A new video system is helping colleges and businesses in eastern Jiangsu Province interview candidates and applicants in the United States.

The system has been built in partnership by the provincial personnel department and its American Liaison Office, which was established on Monday in Washington.

"If the employing units need, they can come to the personnel department and interview their applicants through this video system, which brings much convenience to both sides," said Chen Bing, an official working in the department.

The distant video system has been welcomed by organizations in the province.

"It is a new way for us to give oral examinations to overseas applicants, and it solves the problem of the long distance between us and the applicants to a great extent," said Wang Shuiting, vice-president of Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, who tried the system at its opening ceremony.

According to Zhao Yongxian, head of Jiangsu Provincial Personnel Department, they will go on to build liaison offices in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Britain and Japan.

The launch of the new system coincided with the opening of the online Overseas High-level Talents Internet Communicative Conference, which will run until March 19 next year.

Zhao said it features 233 organizations, including State-owned enterprises, private firms and foreign invested corporations, as well as colleges and universities in the province. Altogether 3,092 job vacancies are listed on the website.

The conference's website can be seen at www.jsrsrc.gov.cn.

(China Daily December 22, 2005)