Our company was investing 40,000 hours per year on cadet basic flight training in Australia alone. The Chinese have a "can do" attitude, and the staff all have a loyalty to the company to the extent I haven't seen before in any other country. If they are asked to work extra hours they do it, if they have to come in on the weekend they do it, and generally the staff don't ask or expect anything in return. They are just happy to have a job.
Take a look at the South China Sea dispute between those several countries who have a claim on those shoals, reefs, islands and sea area. Every other country was "talk, talk, talk"; China went and did something about it. There is no way anybody is going to bump them off those islands now (one of our planes actually flew down there and landed as a
PR promo). That's what I mean, and that same attitude applies to their pilot requirements. They throw money at the problem and take affirmative action to do what needs doing.
The HR Department for the training department I was working in has 2 people, and it's a huge operation that is putting through 1000+ pilots per year. There is also an IR Department and I never saw anyone from that section in 3 years. For them an "already qualified applicant" is anyone in their early to mid 20's, likely has completed a university degree, is medically fit, and has a desire for a career as a pilot. There are millions of people in China who meet those requirements, no shortage at all.