Archive for November, 2008
WSJ Best of the China Blogs: November 19
WSJ China Blog/November 19, 2008
–The Mandarin word for corruption, fubai, takes on a new meaning among Chinese youth. [The China Observer]
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Where do Beijing skyscrapers come from?
Chinese Automakers May Buy GM and Chrysler
The Truth About Cars/November 18,2008/Thanks to China Digital Times
Chinese carmakers SAIC and Dongfeng have plans to acquire GM and Chrysler, China’s 21st Century Business Herald reports today. [A National Enquirer the paper is not. It is one of China's leading business newspapers, with a daily readership over three million.] The paper cites a senior official [...]
Chinese Consumer: Making The Sale
Many of you have read the China Observer Blog’s Recent China News posted article from The McKinsey Quarterly entitled, “What’s new with the Chinese Consumer.â€
Let’s highlight the key findings from the report:
Due to rising concerns about product quality standards, Chinese consumers are less willing to try new products.
Chinese consumers often base their purchase decisions on [...]
Quick Observation: Fubai - It’s Not Just For Corrupt Government Officials Anymore
“咱们今晚去è…败，好ä¸å¥½ï¼Ÿ”
My co-worker asks me if I want to go fubai （è…败）with him tonight. I am utterly confused, because as a Chinese student I learned that the word fubai is generally used to describe corrupt government officials.
There is a new definition of the word spreading around the BBS message boards. Online, fubai (abbreviated FB) most often [...]
China Prepares for Urban Revolution
BusinessWeek.com/November 13, 2008
No doubt Beijing’s massive $586 billion stimulus package, announced with much fanfare on Nov. 9 (BusinessWeek.com, 11/9/08), is aimed at combating China’s slowing economy. But even as growth continues to show signs of weakness—on Nov. 11 China reported 4.6% consumer price inflation growth, the slowest in 17 months—there is an equally compelling reason [...]
Restauranteering in China: Little Sheep Hot Pot
An old friend was in town from the US a few weeks ago and we planned to meet for dinner. I asked him if there was anything he had been craving since his last visit. He told me that we needed to go for a hot pot dinner.
What is hot pot? Hot pot (ç«é”…) is [...]
Thank You China Law Blog
I would like to thank Dan at the China Law Blog for his recent post about The China Observer blog. For new readers, I hope you enjoy your visit and come back for more observations in the future. If there are any industry/company/cultural trends that you would like me to write about please feel free [...]
China Retail Sales Rise 22%, Help to Counter Slowdown
Bloomberg.com/November 12, 2008
China’s retail sales rose 22 percent, close to the fastest pace in nine years, signaling that domestic demand may help the fourth-biggest economy withstand a looming global recession.
Sales climbed to 1.008 trillion yuan ($148 billion) in October, the statistics bureau said today, after gaining 23.2 percent in September from a year earlier. The [...]
Online Gaming in China - An Escape From Reality
Looking through my last post on a Chinese perspective of Kaixin, Erica’s comment about Xiaonei being too much like real life really jumped out at me. Through my own observations I have found that there is a fairly large number of Chinese who actively seek out a means to separate themselves from the intense pressure [...]
