Some 47 percent of Taiwanese firms are willing to hire university and college graduates from China or Hong Kong, a recent survey found. Chinese university graduates have good communication and foreign language skills as well as international vision, Taiwanese companies that have employed Chinese graduates told the 104 Job Bank, which conducted the survey March 8-19. Although graduates in Taiwan and China possess different qualifications, Fang Kuang-wei, 104 Job Bank public relations manager, said Taiwanese college students remain competitive in the local job market, as local university graduates are strong in professional expertise, respect team work and follow ethic principles. Citing the results of previous polls, Fang said the overall competitiveness of Taiwanese graduates is 1.86 times better than that of their Chinese counterparts. Vickey Chen, chief of human resources at Standard Chartered Bank, said that Taiwan acts as a 'talent bank' in Asia, exporting high-end power to China and the rest of the region. Chen praised Chinese graduates as more ambitious and braver than their Taiwanese peers. 'This is something which enterprises appraise very much when they need personnel to explore new markets,' she said. Meanwhile, graduates from National Cheng Kung University, National Taiwan University and Tamkang University are the most popular among local businesses, the survey found. Graduates from Feng Chia University and Fujen Catholic University ranked in the fourth and fifth spots, the same survey found. The job bank said graduates of private universities such as Tamkang, Feng Chia and Fujen were also highly praised by local companies. According to Fang, 62.63 percent of enterprises said students at local universities and colleges should increase their work experience. Some 47.71 percent said foreign language abilities should be improved and 42.29 percent recommended getting professional aptitude certificates. As Taiwan and China will soon sign an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China, Fang said Taiwanese students will definitely face stiffer competition from China and other countries. 'Foreign language ability is thus very important, ' he said, adding that obtaining higher degrees or spending time abroad would not necessarily improve an applicant's chances of obtaining a job. The job bank collected 1,127 valid samples for the survey, which had a margin of error of 1.98 percent. 