More Chinese computer engineers are coming to Japan via temporary-staff employment agencies, and some of them are finding a niche in the information technology industry, earning as much as 10 million yen a year.

There are no statistics on those coming to Japan under the category of workers brought by employee-leasing companies, but 16,000 Chinese "engineers" were admitted to the country last year.

This represents a 1.4-fold increase from 1997.

Their presence testifies to the thriving business of Japanese temporary-staff employment agencies, which help them get jobs.

A shortage of workers with computer skills and the government's loosening of entry conditions are contributing factors to the growing number of Chinese computer specialists and the employee-leasing business.

The bulk of such Chinese are believed to be computer programmers and systems engineers related to the IT industry. Major Japanese corporations find them appealing, industry sources said, because the companies do not have to spend time and effort on employee search activities and acquiring visas.

Tokyo-based Pasona Tech, a temporary-staff employment agency specializing in handling technical people, began introducing Chinese engineers to domestic corporations three years ago.

It hired about 50 people a year in China and brought them to Japan. It plans to recruit Indians in the future.

Pasona Tech dispatches the Chinese mostly to foreign firms and overseas Chinese firms operating in Japan as well as those Japanese corporations planning to make inroads into China.

"Many corporations teach the (Chinese) engineers, armed with the latest technical knowledge, Japanese business practices and hope they will serve as intermediaries between Japan and China," said Ryuichiro Yoshinaga, business manager of Pasona Tech.

He said that as the Chinese gain name recognition, more people will come to Japan.

Moves to acquire Chinese computer engineers are spreading outside the big cities, IT industry sources said.

Venture firm Shimizu Sangyo Co. in Nagoya began interviewing computer specialists in China in May to assign them to Japanese firms.

"We will dispatch 30 to 50 people a month starting in August," Shimizu Sangyo President Hiroki Shimizu said, "but we cannot keep up with the supply (of people)."

The company is holding talks with 30 to 40 companies, including some affiliated with Toyota Motor Corp.

A Pasona Tech official said China is believed to offer labor power at low cost, but engineers are an exception. The official said that those aged around 28 earn 4 million yen to 5 million yen a year and that some people get as much as 10 million yen in their second year in Japan.

Industry sources said Japanese companies pay them high salaries because there are not enough skilled workers here.

A Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry official said, "There is a sufficient number of engineers in the IT industry, but there are not enough people armed with the ability to do high value-added work such as designing a whole (computer) system and consulting."

Many Chinese technical people are able to speak English, and Cui Qingyi from Hebei Province is one of them. OSDL of Japan in Yokohama, which helps develop the Linux operating system, has employed Cui since December.

"We tried to recruit a Linux operating system engineer capable of speaking English, but we couldn't find an appropriate (Japanese) person," laboratory director Shinji Takazawa said.

"We were introduced to Cui," Takazawa said. "He is making up for not being able to speak much Japanese with hard work."

Cui, who hopes to land a job in a Chinese government agency, said he was motivated to come to Japan to learn about China's neighboring country.

However, some Japanese have reservations about taking on Chinese engineers.

Kanji Fukuda, a board member of Meitech, a major Japanese employee-leasing company specializing in dispatching engineers to corporations, said, "We file orders for part of our work with (people in) Hong Kong and China, but we have no intention of bringing them to Japan.

"It's not a question of good or bad. Trouble over such matters as intellectual property rights never ceases to exist due to cultural differences. It is better to nurture many technical people in Japan than to invite people from abroad."