机会与挑战并存

China has lots of design grads, but not enough job opportunities

Cathy Huang, founder and president of China Bridge International, a 7-year-old design research and design strategy consulting company in Shanghai, reflects briefly on some of these issues in a video interviewfrom the Industrial Designers Society of America’s international conference in Miami this past fall.

CBi was China’s first such design management firm back when she founded it, according to Huang. Since then, the subject of design is garnering much more attention there, with college and university degree programs proliferating. There now are more design-related degrees offered in China than any other discipline, except for computer science, she said. The problem is that fewer than one in five Chinese design graduates are finding jobs in their area of specialization. That’s a big problem now, and the government is beginning to invest heavily to try to spur job opportunities for such graduates.

With 1.3 billion people, China also is ratcheting up its efforts in the areas of sustainability, green design and the promotion of eco-friendly materials and products. And global corporations interested in that market are following suit.

Huang said CBi recently completed a major research project with the Chinese design center of South Korean electronics giant Samsung, in an effort to help the firm refine and advance its eco-design strategy. This issue is looming large as sustainability will be a key focus of the World Expo 2010 that will take place in Shanghai from May through October. The event is expected to attract 70 million people.