There will be no more Frappaccinos or lattés in the Forbidden City as Starbucks closed down its controversial outlet situated inside the former imperial palace on Friday. The closure brought an end to a seven-year presence that sparked controversy and protests that the image and cultural heritage of the historical site was being trampled on by the American corporation.
In the end it was not the petitioning of cultural commentators or declining sales which led to the store’s demise, but the company rejecting an offer to combine their outlet with other shops in the former Imperial Palace. This move would have forced Starbucks to sell their beverages under the palace’s brand name, a common practice in national parks in many western countries. Read the rest of this entry »
Beijing will take one million cars off the city’s streets for two weeks in August to rehearse traffic control measures for next year’s Olympic Games, organizers of the event have said.
Sources with the Beijing organizing committee for the Olympic Games said that city authorities will clear Beijing’s roads between August 7 and 20. They said the city government had endorsed the plan at an internal meeting, but refused to give details according to Xinhua.
“The plan has been drawn up and is ready to go,” said Fan Yinlong, a city government spokesman. The two-week period roughly coincides with the time that the Games will be held next year, from August 8-24. According to the Agence France-Presse, Beijing will also host 11 Olympic test events during the test-run period, including cycling road races, wrestling, hockey and beach volleyball. The city has already spent around US$15 billion on a massive pollution clean-up in the run up to the Olympics, which has included moving heavily polluting industrial factories out of the city. Read the rest of this entry »
A letter from Dalian: Chris Devonshire-Ellis
Dalian, China’s third largest port and hometown of Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai, is a city of six million, just across the Yellow Sea from Japan. In fact its proximity to Japan is such that it has for a long time been considered more a Japanese and Korean city of not much interest to other foreigners. That’s about to change.
Intel’s huge investment in the city (actually about a 45 minute drive further north) – a US$2.5 billion dollar wafer fabrication business – is spearheading what will become a renewed interest in investment into Dalian, and possibly Northeast China as a whole. With Intel’s facility also creating the need for an American International School – not to mention a prestigious village development to house all those US expatriate executives and their wives – Dalian is repositioning itself as a destination for Western FDI par excellence. Read the rest of this entry »
The has been plenty of press about the various additions and subtractions to the second draft labor law - China Briefing looked at it in May - and with all the recent focus on worker’s rights, we decided to post a recent case blog contributor Adam Livermore of Dezan Shira & Associates’ Dalian office dealt with regarding deceased employees.
While no employer would ever wish this upon themselves or their employees, the death of an employee does indeed happen, and while the information below applies more specifically to companies in Dalian, the basis is very much the same nationwide. Please take a look at the following guidelines and be sure to find out exactly how much compensation you may have to provide in your area.
According to the Guideline No. 124/1994 and No. 239 issued by the Dalian Labor and Social Security Bureau, the compensation borne by the employer for a deceased employees who died from an unrelated work matter - off property and on personal time, includes, but is not limited to, the following items: Read the rest of this entry »
The Shenyang EU Economic Development Zone is a new project conceived by the Shenyang Municipal Government and located in the northeast part of Shenyang, 15 kilometers from the central business district. It covers an area of 12 sq. km, 5 sq. km of which is expected to be completed by the end of this year. This is the first development zone to focus on providing facilities for companies investing from the European Union. Capitalizing on the existing presence of large European manufacturers like Michelin and BMW, the park aims to build the best automobile electronic parts and advanced equipment manufacturing base in the north of China. It is expected that the manufacturing of vehicle parts will take up 8 to 10 sq. km of the space in the development zone.
As the capital city of Liaoning Province and largest city in the whole region, Shenyang is developing into the economic, cultural and trading center of northeast China. At present Shenyang has opened up more than 20 international airline routes to several countries and regions including South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan. Most produce for export goes through the port of Dalian, which remains the largest port in the region. However Yingkou Port, the nearest port to Shenyang, is also developing fast and exports products to more than 20 countries including Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Australia, the United States, Canada, Italy and Hong Kong. Read the rest of this entry »
The northeast of China is entering the cold winter period, and at this time of year families have to pay their winter heating charge, which generally amounts to over RMB1,000 per household – a considerable amount considering the official average wage in Dalian is only RMB1,836 per month.
In the past, this charge was generally paid on behalf of workers by the State-Owned Enterprises who provided the accommodation for their staff. However with the breakdown of this system and widespread ownership of apartments by the general population, the issue of who should pay for heating charges has been a hot topic.
Last year on September 30, the Dalian Municipal Government issued a notification based on Liaoning Province Public Heating Management Regulations. The document states that companies based in Dalian are required to pay both their current and retired employees a heating allowance. In 2005 the allowance was supposed to be paid as a lump sum, calculated based on the specific rank of each employee. The allowance paid to senior managers was RMB2,254, while the amount paid to the lowest rank of worker was RMB966. There are also various complications, for instance spouses of army staff are eligible for higher allowances than other staff. Read the rest of this entry »
A bonded port is an area within a conventional port in which goods can be processed and manufactured without being considered imports. Dayaowan Port, located in the Dalian Development Zone, has recently received approval from the State Council to operate as a bonded port.
From an operational point of view, this designation will provide the following advantages for companies locating there.
- There will be minimal customs procedures carried out on material imported into the zone, processed and then re-exported. Notifying the customs authorities of arrival and departure of materials is adequate under normal circumstances. Customs duty will only be payable on the portion of produce that is brought out of the port area for import into mainland China. This is considerably more advantageous than companies located in the present Free Trade Zone and Export Processing Zone. As they are not connected directly to the port, goods produced in these areas have to go through more rigorous customs procedures. This has implications for both cash-flow and turnaround time. Read the rest of this entry »
for Dezan Shira & Associates, the foreign direct investment legal and tax practice responsible for China Briefing 
