Friday, December 30, 2011

Fine chocolate: the ideal China gift - Shaun Rein

BEIJING - JANUARY 29: A general view of the c...
Chocolate warriors
The Europeans, especially the Belgians and the Swiss, bring China the ideal gift for the wealthy: chocolate. Shanghai's World Chocolate Wonderland showcases. Fine chocolate is high on the agenda of affluent shoppers, tells business analyst Shaun Rein in the Financial Times. 

The Financial Times:
China's increasingly affluent consumers are boosting spending on fine chocolates, says Shaun Rein, author of The End of Cheap China: Economic and Cultural Trends that will Disrupt the World. 
More than half of China's chocolate sales are for gifts. Christmas and next month's Lunar New Year are the peak seasons. 
Rein says costly confection fills a gap in traditional present buying. "When you don't want to buy someone a Mont Blanc pen but you want to buy something more expensive than mooncakes [a traditional gift for the mid-autumn festival] ... chocolate hits a good market position. There just aren't that many other prestige gift items in the $50-$200 range."

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 . 

ShaunReinportrait
Shaun Rein
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Thursday, December 22, 2011

Telecommunication changes for 2012 - Tricia Wang

Tricia Wang
Sociologist Tricia Wang maps out for 88-bar.com the competitive playing field between China's largest telecom providers, China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile. What can their customers expect for 2012?

Tricia Wang:
From the clouds to the ground, 2012 looks like it’s going to be an exciting year for mobile  industry. China Telecom is going abroad to offer mobile services for the transnational elite who travel between China and North America. China Unicom just launched a new mobile internet platform, the Wo-plus Opening System. Let’s see how long China Mobile 600 million 2G users can wait for 3G before switching to Unicom or Telecom. Now that China is the world’s largest smartphone market, how will the future of hardware and software evolve? We already have a glimpse from HTC of their new Sina Weibo smartphone. And then to top if off, both China Telecom and China Unicom may lower broadband prices! 
With all these technical and market changes, one of the big questions for 2012 is will Chinese citizens will be relieved of telecommunications costs? Or will 2012 could be the equivalent to the 1996 Telecommunications Act in the United States where institutions benefited more from telecommunication reforms than individuals? [1] We’ll have to see who benefits from thee anti-monopoly investigation. 
With the stable divisions of China Unicom, China Mobile, & China Telecom, we don’t hear of potential industry shake ups like this very often. I imagine that Chinese Telcom scholar, Eric Harwitt, is giddy with news. But luckily we have Marc Laperrouzag, so we won’t have to wait a few years for a book or paper to be published to stay up to date on the details. 
Let’s hope for faster and more equitable broadband access in 2012! 新年快乐!
More in 88-bar.com

Tricia Wang is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. She will be in Europe for an academic conference in Switzerland and is available for speeches in the third week of February. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch, or fill in our speakers' request form.

More on Tricia Wang's exploration of China's economic underbelly at Storify.
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My life as a street vendor - Tricia Wang

Tricia Wang
Doing fieldwork among migrants offers sociologist Tricia Wang unprecedented insights in the life of the uprooted part of China's society. On her weblog she recalls her days when she joined a migrant family to work as a street vendor, staying with the family of a friend.

Tricia Wang's fieldnotes:
Tricia Wang in the summer of 2011
I can hear the husband and wife fighting about this every night. It puts a lot of stress on the family. The mother is getting nervous that they are not even close to turning a profit. Everyday around dinner time, she

says, "we have to start making at least some money so that we can buy food.We need to buy meat." She needs cash to buy food for dinner. The most they have brought in so far was 200RMB on a good day. But most days only make 100RMB. The friend who told them about this place was supposedly making 500-600RMB a day. The younger brother keeps reminding the family of the friend's situation. Then the husband says that his friend makes a lot of money because sells good food. He pointed out that they didn't have return customers. All the other street vendors' carts had regular workers but no one ever came back to their cart. 
Everyday activity has begun to wear on all of our bodies. Trips to the supermarkets, washing clothes, and going to the bathroom seemed to be a big ordeal. 
Unloading and loading takes a total of 3 hours a day (4 rounds in total per day). Each bike ride to the market involves a total of 1 hour of loading and unloading items back into the room. Someone had to unload the cart, put everything inside the room, and then hide the valuable stuff (e.g. batteries) with a blanket. The reason why they have to go to the market in the morning and after lunch is because the freezer doesn't work properly. As a result, they could only buy food that can be cooked immediately. Not unloading is not an option because they need the free space in the cart to bring groceries back and they can't leave their belongings outside and not have it stolen. 
Anything involving water takes ten times longer because there is only 1 faucet for every 4 homes. And there is only 1 pipe for every 5 faucets. So if any of the 20 families use a faucet, none of the other 19 families have access to a working faucet. Someone is always washing vegetables, dishes, hair, or clothes unless it is 3am in the morning. A few times we were not able to get arrive at the construction site in time to sell food because we were waiting to use the faucet. Water costs 10RMB/person/month. As a result, most of the food is not washed well or at all; it is soaked, and the same water is then used to soak other vegetables.
More on Tricia Wang's weblog

Tricia Wang is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. She will be in Europe for an academic conference in Switzerland and is available for speeches in the third week of February. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch, or fill in our speakers' request form.

 More on Tricia Wang's experiences in China's economic underbelly in Storify.
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Better to spend money on soccer players than bribes - Rowan Simons

Rowan Simons
The influx of well-paid international soccer stars into Chinese club might not be the best way to support grassroots soccer, tells author Rowan Simons in SportsDay, but it is better to pay high-flyers like Nicolas Anelka in stead of bribes, as was common practices.

Sportsday:
“This is just the beginning. Every transfer window from now on you will expect to see more 30-plus world stars, or previous world stars, starting to take big salary payments for a couple of years in China,” said Rowan Simons, a British ex-pat who in his 2009 book Bamboo Goalposts wrote of his dogged efforts to develop soccer in his adopted country... 
China’s women’s national team nearly won the World Cup in 1999, holding Mia Hamm and the United States scoreless for 120 minutes in the final before succumbing in a penalty kick shootout at the Rose Bowl. The men’s team, however, has never won a game or even scored a goal at the World Cup, going 0-3-0 in its lone appearance in 2002. The current team has already been eliminated from qualifying for the 2014 tournament in Brazil. 
Rather than spending on talent or player development, the Chinese for years have used their money to buy off referees and players. Just this week, several Chinese Football Association officials and referees — including a former director of the CFA’s referee committee — went on trial on match-fixing charges. 
Simons says the new spending spree on talent could be good for China, with money that might have been spent on rigging results now going toward purchasing high-profile players. But, speaking on the BBC radio program World Football, he expressed skepticism “whether this new injection of cash at the top will really have a significant impact on the grass roots,” which is where China has long suffered.
More in SportsDay

Rowan Simons 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.
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Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The CNN, Christian Bale stunt: fail of journalistic integrity - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein
In an amazing act of unprofessional behavior CNN took last week the British actor Christian Bale to visit Chen Guangcheng, a blind legal activist, hitting a world-wide audience, but leaving many wonder what the broadcasters was doing. "A complete failure of journalistic integrity," writes Shaun Rein in Forbes.  

Shaun Rein:
CNN’s China team, in a complete failure of journalistic integrity, decided last week to become the news rather than just report it. The actor Christian Bale called CNN to follow him as he drove for eight hours to confront police to try to see Chen Guangcheng, a blind legal activist being held in his home in the eastern Chinese village of Linyi. Bale was in China to promote his movie about the Rape of Nanking by Japanese troops in 1937. 
CNN did Bale one better. It became complicit in Bale’s activism by actually planning the trip and driving him to Linyi. CNN reporter Steven Jiang then translated for Bale as he argued with Chinese police officers and refused to comply with their directives to leave. CNN posted video of the trip on its website, calling it exclusive, showing police forcing Bale to leave while Bale chastised the government, saying its treatment of Chen ”represents the power structure and their attitude towards their own citizens, which is disgusting.”.. 
As Adam Minter, of Bloomberg in Shanghai, tweeted, “News orgs that want to maintain their credibility in China don’t set up confrontations between cops and celebrities, at celebrity request.” Minter hit the nail on the head. Journalists need to maintain objectivity and cover both sides of a problem rather than become the story by being activists. CNN’s China coverage has lost what little credibility it had with this escapade, and that is a terrible shame, for the network has often shed light on areas that needed more light.
More in Forbes.

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.
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Kim Jong-un well prepared for his task - Paul French

Paul French
North-Korea's new leader Kim Jong-un has been prepared for his new job, probably better than most observers know, says historian and research Paul French, author of the North Korea: The Paranoid Peninsula: A Modern History, Second Edition in Channel 4 news.

Channel 4 news:
Unlike his fellow North Koreans, Kim Jong-un has been exposed to the world outside the communist state after attending school in Switzerland, where he is said to have learned English, German and French, as well as developing a fondness for basketball. 
He may be his father's youngest son, but Paul French, author of North Korea: The Paranoid Peninsula, points out that it was not much of a contest: the oldest son tried to visit Disneyland in Tokyo on a false passport, while his brother is known to have been gambling in Macau, China. "Or you can have the quiet one who has been at a Swiss finishing school," he told Channel 4 News... 
Paul French says that being part of the central military command has been a crucial part of his training. "That is where a lot of the decision-making takes place, and similarly to China and Russia, it's where the Communist party, the state and the army come together. He has been involved in real decision making," he added.
More in Channel 4

Paul French 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.
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Pudong proves real-estate pundits wrong - Sam Crispin

Sam Crispin
Ten years ago real-estate expert Sam Crispin was seen by his peers as a contrarian, with a bullish report on the Shanghai mega district Pudong. Today Pudong has become a convincing success of what was erstwhile seen as state-engineered lunacy, Sam Crispin tells in the Wall Street Journal.

The Wall Street Journal:
Sam Crispin's bullish reports on Pudong a decade ago made the property analyst a contrarian. 
Now, as director of China real estate at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC, Mr. Crispin says growing talk about China's unoccupied "ghost cities" reminds him of the doubts many had about Pudong. "A lot of the commentary frankly was quite similar to the ideas that are being bandied about for the property market today," he says. "The reasoning is quite similar—who's going to occupy all those buildings?" 
Mr. Crispin argues that the lesson of Pudong is how badly Chinese demand was underestimated. Real-estate development, he says, tends to produce "sensationalist" viewpoints. 
Within weeks of Mr. Deng's 1990 endorsement, the government unveiled a blueprint and earmarked billions of dollars to pay for it.
More in The Wall Street Journal.

Sam Crispin 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.
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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

China's rich get richer and more confident - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein
Luxury good producers like Louis Vuitton and Porsche do not have to panic after Robert Frank's WSJ article suggesting China's wealthy stop spending. Frank looked at the lower middle class, argues business analyst Shaun Rein in CNBC. According to his research, the real wealthy Chinese spend more than ever.

Shaun Rein:
The results show the ultra rich, people worth more than $10 million, are actually getting richer and remain very confident about their earning ability and those worth more than one million dollars also reported being very confident. The vast majority reported that they planned to spend at the same or higher level in 2012.  One businessman in the services sector in Shanghai told me, “The economic problems are serious but we expect profits to rise by 30 percent next year. Even if profits don’t go up, I plan on spending at the same levels or more.” 
What do these wealthy Chinese want? Our research suggests that they are continuing to go for ultra-high end products and are looking to buy luxury cars like Mercedes and BMW. Restrictions on the number of houses one can buy and a weak stock market is also making the wealthy spend more and invest less. 
The result is that exclusive brands, like watch and jewelry brand Van Cleef & Arpels for instance, will continue to do well in 2012 as the wealthy start to differentiate themselves from others. Many wealthy Chinese told us they are tiring of the more popular luxury brands like Louis Vuitton because they are becoming too common.
 More in CNBC.  

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

More links to Shaun Rein and his upcoming book The End of Cheap China in Storify.
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Monday, December 19, 2011

Lack of institutional trust hampers computer industry - Tricia Wang

Tricia Wang
People and institutions in China's computer industry do not trust each other, stalling innovation, argues sociologist Tricia Wang on her weblog. Without trust there will be no collaboration, and no innovation.

Tricia Wang:
But these collaborations are still far and few between and more importantly, they operate independently from each other. Industrial social structures matter in how industries form, as demonstrated by AnnaLee Saxenian's research on the emergence of Silicon Valley in California. Her analysis revealed that tech companies in Boston, Massachusetts Route 128 operated in a decentralized and independent fashion, while companies in California's Silicon Valley adopted a more decentralized but cooperative system. She argued that Silicon Valley was able to generate more innovation because its unique industrial structure encouraged collaboration between companies. 
Trust is an essential factor for collaboration. The missing ingredient in Route 128 wasn't investment or human capital, it was trust. Without the underlying social bond of trust, companies were largely isolated from each other, which prevented collaboration. Lack of collaboration hindered healthy levels of sharing and competition. 
The Chinese tech industry is set up more like Route 128 than Silicon Valley. There are pockets of innovation in China, but the innovators are not networked, nor are they collaborating. A common question that Chinese people ask is why China does not have a Steve Jobs. Whenever I hear this question, I ask myself, could Steve Jobs have created Apple in Route 128, instead of Silicon Valley? I'll leave that question for the experts to ponder.
More on Tricia Wang's Weblog.

An earlier installment on her latest publication, on the lack of common stories that bind China's computer industry, you can find here.

Tricia Wang is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. She will be in Europe for an academic conference in Switzerland and is available for speeches in the third week of February. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch, or fill in our speakers' request form.

More on Tricia Wang, exploring China's underbelly, on Storify.
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Saturday, December 17, 2011

Time for people-to-people relationships - Kaiser Kuo

Kaiser Kuo
Setting the stage for the holiday season, Chinese American Kaiser Kuo, currently director international relations for search engine Baidu, calls for real people-to-people relationship on a rally to support Americans studying in China and improve mutual relations, according to the China Daily.
While [US ambassador to China] Locke and other speakers worked Saturday night's crowd at the capital's Temple Theater like a pep-rally, online media expert Kaiser Kuo ended the event with a sense of urgency and concern. 
"It wasn't long ago that encounters between the two countries were pretty much stage-managed," says Kuo, a New York-born rock musician and director of Baidu International Communications. "Sister cities were established, and trade delegations traveled back and forth." 
Today, he says, the need for real people-to-people relations has become critical as China's rising power has become a topic of debate in US elections. While the US is experiencing a crisis of confidence, China is riding a surge of nationalism. 
"Both nations have a great sense of destiny and a sense of exceptionalism," he says, and public opinion in both countries is more important than ever. 
The Internet, he adds, is not always an asset in the relationship. 
"The Internet was supposed to make us all hold hands and sing Kumbaya," he says, "but in reality the average citizen in each country knows just enough about the other to be dangerous." 
Kuo recalls the events of May 1999 when US planes bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, an attack the White House said was a tragic mistake. 
"At that time, there were 8 million people online in China," Kuo says, "and the outrage was immense".
"Imagine if that happened today, with 500 million Chinese online. The river of fire could overflow almost instantaneously, with people on both sides of the Pacific eager to think the worst of each other."
More in the US edition of the China Daily.

More links on Kaiser Kuo and the Chinese internet at Storify.

Kaiser Kuo 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.
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Wednesday, December 14, 2011

The End of Cheap China is near - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein
The upcoming presidential elections in the US, cause a rise in tensions with China, business analyst Shaun Rein observes in Forbes. An advanced warning from his upcoming book The End of Cheap China.

Shaun Rein:
As a patriotic American who has lived in China for much of the last 15 years, I am saddened seeing the tension rise, and I don’t think a new cold war is out of the question. Much of the strain comes from a misunderstanding, sometimes willful, among many in the West about how China is evolving, and from the perpetuation of simply wrong ideas about the nation. For instance, New York Times columnist and Princeton professor Paul Krugman calls China a “bad actor” that is “stealing” American jobs by keeping the value of its currency low. 
In my new book, The End of Cheap China, I argue that analyses by Krugman and others do not hold up to even basic scrutiny, and I describe not only the true disruption China’s rise could cause but also the opportunities it offers for American job creation. 
In one chapter I analyze China’s currency and show that China’s manufacturing beats America’s because of superior infrastructure and efficient labor pools, not because of a manipulated currency, as Krugman argues.  I point out that China is no longer a cheap place to do business. Not only did its currency appreciate by 8% in the last year, but 21 of China’s 31 provinces increased their minimum wage this year by 22%. Office space is more expensive in Shanghai than in many Western capitals. Currency rates are not the only mechanism for repairing cost imbalances—a fact that Krugman does not seem to get.
More in Forbes

Links to Shaun Rein's upcoming book in Storify

Shaun Rein is a speaker in the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.
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Looking for the bad guys, the shanzai story - Tricia Wang

Tricia Wang
Sociologist Tricia Wang discusses what is holding back China's computing industry from creating disruptive innovation. The lack of a common story that binds the industry, is one of a set of shortcomings, she argues on her weblog. Perhaps with the exception of mobile: shanzai.

Tricia Wang:
I would like to point out an interesting story that comes from the mobile industry, the story of shanzai. What started out as a response from a few rogue mobile hardware producers in Southern China who wanted to avoid paying the government taxes on handset producers, has now spawned a whole industry of shanzai products that goes beyond the original definition of being cheap copies of existing products. Shanzai mobile makers did what Nokia, HTC, Samsung, and Motorola could not do - they met the user needs of millions of new cell[phone users (more on this topic from me). By working outside of the dominant infrastructure of mobile producers, shanzai makers went wild with producing mobile phones with new features that were relevant for low-end users. Shanzai mobiles has give the low-end market, that was once dominated by Nokia, a greater number of choices in mobiles at a lower cost. Shanzai is still in the process of moving beyond the perception of being a copy culture to a bottom-up innovation culture, so it is not a story that is embraced by the programming community at large right now. 
All stories need a good enemy. For shanzai makers in China, it was the government that levied oppressive taxes. For hackers in the West, is was the education system that tried to prevent them from exploring self-directed learning. So who are the bad guys in the eyes of Chinese programmers?
More on Tricia Wang's weblog  

More about Tricia Wang, exploring China's digital underbelly in Storify.

Tricia Wang 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.
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Anelka opens international floodgates for Chinese soccer - Rowan Simons

Rowan Simons
The transfer of Chelsea soccer star Nicolas Anelka to Shanghai's Shenhua could become a turning point in China's troubled soccer league, says soccer specialist Rowan Simons, in The Sun. "His move will open the floodgates."

The Sun:
Chinese football expert Rowan Simons, a Beijing-based British expat involved in the game for more than 20 years, said: "Anelka will be the first big star in the Chinese Super League. His move will open the floodgates, so it is a very significant one. " 
Chinese clubs are owned by a mixture of government-linked bodies and private companies and individuals. 
"The money to buy these big stars is coming from very rich private owners who have made fortunes in Chinese business and now want to indulge their passion for football. 
"Like super-rich club owners around the world, they are always looking for new ways to massage their egos and football can help build government relations. 
"The problem is that each has to outshine the previous one so, right now, the hunt is on for a player bigger than Anelka."... 
Simons, whose 'Bamboo Goalposts' book about Chinese football was nominated for the William Hill award in 2008, said: "Chinese football was at the very bottom after corruption scandals and continued failure to make international finals. 
"China is the fastest-growing economy and hundreds of billionaires have emerged. Until now, they have not wanted to be too high-profile for political reasons. 
"But the government has now called on them to save Chinese football and they are gaining in confidence. "The endgame for China is the World Cup — first to qualify for it again, then to do well, then to win it. 
"There are two ways of getting there. One involves throwing money at the elite, with the top reaching down to select and process large numbers of children in order to produce winning teams. The other involves throwing money at grassroots." 
Simons has worked hard on the grassroots angle, using his Club Football organisation to create an amateur structure in Beijing virtually from scratch. 
But the arrival of Anelka, 32, suggests the Chinese game wants to try the 'top-down' route.
More in The Sun

Rowan Simons 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.
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Tuesday, December 13, 2011

A bumpy road ahead for real estate - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein
Two years ago business analyst Shaun Rein set famous short seller Jim Chanos straight when he said China's real estate was worse than a thousand times worse than Dubai. Now Chanos has scaled down his prediction to 'a bumpy road', and this time Shaun Rein agrees, he writes in CNBC.

Shaun Rein:
However, there are far more serious problems emerging in the real estate sector, and in general in China’s overall economy, than two years ago. 
There has been a slowdown in manufacturing and housing prices. A closer look at the economy  actually shows that Chanos is correct this time – there is a serious speed bump in China’s economic future but that a soft landing is the likely scenario. 
Developers have been cutting prices on new homes because they have outstanding loans they need to pay. But prices for second hand units owned by individual investors have barely budged. Why? Homeowners are not panicking and their mortgages, if they have any, are not underwater. 
In interviews with dozens of homeowners my firm conducted in the past several weeks, the majority expected a 10 percent plus price drop, but only a minority said they would sell if prices dropped that much. Less than 5 percent said they were rushed to sell. Over 90 percent said they would hold on to the units no matter how long it took prices to rebound.
More in CNBC

More on Shaun Rein and his upcoming book "The End of Cheap China" in Storify

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.
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Monday, December 12, 2011

Bullish on consumer demand, retail - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein
China's economy might be facing some short term trouble, but business analyst Shaun Rein remains optimistic about consumer demand and retail for the longer term. Only Chinese equity should be avoided, he tells on 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 of Shaun Rein's views on China's economy here at Storify.  
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The Chinese consumer - Helen Wang

Wang_Helen_HiRes_black_MG_1708
Helen Wang
Author Helen Wang of The Chinese Dream introduced her book on December 5 at the Asia House in London, on the invitation of Lord Wei. Here is what she had to say about the Chinese consumer.

Helen Wang:
Now, here are three truths about Chinese consumers: 
First, Chinese have more money than you think. Chinese households hide “grey income” that is never reported. For example, many state companies give big bonuses that are not accounted for as official salary. 
Second, Chinese are status conscious people. They would pay premium prices for products and services that can enhance their “status.” But for products and services that their neighbors and friends cannot see, they would be very price conscious. For example, the woman who bought Gucci shoes would not spend more money on first class airfare. 
Third, the next big opportunity is in smaller cities. Recently, I visited a second tier city in Western China, called Chengdu, with about 5 million population. At Chengdu’s downtown, you can see big signs for “Cartier,” “Louis Vuitton.” Chengdu’s retail was booming. And China has hundreds of cities like that. 
A recent Credit Suisse report indicates that Chinese consumption will reach $16 trillion by 2020, and China will become the largest consumer market in the world. This just shows how big the opportunity is, and that’s why I said the rise of China’s middle class is the biggest story of our time.
The full speech is at Helen Wang's weblog.

More links for Helen Wang and the Chinese Dream at Storify.

Helen Wang 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.  
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Sergio Marchi joins Pace Global Advantage

Sergio Marchi
The Honourable Sergio Marchi joins at the end of 2011 the Pace Global Advantage advisory. He retired as senior fellow at the think tank ICTSD in Geneva.

Pace Global Advantage (PGA) is a consulting firm that focuses on providing services based on our core three pillars of Global Migration, International Tax Planning and Business Facilitation Solutions.

An extensive career, both in business and government, puts the Honourable Sergio Marchi in an excellent position to explain China to the outside world. Former Canadian Ambassador to the World Trade Organization and UN; Canadian Cabinet Minister of International Trade, the Environment and Immigration; and a range of private sector advisory positions. From 2004 to 2008 he served as the President of the Canada-China Business Council. Presently, Ambassador Marchi is a Senior Fellow at the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development in Geneva, and also serves as a Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the International Catholic Migration Commission. He teaches at the US Webster University, in the International Relations Department, and at the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Affairs.

Sergio Marchi 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.
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Sunday, December 11, 2011

Luxury spending moves to smaller cities - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein
Spending on luxury products moves in China to the third-tier cities, notes business analyst Shaun Rein in an interview with AFP. Unlike the rich from Shanghai and Beijing, inhabitants of third-tier cities can travel less internationally.

AFP:
Chinese shoppers are expected to spend US$15.6 billion on luxury products this year, up 20 percent from last year, said Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group in Shanghai. 
But only 40 percent of the purchases are made in China. 
Many shoppers in Beijing and Shanghai prefer to travel to Hong Kong or Europe for their top labels to avoid a mainland sales tax of up to 17 percent, consumption tax of as much as 56 percent as well as hefty import duties. 
Rein said consumers in second and third-tier cities tended to travel abroad less often and so made their purchases in China. 
"Purchasing power is moving from first-tier to second-tier cities," he told AFP, adding that the Chinese luxury market was expected to grow a further 20 percent in 2012. 
"People don't know where to put their money so things are really going very high-end right now," he added, referring to government restrictions in some cities on car and property purchases, which are aimed at curbing chronic traffic congestion and inflation.
More at AFP

More links for Shaun Rein and China's economy at Storify.

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.  
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Friday, December 09, 2011

How to become successful in executive education - Bill Fischer

Bill Fischer
IMD-professor (and formet CEIBS dean) Bill Fischer wrote up on his weblogwhat makes him successful in executive education, answers on questions from CEIBS professor Ellie Weldon. "One of the few advantages that I have found to be associated with aging,  however,  is that sometimes people ask for your opinions, and then actually listen."

Bill Fischer, on one of the key factors that made him succeed:
A belief that my role is no longer to be the “purveyor of truth” but rather, instead, to serve as a “smart person facilitating smarter people.” This is not easy. It defies decades of professorial prerogatives and requires a willingness to cede control over the classroom experience to the participants, but it is a sober and realistic admission that the people in our executive education classrooms know a lot, are smart people, and should own the experience. My role, then, is to put them into a position where it is their program and not my own.That is not to say that I abdicate my responsibilities as an "instructor" or as someone whose job it is to observe many different managers and businesses, and to draw opinions from these experiences, but the emphasis should be on applying this knowledge to move the participants' conversations forward, rather than "dazzling" them with what I think that I know.
Much more on Bill Fischer's weblog.

Bill Fischer 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.
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The mismatch between mobile platforms and ad agencies - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean
Mobile might be the next big thing in China, both mobile platforms and ad agencies have still a hard time to find each other, tells William Bao Bean, Managing Director Singtel Innov8, in AdAge. AdAge:
"The vast majority of [ad] agencies out there don't know what they're doing on the mobile side in China, and the mobile platforms themselves are not being particularly helpful either," said William Bao Bean, managing director in China for Singtel Innov8, a venture capital fund set up by Singapore Telecommunications. "The issue is that they don't have a context to engage with mobile advertising, they don't have a platform to help manage it, and they don't have measurement."
More in AdAge

William Bao Bean 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.
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