Other Briefings
Chinese river dolphin first mammal to become extinct in 50 years
China’s white river dolphin, known as the baiji (Lipotes vexillifer) appears to now be extinct, according to a team of biologists that spent six weeks searching for it in its usual habitat of the Yangtze River. This makes it the first mammal globally to become extinct in the past 50 years, despite private attempts to preserve […]
China’s insurance watchdog issues draft ruling on FDI in sector
China issued a draft ruling yesterday, clarifying the criteria for foreign investors seeking to buy stakes under 25 percent in domestic insurance companies. According to an announcement on the China Insurance Regulatory Commission’s website, overseas investors in Chinese insurance companies must have more than US$2 billion in assets and have made profits for three consecutive years. […]
Common staffing mistakes in China, and how to avoid them
It’s a slow news day – besides that whole one-year-to-go thing – and while we were tempted to run with this story from the Shanghai Daily, the better angels of our nature prevailed and instead, we decided to republish an excerpt from our popular “Common mistakes and misperceptions when investing in China – and how […]
‘Software’ and intangibles still a problem for Beijing Olympics
Commentary: Chris Devonshire-Ellis With the Central Government and IOC in Beijing this week to mark the one year countdown before the start of the Olympics, problems are starting to surface concerning a variety of issues over the events, and in particular the ‘soft’ issues that are so important in making a success of the Games. […]
China, the Olympics, and what it all means
Commentary: Andy Scott Tomorrow will mark one year until the Beijing Olympics. The games, which have been called everything from China’s great coming-out party to the genocide Olympics, will undoubtedly put the country under a media spotlight the likes of which most people living here have never seen. Officials have been scrambling to make sure […]
Express air service between Beijing and Shanghai launched
Flights between Shanghai and Beijing just got faster and more reliable, at least that’s the word from five Chinese airline companies who launched an express air service between the two cities yesterday. Operated by Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, Hainan Airlines and Shanghai Airlines, a total of 36 express flights taking off almost every […]
Does responsibility for defective Chinese goods, growing trade imbalance lie with America?
A good engineering friend of China Briefing, Nick Polimeni, has been talking with us recently about the so-called glass ceiling in China concerning manufacturing, and where the real issues over the Sino-U.S. trade imbalance are. He made some interesting comments to us this morning: “I suspected, as you do, that the mark up rate for goods imported […]
Have U.S. – EU quality standards been used as a form of protectionism against China?
Commentary: Chris Devonshire-Ellis The news last week that Mattel have recalled one million car toys due to lead paint concerns – apparently the 17th major recall in the past 20 years from China for manufactured toys – has raised of course yet more concerns about the safety of China made product. Now, while for sure […]
