China Herald

Dealing with spitting Chinese - Zhang Lijia

2013-05-18T14:23:00.000+02:00

Zhang Lijia

China's top officials have asked their fellow citizens to behave when they travel and refrain from spitting and loud talking. Author Zhang Lijia puts spitting in a historical perspective, and believes bad habit decreased, and can disappear, she told BBC News.

Zhang Lijia:

Of course, there’s the force of habit. I actually much prefer my new neighbourhood of Wine God Village. The streets are full of life and energy; people are friendly. And it is authentic. Some of my neighbours have indeed brought their habits from their village where the social norms are looser. Another reason for their uncaring behaviour, I suppose, is that they feel that they are not accepted or respected by the locals. Beijing is not their city. So why should they care?

Spitting is the most notorious among the uncivilized Chinese manners and has made its way into travel literature. In his Riding the Iron Rooster, travel writer Paul Theroux wrote about the Chinese: “Spat all the time. . . You expected them to propel it about five yards, like a Laramie stockman sitting over a fence. But no they never gave it any force. They seldom spat more than a few inches from where they stood. They did not spit out, they spit down."

Overall, spitting has become much less a problem. As a former champion of spitting competitions, I used to spit a great deal. When I was a worker at a rocket factory, we used to have spitting competitions when we were bored. We would line up and see who could shot the furthest or hit a certain spot with force and accuracy. Theroux would have changed his lines if he had seen us! In those days, most parts of China were pretty dirty. So it didn’t really matter if you added some dark yellow bits here and there. But the changed living environment and the realization of its unpleasantness – especially the foreplay – have transformed me. If I can change, anyone can.

More at BBC News (from Zhang Lijia's website).

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

+China Weekly Hangout
Rampant pollution is one of the reasons to explain Chinese spitting habits. At the China Weekly Hangout sustainability expert +Richard Brubaker explained in January where the pollution if coming from, and what can be done. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra of the +China Speakers Bureau. Coming Thursday the China Weekly Hangout will discuss the changes in China's labor force, especially the blue collar workers with +Dee Lee (Inno), running since 2007 a workers' hotline at Inno in Guangzhou. Expected is also economist Heleen Mees from New York. Moderation by Fons Tuinstra, president of the China Speakers Bureau. Our first announcement is here,and you can register for the hangout here.

What is China doing right? - Jeremy Goldkorn

2013-05-18T14:15:00.000+02:00

Jeremy Goldkoen

The indispensable Chinafile asked some of its authors to list what is going right in China, after many obvious stories about what is going wrong. Danwei-founder Jeremy Goldkorn submitted a pretty long list, and this is how it starts.

Jeremy Goldkorn:

I’ll answer this question with an off-the-cuff and very personal list. Some may say these points are not actually good things, or that China isn’t actually doing these things well, or that the outcomes will not be copacetic. One of the very negative things about China is that if you look deep enough into any feel-good story, you’ll find something wrong or rotten, but this is a list of positives, so I won’t qualify my point with an acknowledgement of the counter arguments. Here goes:

- Continuing to lift millions and millions of people out of poverty (that’s the big one).

- A culture of hard work, thrift, and diligence that emphasizes the importance of education.

- The fapiao, a state-issued invoice system that is a work of genius which allows a massive more-or-less unregulated informal economy to thrive and still contribute taxes to the state.

- Investing in Africa, seeing developing countries as potential markets rather than basket cases.

- Dreaming big.

- Infrastructure.

- Increasingly professional emergency response systems for bird flu scares, earthquakes etc.

More in Chinafile.

Jeremy Goldkorn 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.

Every upside has its downsides, and especially in China those downsides can be massive. The successful economic development has led to a massive shortage of sustainable energy. In September 2012 the China Weekly Hangout discussed energy security with +Merritt Cooke from the Wilson Center and +Richard Brubaker of CEIBS. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra of the +China Speakers Bureau

This Thursday the China Weekly Hangout will discuss the changes in China's labor force, especially the blue collar workers with +Dee Lee (Inno) , running since 2007 a workers' hotline at Inno in Guangzhou. Expected is also economist Heleen Mees from New York. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra, president of the China Speakers Bureau. Our first announcement is here,and you can register for the hangout here.

Changing trends on China's art market - Wei Gu

2013-05-17T15:50:00.002+02:00

Wei Gu

The China art market is maturing, as the Art Basel's first Hong Kong art show took off. WSJ wealth editor Wei Gu discusses with Kate Cary Evans, founder of Art Radar Asia, the latest trends in China's art, as prices are falling, opening up for more investors.

Wei Gu 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.

Top-100 best-selling Chinese artists - Rupert Hoogewerf

2013-05-17T15:46:00.000+02:00

Rupert Hoogewerf

The founder of Hurun, China's rich list Rupert Hoogewerf published a list of best-selling Chinese artists of the past 5000 years. "What is remarkable is that 34 of the Top 100 are alive today," Hoogewerf tells in China.org.

China.org:

The Hurun Best-Selling Chinese Artists 2013, a ranking based on the sales volume of their work at public auction in 2012, was released by the Hurun Research Institute on May 9. Data for the list were provided by Artron.net, a professional artwork portal in China.

"The artists on this list represent last year's best-selling artists from 5000 years of Chinese history," said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report. "What is remarkable is that 34 of the Top 100 are alive today."

Among the listed 100 artists, 76 finished their works after the foundation of People's Republic of China in 1949. Among the top ten, nine are traditional Chinese ink painters, with Zhou Chunya being the only one still alive -- and also the only non-Chinese ink painter.

Total sales of the top 100 artists reached US$4.1 billion; the threshold to be listed is US$10 million.

More in China.org (including the top-10 paintings)

Rupert Hoogewerf 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.

Apart from art, also education is high on the investment agenda of China's wealthy. The China Weekly Hangout discussed in February with HKU lecturer +Paul Fox, and former NYU Shanghai lecturer +Andrew Hupert whether education in China is a goldmine or a black hole, both for the students, and the educational institutions.

What do Chinese tourists want? The +China Weekly Hangout is going to discuss who those tourists are and how countries can attract those high-spending individuals. Our announcement is here, or you can register for participation here. A full overview of our hangouts is here.

Why China's growth model makes sense - Heleen Mees

2013-05-17T15:33:00.001+02:00

Heleen Mees

Location makes a difference for successful industries, but government can help, argues NYU economist Heleen Mees against New York Times columnist Paul Krugman. In Post-Syndicate, she explains why China's growth model makes sense, and uses the trade explosion province of Yunnan as an illustration.

+Heleen Mees :

According to Mr Krugman, it is often merely an accident where an industry locates. Silicon Valley owes its existence in large part to two young men named Hewlett and Packard, who started a company out of their garage. New York is New York because of a river, which mainly serves tourist boats these days. But even though it is mostly chance that determines where a particular industry locates, it doesn’t mean that you can’t lend chance a helping hand. And that is exactly what the Chinese government is doing with its large-scale investments in infrastructure, and to a somewhat lesser extent with its investment in housing.

Yunnan, one of the poorest provinces of China that is mostly known for its cuisine, saw international trade explode in the first quarter of 2013, rising by almost 50% compared to the previous year, while exports throughout China rose by a modest 13%. The most significant gains in Yunnan's trade came in the mechanical and electronic sectors, neatly fitting the new trade theory. It is hard to imagine that mountainous Yunnan, which is not located on the Chinese coastline but is bordering Tibet, Laos and Vietnam instead, would have experienced the same growth without the central governments’ years of investing in Yunnan’s infrastructure.

That is not to say that China’s growth model has no drawbacks. It obviously has. The smog in China’s metropolis is smothering large swaths of the population, even though the air pollution in Delhi is often worse. Food scandals are undermining consumer confidence. Environmentalists are raising alarm bells about the central government’s plan to build a series of hydropower dams in the Nu, China’s last free flowing river. The project may force tens of thousands of ethnic minorities in Yunnan to relocate. These are serious issues that the Chinese leadership needs to address.

That being said, within the framework of the new trade theory, China’s investment-led growth model makes more sense than western economists give it credit for.

More in Post-Syndicate.

Heleen Mees 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.

+Heleen Mees is expected to join us next week at the China Weekly Hangout, as we discuss the changing labor force in China on Thursday 23 May, with Inno founder +Dee Lee (Inno), who runs since 2007 a workers' hotline from Guangzhou. You can read our announcement here, or register directly for our hangout here. Can the growing environmental NIMBY protest stop China's ambitious nuclear power program? The China Weekly Hangout discussed that issue on November 22, 2012 with +Richard Brubaker and +Fons Tuinstra. You can get a full overview of our hangouts here. When you register at our Google page +China Weekly Hangout, you get regular updates on upcoming sessions.

Internet: China's Kangaroo Court - Jeremy Goldkorn

2013-05-15T15:29:00.001+02:00

Jeremy Goldkorn

The famous film director Zhang Yimou was one of the last celebrities, scrutinized by a diligent internet for supposed breaches of the one-child policy. Chinese turn to the internet for real and imaginary injustice, explains internet watcher Jeremy Goldkorn in Marketplace. "It’s a kind of Kangaroo Court mentality."

Marketplace:

The first indication that Zhang had broken China’s one-child policy reportedly came last year, when an actress who failed an audition for Zhang’s last film posted the information on the Internet. Chinese social media observer Jeremy Goldkorn says turning to the Internet for justice -- or revenge -- has become common in China.

"The Internet generally is really the only place that Chinese people can turn to if they feel they were victims of an injustice or if they feel the government is doing something wrong," says Goldkorn, "but there is a negative side to it. There is a sort of vigilantism that can be very nasty. It’s a kind of Kangaroo Court mentality.”

More in Marketplace.

Jeremy Goldkorn 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.

China Weekly Hangout:

Next week the +China Weekly Hangout will focus on the changes in China's labor force, with +Dee Lee (Inno) of the NGO Inno in Guangzhou, running since 2007 a workers' hotline. You can read our initial announcement here, or register directly for the event here.

China has no shortage of injustice to discuss. The China Weekly Hangout discussed food security and dead pigs in Shanghai's Huangpu river earlier this year with sustainability expert +Richard Brubaker, +Andrew Hupert and +Chris Brown on food security and how the ongoing problems will lead to massive food inflation. In the end we (both in China and outside) will have to pay the price for safe food. Moderation: +Fons Tuinstra of the +China Speakers Bureau.

What do Chinese tourists want? - China Weekly Hangout

2013-05-14T08:12:00.000+02:00

Chinese tourists (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Chinese tourists are a hot commodity internationally. They are spending per head more than tourists from any other country, and the growth is in the double digits. So, the question what do Chinese tourists want, is high on the agenda, for many countries and also for the +China Weekly Hangout on May 30.
According to the latest figures, Chinese went abroad in 2011 more than 70 million times (not including Hong Kong).
But getting Chinese to your country, and letting them spend their money is not that easy. Earlier this month +Simon Young told in the China Weekly Hangout his New Zealand prime minister went to China to see how to get more tourists to their country, and she is not alone. Now they would visit Australia, and add a few days on the other country.
The Schengen countries in Europe (most EU countries with the UK as notable exception) mostly offer multi-country tour packages, and seem to have an advantage for that reason. But despite their high expenditure, most Chinese tourists want the cheaper hotels and prefer an affordable Chinese restaurants, if there is no McDonald's around.
They do spend money on diamonds, luxury goods. For example the Swiss city of Luzern knows the Chinese tourist pass by to buy watches, so a day trip (longer they mostly do not want to stay) focuses on those watches. But many countries are looking for ways to let those tourist stay longer, and spend more.

At this stage about 3% of the Chinese have a passport. Does that mean that 97% is still looking for an opportunity to go abroad, and should the tourist industry focus on them. Or is it more lucrative to focus on the current 3%, who have more to spend than the remainder? Can you use the Chinese internet to get to your potential customers?

Enough issues to discuss on May 30, and to facilitate the participation from Africa (a key destination!), the UK, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, we change our regular broadcasting hours to 10am CEST (Europe), 4pm Beijing Time, 6pm in Sydney and 8pm in Wellington. You can register here for the event.

You can leave your questions and remarks here on this blog or at our event page. During the event, you can watch the discussion on YouTube both here and on our event page. During the event, you can also leave you remarks and questions on Twitter or Google+ (add the hash tag #CWHCWH)
Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra of the +China Speakers Bureau. Panelists will include +Simon Young. Additional participants will be listed here as the event nears.

Below you find the initial planning meeting, where we discussed a range of issues on the agenda for the +China Weekly Hangout .

China's changing dreams - Shaun Rein

2013-05-13T14:55:00.000+02:00

Shaun Rein

Dreams about the future have been important for China and the Chinese over the past decades, but what they dream about has been changing dramatically. Business analyst Shaun Rein discussed those changing dream with Daftblogger, and the increased search for quality.

Shaun Rein:

Over the past 30 years, everyone in China has been focused on making money. That was the dream. 15 years ago when I first arrived in China, most people were just struggling to put food on the table. For many then, eating meat or a having a hot shower was a real luxury. But with even migrant worker salaries growing 20% a year over the past 5 years, people are starting to think about more than just money.

Who cares if you can buy a Louis Vuitton bag if the air and water are poisoning your children? Over the past year especially there has been a new conception of the Chinese Dream. People are looking for more quality of life issues and more individual expression rather than buying bling and what everyone else aspires to in order to show off. For foreign entrepreneurs and innovators, there are great opportunities to tap into this shift. I remain especially bullish on tourism as I said before, as well as in pollution reducing products (like air and water purifiers where there are 30 day waits in Shanghai for the best ones).

More at Daftblogger.

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.

Earlier today the China Weekly Hangout discussed how Australia and New Zealand can tap into China's development. A few plans came up: the dairy industry, tourism and Chinese interest in luxury products. Participants: +Simon Young from Auckland, +Harm Kiezebrink from Beijing and +Fons Tuinstra from Antwerp.

Office hours - China Weekly Hangout

2013-05-13T13:31:00.000+02:00

Earlier today we planned some sessions of the +China Weekly Hangout, focused on different time zones, now Australia and New Zealand. We discussed some plans on tourism, the luxury industry and the dairy industry. For upcoming Thursday we have not set a subject, but we will hold open office hours if you want to discuss current affairs in China, or contribute to our hangouts later on.
You can register here for our open office hours on Thursday 16 May, 10pm Beijing time, 4pm CEST (Europe) and 10am EST (US/Canada).

For next weeks we are already booked, starting with a session on March 23, 10pm Beijing time, 4pm CEST (Europe) and 10pm EST (US/Canada) on the changing Chinese labor force next week, with +Dee Lee (Inno) as our expert guest. You can find our announcement here, and register for the event here. We already have an interesting selection of guests here, seats are limited, but you are welcome to join our hangout.

The question "What do Chinese tourist want", we plan to discuss on May 30 with +Simon Young , who is currently training the tourism industry in New Zealand to attract Chinese tourists by social media, and he plans to include people from his network. Later today we hope to send out the invite for the hangout (although the date is not yet set in stone). Planned time schedule: 4pm Beijing time, 8pm Wellington time, 10am CEST (Europe) and 9am London time. Unfortunately, the US drops out of our schedule.

A changing labor force - China Weekly Hangout

2013-05-10T10:18:00.000+02:00

Dee Lee

What is happening to China's labor force? That will be a recurring theme in the +China Weekly Hangout and on Thursday 23 May we will start discussing the state of China factory floor. Together with +Dee Lee (Inno) of Inno in Guangzhou we will explore the current state of the blue collar workers.
This is how the +Asia Society described Dee Lee in 2012 when he was one of their fellows:

Dee Lee is Director of the Inno Community Development Organization which focuses on public health, poverty alleviation and emerging issues. The organization currently manages nine ongoing projects that include the workers’ hotline, fair-trade online, HBV advocacy campaign. Together with sixteen colleagues spread across three offices in China, Dee is working with thirteen international foundations and brands to provide assistance to more than two million beneficiaries, most of whom are migrant workers in China. Dee started his Labour NGO career in 2007 with the first systematic workers’ hotline in China. He has a Master’s Degree in marketing communication and five years of work experience at a marketing research and PR firm.

Of course you are welcome to join us, you can register here at our event page and join the discussion. A few subjects that might come up in our exchange: has the position of workers changed now there is a relative shortage of factory workers? What is the influence on social media (Inno works mainly through QQ)? How different are today's factory workers from their parents? How are the wages developing, and what are the trade union doing? To mention a few possible subjects.

The China Weekly Hangout on labor will take place on Thursday 23 May, 10pm Beijing Time, 4pm CEST (Europe) and 10am EST (US/Canada). You can register here for participation, leave you comments here or at the event page. During the event you can watch also our YouTube video here and at our event page. You can also go directly to our live YouTube channel. During the event you can leave comments and questions at Twitter and Google+ (add the hash tag #CWHCWH).

Later this year we will discuss the position of white collar workers, whether we can call them the 'middle class', who is going to save China's economy with their consumption - or not.

For next week we are still looking for a subject, but we might selection one from our Australia/New Zealand planning session on Monday. You can register here if you are interested.

Last month the +China Weekly Hangout discussed how political reform could take place under Xi Jinping's tenure with +Steve Barru and +Fons Tuinstra.

Chinese rich invest more conservative - Wei Gu

2013-05-09T14:09:00.000+02:00

Wei Gu

Chinese investors were among the more daring, but have become more conservative over the past two years. WSJ wealth editor Wei Gu discusses the change with Jennifer Zeng, Partner at Bain & Co., as wealth management products take over from stocks and real estate.

Wei Gu 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.

Education is still a favorite investment for many Chinese. But is education really a goldmine or a black hole, created by educational institutions, the China Weekly Hangout discussed with +Andrew Hupert, formerly working for the NYU Shanghai campus and +Paul Fox, lecturer at the HKU School of Professional and Continuing Education join +Fons Tuinstra, president of the +China Speakers Bureau.

Vagina Monologues made it into Beijing - Zhang Lijia

2013-05-08T14:45:00.000+02:00

Zhang Lijia

The Vagina Monologues made it after a long time onto the stage at the China Media University, it would not be a piece for a mainstream Chinese theater. Author Zhang Lijia visited the first performance, and had a great time, she writes on her weblog.

Zhang Lijia:

The funniest part was the traditional xiangsheng – comic dialogue in style about the different ways of moaning when reaching climax. You can only imagine how the more than hundred-strong audience all laughed their teeth out.

What made the show so entertaining and engaging was its interactive style. In the act about masturbation, the actress, dressed as a teacher, asked the audience to talk about their experiences. Some did speak frankly how they started it because of failed love, or driven by curiosity; other confessed they didn’t know.

Again, the play, the product of a feminist group called Bcome, shows the changing attitude towards sexuality in China. I also see it as the sign of the increasing feminist activism in China and perhaps the feminist movement is starting to happen in this most populous nation on earth.

Thanks to its sensitive nature, it has been shown in small theatres and universities.

The first The Vagina Monologue was launched by a feminist professor Ai Xiaoming from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou back in 2003. There was a fairly successful show by another group in Shanghai in 2009. But it was called V Monologue – otherwise, it couldn’t get the venue.

I greatly enjoyed this show and felt encouraged by the increasing gender and rights awareness in China.

There’ll be two more shows on June 5 and 6. Don’t miss it.

More at Zhang Lijia's weblog.

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.

The China Weekly Hangout is holding on May 9 an open office, where you can discuss current affairs in China or suggest subjects for hangouts later this year. You can read our announcement here, or register for the hangout here. Regular China Weekly Hangouts take place at 10pm Beijing Time, 4pm CEST (Europe) and 10am EST (USA/Canada).

Australia/New Zealand session - China Weekly Hangout

2013-05-08T08:34:00.000+02:00

English: Orthographic map of the Australasian part of Oceania: Australia, New Guinea, Island Melanesia, and New Zealand, but excluding the Maluccas. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

More than once the +China Weekly Hangout has been asked to change its regular broadcasting hours, so people from the time zones in Australia and New Zealand can also join. As an experiment we will host coming Monday, 13 May, a planning session with adjusted times, to test the water.
Both Google+ users from the region, and those with a link to Australia and New Zealand living in China are cordially invited to join. Feel free to share this announcement with others.
The hangout will take place on Monday 13 May, 9am CEST, 5pm Beijing Time, 9pm New Zealand, 7pm (Australia, Sydney).
In that session we will discuss subjects and the best way to now and then include Oceania into your hangouts.
A few subjects have already emerged (thanks to +Simon Young ): the Chinese influence on the dairy industry and Chinese tourism into Australia and New Zealand. A third subject emerged this week: has China become Australia's frenemy?
On Monday we want to figure out what subjects do appeal to the visitors of our hangout, and whether we can get a few people in who can make sense out of these subjects.
During the event you can watch not only the show here, but also at our live YouTube page. No event? You will be redirect to our entry page.
You can leave your comments and suggestions here or at our event page; also you can register at our event page for participation. If you are interested, do sign up for our +China Weekly Hangout page. You can check out our previous hangouts here.
Are you new to Google Hangout? It is all very easy, and you only need an internet connection, a webcam and a mic. Feel free to sign up at my account at +Fons Tuinstra so we can set up a dry run and test your settings and add a few useful goodies.

The regular China Weekly Hangout is holding on May 9 an open office, where you can discuss current affairs in China or suggest subjects for hangouts later this year. You can read our announcement here, or register for the hangout here.
Regular China Weekly Hangouts take place at 10pm Beijing Time, 4pm CEST (Europe) and 10am EST (USA/Canada).

Earlier we organized a first session on Africa, and how China's media advance there, with veteran journalists +Eric Olander of the China Africa Project, and +Lara Farrar, previously working for both the China Daily and +CNN International. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra, president of the +China Speakers Bureau.

Australia goes easy on China's military rise - Wendell Minnick

2013-05-07T14:51:00.000+02:00

Wendell Minnick

In its 2013 Defence white paper Australia is not seeing China as an adversary, but picks a position between the two power blocks, the US and China, notes military analyst Wendell Minnick in Defense News. In China it sees "a strategic partner".

Wendell Minnick:

Though the report indicates that the Australian government does not believe that it “must choose” between China and the U.S., it “does not approach China as an adversary.”

“The relationship between the United States and China, the region’s and the globe’s two most powerful states, will more than any other single factor determine our strategic environment over coming decades.”

Further, “China’s continued rise as a global power, the increasing economic and strategic weight of East Asia ...[is] an area of increasing strategic significance. In aggregate, these trends are shaping the emergence of the Indo-Pacific as a single strategic arc.”

The government’s policy is aimed at encouraging China’s peaceful rise and ensuring that strategic competition does not lead to conflict. China’s economic transformation is changing the regional global strategic balance and is a major contributor to global strategic weight shifting to the Indo-Pacific.

“This will inevitably affect the strategic calculations and posture of regional countries and is changing the balance of military power in the western Pacific.”

As an indicator of Australian efforts to face the blunt reality of China’s rising military machine, the report cites Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s visit to Beijing last month, when it was agreed to designate their bilateral relationship as a “strategic partnership.”

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.

Military power is not only a matter of planes and ships, but also cyber power. The +China Weekly Hangout discussed on February 28 with security consultant +Mathew Hoover and reporter +Charlie Custer of +TechinAsia recent hacking issues, the Sino-US relations, including some useful information on what to worry about and what not. Moderation: +Fons Tuinstra of the +China Speakers Bureau. The China Weekly Hangout is holding on May 9 an open office, where you can discuss current affairs in China or suggest subjects for hangouts later this year. You can read our announcement here, orregister for the hangout here.

How to pitch your China book to a publisher - Paul French

2013-05-04T17:30:00.000+02:00

Paul French

Award winning author Paul French explains how to pitch your China book to publishers, and - even more important - which books on China you might as well not write anymore, for the Asia Society

The Asia Society Blog:

1. Build your book around a specific topic, rather than China in general. "More depth, less breadth."

2. Focus on "bottom-up analysis," rather than the "3,000-feet view of China from the airplane." "People are much more interested in what people are doing on the ground."

3. Take a more nuanced approach, because China is not as alien to the average reader as it once was. "The idea that you can just do a book that's called Doing Business in China is probably passed now."

4. Write about Chinese lives. "Memoirs of expatriates and foreigners who lived in china … are just not selling."

5. Try rapid-response publishing. "China is always a fast-moving target. Waiting around a year-and-a-half or two years or more for a book to come out … just isn't the way things work anymore."

More on the Asia Society Blog.

Paul French is an author on the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Weekly China Hangout

Apart from writing a book, you can of course also join our China Weekly Hangout now and then, to give your comments and pave your road to fame. Like our April broadcast on the bird flu in China with flu expert +Harm Kiezebrink from Beijing, HKU-lecturer +Paul Fox from Hong Kong and CEIBS adjunct professor +Richard Brubaker from Shanghai. We try to figure out what is happening with N7H9, and what possible scenario's can develop. And we discuss what the Chinese government has learn from SARS, now ten years ago. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra of the +China Speakers Bureau.
The China Weekly Hangout is holding on May 9 an open office, where you can discuss current affairs in China or suggest subjects for hangouts later this year. You can read our announcement here, orregister for the hangout here.

Edgar best fact crime award for Paul French

2013-05-04T17:24:00.000+02:00

Celebrity author Paul French flew out in person from Shanghai to receive in New York the prestigious Edgar Best Fact Crime award for his book "Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China. Report from CSmonitor.

CSmonitor:

The Best Fact Crime award went to author Paul French for his work “Midnight in Peking,” which explored the death of a young Englishwoman in China in the 1930s as the country was experiencing tremendous change. (Check out Monitor writer Randy Dotinga’s Q&A with French here.) French came from Shanghai to accept his Edgar Award in New York City.

“It was a very long flight but obviously worth it,” French said during his acceptance speech.

More in CSmonitor.

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.

Why I decided to leave Shanghai - Marc van der Chijs

2013-05-03T14:35:00.000+02:00

Marc van der Chijs

A tougher business climate, poor internet connections and other problems did not deter serial entrepreneur Marc van der Chijs from working in Shanghai. But when his son started coughing, he left for Vancouver, Canada. The pollution the tipping point, he tells The Vancouver Sun.

The Vancouver Sun:

“My son was getting asthma. He was coughing a lot,” said van der Chijs, who moved his family to West Vancouver and set up with venture capital company Cross Pacific Capital. “We went to see the doctor and he said it was probably pollution-related. As parents, we felt pretty bad about it.”

Van der Chijs isn’t the first, nor likely the last, expatriate to flee China because of the country’s notorious smog...

Air pollution has also been worsening in Shanghai over the years, van der Chijs said. A trail runner, he never ran outside while he was there, preferring to run on a treadmill, while his children rarely played outside.

“It was off the scales sometimes. If it was really bad there I just stayed inside,” he said. “When you live here you realize it’s not the norm.”

Exposure to high levels of air pollution can lead to cardiovascular and lung disease, and increase the risk of cancer...

Van der Chijs admits he likely wouldn’t have felt the urgency to leave China if his son hadn’t become sick.

“I like China a lot. It’s just very hard for families who live there,” he said. “I’m very happy to be here. It’s night and day compared with what you have over there.”

More in the Vancouver Sun.

Marc van der Chijs 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.

+China Weekly Hangout

Pollution featured already more than once in our China Weekly Hangout. Our most-watched session, with now over 2,000 viewers, is the discussion with +Richard Brubaker of AllRoadsLeadtoChina and CEIBS on the rampant pollution in China. Is it getting worse, and what can be done? Moderator: +Fons Tuinstra of the +China Speakers Bureau.

The China Weekly Hangout is holding on May 9 an open office, where you can discuss current affairs in China or suggest subjects for hangouts later this year. You can read our announcement here, or register for the hangout here.

Update:

A few potential subjects have already emerged ahead of the upcoming hangout:

1. What can you earn in China, focused on business executive

2. The Chinese influence on the Australian/New Zealand dairy industry

3. Chinese tourism in New Zealand and Australia.

New: second homes for Chinese - Wei Gu

2013-05-03T14:29:00.000+02:00

Wei Gu

An emerging market for second homes, for holiday or retirement, is developing among rich Chinese, tells WSJ wealth editor Wei Gu. Zhuhai, Taiwan and Haikou are doing well, but the move goes also into English speaking countries like the US, UK, Canada, Australia.

Wei Gu 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.

China Weekly Hangout

When Chinese buy a second house, they want access to good health care and schools for their children, tells +Wei Gu. Education is important, but does it pay off as an investment? The +China Weekly Hangout discussed in February whether education is a goldmine, or a black hole with +Andrew Hupert, formerly working for the NYU Shanghai campus and +Paul Fox, lecturer at the HKU School of Professional and Continuing Education. Moderation +Fons Tuinstra, president of the +China Speakers Bureau.

The China Weekly Hangout is holding on May 9 an open office, where you can discuss current affairs in China or suggest subjects for hangouts later this year. You can read our announcement here, or register for the hangout here.

Update:

A few potential subjects have already emerged ahead of the upcoming hangout:

1. What can you earn in China, focused on business executive

2. The Chinese influence on the Australian/New Zealand dairy industry

3. Chinese tourism in New Zealand and Australia.

Open office meeting - China Weekly Hangout

2013-05-03T08:46:00.001+02:00

Barack Obama in a hangout

A set of holidays in Asia and Europe have disrupted our regular +China Weekly Hangout this week and next week.
As an alternative we will host next week, Thursday May 9, an open office session of our hangout, where you are welcome to discuss current affairs in China and offer suggestions for upcoming hangouts.

The event will be held at Thursday May 9, 10pm Beijing Time, 4pm CEST (Europe) and 10pm EST.
You can already register at our event page here. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra, president of the +China Speakers Bureau.
Until the start of the event you can also leave here or at the event page questions, remarks or additions.
During the event, we will monitor Google+ and Twitter (add hash tag #CWHCWH) for your contributions. You will be able to watch the meeting at YouTube, this page and our event page, also the recordings will be available after the event.
We also encourage you to sign up for our +China Weekly Hangout page if you have not yet done so, so you will get regular updates on our events. You can have a full overview of our previous hangouts here.

One suggestion for a future event came already from +Simon Young, residing in New Zealand, who pleaded for a change of the timing of our hangout, so participants from New Zealand and Australia, could join. We have initially planned an Aussie/New Zealand session on May 16 or 23, which will be held six hours earlier from our normal broadcasting times. So, at 4pm Beijing Time, 10am CEST (Europe) and 8pm Wellington time. (Otherwise we intend to stick mostly to our regular hours, unless Japan California report for business).
wo subjects for this Australia/New Zealand session have been suggested by Simon: 1. the Chinese influence on the dairy industry, and 2. the development of Chinese tourism in New Zealand and Australia. Depending on the participants, we will discuss both subjects, or limit ourselves to one.
Do you have hands-on experience in one of those industries and do you want to join our discussion? Do drop me a note for a possible dry test of a hangout and fine-tuning of the event.

Update: Yet another subject reached our digital radar screen. How much can you earn on a management function in China? +Richard Brubaker suggests here that at CEIBS foreign graduates still earn 30/40% than their Chinese counter parts. On Thursday, I will put the subject on the agenda, but only to narrow the subject down a bit, discuss possible experts to join and set a date.

Which reminds me, we should also plan another China Weekly Hangout on Africa, after our first well-visited session on about the advances different Chinese media groups make in Africa with veteran journalists +Eric Olander of the China Africa Project, and +Lara Farrar, previously working for both the China Daily and CNN in March.
Do join us next Thursday for our open office session.

Chinese brands fighting global heavyweights - Shaun Rein

2013-05-02T15:30:00.001+02:00

Shaun Rein

Shanghaiist sat down with business analyst Shaun Rein to discuss wide-ranging changing trends in China, as Rein described in his book "The End of Cheap China ". For example, how are Chinese brands going to fight the global heavyweights to make their mark.

Shaun Rein:

Let me answer in two parts. First, Chinese firms absolutely compete with western brands on their home turf. Companies like Sheng Xiang flooring, Supor kitchen crock ware, and JDB in herbal tea beverages often beat western counterparts because they respond quickly to consumer tastes, launching new products as well as marketing campaigns. We find for instance wealthy Shanghaiese consumers are shifting to local chains like Hao Shui Guo to buy fruit rather than at Wal-Mart or Carrefour because they trust the local chain more for supply chain management for high end fruit.

Ten years ago, being beaten by Chinese firms here was not a big deal because the market was so small. But now the market is too important to lose out. Brands like chip-maker Qualcomm and YUM Brands generate over 40% of their revenue in China but will face challenges if they cannot adjust to rising domestic competition.

Second, many of these firms will be strong in China but will have difficulties becoming truly global players. Look at the problems Li Ning has been facing. Nurturing the mid-level management needed to become global players organically will not be easy and might take decades as it did for Sony and Samsung. I expect more Chinese companies to follow what auto-maker Geeley which bought Volvo and Fosun Group which acquired Folli Foli did. They will become global players through acquisition and get management know-how and brands.

But it would be a mistake for western companies to underestimate the rise of Chinese brands to grow organically. Senior executives need to plan 5 years out at least. In 2007, we did a massive 6-month project for DuPont to analyze and deal with rising domestic Chinese chemical makers. DuPont is ahead of the curve which is why they have been able to maintain their dominance.

Ten years ago, few had heard of SANY in construction equipment or Huawei in the telecom sector but look at their dominance now. If I were on the board of construction equipment maker Terex, I would be nervous about the rise of SANY as companies tell us they are buying SANY not just because they are cheap but because they are as good if not better than western brands. Underestimating the competition is a recipe for disaster.

More in Shanghaiist.

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.

+China Weekly Hangout

Foreign firms very often underestimate their Chinese competitors, and they regularly fail. The China Weekly Hangout discussed the failure of foreign firms in China at January 30, 2013 with +Richard Brubaker of Collective Responsibility and +Andrew Hupert, expert on conflict management in China. Moderation: +Fons Tuinstra of the +China Speakers Bureau. Including references to Apple, Mediamarkt, Foxconn and many others.

On Thursday May 9 the China Weekly Hangout will hold an open office, where you can drop in to discuss current affairs or suggest themes for upcoming hangouts. You can register here for participation, or leave your questions and remarks.

Guanxi dies or gets into prison; the Fredy Bush case - Wei Gu

2013-05-01T09:12:00.000+02:00

Guanxi used to be a key word when foreigners came to China to do business, including business women Fredy Bush, the founder of Nasdaq-listed Xinhua Finance, a successful deal in the tough media industry. Wealth editor Wei Gu explains for the WSJ why the now-jailed tycoon could not survive now times have changed.

Wei Gu 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.

+China Weekly Hangout

Foreign firms have a hard time in adjusting to the fast changing times in China, where consumers and government rules become more important than guanxi, the connections with the powerful. In the China Weekly Hangout on January 30, 2013, panelist +Richard Brubaker of Collective Responsibility and +Andrew Hupert, expert on conflict management in China, discussed the changing playing field for foreign companies. Moderation: +Fons Tuinstra of the +China Speakers Bureau. Including references to Apple, Mediamarkt, Foxconn and many others.

Chen Guangcheng: far from fading away - Zhang Lijia

2013-04-30T14:23:00.002+02:00

When Chinese dissidents moved in the past to the US, whatever influence they had in their home country would fade away. But the blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng is different, discovered author and friend Zhang Lijia in visits to his home town and in calls to the US, she write in the New York Times. Zhang Lijia was the first journalist to write about Chen.

Zhang Lijia:

During my recent video call with Chen Guangcheng himself, he told me that he keeps in touch with people from all over the country. Before our conversation, he had been talking to a blind man from Inner Mongolia who runs a grocery store but also devotes much of his energy to helping other disabled people with their rights issues. Chen was planning to video-chat with a group of activists in Sichuan and give them his pitch about the importance of protecting their rights.

“How do people find you?” I asked. He replied with a laugh. “In this Internet age, if you are willing to be available, people can find you easily.”

Part of Chen Guangcheng’s ongoing appeal here in China may have to do with his focus on practical matters that have an impact on the lives of ordinary people — like forced removals from homes — rather than on abstract principles that appeal more to a few high-brow intellectuals.

On the international stage, Chen is also far from fading away. In the past year, he has been honored with many awards, including the annual award of the New York-based organization Human Rights First. In January, he received the Lantos Human Rights Prize, presented by the Hollywood star Richard Gere. And the next day, he gave a keynote speech called “In Search of China’s Soul” at the Washington National Cathedral to a standing ovation.

More in the New York Times.

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.

+China Weekly Hangout

What political change can we expect under Xi Jinping? The China Weekly Hangout discussed the first signs of political reform under the new government, with +Steve Barru and +Fons Tuinstra of the +China Speakers Bureau; agenda: Hu Jintao, austerity, poor-rich divide, and more.

China's red flags in crisis management - Wendell Minnick

2013-04-29T14:32:00.000+02:00

As the conflict about the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands heats up yet another time, it is useful to recognized the meaning of the signals Beijing is sending out. Military analyst Wendell Minnick picked up for Defense News some reading tips from Taiwanese Defense experts.

Wendell Minnick:

Chinese signaling should follow the following stages in this hypothetical crisis:

First, systematic integration of political and diplomatic action with military preparations as the signaling escalates through higher levels of authority. These preparations are normally overt and designed to “deter the adversary from the course of action Beijing finds threatening.”

Second, China states why it is justified in using military force should this prove necessary. The message targets both domestic and international audiences. “In essence, Beijing declares that China confronts a serious threat to its security and interests that if not terminated will require the use of military force.”

Two more stages in Defense News.

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

China Weekly Hangout

Who is hacking who, asked the +China Weekly Hangout on February 28, after China got a lot of heat from the US for hacking the rest of the world. Present were: Security consultant +Mathew Hoover and reporter +Charlie Custer of +TechinAsia discussing hacking issues, the Sina-US relations, including some useful information on what to worry about and what not. (And some nice insights in how the US embassy in Beijing deals with cyber security. Moderation: +Fons Tuinstra of the +China Speakers Bureau.

Luxury brands have been overcharging Chinese customers - Wei Gu

2013-04-26T14:27:00.003+02:00

Wei Gu

Luxury brands have systematically been overcharging their Chinese customers by a margin of over 60%, tells WSJ wealth editor Wei Gu.
They blamed high import taxes for the difference with prices in Paris, but also China-produced luxury cars are 64% more expensive than abroad. France, followed by the USA, offer luxury products far more cheaper, although growing internet savvy buyers get more transparency, now they can compare prices online.

Wei Gu 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.

China stops subsidizing European and US economies - Shaun Rein

2013-04-26T14:24:00.000+02:00

Low wages in the world's factory floor China have been for decades a deflationary force in the global economy. But as labor costs rise in China, developed countries can no longer count on getting cheap products, tells business analyst Shaun Rein in Global Sources. "China will focus on high value-added products.

Shaun Rein:

For the last several decades, China has been a deflationary force on the global economy. That is about to change as wages and rents in China continue to grow annually in the double digits despite the weakening Chinese economy.

Since China entered the WTO, tens of millions of Chinese workers have been willing to toil for low wages making the products the rest of the world loves like Nike Air Jordans and Apple phones for cheap prices. This has allowed middle class Americans and Europeans to enjoy an increase in standard of living unparalleled in history – the typical American bought three pairs of shoes annually in the 1950s but now buys eight pairs.

Now that wages and rents are rising, China is going to become an inflationary force on the global economy. In 2011, imports into the US from China rose 2.6 percent, the highest on record. Meg Whittman, CEO of HP, said HP might raise prices to the end-consumer in the US because of rising wages in China.

Instead of being the place to make cheap products, China is fast becoming the place to make high value-added products, and emerging to become the market to sell into. Consumers in China bought almost $23 billion of Apple products last year – they have changed from not just making Apple products but are also buying them now.

Much more in Global Sources.

China Herald

Dealing with spitting Chinese - Zhang Lijia

What is China doing right? - Jeremy Goldkorn

Related articles

Changing trends on China's art market - Wei Gu

Related articles

Top-100 best-selling Chinese artists - Rupert Hoogewerf

Related articles

Why China's growth model makes sense - Heleen Mees

Related articles

Internet: China's Kangaroo Court - Jeremy Goldkorn

Related articles

What do Chinese tourists want? - China Weekly Hangout

Related articles

China's changing dreams - Shaun Rein

Related articles

Office hours - China Weekly Hangout

Related articles

A changing labor force - China Weekly Hangout

Related articles

Chinese rich invest more conservative - Wei Gu

Related articles

Vagina Monologues made it into Beijing - Zhang Lijia

Related articles

Australia/New Zealand session - China Weekly Hangout

Related articles

Australia goes easy on China's military rise - Wendell Minnick

Related articles

How to pitch your China book to a publisher - Paul French

Related articles

Edgar best fact crime award for Paul French

Related articles

Why I decided to leave Shanghai - Marc van der Chijs

Related articles

New: second homes for Chinese - Wei Gu

Related articles

Open office meeting - China Weekly Hangout

Related articles

Chinese brands fighting global heavyweights - Shaun Rein

Guanxi dies or gets into prison; the Fredy Bush case - Wei Gu

Related articles

Chen Guangcheng: far from fading away - Zhang Lijia

Related articles

China's red flags in crisis management - Wendell Minnick

Related articles

Luxury brands have been overcharging Chinese customers - Wei Gu

Related articles

China stops subsidizing European and US economies - Shaun Rein

Related articles