News

Market statistics

China mainland

GDP

The gross domestic product (GDP) of China in the first quarter of this year was 8.06 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.9 percent, an increase of 5.7 percentage points over the same period last year. The absolute value of the primary industry was 513.9 billion yuan, up by 3.8 percent over the same period last year; secondary industry was 3,907 billion yuan, up by 14.5 percent; and tertiary industry was 3,636.6 billion yuan, up by 10.2 percent.

The investment in fixed assets of the country was 3,532 billion yuan in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year growth of 25.6 percent. Sales in domestic markets also enjoyed fast growth with total retail sales of consumer goods hitting 3.64 trillion yuan, up by 17.9 percent, or 2.9 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

Sources: National Bureau of Statistics China

CPI

China's consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, in May grew 3.1 percent year on year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced. This figure represents an increase of 0.3 percentage points from April's figure of 2.8 percent.

In the first five months of this year, China's CPI rose 2.5 percent year on year.

In the month of May, consumer price index in China's urban areas increased 2.9 percent , while in rural regions, the increase greater than that of urban areas and higher overall by 3.3 percent. Food prices, which accounts for about a third of the weighting in the calculation of the CPI, rose 6.1 percent.

Sources: National Bureau of Statistics China

Unemployment rate

China's urban unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage points to 4.2 percent in the first quarter. 9.19 million people were unemployed, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) announced.

11.02 million new jobs were created in 2009, quite similar to the number of new jobs created in 2008. During the first three months of 2010, a total of 2.89 million new jobs were created in China's urban areas. This represents 32 percent of the 9 million job creation target for 2010.

Sources: Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security

Hong Kong

GDP Growth

With the Hong Kong Economy bouncing back for four consecutive quarters, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) recorded a remarkable year-on-year growth of 8.2% in real terms in the first quarter of 2010. With this favorable economic situation, net output in all service related industries rebounded strongly. Both goods exports and services exports also continue to thrive, increasing by 21.6% and 17.9% respectively over the same quarter last year. These significant increases were attributed to the robust growth in Mainland China, the resiliency of intra-regional trade and the increase in demand for exports from the United States and Europe.

CPI

According to the statistics released recently by the Census and Statistics Department on May 20, 2010, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 2.4% in April 2010. Drivers of this year-on-year increase came mainly from price increases in clothing and footwear, fresh vegetables and private housing rent. As part of the reflationary process, inflation may creep up further in the months ahead, but at a modest rate as the economic continues to recover. For local businesses facing inflationary pressures on operating costs, productivity growth and or an expansion in business volumes as seen more recently, can mitigate those pressures.

Unemployment Rate

According to the latest labour force statistics released by the Census and Statistics Department on June 17, 2010, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate recorded its first increase since mid-2009. Unemployment rate was 4.6% in March - May 2010, up 0.2 percentage points from 4.4% in February - April 2010. There is a possibility this will continue to rise in the coming months, with increased labour supply from fresh graduates and school leaves coming into the market.

Sources: http://www.censtatd.gov.hk (1) (2) (3)

Taiwan

GDP Growth

In the first quarter of 2010, real export of goods and services was up 42.17% from the same period in 2009. With the domestic sector growing 12.93% during the same period, the preliminary year-on-year real GDP growth estimate for the same period is 13.27%, making it the second consecutive quarter of expansion since the global economy recovered in the fall of 2008.

The latest evidence signals that global recovery is proceeding at multiple speeds. As a result, Taiwan's export is expected to expand strongly. This also helps boost the fixed investment of private sector. Real GDP is predicted to grow by 6.14% for 2010.

CPI

The annual change for CPI in April 2010, compared with the same month of previous year, advanced 1.34%. Tobacco & Betel nut price went up 19.57%, Transportation & Communication prices moved up 4.46%, due primarily to prices of Fuels & Lubricants increased 19.04%. Food Prices increased 1.31%, of which prices of Fruits, Fish & Shellfish and Vegetables went up 7.64%, 6.76% and 3.51% individually.

For the first four months of 2010, the CPI increased by 1.30% over the same period of previous year, as prices of Commodity went up 3.17% and Service moved down 0.14%. The core CPI rose 0.05%.

Unemployment Rate

The job market in April is improving, with the unemployment rate lowering to 5.39%, down 0.28 percentage point from the previous month and 0.37 percentage points lower than the same month the pervious year. This is the eighth straight month of reduction after peaking at 6.13% in August 2009. While there are some government stimulus and labour demand, the employment market remains balanced, with the labour force participation increasing slightly from a year earlier and hence, the unemployment figure is likely to remain similar.

Source: DGBAS news releases, June 2010

             TIER news release, May 2010

Did you know?

According to the Mercer US "The Future of Talent Management Survey" from May 12 - May 26 2010, the top three talent management priorities over the next three to five years are Leadership succession, training & development (leadership) and succession planning. Also interestingly, when asked where there should be more focus, on measuring program execution versus outcomes, 68% were focused on mobility program execution while 32% choose to focus on the outcome. On the reverse was employee engagement. 40% were focused on the program execution while 60% were focused on the outcome.

For more information, please contact

Cathay Ma
+86 21 6103 5501
<...@mercer.com

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2010 Corporate Benchmark Monitor

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2010 China Retention Practice Survey

Survey Overview

• How do you keep high performers, high potentials and key talent from leaving in the booming market? 
• What key challenges do employers face in retaining talent 
• What are the most-used retention tactics that companies employ to retain talent 
• What are the most effective tactics to retain talent

In an economic recovery, talent starts to "jump ship" as soon as the job market picks up. From Mercer 2010 China Monitor Quarterly report, voluntary turnover during the first quarter of 2010 reached 5.6%, an increase of 1.6% over the same period the year before.

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Publications

Compensation Insights   The ideal compensation program does many things at once: it helps to attract new workers while retaining existing workers. It maintains both external competitiveness and internal equity. But the current volatile economic environment and shifting demographics make it a genuine challenge for employers to design such a program and adjust it to changing market dynamics effectively.   This one-of-a-kind report from Mercer provides valuable market trend data and analyses global compensation trends in 34 markets, including:   The labor market situation and outlook across regions and countries  Differences in the quality of the workforce available and productivity  The economic environment by country, including growth outlook, the trade environment, competitiveness and the tax burden on employers  Compensation levels and structures across three regions  The market for talent as measured by hot skills, voluntary turnover rates and corporate hiring intentions  Short-term incentives by region   This one-volume report can truly help you design or modify your compensation strategy so it reflects the current market for talent and helps you maintain your company's competitive advantage in human capital.

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