Paul Frenchby Fons1 via FlickrPaul French, one of our specialists 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.A few others: In the 1870s Jules Verne comparedRead More →

William Bao Beanby Fons1 via FlickrThe year 2009 has started with a rather large number of people asking to become a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Of course, we are not going to discourage experienced speakers to sign up with our service, but this week the flood has becomeRead More →

Image via WikipediaFor the first time in almost two decades I’m enjoying a New Year in Europe. I hope you all enjoyed it too, or will do so later this year in China, when the Chinese New Year will come over us. The European slowdown during the holidays has slowedRead More →

Victor Shih China’s communist party (CCP) is revamping its way to select its cadres, asking for capabilities rather than connections, writes assistant professor Victor Shih in his weblog. According to a new initiative of Hu Jintao, cadre promotion is now tied to an official’s ability to handle sudden shocks, likeRead More →

Image via WikipediaStarbucks is one of the enterprises in China that is being hit hard by the global downturn, harder than others, writes Shaun Rein in Seeking Alpha, because they rely to a large degree on foreign customers. Rein, director of the China Market Research Group (CMR) has been oneRead More →

Shaun Reinby Fons1 via FlickrContrary to what Western media report, China’s consumers are still going strong, writes Shaun Rein, director of the China Market Research Group (CMR) in Shanghai in Seeking Alpha. Consumers in the US might be in panic after so many lost saving of a life-time, Chinese consumersRead More →

Zhang Lijiaby Fons1 via FlickrToday we published the December newsletter of the China Speakers Bureau. For the readers of this weblog there might not be very much new, but we clustered for example all the links on our speakers’ expectations on what China is going to do economically in 2009.Further,Read More →

Richard Kuslan A rising tide against China and imports from China, notes Richard Kuslan in the US, here in his weblog, triggered off by recalls of cars from China. The animus towards China — specifically imported products — has never, in my lifetime, been as acute nor as widespread thanRead More →

Victor Shih In a decade China’s banks 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. A year ago,Read More →

Kaiser Kuoby Fons1 via FlickrChina’s internet is profoundly different from the internet in the US, Korea or Japan, Kaiser Kuo explains to Thomas Crampton.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’sRead More →

Jasper Becker At the China Speakers Bureau we are reluctant to add too many new categories to our website: too many subdivision make searching often more complicated than easy. And having too many topics with only one speaker is also not a good idea.But on popular demand we have nowRead More →

Shaun Reinby Fons1 via FlickrChina’s consumer spending is going strong and the country is heading for a soft landing from its economic troubles in six months from now, says Shaun Rein, managing director of the China Market Research Group in Shanghai in an interview with China Radio International.Despite all gloomyRead More →