Chinese have spent last year 13 billion US dollar on luxury goods, but only 40 percent in China itself, says Shaun Rein in CNBC. Because of the high tariffs luxury goods, including cars, are 20-30 percent more expensive on the mainland. “They are shooting themselves in the foot.”Read More →

Shaun Rein explains what he has learned about doing business in China, and how US companies like Google could learn from it. Publicly yelling mostly does not work, he argues in Forbes, describing his first approach with a corruption case a decade ago.Read More →

Kaiser Kuo In an effort to resolve a high-profile spat with Chinese authors on piracy, the country’s leading search engine Baidu removed 2,8 million filles, told company spokesman Kaiser Kuo the BBC, hoping this action would create enough good faith. More than 40 authors and publishers had accused Baidu thatRead More →

Nouriel Roubini via Wikipedia The famous economist Nouriel Roubini predicted the American financial crisis, and now says China is in trouble in 2013, writes Shaun Rein in CNBC. But he is dead wrong on basic trends on income, demographics and investment trends. Shaun Rein on the wages: Roubini also underestimatesRead More →

Kaiser Kuo “No comment.” Few of our speakers have been quoted so often by the mainstream media saying nothing. Kaiser Kuo easily made it into the top-position of most-sought speakers for April as he was – and still is – unable to say anything about a possible cooperation between hisRead More →

Hong Kong: too small via Wikipedia The new-to-built Shanghai Disney park should learn from the mistakes that have been made in the Hong Kong park, says Shaun Rein in Reuters. First, size matters. Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research said the problem with the Hong Kong park isRead More →

Image via Wikipedia What foreign companies, trying to tap into the China market, regularly forget is that there is no need for their services, tells retail analyst Paul French at Marketplace Public Radio. Home Depot is an example. Paul French responds to Raymond Chou, president of Home Depot China: CHOU: The HomeRead More →

Image via CrunchBase The China Speakers Bureau newsletter for April 2011 is available here. Just like last month, our focus is on how foreign companies win (IKEA, Apple) and lose on the booming Chinese luxury market. Related articles IKEA’s China problem: too popular – Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net) Getting your brandRead More →

The Temple of Apple via Wikipedia The Apple outlet in Pudong, Shanghai is getting mythical proportions and babtized by retail analyst Paul French the ‘Temple of Apple’. In Mercury News he explains why Apple changed from a laggard into a winner in the booming China market, unlike other US brands.Read More →

Image by Getty Images via @daylife The Swedish furniture retailer IKEA has become a public attraction comparable to Disneyland in the small number of stores they have in China, writes Shaun Rein on the CNBC website. When you are too popular as a foreign brand, it is not only goodRead More →

Shaun Rein by Fantake via Flickr Google was wrong when it behaved in China as if it was calling the shots, says Shaun Rein to Marketplace, as yet another Google service, Google Maps, is about to be banned. SHAUN REIN: Google really said to the government: do what we sayRead More →

Shaun Rein by Fantake via Flickr The luxury goods market in China is growing fast, says Shaun Rein in CNBC, but retailers often focus on the wrong kind of customers. The rich grab a visa and shop in Milan and Hong Kong. Aspiring young buyers still want their Gucci bags,Read More →