China-bashing occurs in the odd years, notes China analyst Arthur Kroeber in ChinaFile, because in the even years – election years – US politicians have to focus on problems American really care about. This week, in 2013, the US Senate scrutinized the Smithfield-Shuanghui pork deal, one of the more sillier problems in US-China relations, writes Kroeber.Read More →

China will remain a manufacturing base, but will have to move up the value chain, argues author Shaun Rein of The End of Cheap China,
in AsiaPacific in answering three questions. Where will we see most innovation in China?Read More →

US president Obama took along a larger number of business people on his trip to Africa, in an effort to outbid the Chinese success in the continent. Former China and Africa correspondent Howard French sees a positive sign as the US wants to do ready with Africa, but wonders in an interview with Valley Public Radio whether the US are ready for a different Africa.Read More →

The French luxury goods conglomerate Kering scored a major PR-success by returning two bronze statues, looted by foreign troops from the Beijing Summer Palace in 1860, to China, business analyst Shaun Rein tells in the Washington Post. The bronze heads of a rat and rabbit were given to China’s National Museum in Beijing.Read More →

A tainted image because of a food scandal is one of the reasons China’s largest pork producer Shuanghui bought America’s largest meat processor Smithfield for US$4.7bn in cash. Shuanghui is trying to upgrade both management and technology, tells business analyst Ben Cavender in the Wall Street Journal.Read More →