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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GUANGZHOU 017358 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB, R, EAP/CM, EAP/PD, DRL 
STATE PASS USTR - STRATFORD, CELICO 
USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN, DAS LEVINE 
USPACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD EINV CH
SUBJECT:  Higher Education in Shenzhen -- Training Their Own 
Peacocks 
 
 
GUANGZHOU 00017358  001.4 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  As has been widely reported in the 
Chinese press, this year's college graduates are facing an 
extremely tight domestic job market -- there are reportedly 
only jobs for 75% of the graduates.  During Econoffs' 
informal survey of the general higher-education situation in 
Shenzhen, Shenzhen University claimed that a surprising 
98.83% of 2005 graduates had found jobs by the end of the 
year.  We suspect, however, that these high numbers include 
all types of jobs, including those for which college 
graduates are overqualified.  Shenzhen is also producing its 
own pool of high-tech graduates -- rather than continuing to 
rely on China's "peacocks" (the best and brightest who 
migrate to Shenzhen in search of fame and fortune) -- by 
establishing the University Town project to bring well-known 
schools together to offer post-graduate studies.  An 
official from the Graduate School at Shenzhen-Tsinghua 
University told us that its graduates are usually successful 
finding jobs, but that they still prefer to work in Beijing 
or Shanghai.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Shenzhen Not an Educational Powerhouse, But Trying 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶2. (U) Prior to being designated a Special Economic Zone in 
1980, Shenzhen was little more than a fishing village, and 
thus lacked a tertiary education system.  Today the city 
counts with 11 universities and colleges to serve its 
population of more than ten million.  From 2001 to 2005, the 
number of full-time university students increased from 
18,700 to 45,000.  The Shenzhen Education Bureau predicts 
that by 2010, the number of full-time university students 
will reach 100,000. 
 
¶3. (U) According to the Shenzhen Education Bureau's Draft 
Education Development Plan for the 11th Five-Year Period, by 
2010 spending on education will increase to more than four 
percent of the city's GDP; in 2003 it was just 2.25 percent, 
according to the Hong Kong press.  The Bureau also hopes 
that, by 2010, Shenzhen University's (SZU) ranking among all 
mainland universities will be in the top 100.  In a 2005 
poll conducted by Chinese web-site Netbig.com, SZU ranked 
161st among all Mainland universities, up from 195th in 
¶2004.  Still, it is a poor performance for the best-known 
university in what is arguably China's fourth most important 
city. 
 
Shenzhen University 
------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) SZU was established in 1983 and offers 54 bachelor's 
programs, 69 master's programs, and 3 doctoral programs. 
There are roughly 20,000 full-time students (including 
undergraduate, graduate, and international students) and 
18,000 adult-education students.  Roughly half of the 
students hail from outside of Shenzhen.  SZU has established 
relationships with more than 50 overseas universities, and 
thus far has accepted more than 4,000 foreign students from 
more than 40 countries.  The majority of foreign students 
(roughly 60%) come from South Korea; the next largest group 
is from Japan. 
 
A Rosy Job Picture, Say Officials 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU)  According to Huang Donglin and Gao Litian of SZU's 
Foreign Affairs office (FAO), the percentage of the 
university's 2005 graduates who had found jobs by the end of 
the same year was 98.83%; the number of 2004 graduates who 
had found jobs by the end of 2005 was a remarkable 99.1%. 
Most of the jobs these students found were in their fields 
of study, with the exception of those students who did not 
like their majors and chose to find jobs in other fields, 
according to Huang and Gao.  SZU helps students find jobs by 
offering online tests to help determine skills; running a 
website that posts job vacancies sent to the school from 
various companies; and hosting job fairs. 
 
Staying in Shenzhen, if Possible 
-------------------------------- 
 
GUANGZHOU 00017358  002.4 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) According to Huang and Gao, local students are 
likely to remain in Shenzhen to find work.  In addition to 
the inherent desirability of living in a top-notch city like 
Shenzhen (by Chinese standards, at least), these students 
want to stay because they are familiar with the environment 
and have a network of established connections.  While some 
students from outside of Shenzhen -- especially from rural 
areas -- often return home to find jobs, the officials 
implied that many, if not most, of these graduates would 
prefer to remain in Shenzhen if they could find a company to 
hire them and in turn help them obtain a residence permit 
("hukou") to remain in Shenzhen. 
 
¶7. (U) The fields that have the best job placement rates are 
business, management, and economics, while students with an 
education degree have the hardest time finding a job.  New 
teachers who want to remain in Shenzhen have an especially 
difficult time finding work because the "market is 
saturated."  Huang and Gao commented that since 2004 
teachers have had to find jobs on their own, instead of 
being assigned teaching positions by the government. 
 
The Role of High-Tech (and Peacocks) in Shenzhen 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The high-tech industry is of paramount importance 
to Shenzhen, but as other parts of the country ramp up their 
own high-tech sectors, Shenzhen faces increasing competition 
for skilled workers.  Compounding the problem is Shenzhen's 
lack of an educational infrastructure to churn out the 
necessary workers.  As a result, the city relies heavily on 
transplanted skilled workers from throughout China. 
According to an official from the Shenzhen Academy of Social 
Sciences, roughly 90% of Shenzhen's degree holders come from 
elsewhere.  The trend whereby scores of China's best and 
brightest migrate to Shenzhen in search of fame and fortune 
has been described colloquially as the "peacock flies 
southeast" after the name of an ancient Chinese poem.  The 
city's continued ability to attract these "peacocks" -- the 
best of whom now have more choice in where they choose to 
live and work -- is unknown, however. 
 
¶9. (SBU) In response, in 2001 the Shenzhen municipal 
government provided major investment for an ambitious 
"University Town" project, which would bring together 
various schools in one 65-acre, 38-building campus, where 
only postgraduate programs would be offered.  University 
Town has attracted graduate schools from Tsinghua, Peking, 
and Nankai Universities, as well as the Harbin Institute of 
Technology.  Hong Kong press reports have noted, however, 
that many classrooms and laboratories are empty and awaiting 
funding.  In fact, Econoff only ran across two students 
during her visit to the campus on a Friday afternoon, 
despite the fact that Tsinghua was gearing up for its five- 
year anniversary celebrations.  During a recent earlier 
visit to the campus to speak with Tsinghua students, 
Congenoffs found only a class of 15 students with few others 
on campus. 
 
Educating High-Tech Workers - Tsinghua U's Graduate School 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶10. (U) At the Graduate School at Shenzhen-Tsinghua 
University (GSS-TU), Econoff met with refreshingly frank Ma 
Li, the deputy director of the school's FAO.  GSS-TU is part 
of Beijing-based Tsinghua University and is its only branch 
campus.  The school was inaugurated in June 2001 and moved 
to its campus at University Town in 2003.  The first PhD 
degree was conferred in 2004, and since then an additional 
300 students have graduated from GSS-TU.  The school has 
five divisions:  Information Science and Technology; 
Engineering; Science and Liberal Arts; Management; and Life 
Science.  There are approximately 1,900 students enrolled in 
the school, 1,110 of whom are full-time. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Many GSS-TU students travel back and forth between 
the Shenzhen and Beijing campuses, Ma explained.  Students 
from the main campus can be assigned to the Shenzhen campus 
 
GUANGZHOU 00017358  003.4 OF 003 
 
 
depending on their field of study and their grades.  Ma 
admitted that many students prefer the Beijing campus 
because it has better "conditions."  She noted, however, 
that some students specifically choose the Shenzhen campus 
because they want to study with one of the Shenzhen-based 
professors, or because the program in their chosen field of 
study is better at the Shenzhen campus.  Meanwhile, GSS-TU 
is trying to develop its own special characteristics by 
offering unique programs such as those in logistics, art 
design, and marine biology. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Ma explained that the idea behind the Shenzhen 
government's support of GSS-TU is that if Tsinghua's top- 
notch students came to Shenzhen to study and had a good 
experience, they might be willing to remain in Shenzhen to 
work, benefiting the local economy.  Despite these efforts, 
however, the most popular places for employment for the GSS- 
TU's graduates are Beijing, Shanghai, and the Pearl River 
Delta, in that order.  Ma explained that, while the job 
markets in other cities are not necessarily better, students 
perceive those cities to have a better quality of life. 
 
¶13. (U) While some have noted that the theoretical, textbook 
approach to education that many Chinese students get does 
not provide them the practical and teamwork skills that top 
companies require, GSS-TU and its fellow tenants at 
University Town have been able to counter this to some 
extent.  The vibrant high-tech economy in Shenzhen provides 
opportunities for "hands-on" experience with local 
enterprises.  Ma explained that GSS-TU professors are 
commonly contracted out to work or consult on specific 
projects for local companies.  This provides funding for the 
school and also offers real-life work experience for the 
students who are involved in the projects.  In the past two 
years, three universities at University Town have launched 
more than 100 research programs with companies and 
government bodies such as Huawei and ZTE, TV maker Skyworth, 
Shenzhen People's Hospital, and urban planning 
organizations, according to a Guangdong news website.  GSS- 
TU also offers internships with local companies, including 
an American logistics company that participated in the 
program last year. 
 
¶14. (SBU) These programs, as well as Tsinghua's first-rate 
reputation, have led to a high rate of job placement upon 
graduation.  Ma frankly admitted that she did not know the 
exact percentage of GSS-TU graduates who find jobs, but she 
said that "most of them do."  She pointed out that because 
GSS-TU only has graduate students, they tend to be focused 
and know exactly what they want to do, and thus find jobs 
directly related to their fields of study.  She admitted 
that while the job situation in China overall is "not so 
good," the situation for GSS-TU grads is better.  Because 
all GSS-TU alumni have post-graduate degrees, they are able 
to successfully compete for even the most academically 
demanding jobs. 
 
Comment:  Are All Jobs Created Equal? 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶15. (SBU) While it is plausible that gradates from a top 
school like Tsinghua do not face problems finding jobs, it 
is less believable that a minor school like SZU can obtain 
such prima facie impressive placement rates, at a time when 
there is a job crunch across China, and official figures 
place the employment rate for graduates at 70%.  If SZU's 
numbers are accurate, then they most certainly must reflect 
a lot of employment outside the employed student's field of 
study.  Indeed, Shenzhen university officials admitted that 
getting a job is not a problem, but finding a suitable job 
with a decent salary is.  A Hong Kong press report described 
a trend whereby recent mainland graduates are taking jobs 
such as peddling wares from street stalls for lack of other 
opportunities.  We suspect that some schools are including 
these types of jobs -- no matter how menial -- in their 
statistics to boost their placement rates. 
 
DONG