Archive for February, 2008
New China Books: “The China Price” by Alexandra Harney and “Managing The Dragon” by Jack Perkowski
Thursday, February 28th, 2008Two new books on China business are coming out this month, and I am looking forward to reading both of them!
THE CHINA PRICE by Alexandra Harney
The China Price is on my list because it deals with manufacturing. Ms. Harney, a former journalist with Financial Times, focuses on the human cost of getting products made on […]
The 2,900 Club: 90% of China’s Billionaires Are Children Of Senior Cadres
Wednesday, February 27th, 2008A report on China’s “bureaucrat-capitalist class” explains that nearly 90% of the economy’s billionaires – or about 2,900 - are the children of senior cadres. Collectively, the group is said to have assets worth over CNY2 trillion.
These billionaires are predominantly in: finance, international trade, property development and equities.
Where are they? Here is the breakdown: Guangdong, […]
The Spielberg Effect: China Agrees To Resume Human Rights Talks
Wednesday, February 27th, 2008No one could be more proud than Steven Spielberg. With only one letter to the organizers of the games, he managed to accomplished more than untold numbers of leaders have over decades.
Spielberg has expressed regret over his attempt to link politics to the games, but look how things turned out: China has stepped up humanitarian […]
Guangdong Manufacturers: “The Reports Of Our Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated”
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008Ten years ago, there was plenty of talk about how growth on the coastal cities was doomed. Everyone was looking to the second- and third-tier cities, and Sichuan Province was really where it was at, brother. Taking a page from American history, the Chinese government had urged everyone: “Go West!”
The latest buzz is a push […]
Apple in China, Part 2: Could Apple Help Reduce DVD Piracy?
Sunday, February 24th, 2008As you may have guessed, I am an Apple customer, which is another way of saying that I belong to a religious cult. It’s not as bad as it sounds. There are some benefits…
Recently, I started renting movies through iTunes (which is also available on virus-compatible PCs). It’s an amazing experience. You scroll through […]
Apple in China, Part 1: Apple Takes An Unfair Beating On iPhone
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008China Mobile announced last month that it ended talks with Apple on a deal involving the new iPhone, and analysts came out in full force to say it was Apple’s problem. Some went as far as to accuse Steve Jobs of misfeasance and suggested that he brush up on his China deal-making skills. Didn’t he […]
Food Safety: China Goes Big, USA Goes Small - And The Imported Candies Now Contain Metal
Monday, February 18th, 2008CLB.com raised an issue I’ve been meaning to cover with its recent post on food safety. For anyone who has not been following, last year Trader Joe’s announced it was phasing out single-food products sourced in China.
The Chinese themselves are concerned about food safety, and interestingly enough they look to products made by larger companies […]
Baxter Blood-Thinner Case: Who Didn’t Check What?
Sunday, February 17th, 2008A few newspapers have reported on the contaminated blood-thinner news by leading with the information that the facilities had not been inspected by the FDA. I’m going to leave alone the issue of facility inspections and instead reference an e-mail that I received from an old friend who happens to be in corporate finance […]
Google Report Claims 67% Of All “Drive-By Downloads” Originate In China
Sunday, February 17th, 2008Google has surveyed the Internet using its web crawlers, and they have reported 67% of all malicious websites are based in China. These are websites where a visitor may find itself attacked by a “drive-by download”.
“It costs next-to-nothing to register a web domain in China and service providers are often slow to shut down malicious […]
Mandarin Language Tools: The New Technology Wave
Sunday, February 17th, 2008The NY Times just published an article about Mandarin training in the modern era. It’s a brave new world with all sorts of new gadgets. If you’re studying Chinese, you can now network with language speakers via webcam, or else you can download podcasts from the Internet. When I was studying Mandarin, the […]
Is Unemployment In China Good For Your Business?
Sunday, February 17th, 2008Someone has declared “the party is over” because of looming unemployment (due to a downturn in the global economy). I have doubts that China’s economy is going to slow so much that it will affect employment , but, anyway, a decrease in demand for labor might be helpful in offseting the effects of “agflation” […]