Universities in China are facing similar demands to improve the employability of their graduates as those in the UK, new research among employers has revealed.

The Chinese government issued a circular earlier this year urging universities and colleges to strengthen their efforts in preparing students for the workplace. In Britain, the government has set up its own internship scheme to help graduates find work during the recession.

But what are the skills employers want and how much do they differ between the two nations? That is the question Dr Troy Heffernan, a senior lecturer in marketing at the University of Plymouth, set out to answer through his involvement in one of 13 partnerships between institutions in the UK and China.

The partnerships are funded by the government through the British Council under the second phase of the Prime Minister's Initiative for International Education. In this scheme, universities are encouraged to exchange ideas and develop programmes aimed at improving the entrepreneurship and employability of graduates.

"We found employers in both countries put a great emphasis on leadership qualities and initiative - things that are learned through the activities students engage in and the responsibilities they take on during their time at university," Heffernan told a conference in London organised by the council, which is inviting proposals for 10 new UK-China partnerships.

"However, there are some clear differences in the emphasis put on different attributes, such as the value placed by the Chinese on 'guanxi', the network of connections that a person has built up," he said.

For those wanting to work in the public service, guanxi is likely to include connections with the Communist Party: but more generally it includes family and friends and links with people working in other companies, voluntary organisations, or leisure activities. The Chinese also tend to take more time building up relationships with people before getting down to business.

The University of Plymouth and its partner China Agricultural University in Beijing are working to determine the skills most likely to lead to employability and successful careers. Staff at both universities have conducted face-to-face and telephone interviews with local employers of graduates in three areas, marketing, human resources and finance-accounting.

A draft of a report to be published later this year shows marketing executives in both countries put a high emphasis on good communication skills. In the UK they chose communication - including written and verbal communication, networking skills and foreign language ability - as the top priority followed by the ability to work in a team.

The Chinese employers said the person who could complete a job and get things done was highly prized. Next they sought creativity - an attribute of growing importance in the dynamic, developing market in China that requires people to be good at thinking and putting their ideas and insights into action.

Graduates seeking work in finance and accountancy should have a good level of commercial awareness and be able to demonstrate a breadth of knowledge outside their academic comfort zone, said UK employers. Second on their list of desirable attributes was the ability to demonstrate a disposition towards customer-related activity.

Perhaps because of the fast growth of China's economy which has required updating of law and regulation, employers in the financial sector value graduates with the ability to continuously update their knowledge.

"Banking in China is challenged by change," said one Chinese bank executive. "We not only care about what our new staff have learned - that is textbook knowledge mainly. We care about whether the new person can autonomously learn in the future."

Employers in both countries valued the personal skills of graduates seeking work in human resources. UK employers viewed the most important attribute as time management and good organisation. Personal skills, including being approachable, confident, emotionally strong, empathetic and patient, was the second most important requirement.

The Chinese HR managers stressed the importance of a new recruit being ethically strong and possessing high moral principles followed by good communication skills.

Li Jiahua, a professor of higher education and Vice-president of the China Youth University for Political Science, told the council conference that despite the cultural and economic differences between the two countries, higher education in both was facing similar challenges in terms of student motivation and employment. The number of students had increased more than fourfold in China since 2001 and around 1.5 million of the country's more than six million graduates last year had not yet found jobs, he said.

"Students in China generally lose touch with society and they need help to understand how companies work and what is involved in the different jobs and professions. They know very little outside the campus and that is where I think they differ from students in the UK. We can share our experiences."

* Liz Lightfoot is a British freelance education writer.

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