China’s Single’s Day broke several records, but that is deceptive. Consumers waited for bargains and delayed purchases till Single’s Day, says retail analyst Ben Cavender to Reuters. Reuters: “What’s happened is that you’ve had a lot of consumers this year being a little bit more careful about their purchasing becauseRead More →

Former trade negotiator Harry Broadman warns at Bloomberg the trade war is far from over despite positive sounds on the phase 1 agreement. US President Donald Trump seems more engaged in winning the 2020 presidential elections than ending the trade war. And he introduces agricultural deals for the US thatRead More →

Alipay and WeChat, China’s largest payment options, opened their services for foreign credit card holders, and it was about time too, says Shanghai-based business analyst Shaun Rein, author of the bestseller The War for China’s Wallet: Profiting from New World Order to the South China Morning Post. The South China MorningRead More →

China’s economic slowdown has mainly hit local VC’s, says William Bao Bean, managing director of the Chinaccelerator, at OZY.com. A government crackdown on risky investments and the fallout from the trade war is hitting the industry after the 2017-2018 boom. OZY.com: Local venture capital firms that raise money and investRead More →

Marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok is enthusiastic about the announcement of Alipay to open up for tourists visiting China, followed shortly by a similar move by WeChat. On her vlog, she explains how visitors without a Chinese bank account can now use Aliba. Details on WeChat were not yet known atRead More →

Private companies have a hard time getting bank loans, says economist Arthur Kroeber to Barron’s. But that is nothing new, he adds, the problem is that state-owned companies get loans too easy. That division is more important than the level of China’s debts, he adds. “Too much attention has been paid to the debt problem.”Read More →

Zhihu, China’s popular Q&A site comparable to Quora, can be a good place to launch your product, says China marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok at the Jing Daily. But the content-driven platform needs – not surprisingly – also a content-driven strategy, she explains.Read More →

Understanding the consumer in China is tough for most foreign companies entering this competitive market, says retail analyst Ben Cavender. There is no escape from shopping here, as retail is fully integrated into daily life. “China is where all the future trends are happening,” he says.Read More →

China’s central government has been trying to sinicize religion, and that had especially a major effect on Christianity, writes journalist Ian Johnson, author of The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao. For the New York Review of Books, he reviews Jesus in Asia by R.S. Sugirtharajah, but starts with a thorough overview of Beijing’s efforts to curtail Read More →