Zhang Jianguo's life certainly couldn't be described as dull. This former lecturer, salesman and human resources manager now heads one of China's major websites.

"I've always had a strong desire for adventure," said Zhang, president of Chinahr.com, one of the nation's biggest recruitment websites.

Zhang Jianguo, President of Chinahr.com. [baidu.com]

And his Internet adventure has only just begun.

Online recruitment, or e-recruitment, took root in China less than a decade ago, but it has been growing rapidly along with the nation's booming economy and the Internet industry, with the nation already boasting more than 110 million netizens.

As more of them turn to the Internet to hunt for jobs, China's online recruitment market has been growing at an annual rate of around 40 per cent.

That momentum is expected to be maintained over the next five years, according to a report by iResearch, a research agency specializing in China's Internet business.

It estimated China's online recruitment business will be worth up to 1.15 billion yuan (US$143.75 million) this year, with that figure expected to quadruple to 4.6 billion yuan (US$575 million) by 2010, when online recruitment is expected to account for 45.3 per cent of the overall recruitment business  double the current ratio.

"The question is how to get the biggest market share. A top priority for Chinahr.com is to raise its profile  making its name known by as many people as possible, and expand," said Zhang, 43, who expects intensive advertising and promotional activities to deliver the goods.

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