You Might Need Cash to Apply For Chinese Banks' Internship

Source: http://www.talentone.org/Companies/standardcharteredsingapore

Interested in internship in Chinese Banks? First you need enough cash.


May 17th, 2012, one major Chinese media, Southern Metropolis Daily, reported that Standard Chartered Bank in Liwan District, Guangzhou, China, was recruiting new internship students. However, candidate college students found that if they want to become a intern of Standard Charted Bank, they must first be deposited 500 thousand yuan (80 thousand US dollar) to become VIP of SCB. One day later, Standard Chartered Bank Guangzhou Branch confirmed: under the same conditions, giving priority to students whose parents are VIP customers of SCB. As a result, the project of the internship was accused of being in disguise to attract large depositors.


According to Southern Metropolis Daily, most foreign-owned banks in China, such as Citibank, HSBC and Hang Seng Bank, have similar internship program only in China in order to attract new  VIP customers. "But most Chinese state-owned banks do not have similar program." Said by Liu Yuqi, reporter of Southern Metropolis Daily. 


And the major reason for this phenomenon could be related to the embarrassing situation of foreign-owned banks in China. According to People's Bank of China, Chinese central bank, by the end of 2010, foreign-owned financial institutions' financial assets only accounted for 1.71% of the total assets of Chinese financial institutions, compared to 2.16% in 2009. Foreign-owned banks are struggling in China after the financial crisis in 2008 and amid the debt crisis in Europe. Under such circumstances, it is not surprise that SCB and other foreign banks in China would come up with those internship program to facilitate them to compete with Chinese local banks. 


But for students who have relative good family condition, this might be a good news. After all, 80 thousand dollars deposit will not only bring you interests, but also an internship position.