look for experience, check references, and ask why are they looking for work ,then install cameras so they don't have naps all day

Pay peanuts, get monkeys. So you think you are a generous employer! It is standard to have long lunch breaks + rest in China, but to compensate, most start work earlier and finish later + work Saturdays. Should you wish EU standards of work, then pay EU level of wages and give EU standards of employment protection

¥2500?
U get what u paid for. And if Chinese employees r not good for u, get a foreigner, see how productive he/she can be in China.

Just to reply to you people.

My company is in Xi'an, where the cost of living is around 1/10th the cost of London. In London my company pays less than 25000 RMB a month for a similar job, so I'm actually giving the 'EU equivalent', and also, did you consider the fringe benefits of the job I offer? No, because you do not know.

And Wenna, yes, I'd hire a foreigner, but China only permits certain nationalities [anyone who's Chinese but not a foreigner] to do certain things. It's crazy.

Also rlmc, the average wage is around 30 rmb an hour plus benefits, this is higher than some minimum wages in some EU countries.

Also wenna, I told you, I have employed foreigners before, they are far far far more productive, but I would actually like to have local staff based on how the Chinese do business.

you just did not find the right person. I think
wish you luck..

I would like to comment and say that the original writer does show a certain lack experience.  Chinese workers are, in my experience, conditioned to respond rather than work on their own initiative.  This was also the case inn the former Soviet Union.  Free thinking was and is strongly discouraged.

No, no, man, the more you pay them, the less they'll work and the more they'll "build contacts" by getting drunk at 10 AM or chatting about pop stars and haircuts on QQ. The only reason you would ever pay a Chinese person that much is because they are either a family member or a family member of a friend you owe a favour to.

I say pay them half of that, if you want them to do anything but chat with their friends. Also: only get people from other provinces. Keep them cut off.

You should edit your question and add the word 'some' before chinese workers. 
Stop generalizing. It was just bad luck.  
I know loads of Chinese that are reliabe, hardworking and really good at their jobs. Wage most times has nothing to do with it. It's all character and experience.
Next time you should try hiring those with some experience and not just degrees.

you hired kids out of college gave them internet and cell phones and left them there alone.

anybody know what happened????

My wife wants you to know that its because your simple minded. She added that foreign people can be very lazy as well and that many Chinese, like her, are very hard working. 

"Lazy people are everywhere, it has nothing to do with nationality. Birds of a feather, maybe that is why your surrounded by lazy people.

"And its really sad that you only see that bad or the lazy.

"Maybe haters just gunna hate. We do not complain about getting up so early. Its not us, its you guys. I remember my college foreign teacher. His class started at 8am. And we thought, what the hell? We've been getting up early since high school. Then I thought you people are just lazy.

"And, I didn't read your post, but I thought the reason that one employee is reluctant to work for you is because we look down on you people. I've heard people call you a devil and a ghost. People just don't respect you. That's why we are lazy in front of you, because we don't respect you. 

"Maybe if you were a better boss you'd find some way to solve your problem rather than bitching on the internet. Bitches gunna bitch.

"Oh wait, just read your post. Some people are just lazy. Like Haley from Modern Family. 

"Anyway, I think you're a Schyster."

Thus Spake Mrs. Sm84

I know it's an old post, but.... I worked with some great employees and some terrible employees. The problem was that the great ones were not rewarded in any way above the terrible ones.

Sounds like you nee better communication in the company.

If you aren't doing so already, you should be having daily or weekly meetings. They don't need to be long 10-15 minutes in the morning or the end of the day is fine. In these meetings everyone has to say what they are working on or what they will be working on. They need to talk about anything that went well, and most importantly talk about any problems they ran into.

This makes employees more accountable and it also helps everyone to learn from someone doing something right and everyone to work together as a team to figure out to improve things when something goes wrong.

These meetings shouldn't be about finger pointing, but simply working together to make sure everyones on the same page and things are going smoothly.  This also allows you to address any concerns or make any suggestions without having to do it multiple times to different people, you get it said to the entire staff all at once.  It also helps you monitor whats going on with your workers and the company without having to spending hours every day watching over them.

In my experience, when you hire low wage workers with little experience and try to have them go work on their own, they will almost always fail to meet your expectations. As the boss/manger it really is your job to mold them into the type of worker you want them to be.  And YES that usually results in you having to put in extra hours or do work that you think they should be doing, that's simply the nature of running a company though. 

I'm curious why no QQ?  Yes it's obvious people will use it for personal reasons during work time. At the same time though QQ is a hug emarketing tool that virtually every company/person in China uses. I think you're missing out a lot by not letting your marketing staff have access to QQ while at work.

I would only worry about QQ if/when some ones work starts to suffer  because of QQ. A preemptive ban on it seems pretty harsh imo. I always view that as bosses not trusting me. I think you will see that as long as there is constant communication and feedback and theres enough work for people to do, most people won't end up abusing QQ to the point where they dont get ay work done.

EDUCATION EDUCATION EDUCATION

5,000 years of culture....

I have seen security personnel at the security checkups sleeping in the morning. I'm out the door early and I've always been able to spot sleepers on the job here. Now, that's not implying everybody does it, but that was pretty much out in the public eye. Sleeping on a security job while you have a dozen people walking passed you every minute is really bad. 

I've heard of stories where people fell asleep before like when they were working long hours etc., 

Don't implement western business standards here in China. Business practices evolve over time to fit and reflect the culture in which they arise. In the west, employees are capable of being productive for a period of at least 8 hours with a modest break for lunch or dinner. Most people can do this with minimal hand-holding and supervision. Therefore the standard business practices schedule this way. We can speculate about why western employees are able to be productive all day with minimal supervision, but that doesn't help.

It is necessary to schedule your employees to work the entire day in China because that is the only way anything will ever get done. Also, those employees are used to having naps in the afternoon. Their nightly and daily sleep patterns are used to this.

If you are changing their sleep patterns and requiring them to work less hours then you shouldn't be surprised that productivity will completely die. The commission may not be sufficient motivation to be individually productive.

Right or wrong, good or bad, Chinese business practices are just plain different from the west. You're going to frustrate yourself expecting Chinese employees to work like western employees.