Two months ago we still hoped the event industry would recover from the Covid-19 crisis in a similar way as SARS in 2002/3. But history seldom repeats itself and also in this case it looks we have been too optimistic. While much of Europe is slowly opening up, and other parts of the world remain in crisis mode, the traditional events as we knew them might not return any time soon. Whether we will go through a second wave of the corona crisis is still an open question: major disruption is here to stay.

That is bad news for those event companies who relied on physical conferences including massive flights, hotel bookings, and entertainment for their business model. Much of our business disappeared initially, leaving our speakers often empty-handed. Now a miraculous revival of the event industry might not come fast, at the CSB we can focus on our core business: connecting established China experts to companies and organizations eager to pick their brains, now in online seminars.Read More →

Chinese listings at US stock markets got recently under fire. Former US assistant trade representative Harry Broadman looks with some amazement at this market at the International Finance Law Review (IFLR). “After decades of working in China intensively on financial accounting, there is not a single state-owned enterprise I’ve worked on that I can think of that abided by international accounting standards,” Broadman says.Read More →

Nationalistic sentiments at the recent National People’s Congress (NPC) triggered off proposals to abolish English translations on all government-related events in China. London-based author Zhang Lijia explains why that is the wrong move, and why learning English is still important, also for Chinese, at the South China Morning Post.Read More →

What can brands learn from China for the post-corona crisis? Marketing expert Arnold Ma from Qumin in London joins a discussion at Retail Marketing. Building loyalty during a crisis is key, he says. Some traditional behaviors will return to the old patterns, but consumers will stick to newly developed insights, he adds.Read More →

Marketing veteran Ashley Dudarenok explains how she joined the social media bandwagon in China post-2009 for her marketing ventures, interviewed by 852 Reboot HK. With remarks on the future of Hong Kong and the fallout of the coronavirus. And why companies need at least seven business models to survive 2020.Read More →

Renowned economist Arthur Kroeber, author of the bestseller China’s Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know®, dives into the information explosion after the Covid-19 virus did hit China. Much information is available, but most is of low quality, he argues, and here he does a reality check of what we can say at this stage in April, including Europe and the US.Read More →