Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Not quite a China century - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff
Not too fast, warns China-watcher Tom Doctoroff in The Huffington Post when the 21th century is baptized the 'China Century". China is not really that eager or able to play a leading role in the world, even when other powers fade away. Tom Doctoroff:
Despite fascination with the world, the Chinese do not assimilate easily. China tries hard to be open -- road signs are bilingual, English is a passion, trade links are robust, macroeconomic policies during financial crises were constructive -- but, emotionally, the nation stands apart. Information is controlled. Defensive instincts militate against free and easy exchange of ideas. Until trust is established, foreigners are treated with polite suspicion. Manufacturers that acquire Western companies have difficulty integrating domestic and international management teams. The global footprint of China's state-controlled English-language news outlets is growing, but broadcasts are so dull international viewers tune out. The opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, impressive in scale and moving in ambition, lapsed into mawkish cliché when gears shifted from celebrating China's glory to preaching "One World, One Dream." 
China's ability to leverage the assets of other cultures is peerless. Its superhighways are modeled after America's and major web portals are copycats of Western sites, tweaked for local users. The Party has also integrated itself into the fabric of the global trading system as a check against domestic weaknesses (for example, poor corporate governance, pliable standards of financial transparency). But, unless deemed "safe," foreigners are still confronted with awkward silences and robotic smiles. Bonding at the national level is a long ways off.
More in The Huffington Post.

More links for Tom Doctoroff in Storify.

Tom Doctoroff is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.
Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted by Fons Tuinstra at 4:35 PM 0 comments
Labels: , ,

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Why Obama triggers a trade war with China - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein 
President Barack Obama is heading for a trade war with China, to divert from his domestic problems. Does the tune sound familiar? Business analyst Shaun Rein dives in his column at CNBC into the Chinese sentiments who blame Obama to develop a contingency policy against China.

Shaun Rein:
A rising chorus in China also thinks America is determined to keep China down, so they are pushing the government to respond forcefully. Obama runs the risk of precipitating a trade war or worse as a response. 
A politically influential person from Beijing told me, "Obama's actions demonstrate he is trying to divert attention away from his inability to jumpstart job growth." He continued to say, “Aside from pandering for votes, Obama is trying to contain China’s rise. We need to stand up to America. Military action is the last resort but we need to show we are strong and won’t be pushed around anymore.” 
The state-owned China Daily ran a similar line underscoring China’s unease with American intentions. Tao Wenzhao, a professor of China-U.S. relations at Beijing's Tsinghua University, wrote of Obama's recent moves, "Such a move by Washington is to contain a fast-growing China and to maintain its ebbing dominance in the region."  ... 
A trade war or worse won’t benefit China or the U.S. In order for America to get out of a recession and ensure global stability, economic not military engagement with China is the answer. Cooler heads need to prevail on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.
More in CNBC.

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.


More links on Shaun Rein and China's economy at Storify
Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted by Fons Tuinstra at 4:48 PM 1 comments
Labels: , , , , ,

Monday, November 28, 2011

Most-read stories November 2011 - top-5

MS speaking&book
Mark Schaub
Our second installment on the top-5 most-read stories for November 2011 show certainly the power of search engines in retrieving stories. Some of the recent stories by Wendell Minnick and Shaun Rein do pretty well, but we see also much interest in stories that are older. 

Winner in November is certainly the spy-story by Wendell Minnick, but otherwise solid economic stories galore, including an oldie by King&Wood lawyers Xu Ping  and Mark Schaub. 

Our listing for November:
  1. Report: PLA's A-team spies on the internet - Wendell Minnick
  2. Outbound Chinese investments - with Xu Ping and Mark Schaub
  3. Needed: a China-first strategy - Shaun Rein
  4. Why Louis Vuitton cannot afford to be too popular - Shaun Rein
  5. What Chinese want - Tom Doctoroff
Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted by Fons Tuinstra at 4:41 PM 0 comments

Sunday, November 27, 2011

What Chinese want - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff
The Communist Party is certainly not on the way out, argues Tom Doctoroff in The Huffington Post. It is one of three arguments in Doctoroff's upcoming book What Chinese Want: Culture, Communism and China's Modern Consumer, expected in May 2012. Political change is not on the agenda.

Tom Doctoroff:
 The West vastly underestimates of the power of the Communist Party as perhaps the strongest, most enduring "brand" in China. Why is Mao Zedong, the father of "New China," still idolized by the majority of the population despite colossal mistakes during the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution? Because he, under the banner of the Party, "liberated" China from foreign invasion and civil war, and unified the country. Propaganda organs proclaim Mao's actions were "seventy percent positive and thirty percent negative." Most agree. Mao still undergirds Party's legitimacy -- to wit, Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai's 2011 revival of revolutionary "red songs."... 
The Chinese people crave order -- stability is the platform on which progress is built. Confucian society is patriarchic, at peace with top-down compliance. The son/subject does not exist independent of his obligations to father/ruler. Democracy in China is tantamount to responsiveness, not representation. Individual rights are abstractions, unless linked to immediate economic or family interests. There were reports of "walking protests" in response to the Arab Spring, but the government effortlessly squelched disturbances. People do not feel safe -- China is not yet "harmonious," and the social safety net is in tatters -- but there is no Plan B. The foundation of Party legitimacy remains the masses' faith in their mandarins' ability to -- somehow, someway -- guide China's long march to prosperity. Father knows best, even if he sometimes makes mistakes.
More in The Huffington Post  


Tom Doctoroff is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch, or fill in our speakers' request form.

You can preorder What Chinese Want: Culture, Communism and China's Modern Consumer.

More on Tom Doctoroff at Storify.
Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted by Fons Tuinstra at 5:15 PM 0 comments
Labels: , ,

Friday, November 25, 2011

Only Europe can save Europe, not China - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein
China is not going to bail out Europe, tells business analyst Shaun Rein at CNBC, only Europe itself can save Europe. China has its own problems, although consumption is expected to rise for the wealthy, while the poor get hit hard by inflation.

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting of conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

More links to Shaun Rein and China's economy on Storify
 
Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted by Fons Tuinstra at 5:01 PM 0 comments
Labels: , ,

Thursday, November 24, 2011

British media on China - Zhang Lijia/Jeremy Goldkorn

Zhang Lijia
The British Chamber of Commerce in Beijing is hosting a debate on how British media report on China, on November 29. Among the panelists, two of our speakers, Zhang Lijia and Jeremy Goldkorn. Is it fair to say the British media paint an unjust picture in its discourse and analysis?

From the invite:
In China there is a widespread belief that the Western media paints a distorted view of what is happening in the country. Recent cries from a range of sources have encouraged the media to be less bias in its portrayal of the Middle Kingdom. However, others argue that there is a solid connection between events on the ground and the way news is reported. 
Is it fair to say the British media paint an unjust picture in its discourse and analysis? Has the UK media’s reporting on China become distorted into the sensational and overly negative because of growing competition in the commercial news business? Or is this so-called ‘China bashing’ simply a true portrayal of the nation’s events? 
Join us in the latest of our Speakers Series in which we hold a lively debate analysing the portrayal of China in the British media. Our panelists will bring their diverse experience and points of view allowing us to hear opinions from both sides of the spectrum.
Apart from Jeremy Goldkorn and Zhang Lijia, other guests include Peter Foster of the Daily Telegraph and Tom Pattison, a media consultant and writer.
Tuesday 29th November 2011 19:00 – 19:15
Registration 19:15 – 20:30
Debate 20:30 – 21:30 Drinks & networking
Venue: Face Bar Add (EN): 26 Dong Cao Yuan, Gong TiNan Lu Chao Yang Ou, Beijing , 100020
Tel: +86 (10) 6551 6788
Cost: 100 RMB members; 200 RMB non members


Zhang Lijia and Jeremy Goldkorn are speakers at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need them at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

More links on Zhang Lijia and China's moral crisis on Storify
Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted by Fons Tuinstra at 5:02 PM 0 comments
Labels: , , , ,

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Local governments more eager to clean up their pollution - Bill Dodson

Bill Dodson
Protests and other bad public relations force local governments increasingly to clean up sources of pollution, writes energy expert Bill Dodson in his cleantech website.  Foreign companies have here great opportunities when they play their cards right.

Bill Dodson:
During mid-2011 the central government designated 4.75 billion yuan (about US$700 million) in subsidies to establish 100 counties as green energy demonstration zones during 2011-15. By 2008 the government had already identified 50 national sustainable development experimental areas and over 100 provincial sustainable development experimental areas. Commensurate with the status is the extent to which cleantech production in the areas is actually “clean”; that is, in which any toxic waste production created is adequately recycled and managed. 
If the waste must be stored, citizens are increasingly holding local authorities responsible for ensuring storage is safe and secure from leakage into surrounding soil and water sources. The most prominent experimental areas have been working to make themselves centers of excellence in cleantech production, and polishing green environment badges of honor... 
Foreign investors that apply their waste disposal or recycling technologies to bear in these designated areas may be able to kick-start their operations in China more quickly than if they randomly target potential buyers throughout the country. Chinese operations are under duress to invest in state-of-the art waste management technologies only to the extent their local governments feel the heat of higher-level officialdom; or, less often, to the extent to which the companies want to develop global brands that differentiate them from the pack in China. 
Global branding of cleantech requires the image of end-to-end application of maintaining environmental integrity in the manufacture of their products. Most Chinese companies, however, still see investments in proper waste disposal or recycling as a balance sheet liability they would prefer to leave to future generations to pay. Foreign suppliers who have local governments on their side find it easier to persuade such companies to adopt more efficient and effective waste management technologies.
Much more at the China Energy sector.

Bill Dodson is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

More on Bill Dodson and doing business in China at Storify.
Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted by Fons Tuinstra at 6:07 PM 0 comments
Labels: , , ,

Global brands must go local to win - Shaun Rein

Global brands are focusing increasingly on China's domestic consumption, but they will lose out if they do not take localization and the wishes of China's consumers serious, writes business analyst Shaun Rein in CNBC. He recalls an international footwear company with sluggish sales in China.

Shaun Rein:
Even worse, the head of marketing refused to let his colleagues based in China alter advertising developed for the home market in any way, even forbidding the use of Chinese language in all ad copy. Posters and brochures in China were identical to campaigns run in Africa, Europe and America. Consumers told us later in interviews they were confused by ads with English taglines and product descriptions. Most had “no idea” what the writing meant which “often drove them to buy other brands.” 
When I asked the marketing head why he did not want to “localize” he gave me the line which many brand managers surprisingly still use, “We are a global brand and global brands have to ensure standardization across all markets.” 
Being a global brand in today’s world no longer means using the same standard advertising copy, product lines, and brand positioning in all markets. Truly global brands must localize product development and advertising campaigns for key markets. No longer does simply transporting what worked in the Western world to markets like China work.
More in CNBC.


Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

More on Shaun Rein and China's economy at Storify.
Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted by Fons Tuinstra at 5:43 PM 0 comments
Labels: , , ,

Eulogy to my Grandma - Zhang Lijia

Zhang Lijia
Celebrity author Zhang Lijia went recently to her home town Nanjing and recalls the found memories of the place where her grandma used to live when she was alive. Her memories and a her eulogy to her grandma at Zhang Lijia's weblog.

 Zhang Lijia's eulogy from 13 years ago:
One thing I must mention is her good looks. In her youth, grandma was stunningly beautiful with a perfect oval shaped face where two lovely dimples danced as she smiled, ever so readily. When my sister and I saw her old photos, we always felt sorry that some of her beauty had not passed down to us! Even when she was old, she aged with grace. By the time she passed away, her skin was still smooth and her hair was mostly black. And she was famously clean and tidy. I am very glad she went as a neat person, though worn and thin. The doctor warned there could be some unpleasant discharges. But there was none, no mess, not even bed sores, although she was bed-ridden for a long time. 
Despite what she had gone through in life, the war, the ‘Rape of Nanjing’ in particular and turbulent personal life, grandma always felt she was a lucky person. Like many people from her generation, she had this amazing ability to take suffering without bitterness. She pinned her hopes on us three children. Now, we all turned out fine. My sister Huang Weijia has a fairly important job at the local government and she is driven around everywhere; my brother Zhang Xiaoshi works at a bank and recently passed his exam as economist; I myself work as a journalist, a profession I love and have dreamed of. And we are all married with kids. Though the second child, I was the last one to have a child of my own. One year ago, when I returned home to show off my one month old daughter May, grandma was absolutely thrilled. She confessed to me: “I really thought you two could not do it! You never know about a foreigner. Now, my heart is at ease.” 
In grandma’s last hours, all the family members in four generations gathered around to send her off. The Buddhist chanting music was played day and night. Always a non-practice believer, she formally converted to Buddhism in the last six months of her life After she had left so peacefully, my brother’s Buddhist friends came to chant to release her soul from purgatory. It was very touching as they sat chanting the same mantra through the whole night without stopping, amituofu, amituofu, amituofu… Being such a good person all your life, grandma, I am sure you will be living blissfully in heaven. In this world, you’ve done everything you could, leaving no regrets. And there is no unfulfilled wish, is there? Please go well, my good grandma.
More at Zhang Lijia's weblog

More on Zhang Lijia at Storify.

Zhang Lijia is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request.
Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted by Fons Tuinstra at 5:19 PM 0 comments
Labels: , , ,

The property industry is booming like crazy - Bill Dodson

Bill Dodson
Many media report China's property industry is collapsing and heading for a rough landing. That is not what business analyst Bill Dodson sees on the ground. On his weblog he reports how construction actually went crazy over the past month.

Bill Dodson:
The past month here on the ground in the Yangtze River Delta has seen activity that runs counter to macroeconomic measures in the property development sector. By all accounts, construction sites are supposed to be grinding to a halt and new projects deferred indefinitely. Instead, what I and Western friends are seeing is an acceleration of construction activity. 
Where for the last two years we’ve only had to bear incessant noise, dirt and dust from sunrise to sunset, now we are hearing construction activity 24/7 the past three weeks (whenever I became conscious in the shift of pace of construction). And new development projects are continuing to sprout up around us in a region that theoretically is economically mature. It seems a near-impossibility to escape the din of construction machines punching the ground or stamping steel or crunching concrete... 
We’re not entirely sure of why construction activity has accelerated recently; however, we’re sure it has to do as much with uncertainty about what the government will do next with the property sector as much as uncertainty about the Chinese economy in general. Some of the questions likely at the forefront of the minds of developers include: will the government end bank loans to developers completely at the end of the year? will they end all construction projects for and indefinite period of time? and will they be able to find buyers for their residential projects and renters for their office property? 
One thing, however, is certain: the accelerated pace of construction does not fill me with any greater sense of security in the integrity of the finished structures.
More on Bill Dodson's weblog.

More links for Bill Dodson at Storify

Bill Dodson is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.
Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted by Fons Tuinstra at 4:44 PM 0 comments
Labels: , , , ,

Ambassador Nicolas Platt endorses "The End of Cheap China" - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein
Shaun Rein's book  The End of Cheap China: Economic and Cultural Trends that will Disrupt the World was earlier this week #23 at the Amazon bestseller list for economic books, while you can only pre-order it! A growning number of celebrities endorses the book.

Shaun Rein:
Ambassador Nicholas Platt (President Emeritus for the Asia Society) along with others like legendary investor Anthony Bolton (president of Fidelity) and Professor William Kirby (Harvard Business School professor and former Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard) endorsed the book. 
Ambassador Nicolas Platt says:  "The End of Cheap China is an indispensable guide to the rapid changes in China's economy and society. Shaun Rein has observed at first hand the developments that shape the attitudes and behavior of his own coming generation. His firm has analyzed, as well as helped shape, the markets he describes. A practical, must read for anyone dealing with China, doing business there, or simply trying to understand what is going on."
Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.  

  More links to Shaun Rein at Storify
.
Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted by Fons Tuinstra at 4:24 PM 0 comments
Labels: , ,

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Assignment China opening up - Foreign correspondents in China

Richard Milhous Nixon, 37th President of the U...A nice documentary of the USC US-China Institute, a documentary of the first generation foreign correspondents in China after 1979 by Mike Chinoy (who must have been part of the second generation). Almost everybody must have been interview, including Graham Earnshaw who was representing the British agency Reuters.

European journalists could enter the country already before the famous Nixon trip to Beijing, but apart from Graham, the focus is clearly on the US veterans. I had never heard of the Philippian story, but I was a foreign correspondent from the 1990s and in Shanghai, so a part of their war stories I knew, but nice enough to have some new stories. But it was not really a sentimental journey. And we were not as close as the first generation US correspondents.

Might be nice for the current foreign correspondents who last week complained it took so long before they got their visas. China's treatment of foreign correspondents might not be perfect, but much has improved indeed. And footage from a very young Graham Earnshaw, a musical genius already in the 1980s.

Update: You can find some recent music by Graham Earnshaw here.

 
Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted by Fons Tuinstra at 10:52 PM 0 comments
Labels: , ,

Friday, November 18, 2011

China should not ease lending too fast - Victor Shih

Victor Shih
Dropping inflation, a bumper harvest, falling food prices and other good financial news does not mean China's financial institutions should leave their policies of tight lending, writes financial analyst Victor Shih in the Financial Times. Even though many industries anticipate easier lending soon.

Victor Shih:
The sell side community is already priming for macroeconomic loosening in the form of reserve requirement ratio reduction or even a drop in interest rates. 
To be sure, some liquidity would alleviate pressure in many quarters. 
The entire Rmb1,000bn railroad construction industry faced mass bankruptcy until the central government ordered banks to lend Rmb200bn to bail-out the Ministry of Railroad and its contractors. 
Wen Jiabao had to fly to Wenzhou to order banks to keep lending to small and medium enterprises. Some are hoping that the government will do the same for infrastructure and real estate through more general easing. 
Yet, policymakers should think twice before easing too much. Inflation remains high, and food inflation for the year remains at over 12 per cent, which especially high pressure on low income households. 
Aggressive general easing, such as a rapid lowering of RRR, would once again build up inflationary expectation in China and international expectation for high commodities prices. China could be back in a high inflation situation in a year’s time. Moreover, any aggressive easing now would render macroeconomic tightening incredible in the future.
Victor Shih is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

More links to Victor Shih's activities at Storify.
Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted by Fons Tuinstra at 4:34 PM 0 comments
Labels: , , , ,

Thursday, November 17, 2011

US Congress members fear loss of military secrets - Wendell Minnick

Wendell Minnick
Two members of US Congress have asked for a National Security Review and a Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States review into a new GE joint venture with the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), writes defense analyst Wendell Minnick in Defense News.

Wendell Minnick:
Two letters sent to [defense secretary Leon] Panetta - from Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., and Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va. - criticize the GE deal with AVIC by questioning the formation of an enterprise to develop integrated modular avionics (IMA) hardware and software for China. 
"This IMA technology was developed originally for the ... F-22 and F-35 fifth-generation fighter program," Forbes wrote in the Oct. 17 letter. 
Forbes said he is concerned the technology could end up in China's new stealth fighter, the J-20, under production by AVIC. 
Wolf responded with a Nov. 14 letter strongly supporting Forbes' call for a review and questioning whether GE could protect secrets from an aggressive Chinese espionage effort. 
"Given the breadth and scope of this espionage, GE's assertions that they will be able to fully protect sensitive technology lacks credibility," he wrote. "Should the GE-AVIC joint venture proceed, there is no question that all the sensitive technology involved will be completely compromised by the PLA [China's People's Liberation Army]."
More in Defense News.

Wendell Minnick is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch, or fill in our speakers' request form.  
Related articles
More links to Wendell Minnick at Storify.Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted by Fons Tuinstra at 4:29 PM 0 comments
Labels: , , , , ,

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

'Wait and See' for advertising in 2012 - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff
Tom Doctoroff of JWT in Shanghai discusses with colleagues his bullish predictions on advertising in China for 2012 at Thoughtful China. Doctoroff see 'nervousness' among his multinational clients, as media costs skyrocket, while budgest do not follow the 30 percent increases, and even digital sees higher costs.

Tom Doctoroff is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.
Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted by Fons Tuinstra at 5:08 PM 0 comments
Labels: , , ,

Building bridges on garbage - Bill Dodson

Bill Dodson
Quality is an ongoing problem in China, and business veteran Bill Dodson reports on his weblog about the habit of filling railway bridges not with concrete, but with trash. Old habit die hard, he sights.

Bill Dodson:
I wrote about this sort of padding two years ago in an article for CHaINA magazine, when there was a rash of bridge collapses. Though officials were censured and construction companies fined, seems old habits die hard. Of course, the last thing the nation’s leaders need is for this to be found on their coveted high-speed railway. 
Nevertheless, the company responsible for the garbage bridges, China Railway Material Commercial is pushing ahead with a Rmb14.7 billion ($2.3 billion) IPO in Shanghai. 
A migrant worker who helped build the bridges said to Chinese media, “I wouldn’t dare to take the train once it’s finished.” 
A wise man indeed.
More on Bill Dodson's weblog

More on Bill Dodson and China's economy at Storify.


Bill Dodson is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.
Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted by Fons Tuinstra at 4:43 PM 0 comments
Labels: , ,

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Why Louis Vuitton cannot afford to be too popular - Shaun Rein

Boutique Louis Vuitton - Champs-Élysées - Paris
Louis Vuitton in Paris
Being popular in China seems attractive to many luxury products, but - argues retail analyst Shain Rein in CNBC - Louis Vuitton is becoming so popular, it might wipe away its attraction as a luxury asset. What should Louis Vuitton do?

Shaun Rein:
My firm conducted interviews with several dozen mega wealthy with investible assets of more than $10 million. The majority told us they no longer wanted to buy Louis Vuitton. As a woman in Beijing, who is worth billions, said, "Louis Vuitton has become too ordinary. Everyone has it. You see it in every restaurant in Beijing. I prefer Chanel or Bottega Veneta now. They are more exclusive." 
Soaring wealth and obsession with luxury products provides huge opportunities for luxury retailers. The number of Chinese millionaires are estimated to more than double in the next five years. The Hurun Report estimates there are 271 billionaires, up from 189 in 2010. That growth is also causing challenges for Louis Vuitton and other historically dominant players like Zegna and Omega to maintain market share because the truly wealthy no longer want to buy the same fashion brands everyone else has... 
To stave off competition from very exclusive brands, and premium brands like Coach, Louis Vuitton is going to have to spend more on marketing to maintain its exclusivity. So far it has kept ahead of the curve, launching multi-story flagship stores in key shopping areas and marketing initiatives in conjunction with the Beijing National Museum. 
Celebrity endorsers like Angelina Jolie also help add luster. These initiatives are key to maintaining status but will become increasingly costly, squeezing margins, as rent and labor costs go up. 
Louis Vuitton’s parent group, LVMH, should consider more acquisitions at the higher end to capture wealthy consumers tiring of its flagship brand. It has bought stakes in Hermes but should try buying high-end brands outright to capture the truly wealthy segment.
ShaunReinportrait
Shaun Rein
More in CNBC


Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

More links to Shaun Rein's activities in storify.
Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted by Fons Tuinstra at 4:14 PM 0 comments
Labels: , , , , , , ,

Monday, November 14, 2011

The poor state of China's animation industry - Bill Dodson

Bill Dodson
China's animation industry has trying to promote itself on the international market, writes business veteran Bill Dodson on his weblog. But they gain mostly domestic customers, as quality does not meet international expectations.

Bill Dodson:
Now that I have a toddler of my own I find myself flicking through local Chinese TV stations to find children’s programming that’s interesting for ME to watch. It doesn’t exist – at least, the stuff that’s domestically made. It’s all South-Park style animation – flat, basic shapes put together with citrus-sliced smiles. South Park animators, though, draw their characters with affect. Chinese domestic animators, I think, don’t have the budgets or the delivery schedules or the skills or the technology or the patience to produce Japanese-style animations (anime). I think the best Chinese animators are working for the gaming industry, where they can copy World of Warcraft and other popular universes. 
Of course, salary inflation in China and salary deflation in the West have rebalanced the flow of animation work, dealing a blow not just to animation as a services outsourcing industry, but also to software application development, back office administration and other long-distance support services. 
Seeing Chinese services outsourcing for international customers on the same scale as Indian-style platforms is as likely as seeing a well-drawn children’s animated feature come out of China with international appeal. A very long shot at best.
More on Bill Dodson's weblog

Bill Dodson is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch, or fill in our speakers' request form.

More links to Bill Dodson on Storify
Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted by Fons Tuinstra at 4:20 PM 0 comments
Labels: , , ,

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Useful corruption - Zhang Lijia

Zhang Lijia
Officially corruption is not done, also in China. But a bit of corruption can be very useful, explains author Zhang Lijia on her weblog. For example, when you have to catch the train to Nanjing on 9 a.m. and you do not have the right ticket.
It was now 8.40 am. The gate to the 9 am train wasn’t open yet. Tailing behind the woman, we came to a side entrance. She told people guarding the entrance that I was on her tour. They just opened the gate without even checking my ticket. The granny obviously knew her way around as she chatted with people along the way. On the top of the stairs that led down to the platform, she pointed at the train and said: “That’s your train. You go. Now, 30 yuan.” As simple as this? “No, please take me to the train as you promised,” I pleaded. Granny eyed at me up and down. “What do you do, reading books in foreign language?” she pointed at a novel in English I was holding, Amitav, Gosh’s Glass Palace. I had to take it out of my small back pack because it was bursting with presents I had just bought for my family. “I am a writer,” I said. “Writer! Wow, my daughter loves literature,” a smile blossomed on her winkled face. “Come on then. I am wasting so much time here. I could have signed up more people on my tours but you are a writer,” she talked garrulously. 
We got on the train where the attendants were getting things ready. Granny told one of them to keep an eye out for me. The girl suggested that I go to carriage 4 – the dinning car to wait – since the train was full. In the dining carriage, I found two tall round tables but no seats. In a few minutes, passengers burst onto the train and occupied their rightful positions; uniformed staff briskly walked past the dining area. I avoided eye contacts with them – I still wasn’t sure what would become of me. I anxiously waited for the departure of the train. Only then would I feel safe. I was very glad to receive a phone call from a French friend. We chatted and laughed until the train started to move. Then I let out a sigh of relief. To justify my presence, I bought a cup of tea. A sweet young girl serving behind the counter smiled brightly at me: “Are you a Chinese? Your English sounds so good!” I confirmed that I am Chinese, from Nanjing. I nursed my tea, leaning against a rail by the window. There were a few others hanging out at the dining car. I wondered what their stories were. The girl kindly informed me that there was still one free seat among the seats that allocated to the dinning passengers, right behind the dinning carriage. I nodded gratefully. Just as I picked up my bag, my coat and shawl, a man in a fine suit dashed out. By the time I reached the seats, I found the man in suit sitting among the diners, his head leaning against the seat, eyes closed. 
I returned to the dining car. No big deal, I told myself, as long as I could stay on the train, I could handle standing for an hour. But the sweet girl was determined to help me. She went out and returned with the news that one of diners said I could take his seat in carriage 7. Off I went, with a seat and an almost legitimate status on the train. With my own ticket, I passed the ticket checkout point at Nanjing station without a hiccup. The granny scheme worked! I guess that’s the thing with corruption in China: everyone hates it and everyone is also willing to be part of it.
More at her weblog.

More on Zhang Lijia and China's moral crisis on Storify.

Zhang Lijia is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch, or fill in our speakers' request form.  
Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted by Fons Tuinstra at 11:03 PM 0 comments
Labels: , , , ,

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Al Jazeera's red carpet into Zhongnanhai

Al Jazeera in AmericaThe news station Al Jazeera did it on Saturday again: they aired a lengthy interview with Guan Guanzhong, the head of China's largest independent credit rating agency, Dagong Credit, warning for the ongoing monetary crisis of the USA, and an expected downgrade of the status of the US bonds. (I have included this broadcast here.)

For Al Jazeera this was the second hit in a short time, as it earlier has an interview with CIC-chairman Jin Liqun, China's souverain fund.

Both gentlemen have also severe warning for Europe, although Mr. Jian praises Europe for not devaluating its currency, compared to the US. 

Interesting is that Al Jazeera has been able to obtain a red-carpet treatment into China's financial leadership. Apart from a congratulation on the address of Al Jazeera, it seems also that China's leadership is doing a concerted effort to talk to the world, and would rather avoid the American and European financial media. No more thoughts at this time, but it is after two hits a possible trend that is worth to watch.
(First published at Fons Tuinstra's weblog)

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta
Posted by Fons Tuinstra at 11:26 PM 0 comments
Labels: , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
google-site-verification: google87fb74764570cd64.html