Jennifer Pak

3 days ago | marketplace.org | Jennifer Pak

At a job fair on Shanghai’s Donghua University campus, 50 firms set up booths in the school’s gymnasium. They are looking to fill just under 900 openings. It is a tiny job fair by China’s standards. But Donghua ranks among the top 100 Chinese universities — which means, in theory, its graduates have a leg up in the job hunt. In practice, going to a top school is not enough, according to supply chain management grad Gao Shengqi.

3 weeks ago | marketplace.org | Jennifer Pak

Shanghai’s Vicky Su switched from headhunting to e-commerce because she wanted a high-paying job, but President Donald Trump’s tariffs have thrown her whole business model in doubt. Since last year, the 31-year-old has been selling a mix of products on Amazon including toys, boxer briefs and Japanese futon covers. She has kept overheads low by having her parents help and shipping products duty-free to the U.S. under the de minimis exemption.

1 month ago | marketplace.org | Jennifer Pak

The Xiangguang Hats company from China’s southern Guangdong province is one exporter able to expand beyond the U.S. market. It started when President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on certain Chinese exports in 2018 during his first term. Xiangguang’s hats, which include baseball hats, trucker hats and cartoon bear hats with floppy ears, faced an extra 20% duties. Back then, 40% of Xiangguang’s sales were to the U.S.“But now, we sell mainly to South Africa, to big brands like supermarkets.

1 month ago | marketplace.org | Jennifer Pak

Seventy percent of the nearly 1,300 cars on display at the Shanghai auto show, which ended last week, were electric vehicles. They were mostly brands unfamiliar to Americans, such as China’s XPeng Motors, Deepal, and NIO. Chinese EV makers pack their cars with a lot of features. XPeng’s flagship electric sedan, the P7+, is spacious with soft leather seats that also have heating, cooling and massage functions.

2 months ago | marketplace.org | Jennifer Pak

Electronics factory worker Mo Guilan said she was doing an entry-level job in southern China’s Dongguan city, but her employer gave her all the usual maternity benefits. Once she told her bosses she was pregnant, they lightened her job load to make sure she was not overworked and had a basic three-month maternity leave. Still, Mo is not keen to have more children. “I won’t consider a second child for health and financial reasons,” she said.