Shanghai Expo 2010: The Nordic Lighthouse Project

The 2010 World Exposition in Shanghai will be the first registered one in a developing country. Officially known as “Expo Shanghai 2010,” it will last 184 days and provide China an opportunity to show off its remarkable economic growth. The expo will also give foreign nations and companies a chance to further develop business partnerships with China and Chinese companies. This is the thirteenth in an ongoing series that will look at the upcoming expo, from country pavilions to trade development. In this article, we take a look at the Nordic Lighthouse Project.

By Caroline Lundstrom

Mar. 26 – The Nordic Lighthouse Project will take place in Shanghai from April 27 to October 31, 2010. What originally started as a Danish initiative has grown into a project involving participants from Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Finland. The Nordic Center at Fudan University is also playing an active role in the project. Read the rest of this entry »

Shanghai Expo 2010: The Swedish Pavilion

The 2010 World Exposition in Shanghai will be the first registered one in a developing country. Officially known as “Expo Shanghai 2010,” it will last 184 days and provide China an opportunity to show off its remarkable economic growth. The expo will also give foreign nations and companies a chance to further develop business partnerships with China and Chinese companies. This is the tenth in an ongoing series that will look at the upcoming expo, from country pavilions to trade development. In this article, we take a look at the Swedish Pavilion. Read the rest of this entry »

Shanghai Expo 2010: The Norwegian Pavilion

The 2010 World Exposition in Shanghai will be the first registered one in a developing country. Officially known as “Expo Shanghai 2010,” it will last 184 days and provide China an opportunity to show off its remarkable economic growth. The expo will also give foreign nations and companies a chance to further develop business partnerships with China and Chinese companies. This is the ninth in an ongoing series that will look at the upcoming expo, from country pavilions to trade development. In this article, we take a look at the Norwegian Pavilion. Read the rest of this entry »

Shanghai Expo 2010: The Canadian Pavilion

The 2010 World Exposition in Shanghai will be the first registered one in a developing country. Officially known as “Expo Shanghai 2010,” it will last 184 days and provide China an opportunity to show off its remarkable economic growth. The expo will also give foreign nations and companies a chance to further develop business partnerships with China and Chinese companies. This is the seventh in an ongoing series that will look at the upcoming expo, from country pavilions to trade development. In this article, we take a look at the Canadian Pavilion.

By Ophelia Wan

SHANGHAI, Oct. 1 – The Canadian Pavilion at world expos has always been a “must-see” among national pavilions, and the Canadian Pavilion at Expo 2010 should be no exception. Read the rest of this entry »

Shanghai Expo 2010: The Taiwan Pavilion

The 2010 World Exposition in Shanghai will be the first registered one in a developing country. Officially known as “Expo Shanghai 2010,” it will last 184 days and provide China an opportunity to show off its remarkable economic growth. The expo will also give foreign nations and companies a chance to further develop business partnerships with China and Chinese companies. This is the sixth in an ongoing series that will look at the upcoming expo, from country pavilions to trade development. In this article, we take a look at the Taiwan Pavilion.

By Jie Gong

SHANGHAI, Sept. 21 – Since receiving the invitation only about four months ago, Taiwan is ready to participate in its first World Expo in four decades. The organizer of Taiwan’s participation and the contractor, the Taipei World Trade Center, signed its contract of participation with the Shanghai Expo organizer on July 21. Read the rest of this entry »

China Sector Watch: Pharmaceuticals

This ongoing series takes an in-depth look at the industries that are shaping the Chinese economy today.

By Joyce Roque

SHANGHAI, Sept. 8 – Last year, when Vicky Zhang got sick with pneumonia she went to a public hospital in Shanghai’s Pudong district. It took her 2 hours to line up for tests and consult with a doctor, who prescribed her medicine from a list found here. The medicine could only be bought from the hospital’s pharmacy. They charged her a total of RMB1,000 which wiped out the credit on her state health insurance card and still required her to pay a small amount. Today, after regular monthly deductions from her white-collar salary, if she were to get sick again her card would only have RMB980 worth of hospital credit. Read the rest of this entry »

China Sector Watch: Energy

from xinhua This is the second of a series that will take an in-depth look at the industries that are shaping Chinese economy today.

By Joyce Roque

Mar. 2 – Prior to Deng Xiaoping’s landmark market reforms, the country’s energy sector was fully-controlled by the state. Fast-forward 30 years and changes in China have been nothing short of revolutionary. The government has released its grip on the industry from total control to a decentralized one. It now serves more as the energy sector’s regulatory oversight rather dealing with the operational aspects of production.

The energy industry has been at the heart of China’s economic shift; making it possible for exports to thrive and propel the country out of poverty. Currently, even with the sector’s significance it still lags behind in terms of adopting efficient practices to make it safer and cleaner.

Read the rest of this entry »

Afghanistan Now Part of China’s Central Asian Push

Kabul, Afghanistan

This is the fifteenth in a series of articles that looks at China’s borders. As China has grown in the last 30 years, so have the often complicated relationships it has with its many varied neighbors. In this article, we take a look at Afghanistan.

By Andy Scott

Sept. 23 – At one time, Afghanistan was center for some of the world’s most important civilization. The arts and sciences thrived, cultivation and advanced farming techniques turned the plains around Kabul into a great bread basket. Then in 1219, the Mongols came. They left a devastating path of destruction that that the country has never quite recovered from. Since then, the land has become one that has inevitably been in between, acting as a bit player in The Great Game, and a staring role in the collapse of the Soviet Union. Following the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, Afghanistan once again played host to world powers. Situated as it is in Asia, it is something that shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Read the rest of this entry »

Rivals and Partners: India and China Look Forward

This is the fourteenth in a series of articles that looks at China’s borders. As China has grown in the last 30 years, so have the often complicated relationships it has with its many varied neighbors. In this article, we take a look at India.

By Nazia Vasi

Sept. 15 – China and India, half of the world’s population, continue to move closer and closer to one another; but it’s often hard to tell whether the proximity will result in an embrace or a donnybrook. Read the rest of this entry »

China and Pakistan’s Enduring Alliance

This is the thirteenth in a series of articles that looks at China’s borders. As China has grown in the last 30 years, so have the often complicated relationships it has with its many varied neighbors. In this article, we take a look at Pakistan.

By Joyce Roque

Sept. 12 – On August 14, 1947, the state of Pakistan was born. Like all births, it would prove to be painful, messy and jarring affair. The subcontinent was effectively ripped at the seams into a Muslim East Pakistan and a Hindu West Bengal after 89 years under the British Raj.

National assets like the British Indian Army, the Indian Civil Service, railways, central treasury and other administrative services had to be divided accordingly. The divorce proved chaotic. It is one thing to divide a nation on paper but another thing to fracture lives. People suddenly found themselves living at the wrong side of the partition.

Read the rest of this entry »

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