Speakers Corner

July 1, 2009
Green dam, the Party capitulates
Tom Doctoroff, North Asia Area Director of JWT advertising firm, describes in The Huffington Post the decision to at least delay the compulsory censorship software Green Dam on PC's shipped in China as an unique capitulation of the Communist Party. De decision was published at the official newswire Xinhua just hours before midnight, when the regulation would have been in force.
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June 30, 2009
China's travel market grows despite crisis
Despite dropping occupations rates in Beijing and later possibly Shanghai, China's travel market is still growing, despite the crisis, says William Bao Bean, partner at Softbank India and China Holdings, according to 4Hoteliers. He sees much future for online bookings.
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June 29, 2009
Organizing CSR-mart 2009
Today the Hurun Report from Rupert Hoogewerf and Ammado organized the first CSR-mart in Shanghai, both organization announced in a press release. Hurun or Rupert Hoogewerf was one of the people giving an opening speech.
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June 26, 2009
Chinese brands take off at home
Soft drink Wanglaoji from Guangdong tops the fourth Hurun list of Most Valuable Brands with an estimated USD 540 million of value, writes CCTV on their website. List composer Rupert Hoogewerf, who expanded the list from 50 to 100 Chinese brands, sees that branding is taking off in China, competing with foreign brands on their own territory.
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June 25, 2009
Open letter to the net nanny and CCTV
Annoyed by yet another effort to block parts of the internet - this time including Google - Beijing-based internet entrepreneur Jeremy Goldkorn wrote on his website Danwei to net nanny, name for the collective Chinese efforts to censor the internet, and the country's leading TV channel CCTV.
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June 22, 2009
China's rich did not change life style
China has avoided most of the credit crunch and its rich has not dramatically changed their life style, says Rupert Hoogewerf, author of the Hurun report and tracking China's rich for over a decade in an interview. His research shows that life has remained the same for 82 percent of the people on his list.
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June 21, 2009
China - no longer a big story
Danwei's Jeremy Goldkorn sits down with the author Paul French to discuss his latest book on foreign correspondents in China, Through the Looking Glass: China's Foreign Journalists from Opium Wars to Mao. Why did he stop in 1950, is one of the obvious questions.
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June 20, 2009
Life is much more free now - At the BBC
Celebrity author Zhang Lijia joined recently in Perth, Australia a BBC-show and explained how her life and China had changed. "Life is much freer now."
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June 18, 2009
Celebrity author to visit United States
Celebrity author Zhang Lijia is mostly based in Beijing, but this year she has a busy travelling schedule. After a trip to Switzerland (June 23-July 13), she will be visiting also the Netherlands, Belgium and London (19-25 July). In September, October and November she will be staying in the US to participate in an international writing program at the University of Iowa.
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June 17, 2009
Twitter helps
How should companies deal with new media like twitter? Twitter supremo Marc van der Chijs of the Spil Games in China taught Dutch airline KLM last month for free how to do that.
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June 16, 2009
Why most M&A deals end up badly
Seventy percent of the M&A deals end up badly for the shareholders, research from his Shanghai company CMR group has shown, writes Shaun Rein today in Forbes.
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June 13, 2009
Marketing in the digital universe
Marketing guru Tom Doctoroff will give members and other visitors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai a lively introduction into digital marketing and the way to reach China's youngsters
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June 12, 2009
Profit China's music industry stops at ringtones
The global music industry hopes to tap into the revenue streams in Asia, writes the Hollywood Reporter, But VC William Bao Bean does not give them a lot of hope to make a buck in China as the country has no tradition of paying for the usage of music products.
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June 11, 2009
Celebrity author to visit Amsterdam, Antwerp
The famous Chinese journalist and author Zhang Lijia will visit Belgium and the Netherlands (especially Amsterdam) for a short visit. Her groundbreaking book ""Socialism Is Great!": A Worker's Memoir of the New China has just appeared in Dutch. She will be in Amsterdam from 14 till 17 July and if you are interested in meeting her, do get in touch with the Europe office of the China Speakers Bureau.
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June 10, 2009
State has to loosen ties on economy
Only by loosening the ties for private companies, who are in an disadvantaged position compared to state-owned enterprises, China can keep an economic growth of annually 8 percent, Arthur Kroeber explains.
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June 9, 2009
Moving into food and cooking in China
Beijing-based media tycoon Jeremy Goldkorn is expanding his empire into what is indisputable the most important subject in China: food and cooking. In a bilingual video blog In Kitchen Yo he starts off with something that seems rather easy. An omelette.
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June 4, 2009
Why the Chinese might like the Hummer
When a Chinese company who never build a car bought the Hummer from GM, one of the largest problems of the Detroit car giant, many predicted huge problems. But Shaun Rein tells Forbes he sees also some positive sides on the deal.
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June 3, 2009
Using twitter for Zhao Ziyang's memories
China's internet users might have overstepped the vague line of what is permitted on the internet, by using twitter and its Chinese equivalents to exchange a banned book, says internet guru Jeremy Goldkorn today in Forbes.
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June 2, 2009
Shanghai moving fast on Worldexpo2010
Shanghai might be better prepared to deal with its Worldexpo2010 compared to what happened with the Beijing Olympics, although Shaun Rein at CNBC is not without worries.
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June 1, 2009
Sino-American G2? Not any time soon
While China and the US are edging towards each other, the emergences of a new world order, excluding some of the old and upcoming new forces, is a distant prospect at best, writes Arthur Kroeber in todays Financial Times.
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May 31, 2009
In a growing cage
Just days ahead of June 4, celebrity author Zhang Lijia remembers in the New Work Times her May-days in 1989 when she helped to organize demonstraties, like they took place all over China, adding to the concerns of the leadership in Beijing.
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May 29, 2009
Former diplomat joins China Speakers Bureau
Xu Ming, currently the Asia-Pacific director of the IEDE business school from Madrid and a former Chinese diplomat in Latin America, has joined the China Speakers Bureau as a speaker.
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May 28, 2009
Setting a young girl free
Celebrity author Zhang Lijia gets many positive reviews for her book "Socialism Is Great!": A Worker's Memoir of the New China, but a review in the Washington Post is still a milestone.
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May 27, 2009
China's purchasing criteria different from Japan
Just like Japan in the 1980s China is now going overseas in a major shopping spree to spend a part of its USD two trillion in foreign reserves. But that is where the similarities stop, says Shaun Rein in a commentary on NPR.
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May 26, 2009
The Renminbi is not going to be a reserve currency
With the US dollar in decline as the leading reservel currency, the financial world is looking for alternatives. China's currency, the Renminbi, is not going to be one. The Renminbi might be expanding its global network, but that does not make it a possible replacement for the US dollar says the economic analyst.
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May 25, 2009
First signs of grass root soccer only emerge
The first signs of grass root soccer in China are only emerging, says soccer expert Rowan Simons in a Time-article on a soccer club in Huilongguang, Beijing.
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May 24, 2009
Bridging between China and the West
Celebrity author Zhang Lijia continues to win over new audiences, here in an interview with the leading Spanish newspaper El Pais
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May 22, 2009
A movie with Japanese as humans
Yet another movie about the Japanese atrocities in Nanjing is causing an uproar in China, writes the LA Times . Celebrity author and Nanjing native Zhang Liji a tries to explain why giving the Japanese soldiers a human face is still a hard sell in China.
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May 21, 2009
Sex park too boring
Sociologist James Farrer of the Sophia University in Tokyo comments in Global Post on the opening and closure of China's sex park "Love Land" in Chongqing, earlier this month.
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May 20, 2009
China is building on debts
Victor Shih attended yesterday a China conference of the "Friends of Europe" in Brussels, together with Levin Zhu, the CEO of the China Investment Corporation (CIC), China's souverain fund. Shih addressed the danger of China banking literally on its future, by increasing its debts for its economic rescue package
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May 17, 2009
New: book on foreign correspondents in China
Our celebrity author Paul French will have his newest book in the book stores from June 1: Through the Looking Glass: China's Foreign Journalists from Opium Wars to Mao. The historical account of foreign correspondents in China, who have played such an important role in shaping the Western perception of China.
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May 16, 2009
Debating CIC's CEO Leving Zhu
Our speaker, assistant-professor Victor Shih will be debating coming Tuesday in Brussels with Levin Zhu, the CEO of the China International Capital Corporation (CIC) on the future of China. His session "Countering the global recessions. Is China an economic threat or a locomotive of growth" is part of a larger meeting of the "Friends of Europe".
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May 14, 2009
Stimulus prefers SOE's over private companies
Much criticism is heard about how China is spending its 4 trillion Renminbi (430 billion euro) stimulus package against the economic crisis and especially private companies seem to be left out, says Arthur Kroeber.
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May 13, 2009
Global China Chat on social networks. consumers and brands
The China Speakers Bureau is hosting on Thursday 14 May two sessions with CIC's founder Sam Flemming on social networks in China, brand, consumers and how they interact with technology of the now-famous start-up CoverItLive.com.
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May 11, 2009
Plastic bag ban is getting serious now
The efforts by China's environmental authorities to ban the popular plastic bags from their supermarkets has been met with a lot of skepticism. But according to environmental lawyer Charles McElwee the introduction of the ban is now getting into phase 3 and really getting serious.
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May 8, 2009
Deflationary pressure is getting worse
While China's bean counters try to stress positive figures in its economic development, assistant-professor Victor Shih sees very troublesome signals as prices for industrial goods fall by huge percentages over the first three months of 2009.
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May 7, 2009
Outbound Chinese investment
Xu Ping and Mark Schaub, senior partners at China's largest law firm King and Wood, have been working with almost all those larger Chinese companies and are currently preparing a trip to the US for this autumn with Chinese outbound investments as a theme.
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May 6, 2009
Preparing book tours to France and the Netherlands
Celebrity author Zhang Lijia continues her road to world fame, as the 21th Century edition of Jung Chang, and will visit France and the Netherlands this autumn
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May 5, 2009
Shanghai rivaling Hong Kong in life sciences
The Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-tech Park, located in the Pudong New Area, is home to more than 3,600 companies focused on life sciences, software, and information technology. Of those, more than 250 are life sciences companies, employing a total of 20,000 life sciences professionals. About half the Park revenues are from life science.
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May 4, 2009
Panic: China's exporters turn to home market
As China's exports continues to drop, its exports industry turn to their home markets, as desperate move that might spell trouble, says retail analyst Paul French to Reuters. From producers of famous Western brands, they now try to sell their own brands and lines of products.
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May 3, 2009
Pushing the envelope in the 1980s
Celebrity author Zhang Lijia relives the 1980s in an interview with The Star. "I loved the 1980s," she adds. "There was so much idealism. "Then, people were pushing the envelope, testing the waters."
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May 2, 2009
Another speaker makes it into Wikipedia
One of the internal criteria, but not the only one, we use to asses the qualities of our speakers at the China Speakers Bureau is the question whether he or she made it into the Wikipedia. So we are happy to announce that Marc van der Chijs, CEO of the Spill Group Asia made into the world's leading encyclopedia.
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April 30, 2009
China's economic agenda is different
The world might be suffering from an economic crisis, in Shanghai the symptoms of that crisis are simply not present, says professor Wang Jianmao of the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), China's leading business school, in the Financial Times.
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April 27, 2009
China invests in overcapacity
Our speaker Victor Shih has been digging up an internal report by China's central bank the People's Bank of China (PBOC): most of the stimulus package goes to state-owned construction companies.
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April 23, 2009
Why the stimulus package might still not work
While some might see some positive economic signs in China, assistant-professor Victor Shih sticks to his gun and does not see a real recovery. In his weblog he points at all those important signals that are still not well and not encouraged by the 5 trillion renminbi stimulus package.
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April 22, 2009
CASS-director joins China Speakers Bureau
Zhang's institute was one of the first to challenge the common cliche of China as an unlimited source of cheap labor, and predicted a labor shortage in the years to come. Zhang Juwei address also broader economic dilemma's China is facing, as the world is watching how the country seems to be the first to get out of the global recession.
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April 22, 2009
Social unrest no issue at China's country side
Gloomy reports in Western media on mass dismissals and social unrest among China's migrant workers as the export industry seemed to suffer from downsizing have proven to be wrong, writes Arthur Kroeber
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April 21, 2009
Internet changes the world for companies in China
The internet has changed the world for companies working in China, says CIC-founder Sam Flemming in the magazine of Wharton Business School on China and CSR-systems. CIC tracks online debate on the Chinese internet.
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April 20, 2009
Is China going to bail out the car makers?
Shaun Rein of CMR in Shanghai looks ahead at the future of international car makers as the Shanghai auto show opens for business today.
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April 18, 2009
KFC-guru to visit United States
Celebrity speaker Warren Liu , author of a ground-breaking book on the success of KFC in China, will visit the United States end of May, June and a part of July. His thorough analysis of why the American food chain succeeded in China, where many other famous American firms failed, is based on his solid experience in both Chinese business and academia.
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April 17, 2009
Innovation thinker in Beijing for book presentation
Rowan Gibson, co-author of the Harvard-book "Innovation to the Core", will be in Beijing in the second week of May to receive the Chinese translations of his bestseller book. The book will be published by the famous business publisher CITIC.
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April 16, 2009
Mainland millionaires hit record
Dwindling value of the Chinese stock markets might have hit China's wealthy dramatically, the number of millionaires on the mainland in Renminbi has hit a record 825,000, says Rupert Hoogewerf in his latest Hurun report.
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April 14, 2009
CEIBS director joins China Speakers Bureau
Annette Nijs , currently Executive Director Global Initiative of China's leading business school CEIBS, has joined the China Speakers Bureau. Through her career in politics, as a Dutch cabinet minister, and in business at Shell, Ms Nijs has developed an extensive network that supports her current position.
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April 13, 2009
Explaining the stimulus package
A fast-acting government has organized a soft landing of its economy, says Shaun Rein of the research firm CMR in Shanghai in an overview of the country's stimulus package for Seeking Alpha. Consumer confidence remain strong and did not need much attention, he says, but a combination of other measures has certainly helped to mitigate the effects.
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April 9, 2009
Japan's export to China wins in crisis
The current global economic crisis not only has losers, it has also clear winners, says economic analyst Arthur Kroeber today in the Global and Mail. China's stimulus packages might help you greatly if you are in the right industry, where China wants to boosts its investments
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April 8, 2009
Limited interest in US real estate
Media have been fascinated by Chinese investors touring American real estate to buy, but the impacts might just not be as big as huge as expected, warn Rupert Hoogewerf , the expert on wealthy Chinese, in Business Week.
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April 2, 2009
Stimulus only positive for headlines
China boast about its US$ 588 billion stimulus package at the G20, but assistant professor Victor Shih has very serious misgivings about the effects of the package, he writes in the Wall Street Journal . It might create positive headline numbers but has no effect on employment and private consumption.
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March 31, 2009
Leading voice on life sciences to visit China
Zhu Shen, a recent addition to the China Speakers Bureau, a leading voice on China's life sciences, but also a prolific speakers on US-China business, will be visiting China for the best part of April.
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March 27, 2009
Chinese earn more, save more
The income of most Chinese citizens has gone up much during the past decade, but most of the extra money is not being spend but saved, says Fudan economics professor Zhang Jun.
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March 26, 2009
KFC China success might not last
Our celebrity author Warren Liu, writer of a book about the success of KFC in China, made it today into the INSEAD Knowledge. In the article Warren Liu explains why that KFC success in China may not last.
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March 25, 2009
Rock, free of commercial pressure
CNN's Talk Asia has investigated the Beijing Rock scene (h/t Danwei). Of course, rock star Kaiser Kuo is one of the main sources of knowledge, as the founder of "Tang" in the 1990s and one of the first rock bands in China.
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March 25, 2009
Lessons from the failed Coca Cola-Huiyuan deal
Consumer market expert Shaun Rein has a thorough look at the failed US$ 2.3 billion acquisition deal between Coca-Cola and China's leading drinks maker Huiyuan in Forbes. While praising Coca Cola for going after the right consumer segment, Rein says that the US company failed to take China's anti-monopoly laws serious.
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March 24, 2009
Lower the headcount, Chinese say
Comparing how China and Japan are facing the financial crisis, offers huge differences, writes JWT China CEO Tom Doctoroff in his latest contribution for The Huffington Post. His company faces cuts in costs, and his Chinese staff preferred the dismissal of unproductive people.
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March 23, 2009
"Das Capital" helps to understand financial crisis
"Das Capital", the 19th century masterpiece by Karl Marx, can still help us to understand the current financial crisis, says theater makers in Shanghai. They are making a musical about the thorough book and Fudan professor Zhang Jun in helping them in sticking to the original meaning of the centerpiece of Marxism.
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March 20, 2009
Is the US dollar killing China?
Now US president Obama has started the printing presses to flood the world with new US-dollars, existing fears in China that their economy has to suffer from the US problems re-emerge, says financial and political expert Victor Shih in Forbes. A popular book in China "The Currency Wars", even suggests an evil conspiracy to bring down the country
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March 20, 2009
The paperback edition
The groundbreaking book by Victor Shih, Factions and Finance in China: Elite Conflict and Inflation is now available in its paperback edition. The book is a necessary tool for those Victor Shih by Fantake via Flickrwho are interested in how China's government really works.
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March 19, 2009
A bad economy can help startups
China's economy might have some problems, when you look carefully, that might offer you great possibilities, says VC William Bao Bean of the Softbank China & India Holdings and a director at language-learning startup iTalki at PC World.
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March 18, 2009
Chinese will not copy US consumerism
Analysts and economists are carefully following how the Chinese consumers are behaving during the financial crisis, but it is certain that they will not behave like American consumers, says Paul French, director of Access Asia to USA Today.
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March 17, 2009
China's vibrant internet landscape
Kaiser Kuo, shortly after speaking at the SXSW in Austin, Texas, explains for the outside world why China's internet is such a vibrant and fast changing feature.
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March 16, 2009
Problem mobile spam: it works
The central government is ordering larger mobile communication providers like China Mobile to do something against the rampant spam messages mobile phone users in China get. Main problem, says consumer analyst Shaun Rein, it works.
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March 15, 2009
How to become an entrepreneur in Shanghai
Larger numbers of entrepreneurs are heading for Shanghai as their own economies go bad. Veteran entrepreneur Maria Korolov gives in Shanghai Expat the newcomers a few tips on how to survive in this very competitive city.
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March 12, 2009
Global China Chat on tourism
On April 2, 2009 the China Speakers Bureau will host a second Global China chat, this time with China tourism guru Roy Graff of China Contact. This time we will have two sessions, to facilitate different time zones, one for Asia/Europe, the other for the Americas and Europe. The chat will be hosted by Maria Korolov.
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March 12, 2009
Spil Games, the winner in casual games
Spil Games, the casual game producer, has become the largest in the world, passing other players like Yahoo Games and MSN Games, Shanghai-based entrepeneur Marc van der Chijs announced on his weblog.
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March 11, 2009
Learning Chinese no longer boring
Learning Chinese is no longer boring, tell Chinesepod.com founder Ken Carroll today in the Financial Times. His language-learning tool is currently used by almost a quarter of a million people, on a daily basis.
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March 10, 2009
One-child policy supports Barbie
The once popular Mattel toy Barbie might be facing both a financial and cultural crisis back in its home market, Shaun Rein comments on the multi-million six story venture Mattel opened in Shanghai for its doll.
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March 8, 2009
Art market holds better than stock market
"China's market for modern art has dropped in 2008 by 25 percent, while the stock markets lost 60 percent," says the former accountant.
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March 7, 2009
Nobody writes about China's investments in Africa
China is replacing very fast the old colonial powers in Africa, but the story is mostly ignored by the media, told former New York Times correspondent Howard French last Thursday at the China in Africa of the School of Journalism at Indiana University.
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March 6, 2009
Too early to cheer
While China's financial leaders might see light at the end of the tunnel of the country's crisis, financial analyst Arthur Kroeber warns in The Guardian it might be too early to cheer.
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March 5, 2009
No doubling of the stimulus package soon
Rumors the Chinese government might double its current four trillion renminbi stimulus package might be true, but Arthur Kroeber of the Beijing based consultancy Dragonomics does not believe it would be announced immediately.
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March 4, 2009
Shaun Rein to join Asia Society conference in Saigon
Shaun Rein, one of the leading speakers at the China Speakers Bureau, is once again invited for the annual meeting of the Asia Society, this time in April at the Sheraton Hotel in Saigon, Vietnam. He joins an impressive line-up of speakers, including the prime minister of Vietnam Nguyen Tan Dung, John Negroponte, Charlene Barshefsky and Paul Krugman.
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March 2, 2009
Chinese tourists, an opportunity in times of crisis?
Not all indicator suggest an easy ride, says Graff, as the central government is cracking down on corruption, and unnecessary foreign trips by officials. Some of the domestic leisure tourists might prefer domestic holidays over international trips, but there are good opportunities too.
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February 28, 2009
Chinese collectors push up value artists
The Chinese artist Zhang Xiaogang has become the country's more valuable artist, says China Rich List producer Rupert Hoogewerf.
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February 27, 2009
Group purchases turn to cars
Internet users organize themselves already for years to get offline better deals, even to get their cars through "group purchase". Sam Flemming reports on his weblog about his colleague making this big ticket purchase with 55 others.
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February 26, 2009
Retail sales for luxury goods in Shanghai going strong
Retail sales of luxury products in Shanghai have remained strong, tells retail analyst Paul French the Financial Times in an article about the Japanese shopping mall Takashimaya, who decided to open stores in Shanghai, despite the global economic crisis.
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February 25, 2009
Most consumers expect to spend more in 2009
Sixty percent of hundreds of Chinese consumers interviewed in six cities by Shaun Rein's CMR expect they will spend more compared to 2008. That is one of the conclusions Shaun Rein will share during the Global China Chat on consumer confidence on Monday.
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February 24, 2009
Consumer confidence in China, a Global China Chat
Monday 2 March at 5 PM Beijing times (6 PM Tokyo time, for Europe, 10 AM CET) consumer analyst Shaun Rein of the leading research bureau CMR will participate on the first Global China Chat, this time on consumer confidence in China by the China Speakers Bureau.
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February 23, 2009
Climate change on climate change
The visit of secretary of state Hillary Clinton to Beijing has profoundly changed the climate on climate change, writes environmental lawyer Charles McElwee, one day after the visit on his weblog.
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February 22, 2009
China: stability at all cost
China will keep on buying US treasuries, even against all odds. Arthur Kroeber, managing editor of the China Economic Quarterly, tells the Financial Times
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February 19, 2009
Expected: land use right reform
As a part of China's green efforts a major change in the country's land use rights are expected, writes Shanghai-based lawyer Amy Sommers in the Green Buildings Blog,
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February 18, 2009
China's internet industry offers better investment options
As the shake out of industries takes place under the global financial crisis, internet companies in China are becoming more attractive for investments. The market has been too expensive in the past few years, but now that is changing.
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February 17, 2009
Glass tycoon becomes China's biggest giver
Cao Dewang, a glass tycoon from Fujian province, has become China's biggest giver in charity, Hurun publisher Rupert Hoogewerf. Cao Dewang wants to run the Fujian Charity Federation and would be number 102 on Hurun China Rich List last year with total assets of 6.5 billion Renminbi.
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February 16, 2009
The shock for the migrant workers
2009 will be a troubling year, professor Victor Shih tells USA Today. Especially for millions of migrant workers who have lost their jobs in export oriented industries and hang on in lesser paying jobs, or return home to rural life.
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February 15, 2009
Polo loses its fight against the counterfeits
Counterfeits might be part of life in China, but some companies win, while Polo lost, tells Shaun Rein Bloomberg. Hong Kong operator Dickson Concept loses after twenty years its "Polo" license, as the company takes control in Asia itself.
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February 13, 2009
The pitfalls of celebrity marketing
A pot smoking Michael Phelps illustrates now celebrities change from brand ambassadors into liabilities, especially in China where audiences tend to be less forgiving compared to the US.
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February 12, 2009
Construction, not export, triggered China's crisis
The declining export figures have not the influence on China's economy that is commonly believed, says economic analyst Arthur Kroeber. Not the export, but failing real estate and declining demand for the construction industry set off the current economic problems in China, he says.
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February 11, 2009
You cannot control the internet
You cannot control the IWOM (Internet Word of Mouth) and thus ultimately the internet, tells CIC-chief Sam Flemming 56minus1, when asked about the biggest mistakes companies, brands and agencies make.
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February 10, 2009
Visiting professor at LUBS
Andrew Leung, already having an impressive list of prestigious positions, has now also become Visiting Professor of the London Metropolitan University Business School (LMBS). The London Metropolitan Business School, located in the center of London and the heart of the City, is an initiative of the London Metropolitan University.
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February 9, 2009
Chinese brands not ready to compete head-on-head
The financial crisis and declining values of Western brands might in theory offer Chinese brands an inroad into Western markets, writes marketing guru. No Chinese consumer brand is ready go head-to-head against Western counterparts on the latter's home turf.
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February 7, 2009
Politics and boyfriends
Indian reviewers of Zhang Lijia's "Socialism is Great" react mildly shocked after the celebrity author visited their country, noting wryly that she is spending more time describing her advertures with her boyfriends than on politics
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February 3, 2009
Support smaller companies needed
China is spending too much money on no-so effective stimulus plans for the infrastructure, while they should more focus on helping the smaller companies, writes leading analyst Shaun Rein. In terms of policies for smaller companies, China could learn from the US.
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February 2, 2009
Small companies give economy more flexibility
China's economy has become much more resilient compared to the 1990s because of the larger number of smaller private enterprises, says analyst Arthur Kroeber of the consultancy firm Dragonomics.
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February 1, 2009
Communist party lost moral authority
The Communist Party in China (CCP) has lost its moral authority and not be able to return to its old role as the sole player, says assistant-professor James Farrer, author of a leading book on China's sexual revolution "Opening up".
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January 31, 2009
First Chinese author to enter India market
Celebrity writer Zhang Lijia just ended a successful book tour in India, being the first Chinese author to enter this market, write jubilant Indian media. Her personal memoir of her youth working in a Nanjing missile factory has made a rather successful debut.
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January 26, 2009
Rebound real estate expected in the year of the ox
Real estate in China is expected to rebound over the coming twelve months as the central government is reversing its policies, writes real estate guru Sam Crispin in a newly released CPIM report.
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January 25, 2009
Cautious consumer spending to continue
Shaun Rein of the China Market Research Group (CMR) explains to the newswire Bloomberg why he remains cautiously optimistic about consumer spending in China, although the number of optimists in China dropped from 70 percent in December to 60 percent now.
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January 24, 2009
Beijing a princeling no longer a nono
For a long time, and up to not so long ago, making use of your bloodlines was not done for descendants of Communist celebrities, writes Victor Shih at his weblog. But the princelings - as they are called - now make full use of their parents credential, wishing the Chinese happy new year at the front pages of the People's Daily.
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January 23, 2009
China, testing ground for online games
Crisis or no crisis, online games are moving fast, explains Spil Games Asia CEO Marc van der Chijs how his company uses China as a testing ground for the world. The free games, that play for free for up to one hour, are tremendous popular in China
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January 21, 2009
Lack of capital still hurting businesses
Thirty years ago has opened its economy, but for entrepreneurs the main problem is still the same, access to capital, says China's rich list maker Rupert Hoogewerf in an interview.
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January 20, 2009
Business professor and former diplomat joins China Speakers Bureau
Professor Andrew K.P. Leung from London is one of the latest celebrity speakers who joined the China Speakers Bureau. His resounding resume reflects a 40-year career in international business, diplomacy and trade. At the China Speakers Bureau we gladly welcome professor Leung in our stable of prestigious speakers on China.
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January 18, 2009
The Chinese with a Western name
Independent consultant Paul Denlinger explains Thomas Crampton how this global citizens got involved with a lot of the big names in the Chinese internet.
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January 18, 2009
Steel industry needs reform rather than stimulus
China's heavy industry needs rather readjustment to the current overcapacity in stead of a stimulus package, China analyst Arthur Kroeber tells in an critical view on how China is dealing with the current economic downturn.
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January 17, 2009
Books on China that make a difference
Tom Doctoroff takes for the Huffington Post a look at the books on China that really mattered to him. How an American starts to find out about China.
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January 16, 2009
Rich become thriftier as fortunes melt away
The wealth of China's millionaires has halved at the end of 2008, says Rupert Hoogewerf, composer of the China' rich list. And they are also tightening their belts.
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January 15, 2009
CEO China Business Network joins China Speakers Bureau
Janet Carmosky is one of the leading voices on China business in the US. With a heavy experience of a wide range of industries in China, its culture and way of dealing with the people. In a hands-on way she has a very convincing story for both beginners and veterans in dealing with China.
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January 14, 2009
Chemical company plays hardball with Xiamen Gov
China Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) approved last Friday also the PX-project that has moved from Xiamen to Zhangzhou after fierce protest from its citizens. Environmental lawyer Charles McElwee notes in his weblog interesting deals that are part of the final approval.
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January 14, 2009
Celebrity speaker on book tour in India
Celebrity speaker and author Zhang Lijia will visit India on a book tour at the end of January. After her arrivel in Delhi, she will be attending the Jaipur Literature Festival from 22 till 25 January. For launching events and interviews she will be in Delhi from 26 to 28 January
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January 13, 2009
China's pharma's go global
Shaun Rein continues his analysis of Chinese companies going global, depicting the young, but fast developing pharmaceutical industry. His by many scandals trust is a key word among China's food and drug producers, domestically and internationally.
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January 12, 2009
China's new fuel tax
After long internal debates, China has used the drop in world oil prices to introduce a fuel tax. In the China Economic Quarterly (CES), Arthur Kroeber analyses the new tax.
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January 12, 2009
Massive investments in China's environment
China's Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) approved on Friday 153 projects worth 470 billion Renminbi (47 bn euro). All are part of the four trillion Renminbi package announced in 2008 by the central government as part of the packages to encourage the economy
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January 11, 2009
Global central bank needed to prevent future crises
To avoid future financial crises like we see now, a global central bank is needed to replace a failing IMF and World Bank, leading economist William Overholt said on a lecture at the Dubai School of Government.
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January 10, 2009
Kaiser Kuo leaves Ogilvy
Internet guru Kaiser Kuo will leave next week his current job as director digital strategy of the advertising agency Ogilvy & Matters. Kuo will continue to work as an internet consultant for the site Youku.
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January 9, 2009
What can trigger off social unrest?
Victor Shih is much gloomier on the possible numbers of unemployed, estimating it at least at 35 million, for a large degree university graduates who will be unable to find jobs. While managable in the short run, Shih fears that a set of events could trigger off massive unrest.
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January 8, 2009
China's human flesh searches
China's cultural-revolution style online posses, smoking out what they perceive to be evil, have become under attack from China's authorities themselves. Those "human flesh searches" are risen to prominence over 2008, comments media analyst Jeremy Goldkorn.
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January 7, 2009
Electronics firms: learning the ropes in the EU and US
Learning the ropes, in discovering the way distribution channels work, how to deal with the tougher legal limits, deal with the differences in culture and find appropriate talents.
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January 6, 2009
China's 8 environmental resolutions for 2009
Leading environmental law professor Charles McElwee gives an overview of the eight environmental resolutions for 2009, noted from the Ministry of Environmental Protections (MEP), one of the superministries established last year.
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January 5, 2009
Auto sector goes global
As their Western and Japanese competitors like GM, Ford and Toyota crumble, Chinese car companies consider going global. Shaun Rein of the China Market Research Group (CMR) interviewed top-executives and discusses possibilities and challenges in a first of ten reports on Chinese ambitions of going global.
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January 4, 2009
Comparing China, Will Rogers and Harbin
Our specialist in recent Chinese history, recalled historical comparisons made by important Western visitors to China in his weblog. Is started with the American comedian Will Rogers comparing the countryside around Harbin with Nebraska.
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December 30, 2008
FDI is not declining, but changing
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been supporting China's economic reform, but since 2007 its character has been changing, not declining, writes Shanghai-based lawyer Amy Sommers in the Financial Times.
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December 29, 2008
CCP cadres: capabilities over connections
Problematic performance during the earthquake in Sichuan and incidents in Tibet and Xinjiang by a part of the communist cadres has triggered off the new policies. China's communist party (CCP) is revamping its way to select its cadres, asking for capabilities rather than connections.
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December 26, 2008
Tourism guru joins China Speakers Bureau
A leading voice on China's tourism and hospitality industry joins our roster.
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December 23, 2008
Starbucks hit hard by tightfisted foreigners
Starbucks is one of the enterprises in China that is being hit hard by the global downturn, harder than others because they rely to a large degree on foreign customers. Rein has been one of the pundits refusing to accept the common feeling that China's is following a global trend downwards. But for the popular coffee house he has to make an exception.
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December 22, 2008
Chinese consumers full of confidence
Contrary to what Western media report, China's consumers are still going strong, writes Shaun Rein. Consumers in the US might be in panic after so many lost saving of a life-time, Chinese consumers maintain a strong confidence in both their government and the country's financial institutions.
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December 21, 2008
Anti-Chinese feelings on the rise in US
A rising tide against China and imports from China, notes Richard Kuslan in the US, triggered off by recalls of cars from China
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December 20, 2008
China's banks under threat of economic rescue plan
In a decade China bank have changed from government counters for handing out money into professional financial institutions. But the recent four trillion Renminbi rescue plan might push those banks ten years back in history, writes assistant professor Victor Shih in the Wall Street Journal.
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December 19, 2008
China's internet is different
China's internet is profoundly different from the internet in the US, Korea or Japan. More than 80 percent of the internet users in China uses IM, preferably through Tencent's QQ, much more than anywhere in the world. They still prefer BBS's because it's anonymous and the country is more video intensive than any other
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December 18, 2008
Crisis in China? Not anytime soon
While the situation looks more challenging in the long term, China's government is positioned very well to deal with the current downturn and has done up to now the right things, writes Doctoroff in the Huffington Post.
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December 18, 2008
No fast recovery real estate expected
The central government in Beijing announced yesterday measure to ease getting credit for property developers and reduced the lock-up period for house owners from five to two years.
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December 17, 2008
China preparing for a soft landing
Despite all gloomy predictions, consumer spending in China keeps on going strong. Compared to the US its influence on the overall economy is still limited, but when new government policies kick in in six months time, Rein expects a soft landing of the Chinese economy, while the US and Europe are heading for a prolonged recession.
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December 16, 2008
Social Change Documented
Two very different and rather entertaining interviews with Zhang Lijia, documenting the writer who is documenting a changing China. On the new trend of books on the new China. Interviewers are Xu Xi and Lawrence Gray.
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December 15, 2008
Shanghai's Old Love Lane up for the hammer?
"People voting with their wallets for tasty local food rather than western fast food. But the builders are encroaching - already some of the old houses have been destroyed and a couple of non-descript blocks of nonsense put in their place"
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December 10, 2008
Former ING Asia manager joins China Speakers Bureau
The Asian economic crisis in the 1990s, the reunification of Hong Kong with China and the collapse of the Barings bank happened within Mirella Visser's tenure as senior manager at the ING Group in Asia. From Hong Kong she led as a member of the management board ING's business development in Hong Kong and China.
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December 9, 2008
Why China's consumption will go strong in 2009
Five reasons why China's retail consumption will do well in 2009. It goes against the trend of doom and gloom that comes along with the economic crisis in the US - and to a lesser degree in Europe. China might be different, at least as we look at domestic consumption.
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December 8, 2008
Spending still on track
Spending by urban consumers is still on track, says Shaun Rein, director of the China Market Research Group, based on his own research. He. Seventy out of one hundred urban consumers had no plan to change their spending habits despite all the talk about an economic crisis.
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December 7, 2008
A celebrity in China
Becoming a celebrity inside and outside China is an achievement few can put on their record, but Rupert Hoogewerf or Hurun can do so. The best-selling author of the China Rich List has become so much of a household name, many Chinese even do not realize Hoogewerf is a foreigner living in Shanghai.
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December 5, 2008
Home Depot and B&Q will have a hard time
"People think prices are going to drop," Rein said to Bloomberg. "They are not going to buy home decoration. It's a very difficult area to be in now.
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December 4, 2008
Jasper Becker joins the China Speakers Bureau
The eminent author and journalist Jasper Becker from Beijing has today joined the China Speakers Bureau. Becker has been one of the leading voices on China's development and was up to recently the publisher of Asia Weekly.
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December 4, 2008
The Jung Chang of the 21st century
After Jung Chang hit the world with he epic story "Wild Swans", many female authors have been trying to copy her success without making much of an impact. Zhang Lijia, author of "Socialism is Great" is on the way to become the Jung Chang of the 21th century as translation after translation open up her story for new audiences around the world.
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December 3, 2008
Local governments push the stability card
Local governments and companies are trying to blackmail the central government in compensating them for paying arrear wages for their unruly citizens, writes financial expert Victor Shih on his weblog, pushing "stability" as their main card.
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December 2, 2008
Chinese firms use financial crisis to go global
Chinese companies are preparing to buy assets abroad to make use of the global financial crisis, writes Shaun Rein in Business Week. Qingdao-based Haier was the first to move, but many others are following, his research suggests many are following.
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December 1, 2008
Consumer behavior "impossible to predict" - Paul French
Market 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.
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November 30, 2008
Healthy growth for online marketing in 2009
William Bao Bean 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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November 29, 2008
Making it into wikipedia
Making 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.
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November 28, 2008
Huang Guangyu, China's richest and "a low key person"
Huang Guangyu, China's richest person and chairman of the Gome Holdings, has never been a public figure, says China-rich list compiler Rupert Hoogewerf after his arrest. Huang has topped his list of richest Chinese three times in a row.
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November 27, 2008
The internet is the community
When 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.
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November 26, 2008
Just pumping capital into the stock market does not help
China'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. Kroeber explains why the move, expected early December, might not be a smart idea.
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November 25, 2008
Economic fundamentals still in place
While China's growth might take a hit, its fundamentals are still in place, says economic analyst Arthur Kroeber.
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November 24, 2008
China's consumers might stop spending
China's consumers will reduce spending and certainly not offer a way out for US and European companies, says marketing guru Tom Doctoroff. 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.
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November 23, 2008
China needs its place at global financial institutions
While India and Brazil display often ideological undertones in the message, China is "open to compromises and trade-offs". If China now claims a place at the table of the global financial institutions, it is because the country belongs there.
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November 22, 2008
Getting the innovation from Asia
Four 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.
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November 21, 2008
State-owned enterprises go for bailout capital
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.
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November 20, 2008
Expecting: the shake-up of the automotive industry
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.
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November 19, 2008
What's in it for the environment?
While 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.
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November 18, 2008
Football needs a grass root system
China'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.
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November 17, 2008
Reform and opening up at the Shanghai Foreign Correspondents Club
"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.
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November 15, 2008
Electricity: from shortage to glut
A familiar pattern in how China tried to reform its electricity industry, but failed to do a decent job, describes Arthur Kroeber. 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.
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November 14, 2008
The truth about China's financial promises
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.
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November 13, 2008
Charity on the rise
Philanthropy 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.
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November 12, 2008
Some window dressing before the global financial meeting
China'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 Dragonomic.
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November 11, 2008
KFC, one of the best American companies moving into China
In 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.
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November 10, 2008
The government can mobilize enourmous resources
This is pretty major, says Arthur Kroeber of the consultancy firm Dragonomics about the four trillion Renminbi (euro 450 billion) investment China's central government into its economy.
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November 9, 2008
"You need the right system for innovation"
A 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."
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November 8, 2008
"All bets are off"
"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.
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November 7, 2008
Good news for Africa?
Barack 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
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November 6, 2008
Beijing shopping heaven
Danwei'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.
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November 6, 2008
China is looking increasingly stationary
China 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.
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November 4, 2008
Hitting the trailwalker race
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.
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November 3, 2008
"Group purchase" - ecommerce with Chinese characteristics
The trend of individual consumers to organize themselves online for bargains got its corporate equivalent, writes Sam Flemming of CIC in his latest IWOM-update.
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November 3, 2008
Xu Ping joins China Speakers Bureau
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.
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November 2, 2008
Hiking into Chinese history
Our speaker hits the road around Beijing for the New York Times and explains some of its past by exploring the surrounds of China's capital.
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November 1, 2008
Victor Shih to join China Speakers Bureau
Getting a thorough insight of what is happening in China's financial systems is becoming crucial as the financial crisis holds the global economy in its grip. Assistant professor Victor Shih of the Northwestern University is one of very few people who get beyond scratching on the surface and explaining the outside world what he sees.
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November 1, 2008
Former CEO Philips China David Chang joins China Speakers Bureau
David Chang, former CEO of Philips China, part of the Dutch manufacturing giant, has joined the China Speakers Bureau. Philips has developed over the past decades into a major player in China's electronics manufacturing industry.
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October 31, 2008
China's GDP depends only for 10 percent on export
Unlike popular believe China's GDP depends only for ten percent on export, not 40 percent, says Arthur Kroeber. The limits the country's exposure against failling export considerably.
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October 30, 2008
China changes course to avoid crisis - podcast
Big ticket items like cars and apartments have a problem as Chinese consumers delay purchases, says Shanghai-based lawyer Amy Sommers in a podcast. But the central government is adjusting its policies to avert a full blown crisis like elsewhere in the world.
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October 29, 2008
No Chinese brand can compete at a premium price
Tom Doctoroff, CEO, Greater China, of J. Walter Thompson, has a wide-ranging look at the China-branding trends hit by the milk melamine scandal, pushed by the Beijing Olympics, growth areas like services and the online trends.
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October 28, 2008
The innovation war room and the global financial crisis
Are you feeling the impact of the financial crisis? Leading innovator Rowan Gibson, global business strategist and bestselling author provides compelling and practical answers in his new series of keynote speeches and 2-day strategy meetings.
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October 27, 2008
China getting ready for Keynesian model
China is getting ready to spend its way out of the current financial crisis, says Shanghai-based attorney Amy Sommers in the LA Times.
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October 26, 2008
Consumers still trust brand 'America'
While Chinese take their money out of the Citigroup banks into the Bank of China as a result of the financial unrest, trust for consumer goods is still high, Rein says based on own research.
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October 23, 2008
Healthy growth retail defies crisis trend
Retail in China shows a healthy growth, suggesting the country might indeed wither the global financial crisis, writes Paul French in the weekly newsletter of Access Asia.
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October 22, 2008
A recession, that would be unchartered waters
As everybody is still guessing how the global financial crisis and a possible recession would affect China, any glimpse of a recession would be new in China, says China consultant Paul French to Sky News. "We are off the map when that happens."
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October 22, 2008
Two media misconceptions on China
Kaiser Kuo gets a nice chance from uberblogger Shel Israel to explain the basic misconceptions of Western media (including bloggers) when it comes to China. Part of a lengthy interview
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October 21, 2008
Language learning goes free
Social networking can also be a language tool, says William Bao Bean, director of italki.com from Shanghai, in a recent article in the South China Morning Post.
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October 20, 2008
Fastest mover in most-sought speakers October 2008
Fastest mover was Mark Schaub. What triggered off his rise might have been the podcast we did on the milk-melamine crisis: close to one hundred people listened to this podcast and while the others worked pretty well, Mark Schaub's podcast was leading.
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October 19, 2008
Mobile internet, the way to go
I think that eventually the number of mobile internet users might surpass the users who go online on a computer, currently it's 80 million mobile internet users out of 260 million who go online in total.
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October 18, 2008
Politics main challenge for China in coming decade
China has its fair share of social problems, but none it getting out of control, says Arthur Kroeber. China is not heading for a social crisis, as some assume, he claims. "China has huge social problems, but they are not leading to a crisis. The political system is very stable."
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October 17, 2008
High-end hotels going strong in China
Wealthy Chinese and international travelers make the hotel industry a bright spot in China, says Shaun Rein, as major hotel chains announced to expand their investments despite the ongoing financial crisis.
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October 15, 2008
Where are the L/C's?
Where is the Letter of Credit (L/C), wonders Rich Kuslan at his weblog Asiabizblog. The freeze at the interbanking lending might bring trade with China to a standstill.
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October 14, 2008
Why Facebook and MySpace do not work in China
Social networks like Facebook and MySpace do not take off in China, because its internet users are already hooked on other systems, says Danwei-founder and media expert Jeremy Goldkorn in an interview with CCTV.
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October 12, 2008
China's home owners full of confidence
Real estate prices in China might have come down a bit, for a Chinese his home is still his castle, says real estate expert Sam Crispin in Newsweek.
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October 11, 2008
The bleak scenario: falling trade, manufactering, consumer markets
Stock markets worldwide keep on dropping and the effects of the global crisis are stilling heading for China. William Bao Bean discusses the possible fallout of the global financial shake-up on China.
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October 9, 2008
Milk and melamine: a set back for the China brand
The China brand has suffered a severe set back through the milk melamine scandal, after the successful Olympics. Sixty thousand babies with kidney stones is cause tremendous damage, especially in China itself.
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October 8, 2008
Are foreign expats and Chinese integrating in Shanghai?
Only up to a certain degree foreign expats and Chinese are mixing in what has now become one of the largest expat societies in the world, Shanghai, says sociologist James Farrer of the Sophia University in Tokyo
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October 6, 2008
China's economic whiplash - a podcast
China is not very well prepared for the structural economic changes it will face the next six months, argues consultant Paul Denlinger in a China Speakers Bureau podcast with Fons Tuinstra
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October 5, 2008
Avoid Shanghai, Beijing - new China investment rules
"Avoid Shanghai and Beijing" is the first of a whole set of new investments rules for China, our speaker Paul Denlinger has written down. Very concise he summarizes some of the major changes that have been taking place in China's economic landscape.
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September 30, 2008
Tudou founder joins China Speakers Bureau
Marc van der Chijs, co-founder of the successful Chinese video sharing host Tudou and CEO of the online gaming conglomerate Spil Asia is joining the China Speakers Bureau
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September 29, 2008
Joining openWebAsia'08
Innovation in Asia is the core theme of the openWebAsia in South-Korea on 14 October. Our Sam Flemming will be one of the key speakers, together with representatives of Alibaba, Ebay Asia and many other online innovative companies.
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September 28, 2008
IMD-professor joins China Speakers Bureau
Former CEIBS dean Bill Fischer has joined the China Speakers Bureau. Bill Fischer is a leading authority on business and China. Apart from being a gifted storyteller, he has real stories to tell.
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September 27, 2008
AIG seeks blogger's help in Asia
The financial downturn in the US has interesting side-effects. Richard Kuslan, lawyer, blogger and speaker at the China Speakers Bureau has been invited by the insurer-in-problems AIG to explain their position in Asia.
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September 26, 2008
Big dairy companies got too much trust
He still drinks Chinese milk, says lawyer and author Mark Schaub on the ongoing milk melamine scandal in China. "The bigger companies were trusted too much and when it come to food security, you cannot trust anybody."
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September 25, 2008
Do not forget Fonterra
While China's melamine milk scandal has been covered pretty well by the media, we tend to forget Sanlu's foreign partner Fonterra, warns retail-expert Paul French
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September 25, 2008
Netizens less tolerant for manipulation
China's netizens are becoming less tolerant for manipulation of their online conversation, says CIC-founder Sam Flemming, a leading authority on the online buzz in China in a CSB podcast. The ongoing melamine milk crisis might be a watershed on how the internet in China works.
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September 23, 2008
"Party to blame for milk scandal"
"These after-the-fact administrative measures miss the point. Regulatory regimes succeed when systemic incentives make market participants behave. These incentives can exist only after separation of the Government from control of prices, company management and information flows."
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September 23, 2008
A new job: social media manager
Following a trend in the US, major companies in China have been creating a new kind of job: the social media manager, said Sam Flemming of CIC last week at the Economist China Branding Roundtable. Three of CIC's clients have now hired those social media manager.
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September 22, 2008
KFC - the revenue generator
The success of KFC is not limited to beating the competition, says retired MBA-lecturer Warren Liu on his promotion tour for his book in an interview with state media, but it is also key for the revenue stream of the holding.
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September 19, 2008
Renowned environmental lawyer joins China Speakers Bureau
The eminent environmental lawyer Charles McElwee has brought an extensive knowledge and experience in the US environmental and energy law to China, when he moved to Shanghai a few years ago
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September 18, 2008
Sustainable business and a changing government
"Enter the green dragon," was an AmCham Shanghai meeting last week on environmental business where Amy Sommers was the mistress of ceremony. She summarizes in this China Speakers Bureau podcast her findings and some are really stunning.
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September 16, 2008
Fear and confidence on the China market
The financial meltdown in the US might have an effect on the China market, but Shaun Rein points at the mitigating effect. "China's economy is still very strong."
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September 15, 2008
The risky and attractive VC-market
"With 3G coming and 600 million people on mobile phones it is going to be a very attractive market." VC-entrepreneur William Bao tells why the mobile telecom in China is an attractive market, despite regulatory challenges and risky carrier behavior.
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September 13, 2008
Have high-end retailers created a Beijing glut?
Yes, there is nowadays too much in China anyway, says retail investigator Access Asia Director Paul French. No, says market researcher Shaun Rein of CMR, it is all a matter of having a smart strategy.
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September 12, 2008
Competition tries to curtail Baidu's power
China's domestic online powerhouses have started a shoot-out, but Paul Denlinger says the official privacy argument to stop leading search engine Baidu is plain nonsense.
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September 11, 2008
Tudou license paramount for online business
The license China's largest video hosting firm Tudou received today was paramount for getting seriously into the advertising business. After a two-month wait Tudou got its license from the regulatory body SARFT.
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September 11, 2008
Chicken for the Masses - KFC in China
At the Foreign Correspondents Club in Shanghai, Warren Liu explains the success of KFC, outrunning McDonalds
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September 10, 2008
Soccer, the ultimate test
The ultimate test, Rowan Simons calls the win or fail attitude towards China's soccer in the famous CCTV-9 program Dialogue.
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September 9, 2008
A happy story from China in the 1980s
Jeremy Goldkorn interviews Zhang Lijia for Danwei-tv about her autobiography Socialism is great!, about her life as a worker in a missile factory.
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September 8, 2008
MySpace: another IT casuality from the US in China
Paul Denlinger adds to one of his favorite stories as MySpace loses out in China, following a trend by a larger number of IT-companies from the US.
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September 7, 2008
"More intelligent online marketing needed"
As the number of internet users in China is exploding, more intelligent online marketing is needed, says Shaun Rein, president of the market research company CMR
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September 6, 2008
Masterclasses on business strategy and innovation
Innovation is a key subject on China's political and economic agenda, so the China Speakers Bureau is happy to represent also this leading business strategist as a speaker. Next to his speaking engagements, Rowan Gibson also conducts Innovation Masterclass events, which are usually one-, two- or three days in duration for both corporate, public and government organizations
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September 5, 2008
Former NYT Shanghai correspondent joins the China Speakers Bureau
The former Shanghai correspondent of the New York Times Howard French has joined the China Speakers Bureau as a participant. Currently French is associate professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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September 4, 2008
Sex or soccer, what should be the debate?
National debates on many issues are no exception in China, but now the China soccer team has touched a very raw nerve, as ChinaSmack summarizes. At this stage, disappointed fans seem to pick anything to go after their former Olympic heroes
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September 4, 2008
Mixed messages on Coca-Cola's record acquisition
Coca-Cola is coughing up USD 2.4 billion to acquire China's leading juice maker spending much more than the current value of the Chinese company,Analysts have mixed feelings about the purchage.
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September 3, 2008
Visa-restrictions continue to hamper China tourism
Beijing authorities have plans to keep on using the Olympics to attract tourists for later this year, writes the WSJ, but CMR's Shaun Rein only expects a rebound next year when visa-restrictions are expected to have been cleared
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September 3, 2008
Celebrity China speaker to visit New York region
One of our most-sought celebrity speakers, Tom Doctoroff, CEO of Greater China, J. Walter Thompson, will be visiting New York from November 25 to 28, a great opportunity for clients in that region to get Tom as a speaker.
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September 2, 2008
There is no "China market"
Paul Denlinger is at his best when he is a bit angry and he is mostly angry after meeting US investors in China. In his weblog he explains there is no China market.
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September 1, 2008
Chinese investments more feared than Japanese
Chinese overseas investments are more feared than those from Japan, says consultant Arthur Kroeber of Dragonomics in an analysis on China's economic future.
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August 31, 2008
China Telecom wins the 3G-wars
In May three Chinese telecom companies started a race for the 3G-technology and according to Paul Denlinger China Telecom is going to defeat current market leader China Mobile.
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August 29, 2008
No gold for China from Japan
The high expectation of Japanese media on the effects of the Beijing Olympics fell flat, writes sociologist James Farrer from Tokyo
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August 27, 2008
China's sport stars only work when they win
Branding in China works differently than elsewhere in the world, marketing guru Tom Doctoroff says in the New York Times, looking back at the Beijing Olympics.
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August 26, 2008
China's economy, steady as she goes
"We're going down from stupidly fast last year to really fast this year and just plain ordinary fast next year, which would be in the 8 to 9 percent range," says Arthur Kroeber of Dragonomics, a Beijing consultancy to Reuters.
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August 24, 2008
Promoting a book 'down under'
Our best-seller author Zhang Lijia is going to tour Australia to promote her book "Socialism is Great!" and is treating the domestic media with some great interviews.
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August 23, 2008
Strategic online communication, the Johnson Baby case
Moving from tactical online solution to strategic communication is the new challenge to reach online consumers, writes Sam Flemming.
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August 22, 2008
Director IMD Competitive Center joins China Speakers Bureau
Each year economists and policy makers watch IMD in Lausanne as his center announces the annual ranking of the competitiveness of countries in the world. Professor Garelli has top-positions as the adviser of both governments and major corporations.
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August 21, 2008
Most-sought speaker for August 2008
At the first monthly ranking of most-sought speaker, Shaun Rein is a clear winner. Not surprisingly, looking as the successful way he has been getting tracking among the traditional media with his strong analysis on the Olympic sponsorship.
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August 20, 2008
Olympic emotions show a different country
Sobbing Chinese have killed one global misconception about the country, the supposed lack of emotions they display, says Kaiser Kuo in an interview with Reuters.
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August 18, 2008
Searching for China's soul
Tom Doctoroff attended China's search for its soul at the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics. In Adweek he explains how he enjoyed that, while the search is not yet complete.
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August 17, 2008
Deailing with a failed Olympic marketing
Olympic sponsors have started to lick their wounds and the Financial Times asked our Tom Doctoroff to give their verdicts as marketing experts on a failed Beijing Olympics.
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August 15, 2008
KFC's success in China
KFC in China grew from one to over 1,400 outlets in China, making it into the largest foreign fastfood chain. Retired MBA-lecturer Warren Liu took a step back and analyzed in his book why the eternal number two behind McDonalds took the top position in China.
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August 14, 2008
Astroturfing no issue in China
Astroturfing, companies and governments pretending they are a grassroots online movement, is no issue in China, Sam Flemming contends in an issue of the leading Digital Media on the feature.
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August 13, 2008
A "fake foreigner" hits the Chinese media
"Foreigners take a very biased view of China. They think that there is no freedom of speech in China. They think that everything is totally like the Cultural Revolution without any voice from the people. But it is not that simple." Danwei's Jeremy Goldkorn hits China's leading newspaper Southern Weekend that babtizes him the "fake foreigner".
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August 11, 2008
It's a government game
Soccer in China is a government's game , analyzes our soccer specialist Rowan Simons in yet another review of his leading book on this sport. "It is all politics."
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August 10, 2008
China's online media need good statistics
Lacking reliable data on China's online media is having a debilitating effect on the industry, argues Paul Denlinger in his latest column at China Vortex.
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August 9, 2008
Learning Olympic Chinese
The world's most famous Chinese learning institute Chinesepod, set up by Ken Carroll, has developed its own fast track to fame: Olympic Chinese, and was noted by the New York Times.
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August 7, 2008
Shocked by American ignorance
Celebrity author Zhang Lijia expresses her amazement about the ignorance on China she noted when she was on a recent book tour in the United States, and tells why she support the Beijing Olympics
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August 6, 2008
Beijing 2008: The First Web 2.0 Olympics
The Beijing Olympics will be the first one facing a full scale web2.0 exposure and Ogilviy's new media guru Kaiser Kuo looks at his weblog at the dilemma's.
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August 5, 2008
China is ready for democracy
China is ready for democracy, but its 'middle class' is opposing it, writes Arthur Kroeber in the Financial Times.That elite will only stop opposing democracy when it offers them stability in the long term, a guarantee they now get from the current regime.
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August 4, 2008
Time to stop criticising China - we've already come so far
Author Zhang Lijia remembers her youth and tells the world it is about time to stop criticising China. She documents the massive changes the world has been going through but who are not seen by many in the outside world.
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August 3, 2008
The secret of the shadow companies
Shadow companies, with appalling labor right infringements, are the real profit-makers behind state-of-the-arts show cases that should prove foreign buyers they comply with all standards.
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August 2, 2008
Telling the world how the internet changes China
China and the internet are hitting the international agenda yet again as the Beijing Olympics draw near. That is a good moment to listen to our own internet guru Kaiser Kuo, director digital strategy at Ogilvy in Beijing. Explaining how the internet is changing China in a dramatic way.
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July 31, 2008
Explaining to Bloomberg why Olympic sponsoring does not work
In another powerful argument Shaun Rein explains to Bloomberg why Olympic sponsoring is not helping the advertisers much in China this year. "Eighty percent of the Chinese does not care who the sponsor is."
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July 30, 2008
Advertisers use athletes' parents for Olympic dreams
Olympic advertising touched on specific Chinese sentiments, by using Chinese athletes' parents to get their message out, writes the Wall Street Journal, quoting JWT's Tom Doctoroff.
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July 29, 2008
Why our X-mas presents might be late
The production of Christmas presents is getting under heavy pressure because of the restrictions on visas for China, tells China-guru Paul French the Guardian. Because buyers, inspectors and others cannot enter China because of the restrictions, our presents might be late or very expensive.
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July 28, 2008
Barbara Krug, RSM, joins CSB
Barbara Krug, professor at the leading business school in the Netherlands RSM has joined the China Speakers Bureau. Professor Krug is a leading authority in Europe on China's economic development, particularly its private entrepreneurs. She organizes the China program at RSM.
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July 25, 2008
Explaining 253 million internet users to the outside world
Sam Flemming of CIC explains to the China Business Network how the internet works for companies and organizations outside China. How to manage an online crisis, what is the power of the Chinese B BS's. Sam uses some of his most recent experience in working with corporate clients.
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July 23, 2008
William Overholt joins China Speakers Bureau
A highly respected expert and speaker on China and Asia, Dr. Overholt, senior research fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University has decided to join the China Speakers Bureau. In 2008 he published Asia, America, and the Transformation of Geopolitics . Dr. Overholt is the writer of the bestseller The Rise of China, one of the most compelling books on China's economic transformation in the 1990s.
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July 22, 2008
The Western obsession with Chinese politics
When Paul Denlinger gets a chance to explain US internet companies how it really works in China, nobody can stop him. "there is a single greater trend, and that is toward greater openness which has been achieved through cheap and easy communications."
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July 21, 2008
Amy Sommers joins CSB
Amy L. Sommers, partner at Squire, Sandres & Dempsey in Shanghai, has joined the China Speakers Bureau. Ms Sommers is an award-winning speaker. In a conversational style she is able to explain complicated legal issues in China in both fluent English and Manderin to lay audiences. Ms. Sommers has a wealth of anecdotes to illustrate the points she want to make.
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July 17, 2008
Private equity turns to China
Private equity firms turn increasingly to China as their home markets in Europe and especially the US are dropping very fast, argues Shaun Rein, Managing director of China Market Research (CRM) today in Business Week.
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July 15, 2008
Explaining the online buzz to CNN
Sam Flemming, one of our leading speakers on the Chinese internet, is quoted extensively at the website of CNN on China's online buzz. Flemming is guiding companies in the murky waters of China's internet and does get more and more recognition for his ground-breaking work.
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