Thus, it reduces a 18

21 The road to university diversity that is so badly needed on the Chinese university campuses. Doing any research on your own is a complete waste of time, trying to think differently is a complete waste of time. The only thing that matters is what is on the exam and what is considered right answer on that exam. The rigidity of the Gaokao-centered education kills the creativity of the Chinese students. It is a terrible waste. Shi Ying agrees, I think students should thrive in an environment where they can cultivate their own talents and abilities. Unfortunately, preparing for Gaokao leaves no room for that. The disadvantage of the exam oriented education system induced by Gaokao is a concern for the Chinese government, and in recent years, alternative ways of admission to top universities have been encouraged. Small numbers of students with outstanding national achievements in science, technology, liberal arts, languages or sports can be hand-picked by the universities without going through the Gaokao process. Test yourself! Gaokao Mathematics The mathematic test of Gaokao consists of two parts; multiple choice questions and questions of the problem solving type. These are the multiple choice questions from the 2007 Gaokao. Depending on the time limit on the problem solving part, the time limit for this part is approximately 30 to 40 minutes. Gaokao Mathematics Determine sin(a) in the fourth quadrant if tan(a) = 5/12? A. B. C a 1 i 2. = real number. Determine a. 1 i a A. 2 1 B. 1 C What is the correlation between the two vectors a= ( 5,6) and b=(6,5)? A. They are perpendicular to each other B. Neither perpendicular nor parallel C. Parallel and point in the same direction D. Parallel but point in opposite directions 5 D. 13 D Determine the equation for the hyperbolic function with the focal points ( 4, 0) and (4, 0)?