China Speakers Bureau: November 2008

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Consumer behavior "impossible to predict" - Paul French

Paul French
by Fons1 via FlickrMarket watchers cannot gauge at this stage what China's consumers are going to do, says Paul French, China analyst of the Access Asia research firm in the China Daily.

"The problem is that we have never been in this situation before. We really are off the map," he says.

They might be keeping their wallets closed or rally and start spending more than they do, he added.
While the governments are trying to beef up its spending in infrastructure and tax rebates, the effects on the consumers still go into different directions. Consumer spending has remained strong, but in key markets like real estate and the automotive industry, purchase decisions are at least delayed.

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Are you trying to make sense out of the market developments in China? Perhaps you can find the help you need at the China Speakers Bureau. Do let us know if you need our advice.

China's internet users are having more fun

Sam Flemming
by Fons1 via FlickrCatching up with some interesting pieces of information left over from last week. The Wall Street Journal quoted research suggesting that compared to other countries, China's internet users have more fun.

“Web 2.0 is far more advanced in Asia, and in China, than in the U.S. and Europe,” says Bernice Klaassen, head of interactive research at TNS Singapore. In Western countries, about 1% of users create online content, about 10% participate through methods like comments or discussions and the rest are lurkers,” he says. Meanwhile, in China, Mr. Klaassen says the proportion of active participants is closer to 50%, with a significantly greater share of Web users blogging regularly, participating in online forums, and sharing video and music.
Perhaps not surprisingly, being so active takes more time. On average, respondents from China said they spend 44% of their free time online. Americans only spent an average of 30% of their leisure time using the Internet.

That tails very well with research done by Sam Flemming's CIC, also last week, here in the China Web2.0 Review, He described the internet in China, compared to the internet in the US, as "more active, more vibrant".
More Chinese use the internet to express their personal opinions, and they do it differently compared to what they would do in their offline life. Many more Chinese users go to the internet to discuss their purchases and many more contribute content to the internet.

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Sam Flemming is one of the leading voices on China's internet and part of the China Speakers Bureau. When you are interested in having him as a speaker, do get in touch.

Healthy growth for online marketing - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean
by Fons1 via FlickrOnline media and media strategies will see an healthy growth in 2009, predicts (amongst others) William Bao Bean in this clip of CCTV on the AdTech conference in Shanghai last week.
He and other marketing experts see in the online media for the first time a way to target emerging consumers among the now 300 million Chinese internet users.

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William Bao Bean is one of the leading voices on the future of the online media in China at the China Speakers Bureau. If you want him at your conference, panel discussion or as a moderator, do get in touch.

Friday, November 28, 2008

New China Speakers Bureau logo

Zhang Lijia made it into Wikipedia

Zhang Lijia
by Fons1 via FlickrMaking it into the famous online encyclopedia Wikipedia is a benchmark for our writers. A few have crossed the line into fame and we are happy to report that Zhang Lijia has now her own entry.
Zhang Lijia is anyway on a fast track as a celebrity speaker. The BBC is making a profile of her for April 2009, together with other big names like Robert de Niro. We will keep you updated on her career.

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Zhang Lijia is a Beijing-based author and a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. If you are interested in having her as a speaker, do get in touch.

Our speakers on the economic crisis and China

Shaun Rein, most-sought speaker

Today we launched the first edition of our China Speakers Bureau newsletter. You can look at it here. Theme of this month: what are our leading voices saying about the position of China in the ongoing economic crisis. As you might imagine: they have very diverse opinions.
We will issue a new edition at least once a month, with the most-sought speakers of the month, our speakers in the media and from next month we will also profile one of our speakers that deserve extra attention. Also, we will start providing tips on how to pick a great speaker.
If you want to have this China Speakers Bureau newsletter delivered to your mailbox right away, please register here.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Huang Guangyu, a low-key person - Rupert Hoogewerf

CHONGQING, CHINA - JUNE 16: Rupert Hoogewerf ...

Rupert Hoogewerf
by Getty Images via DaylifeHuang Guangyu, China's richest person and chairman of the Gome Holdings, has never been a public figure, says China-rich list compiler Rupert Hoogewerf to Bloomberg after his arrest. Huang has topped his list of richest Chinese three times in a row. Hoogewerf:

"He rarely comes out into public but he's never been a secretive person."

Huang has been arrested by the Beijing police is under investigation for economic crimes and is in police custody. Details are still lacking, but in the past a larger number of China's rich got themselves in problems with the authorities for economic delicts and becoming part of the rich-list was for a while not seen as an asset. That tradition was broken over the past years, but with the arrest of Huang, might show a return.

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Rupert Hoogewerf or Hurun is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you are interested in having him at your conference, board meeting or panel, do let us know.

Less big ticket speakers, more on serious subjects

Al Gore: too expensive?
via WikipediaThe New York Times has a nice analysis on how the speakers' business is faring under the now-expected economic recession. While big ticket speakers like Al Gore are hit severely by a reduction of available funding, demand remains strong in the cheaper sections.

“They all say, ‘Can you get us Al Gore?’ ” said Robert Walker, founder and chief executive. His agency doesn’t represent the former vice president, but Mr. Walker said that when his agents pointed out what kind of fees Mr. Gore tends to receive, none of the organizations could afford such sums in this economic climate.
So the agents recommended others on their client roster, including John Passacantando, executive director of Greenpeace USA, and Summer Rayne Oakes, a board member and occasional correspondent on the Planet Green network. “She’s not even a quarter of the price of someone like Gore, but she has a lot to say,” Mr. Walker said.

Since the China Speakers Bureau only took off last summer, getting a sense of what the economic crisis is going to mean. But the tendency the New York Times signals, more serious and more affordable ones, might be in our advantage.

“Instead of having eyes bigger than your stomach, you should look at this range rather than this range,” [Steven Barclay, a lecture agent in Petaluma, Calif., who represents literary figures like Billy Collins, Michael Chabon and Adrienne Rich] said. “So you gently lead them to suggestions that may fit and cost them less money.” He said fees could range from $5,000 to $50,000.

A few of the request we got in the past month, came directly as a result from the financial crisis, as some companies see new business opportunities in China.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

The internet is the community - Sam Flemming

Sam Flemming
by Fons1 via FlickrWhen you say internet, you say community, argues CIC's Sam Flemming in his latest white paper on the Internet Word On Mouth (IWOM), depicting the fast changing way how China's internet users are communicating. Participation is the key word, and China's 253 million internet users mainly use domestic tools for their conversation.
Almost all conversational tools, China's BBS's, weblogs and IM show a fast growth, without exception. Sam Flemming: "The internet in China is more active, more vibrant than in the West." Compared to US internet users the Chinese find the internet more important for their personal expression.
More in the white paper.

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Sam Flemming is one of the leading voices on the internet in China and a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. If you are interested in having him as a speaker, do get in touch.

Foxconn tries to sneak out of China

Xu Ping

We already heard the stories about Taiwanese factory owners in Guangdong who left their close-to bankrupt enterprises over the wall that was designed to keep people out. But for larger companies like Foxconn such a fast departure is not that easy.
Foxconn has been in the middle of quite some brawls, mostly not very positive for the producer of Apple's iPods and many other electronic devices.
Now the Chinese media report, here summarized by CSR-news, that Foxconn is trying to phase itself out by covert cuts of its staff.

In late October, Foxconn denied a rumor that it would cut 100,000 staff on the Chinese mainland and said that each of its factories was running normally. Later, a representative of Foxconn's media office also told the local media that the company did not have any plans for of cutting staff. However, many of Foxconn's employees said that the company had begun reducing staff in a disguised way by limiting employees' overtime and putting forward a plan of stopping paying salary but keeping the position open for some of the employees.

Foxconn is expected to cut its staff with up to 20 percent by the end of the year. And still, it does seem to think it can get away with ignoring legal realities in China, as it did in the past.

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Are you having trouble in finding out what you can or cannot do in China? At the China Speakers Bureau we have eminent speakers, like Xu Ping and Mark Schaub of China's largest law firm King&Wood, who can help you to find your way into China.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Just pumping capital in the stock market does not help - Arthur Kroeber

Arthur Kroeber
by Fons1 via FlickrChina's planning authorities intend to push up to 400 billion Renminbi into the stock market, but analysts like Arthur Kroeber do not necessarily think that is a good idea. In the China Daily, Kroeber explains why the move, expected early December, might not be a smart idea.

"I don't think it is useful if the fund is created specifically to support stock prices, as it does not address the structural reasons why the Shanghai market performs poorly," said Arthur Kroeber, managing director of Beijing-based consultancy Dragonomics...
Kroeber, however, said that if the proposal was to create a long-term fund with an independent investment objective, such as funding pensions, then it could play a role in creating a healthier market.

Earlier, also Victor Shih raised his voiced against the planned investment.

it would of course reverse decades of reform, which aimed at making firms more responsible for their own well-being. If the state buys up shares, large firms will simply revert back to state owned enterprises (well of course the US now has plenty of those as well....).

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Both Arthur Kroeber and Victor Shih are speakers at the China Speakers Bureau. If you need them at your conference, board meeting or panel, do let us know.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Economic fundamentals are still in place - Arthur Kroeber

Arthur Kroeber
by Fons1 via FlickrWhile China's growth might take a hit, its fundamentals are still in place, says economic analyst Arthur Kroeber in Time.

"People who don't follow China on a regular basis can miss some of the underlying drivers," says Kroeber, who runs the consulting firm Dragonomics.

Kroeber spells out three of those fundamentals.

Because of China's one-child policy, famlies have more to spend than families elsewhere who have to raise more children.
New technology is offering a huge boom.
Urbanization, 15 million people moving to cities each year, is an enormous boom for investments in infrastructure as roads, bridges and hospitals.

More in Time.

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Arthur Kroeber is one of the eminent economists represented by the China Speakers Bureau. If you are interested in having him as a speaker, let us know.

CSB newsletter

At the China Speakers Bureau we are setting up a newsletter, that will keep you updated about what is happening with our speakers and their contributions to the China debate. Expect the first issue soon and you can sign nu now, so you won't miss that. In the first edition:

- tips for selecting good speakers
- most-sought speakers for November
- our speakers in the media
- The debate on China's position in the global economic crisis

Zhang Lijia
by Fons1 via FlickrAt the China Speakers Bureau we are setting up a newsletter, that will keep you updated about what is happening with our speakers and their contributions to the China debate. Expect the first issue soon and you can sign nu now, so you won't miss that. In the first edition:

- tips for selecting good speakers
- most-sought speakers for November
- our speakers in the media
- The debate on China's position in the global economic crisis

Sunday, November 23, 2008

China's consumers reduce spending - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff
by Fons1 via FlickrChina's consumers will reduce spending and certainly not offer a way out for US and European companies, says marketing guru Tom Doctoroff in the Shanghai Daily. But he is at loggerheads with other leading voices on the China market, like Shaun Rein, who sees problems for big ticket items like cars and real estate, but sees that 70 of the consumers keep on spending.
Doctoroff has a set or arguments for his dissenting view. China's middle class has always had relatively smaller amounts of money combined with high saving rates. "The urban middle class has always spend with great discretion," he writes. "They will continue to spend but only on essential or very cheap non-essential items," he argues.

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The jury is still out on what the Chinese consumers are going to do, whether they will be influenced by a global downturn or domestic factors. Both Tom Doctoroff and Shaun Rein are some of the leading voices on China's development and both belong to the China Speakers Bureau. Are you interested in having them as a speaker, let us know.

Shaun Rein
by Fons1 via Flickr

Saturday, November 22, 2008

China needs its seat in global institutions - William Overholt

William Overholt
by Fons1 via FlickrWhile India and Brazil display often ideological undertones in the message, China is "open to compromises and trade-offs", says Dr. William Overholt, senior research fellow at the Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University in DNA-India.
If China now claims a place at the table of the global financial institutions, it is because the country belongs there, Overholt argues.

“Apart from the fact of it’s size, China has also been conducting itself responsibly, and there’s something wrong when major global institutions don’t give China an important seat.”

China’s ascent, reasons Overhold, won’t lead to conflict with the West, which now wields the levers of financial power. “That’s because China presents its interests in a way that the US and Europeans understand, and is open to compromises and trade-offs.” He contrasts this with India and Brazil, “who have often been rather more ideological and not always constructive during international negotiation”. India, he says, “is one of the most geopolitically ambitious countries on earth. It wants to see its navy dominate everything from the Red Sea to the east coast of Africa to the South China Sea, but its eyes have always been a little bigger than its stomach.”

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William Overholt is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau focusing on international relationships. When you are interested in having him as a speaker, do let us know.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Getting the innovation from Asia - Bill Fischer

Bill Fischer
by Fons1 via FlickrFour out of ten innovative companies are coming from Asia, says IMD-professor Bill Fischer and program director about a ground-breaking program on "driving strategic innovation". Fischer is expanding the program from Europe and North-America to Singapore, he tells.

In Business Week's list of the "ten most innovative companies" for 2008, four come from Asia: Toyota, Sony, Samsung and Nintendo, while the Indian firms Reliance Industries and Tata are also among the magazine’s fifty most innovative firms. There is little doubt that with the vastness of their economies, the growth of a demanding middle-class, and the evolution of local champions into global competitors, more will follow soon. What is equally interesting is that recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) data shows that the corporate funding of R&D within the Chinese economy is reaching the levels found in the West, a sure sign that market-driven innovation is replacing command-push innovation in the Chinese economy. One result of all of this is that while Asian companies have traditionally, in most cases, been market leaders based on cost, clearly times are changing. China’s Haier and Huawei, have always been recognized in this regard, but there are increasingly many more appearing, including such innovative powerhouses as: ZTE, Alibaba, and Shanghai-based Focus Media.

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Bill Fischer is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau, together with other

Rowan Gibson
by Fons1 via Flickrleading voices on innovation. If you are interested in having him as a speaker, do get in touch.

How to work with speakers' bureaus

James Farrer
by Fons1 via FlickrI just walked into this weblog, the Speaker Launcher blog, meant for speakers and giving them advice. Great stuff if you are not sure how to deal with your career as a speaker. A few years ago they gave great tips on how to deal with speakers' bureaus (like ours) and I could not have put it better. A few selection criteria they list:

To see if you are ready to work with bureaus, ask yourself the following questions:a) Have I given 30 or more paid speeches per year for at least two years?
b) Is my fee high enough? ($3K is an average minimum).
c) Are my materials ready (demo video, one sheets, etc) and do they sell me?
d) Am I really good? Let’s face it - every speaker has been told that they are great. But the truly great speaker gets an average of 2-3 “spin off” engagements after each speech.

More great tips at the Speakers launcher blog.

Bailout focuses on state-owned companies - Victor Shih

Victor Shih

China's state-owned enterprises are struggling to get their piece of the rescue capital the central government is pumping into the economy, writes financial expert Victor Shih in his analysis of China's bailout.
Details on who gets what money are still scarce but state-owned companies - good for 30 percent of China's economy and employment - are in urgent need of recapitalization, writes Shih, using the city of Chongqing as an example.

Basically, Chongqing SOEs, which focus on land holding, real estate, electricity, and financial services, are in deep trouble. Land prices in Chongqing have fallen by over 70%. The electricity group is in the red by about 250 million RMB. The debt asset ratio for the 8 major SOE groups in Chongqing has risen to 72%. No details are given about the financial holding companies, but considering that their main role is to inject capital in the other SOEs, they can't be doing too well either. Things are not pretty, and the well off SOEs have to inject capital in the problematic ones.

Just like the US bailout, China's bailout is only buying time, not addressing the equally urgent need for structural change, writes Shih.

In the near future at least, the Chinese budget can handle these costly, but necessary bailouts.

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Victor Shih is one of the leading voices at the China Speakers Bureau, trying to make sense out of China's way to deal with the global economic crisis. When you need him as a speaker, do get in touch.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Most-sought speakers in November 2008

Victor Shih, the highest newcomer

In the third monthly overview of the top-10 most-sought speaker for the China Speakers Bureau we see that the top is remarkable stable, compared to our listing in October. The other half has been replaced by other speakers, with newcomer Victor Shih - we enlisted him during this month - shows already up at the tenth position. A rather good achievement and shows that the interest in China's financial industry and its role in the global financial crisis is on the rise.
Also, the requests for speakers we get - as far as we are able to discover a red line - we see that demand is certainly not down and there is more interest in speakers who can explain how China is keeping up during the global recession.
Over the past month we were not really able to keep up with our podcast and that might explain why some of the speakers dropped off the list. We only did one podcast with Amy Sommers, and she managed to hang on to her position on the list.

Amy Sommers
by Fons1 via Flickr
Our listing for Novemberm between brackets the rank for October:

1. Shaun Rein (1)
2. William Bao Bean (2)
3. Arthur Kroeber (7)
4. Kaiser Kuo (5)
5. Howard French (-)
6. Paul French (-)
7. Amy Sommers (8)
8. Zhang Lijia (-)
9. Jeremy Goldkorn (-)
10. Victor Shih (-)

Expected: the shake-up of the automotive industry - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein
by Fons1 via FlickrThe Chinese automotive industry is expecting a shake-up, not a meltdown like elsewhere in the world, says Shaun Rein, managing director of the China Market Research Group in an interview with Bloomberg.
Consumers in China are still going strong, Rein discovered from research. Seventy percent will go on spending, although both real estate and the automotive industry are excluded from this strong consumer demand.
This expected downturn in demand will trigger off a shake-up with both losers and winners. Peugeot laid off thousand people, but people have not stopped buying cars, they have stopped buying Peugeots, says Rein.
Domestic cars are still doing well, since they do not have import tax issue, but also on the high end of the market BMW and Mercedes are still doing well. Toyota is a winner because they have been very innovative in produce fuel-efficient cars, but less innovative automakers like Fiat and GM might be losing out.
More in the interview below.

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Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. If you want him at your conference, board meeting or panel, do get in touch.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

What's in it for the environment? - Charles McElwee

Charles McElwee
by Fons1 via FlickrWhile much of China's four trillion Renminbi rescue package is window dress, there is still a lot of new money available for the environment, hopes Charles McElwee on his weblog.

However, fully 25% of the total (US$146 billion) is reportedly earmarked for “environmental protection.” A significant amount will also be spent on energy production and energy infrastructure, but it is harder to quantify the total amount destined for these projects.

While much of the package is still in limbo, McElwee does a good job in collecting the information that is around.

More at this weblog.

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Trying to figure out what China's four trillion RMB (450 billion euro) rescue package actually means is hard. Do you need help? As one of the authoritative voices at our China Speakers Bureau.

Arthur Kroeber
by Fons1 via Flickr

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Football needs a grass roots system - Rowan Simons

Rowan Simons
by Fons1 via FlickrChina's central TV has skipped major football matches from its programming, because of continued violence. Football expert Rowan Simons explains in AP why football is different from for example Olympic sports.
Violence is always an issue with football, he argues.

"In football, the issue of violence is always present," said Rowan Simons, an Englishman and 20-year resident of China, who has worked as a TV analyst in Chinese. "China is not unusual in player fights. But it does seem to be more endemic here."
Simons said developing top football players was more difficult than finding Olympic gold medalists."
Many of the Olympic sports are minority sports. It's possible to manufacture world champions in those sports. Football is the world's most popular game and the competition is fierce."...
"The Chinese have tried to replicate the elite level of football they see in Europe without seeing that underneath it is a huge infrastructure of community clubs which have been there for generations," Simons said. "You can't create an elite model of football without a grassroots model. The Chinese just don't have the raw number of people involved in the game to produce a competitive team at the national level."

More at the International Herald Tribune (using AP).

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Rowan Simons is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. If you are interested in hearing more from him, do get in touch.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Zhang Lijia at the Shanghai Foreign Correspondents Club

Zhang Lijia
by Fons1 via Flickr"From the rocket factory to the international media: a personal memoir of 30 years of reform and opening" is the theme of renowned author Zhang Lijia on 20 November at a meeting of the Shanghai Foreign Correspondents Club.
From the invitation:

Now a writer, journalist and regular contributor to a range of international media, Zhang Lijia spent most of the 1980s working in a missile factory in Nanjing, dreaming of a more interesting life. Her acclaimed book '"Socialism is Great!"A Worker's Memoir of the New China' paints a vivid picture of the frustrations of life in a regimented state enterprise, in the days when 'reform and opening up' had still had little impact on most people's lives. Lijia will discuss her book, her personal experiences of change in China over the past three decades, and her thoughts on contemporary society.

The talk at Sasha's at Dongping Lu 11 starts at 20 November 7:30. Entrance fee for non-members 50 rmb. Do RSVP here.

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Zhang Lijia is also a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you are interested in having her, or one of our

Jeremy Goldkorn
by Fons1 via Flickr do let us know.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Electricity: from shortage to glut - Arthur Kroeber

Arthur Kroeber
by Fons1 via FlickrA familiar pattern in how China tried to reform its electricity industry, but failed to do a decent job, describes Arthur Kroeber in the Financial Times. In less than half a year China changed regular shortages into a glut: under influence of the current crisis, demand has gone down four percent in October. Kroeber paints a partly regulation, of the Big Five electricity generation companies, without addressing the transmission.
China's regulators will have a hard job in addressing the mess in the electricity industry, they have caused themselves.

The final big job is to erode the power of local governments to control coal mining, power generation and distribution. So long as local governments can give away cheap power to whoever they want, central-level efforts to regulate the industry will be impotent.For now, Beijing does not appear to have a plan. As the economy slows and constraints on coal supply ease, power generators and suppliers are now cursing overcapacity rather than brownouts. But in 4-5 years the pendulum will likely swing back again.

More in the Financial Times.

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Arthur Kroeber is a leading analyst of China's economic developments. He is also a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. If you are interested in having him as a speaker, do let us know.

The truth about China's financial promises - Victor Shih

Victor Shih

Both the four trillion renminbi (450 billion euro) and the share rescue package of 930 billion Renminbi are not a way to spend China to economic safety, writes assistant-professor Victor Shih in his latest analysis of the country's financial policies. Most of the four trillion Renminbi will be funded by local budgets and bank loans, they are not extra money from the central government.
Shih's verdict on the plan to buy back shares of the top-50 listed companies when the index drops under the 1,500 points is even harsher:

it would of course reverse decades of reform, which aimed at making firms more responsible for their own well-being. If the state buys up shares, large firms will simply revert back to state owned enterprises (well of course the US now has plenty of those as well....).

More on Victor Shih's viewpoints and on the upcoming impact of the financial crisis is here.

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Victor Shih is one of the eminent speakers at the China Speakers Bureau. When you are interested in having him as a speaker, do let us know.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Charity on the rise - Paul French

Paul French
by Fons1 via FlickrPhilanthropy is making headway into China, writes China-consultant Paul French in Ethical Corporation. China's rich are more confident and start to give more of their wealth to charity.

Philanthropy, charity, donating … these are all new words in China. Last year business magazine Forbes announced that it was cancelling its list of China’s top philanthropists. This was “mainly due to the immaturity of the charity sector” and many rich people’s “unwillingness to have their wealth disclosed and their names published”. The new rich of China had started to donate money but did not want it made public.

That has all changed after the earthquake in Sichuan, French writes, making the sector into a multi billion business (that is in renminbi, of course). He quotes Rupert Hoogewerf, an authority on China's rich and their spending habits:

In the new China, high profile charity is often linked to personalities – they now want people to know they are giving. Rupert Hoogewerf, who compiles the Hurun Philanthropy List in Shanghai, notes that “more and more wealthy people are setting up their own charitable funds, and the whole of society is paying more attention to charity”. His list draws on a survey covering 2,500 entrepreneurs on the Chinese mainland.

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Both Rupert Hoogewerf and Paul French are speakers at the China Speakers Bureau. If you are interested in having one of them as a key note speaker, do let us know.

Rupert Hoogewerf
by Getty Images via Daylife

Some window dressing before the global show - Arthur Kroeber

Hu Jintao
via WikipediaChina's 450 billion euro package has been part of setting the stage ahead of the global financial meeting on Saturday in Washington, says Arthur Kroeber, managing director of the Beijing consultancy Dragonomics in USA Today.
President Hu Jintao is joining the meeting for China and the country wants to show it is a responsible global citizen:

China's massive stimulus package should boost confidence at home and enable Hu "to go to Washington and say, 'China is doing its bit for global demand,' " says Arthur Kroeber, managing director of Dragonomics, a research firm in Beijing. "China wants to be seen as part of the solution and be perceived as a responsible global citizen."

But China is only going to support the IMF or global initiatives if they get something out of it, says Kroeber:

China's leaders "will only put up more money if they get a clear promise" of more votes. "China will be driving a hard bargain."

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Arthur Kroeber is part of a group of authoritative speakers on China's financial industry and its economy, gathered in the China Speakers Bureau. If you are interested in hearing one of China's leading voices, do get in touch.

William Overholt
by Fons1 via Flickr

Monday, November 10, 2008

KFC, one of the best US companies moving into China - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein
by Fons1 via FlickrIn the midst of many failures, KFC has been one of the best American companies moving into China, argues Shaun Rein, managing director of the China Market Research Group, i n the CIB-magazine.
Rein supports largely the positive case made by Warren Liu, in his book on KFC, the fast food company who has been beating world leader

“You get a lot of global leaders like Wal-Mart that just completely fail in China because they bring the same way of thinking and brand positioning that they use in the US to international markets,” admonishes Rein.

This is not true of KFC, which in its Chinese incarnation does not simply offer its traditional price-efficient, functional dining experience. Unlike in the West, in China KFC caters to the “upwardly mobile middle classes,” Rein says, adjusting décor and prices accordingly.

But he has also some critical notes to crack, when it concerns KFC. Some brands of KFC's mother company Yum also failed in China, like A&W and Taco Bell, offering products like greasy hamburgers and cheese that did not match the Chinese appetite. KFC has been more succesful in convincing the Chinese parents and much less their children:

“Children are not as excited about KFC as they are about McDonald’s, which does a better job of indoctrinating children to want to go to McDonald’s,” says Shaun Rein. “Will KFC be able to handle the younger generation as they get older? I think the answer is yes, but that’s an issue.”

Rein also wonders whether KFC will take a “health kick?” “Chinese consumers care about health, especially younger ones, but is that going to hit [KFC]? I don’t think so, but it’s a concern,” he says. His point is illustrated by Zhang Yina, a waitress who hails from Shenyang in China’s Northeast, “When KFC first entered Northeast China I was a regular customer,” she says. By her own admission no health freak, weight concerns nonetheless played a part. “I think their food is too high-calorie,” she says. “It makes you fat.” Now in her 20s, this hasn’t stopped Zhang eating KFC altogether – but just more like three times a month.

More at CIB-magazine.

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Both Shaun Rein and Warren Liu are speakers at the China Speakers Bureau. If you are interested in having them as speakers, do let us know.

Warren Liu
by Fons1 via Flickr

Sunday, November 9, 2008

The government can mobilize enourmous resources - Arthur Kroeber

Arthur Kroeber
by Fons1 via FlickrThis is pretty major, says Arthur Kroeber of the consultancy firm Dragonomics in Reuters, about the four trillion Renminbi (euro 450 billion) investment China's central government into its economy.

'It reflects the official view of how serious this problem is and shows that this is a government that can mobilise enormous resources to stimulate the economy when they put their minds to it,' Kroeber said.

He reaction after the official news agency Xinhua did put out a press release, but did not explain how the money would be spend.

Kroeber said a lot would depend on what proportion of the package is funnelled towards boosting wages and spending to help wean the economy off unsustainably rapid investment, which has been the main driver of China's double-digit growth over the past five years.
'How much of it will be good old tried-and-true building bridges, and how much will be put into income and consumption support measures that are arguably more beneficial?' he asked.

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Arthur Kroeber is one of China's leading economists. He is also a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you are interested in having him as a speaker, do get in touch.

Friday, November 7, 2008

"You need the right system for innnovation" - Rowan Gibson

Rowan Gibson
by Fons1 via FlickrA good intention only gets you so far, says Rowan Gibson in one of his recent key note speeches. "Intentions are not enough, you also need to get the systems in place, just as we did with quality."
As the financial crisis hits companies worldwide, innovation become one of the key differentiators. Rowan Gibson is a key speaker on innovation. Recently some of his interviews and key notes became available and can be seen at his profile.

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Rowan Gibson is one of the speakers at the China Speakers Bureau. If you are interested of having him at your conference, board meeting or panel, do let us know.

All bets are off - Kaiser Kuo

Kaiser Kuo
by Fons1 via Flickr"All bets are off now that the credit crisis is lapping at China’s shores," says Kaiser Kuo, group director digital strategies of Ogilvy in Beijing in an interview with Adam Schokora.

With funding as tight as it’s going to be in the time frame, you specify, we’ll see a big die-off of companies already in operation, particularly in capital-intensive sectors like Internet video, and we’ll see very few new startups in the Internet space overall getting funded.That doesn’t mean there won’t be new startups: they’ll just have to be even scrappier, even better at keeping burn low, and revenue-generating pretty much right out of the gate. Any companies that were planning on going that old route of racking up tens of millions of users and then thinking about how to monetize, or assuming they’d have the media agencies beating down their doors and falling over each other to buy inventory, are going to have to seriously rethink their business models.

More at 56minus1.com, on innovation at China's startup's ("rare exception"), on C2C ("Taobao will hold the lead") and of course: censorship. ("freedom of speech advocates are barking up the wrong tree in China")

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Kaiser Kuo is one of the celebrity speakers at the China Speakers Bureau. It you are interested in having him as a speaker, do let us know.

Zhang Lijia
by Fons1 via Flickr

Good news for Africa ? - Howard French

Howard French
by Fons1 via FlickrBarack Obama's election has Africa still not put on the political agenda in Washington, writes former New York Times correspondent Howard French, but the continent is solidly on Beijing's roll call.
China is doing a much better job than the old colonial powers, although Beijing is not acting as a charity either.

Africans have no illusions, though, of Chinese leadership in resolving the conflicts that continue to tear their continent apart and hold them back. And for good reason there is even less hope among the civil societies that have sprouted in country after country, even in the seemingly least fertile of soils, that China will help Africa democratize, which is a key to the continent’s future.

More at Howard French's weblog.

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Howard French is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need him, or any of our other speakers in Sino-African relations, do let us know.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

China is looking increasingly stationary - Paul French

Paul French
by Fons1 via FlickrChina consultant and prolific speakers Paul French checked China for signs of crisis and did not like what he saw. "China is looking increasingly stationary," he writes in the weekly Access Asia newsletter.

So if you want to fly from Shanghai to London, it's cheaper than ever, and if you need to get from Beijing to Shanghai, the range of 50% discounted flights is amazing, yet there're still fewer people on the planes these days. Outbound travel by Chinese (excluding visiting Hong Kong) is down since the Olympics, and noticeably so in the last month, while overseas visitors are becoming harder to find. September's inbound visitor stats were 6% down on the same month last year, and tourism revenues shrunk by 12%, with fewer visitors spending less money. This is especially bad news for the higher end hotel sector, which has massively overbuilt - the number of 5*+ hotels in Shanghai reporting occupancy rates well below 50% is staggering. Those foreign businessmen and women are still somewhat elusive, and anyway, who needs to visit a country you no longer source so much from, invest in or have any money to lend, and which is still making getting an expensive visa as hard as it possibly can? Dazed looking white guys in flash suits are a scarcer commodity in the bars of the Bund these days.

The central government has started to outspend the crisis mode, but first damage seems to have been done.

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Paul French is on of the speakers at the China Speakers Bureau. If you want him at your panel, event or conference, do get in touch.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Planned: A podcast on Chinese investments abroad

Mark Schaub

For time reasons we have delayed the planned China Speakers Bureau podcast with Shanghai-based lawyer and author Mark Schaub on the labor contract law till next week. But we are right away discussing another no less equally important subject: Chinese investments abroad.
When you look at the news on this subject, Chinese companies seem to be on the same track of permanent disaster compared to the early foreign companies entering the China market. But it that image through? Are all Chinese investments overseas losing their value overnight? And what might be strategies to do this job better? Tune in next week.

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Mark Schaub is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. At our service we have a range of speakers who deal with China's international relations, both economic and political, with the US, Europe, India, Africa or Japan. When you are interested in having one of them as a guest at your event, do let us know.

William Overholt
by Fons1 via Flickr

Beijing shopping heaven - Jeremy Goldkorn

Jeremy Goldkorn
by Fons1 via FlickrDanwei's Jeremy Goldkorn explains to the International Herald Tribune why shopping in Beijing is such a delight, compared to other places in the world, well apart from Shanghai perhaps.

One of the joys of living in east Asia is that shops are willing to work all day long to win your business. And they do it at a competitive price. Visitors have long taken advantage of the opportunity to buy stylish tailor-made clothes here, at rock bottom prices. But here’s an even better deal: If you need a new pair of glasses — or three — you can take advantage of this same phenomenon.

More good advices in the IHT.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Preparing for the trailwalker - Marc van der Chijs

Marc van der Chijs

Once or twice per year serial entrepreneur Marc van der Chijs leaves his successful Chinese start-ups behind and goes for an always impressive physical challenge. Later this week he will join the trailwalker race. On his weblog:

I am normally quite confident, but facing a 100 km mountain race for the first time in my life is making me a little worried. Over the past days I have not been feeling 100% well, a bit of sneezing, coughing, feeling tired etc. But by not doing any sports and taking regularly Chinese medicine I hope to be completely fit again at the start line.

Good luck, Marc!

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Marc van der Chijs is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. If you want him as a speaker, do get in touch.

Monday, November 3, 2008

No tricks to limit legal rights of employees - Mark Schaub

Mark Schaub
by Fons1 via FlickrChina has announced in September new details for the Labor Contract Law that was introduced at the beginning of 2008. Shanghai-based lawyer Mark Schaub, partner at China's largest law firm King&Wood, will explain the effects of the new regulation in a podcast we will record later this week.
Main take-away: artificially limiting the legal rights of Chinese employees is no longer permitted. I will ask Mark Schaub a range of questions on the effect and if you have question, experiences you want to share, do let us know.

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Mark Schaub is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau, together with his colleague Xu Ping, another leading lawyer in corporate law. If you are interested in having either of them as a speaker, do let us know.

Xu Ping joins China Speakers Bureau

Xu Ping

Xu Ping, senior partner at China's largest law firm King&Wood has joined the China Speakers Bureau. Ms Xu is one of China's most experienced corporate lawyers, representing both foreign and Chinese companies.
The major foreign investment projects Ms. Xu has recently worked on include, representing DaimlerChrysler in acquisition of 24% shares of Foton, which is one of the pioneer projects for foreign strategic investors to acquire Chinese listed companies, representing DaimlerChrysler in its car joint venture project in Beijing and a number of other investment projects in China, representing Moody’s in acquisition of the leading Chinese rating agency in China, representing Government Investment Corporation of Singapore in acquiring share equity of a leading private company in the sports industry, representing SHV, a major European gas producer and retailer in acquisition of a number of retail gas group in southern China, and representing European exhibition companies in the establishment of the Shanghai New International Expo Co., Ltd.

"Group purchase" - ecommerce with Chinese characteristics

Sam Flemming
by Fons1 via FlickrThe trend of individual consumers to organize themselves online for bargains got its corporate equivalent, writes Sam Flemming of CIC in his latest IWOM-update.

In September, Gome, the biggest home appliance retailer in China, decided to collaborate with KDS, one of the most popular BBS groups, to launch a group purchase opportunity for KDS users only. In just 10 days, the announcement post received over 800 applications, far beyond the 250 application requirement.
Furthermore, even after the group purchase, netizens continued to discuss the event and praise the organizers for offering the group purchase. Given the overwhelmingly positive response, KDS is expected to host more collaborative group purchase events by netizens in the future.

For sure a new trend that might change the way Chinese internet users do their shopping.

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The internet - with now close to 300 million users in China - is changing the way the country is working in almost every possible way. At the China Speakers Bureau we have leading authorities on the internet in China to help to find your way. When you need one of them at your conference, board meeting or panel discussion, do let us know.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Hiking Into Chinese History - Jeremy Goldkorn

Jeremy Goldkorn
by Fons1 via FlickrJeremy Goldkorn hits the road around Beijing for the New York Times and explains some of its past by exploring the surrounds of China's capital.

Fanzipai — which means foreign writing sign — also has a Yuan Dynasty relic: some large rocks engraved with Sanskrit and Tibetan Buddhist verses. The carvings were probably made by traveling monks — Tibetans, Mongolians and other central Asians. The rocks are behind a gate, which is usually locked, but you can walk around the back to view them. There are signs in Chinese and English with a brief note about the rocks. No ticket is necessary.
Such relics are neglected by China's tourism authorities. Perhaps this is because Communist Party-sanctioned history downplays the fact that during the Yuan (1271-1368) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, the area was ruled by Mongolians and Manchurians, respectively, who were at the time considered foreigners by the Han Chinese.

More at the New York Times.

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Sunday, November 30, 2008

Consumer behavior "impossible to predict" - Paul French

China's internet users are having more fun

Healthy growth for online marketing - William Bao Bean

Friday, November 28, 2008

New China Speakers Bureau logo

Zhang Lijia made it into Wikipedia

Our speakers on the economic crisis and China

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Huang Guangyu, a low-key person - Rupert Hoogewerf

Less big ticket speakers, more on serious subjects

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

The internet is the community - Sam Flemming

Foxconn tries to sneak out of China

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Just pumping capital in the stock market does not help - Arthur Kroeber

Monday, November 24, 2008

Economic fundamentals are still in place - Arthur Kroeber

CSB newsletter

Sunday, November 23, 2008

China's consumers reduce spending - Tom Doctoroff

Saturday, November 22, 2008

China needs its seat in global institutions - William Overholt

Friday, November 21, 2008

Getting the innovation from Asia - Bill Fischer

How to work with speakers' bureaus

Bailout focuses on state-owned companies - Victor Shih

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Most-sought speakers in November 2008

Expected: the shake-up of the automotive industry - Shaun Rein

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

What's in it for the environment? - Charles McElwee

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Football needs a grass roots system - Rowan Simons

Monday, November 17, 2008

Zhang Lijia at the Shanghai Foreign Correspondents Club

Friday, November 14, 2008

Electricity: from shortage to glut - Arthur Kroeber

The truth about China's financial promises - Victor Shih

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Charity on the rise - Paul French

Some window dressing before the global show - Arthur Kroeber

Monday, November 10, 2008

KFC, one of the best US companies moving into China - Shaun Rein

Sunday, November 9, 2008

The government can mobilize enourmous resources - Arthur Kroeber

Friday, November 7, 2008

"You need the right system for innnovation" - Rowan Gibson

All bets are off - Kaiser Kuo

Good news for Africa ? - Howard French

Thursday, November 6, 2008

China is looking increasingly stationary - Paul French

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Planned: A podcast on Chinese investments abroad

Beijing shopping heaven - Jeremy Goldkorn

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Preparing for the trailwalker - Marc van der Chijs

Monday, November 3, 2008

No tricks to limit legal rights of employees - Mark Schaub

Xu Ping joins China Speakers Bureau

"Group purchase" - ecommerce with Chinese characteristics

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Hiking Into Chinese History - Jeremy Goldkorn

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