110 « Week In China

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WiC 110 (Jun 10, 2011)

Economy, Talking Point Is Beijing readying a $463 billion bailout for debt-laden local governments?

One might avoid paying one’s debts on the first of the month, but not on the fifteenth.” In light of this warning – another age-old Chinese ...

Agriculture Soya beans become currency of choice for Chinese underground lenders

Buy low, sell high is one of the most basic tenets in business. So how come plenty of China’s soya bean importers seem to be ignoring the advice in ...

Property The great debate: are house prices falling or not?

All happy families are alike, Tolstoy once wrote, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. What the Russian novelist wouldn’t have ...

Banking & Finance Regulator indicates Shanghai “close” to letting foreign firms list shares

Almost 90 years after the founding of China’s Communist Party, could we be about to see the flourishing of a new relationship with foreign ...

Chinese Character Entrepreneur dies three days after IPO. Was it suicide or murder?

Nearly 20 years have passed since the drowning at sea of British media tycoon Robert Maxwell. His death remains one of the more enduring mysteries in ...

China Consumer Nestlé to boost China growth via acquisition

Could US-style diet coach Jenny Craig offer a solution to the rising tide of obesity in China? Nestlé, the Swiss food goliath, hopes so. After ...

Who’s Hu Huang Maoru

A parental hand helped launch Huang Maoru's business career. Upon retiring, Huang senior bought a substantial amount of land in Shenzhen's Buji ...

Banking & Finance CICC’s transformational deal

Regular readers of WiC will know that trust companies have been a source of consternation for regulators. Now it emerges that preeminent domestic ...

Society Divorce rate is surging

For centuries, Chinese people have greeted one another with a question reflecting a fundamental concern: “chi le ma?” or “have you ...

Entertainment Foreign blockbusters blocked to make way for Party epic

Hollywood loves a sequel. And so, it seems, do the propaganda team at the Chinese Communist Party. After The Founding of a Republic – the ...

Society Riots break out in Chaozhou

More evidence of social unrest in China this week. As reported in last week’s issue of WiC there have been a number of incidents reaching the ...

Sport Controversial move to raise popularity of ladies golf

If Li Na’s example of sporting success looks set to boost the fortunes of ladies tennis in China, a somewhat different strategy is being employed for ...

Sport Why Li Na’s Grand Slam victory is hugely significant for China

It’s a measure of the significance of Li Na’s victory in Paris that she not only made it onto the front page of the People’s Daily, but was ...

Agriculture Why bureaucrats don’t have to worry about food safety

By most measures, China’s leaders have failed to make the country’s food safer to eat. And a recent Southern Metropolis Weekly exposé points to ...

Auto Industry Local car brand Xiali is struggling to compete

The original ‘People’s Car’ was designed by Ferdinand Porsche, which may strike some as a paradox given his association with a much more ...

Planet China The fanaticism of some of Apple’s biggest fans seems harmless, if…

The fanaticism of some of Apple’s biggest fans seems harmless, if a little geeky. But no more, according to Shenzhen Satellite TV, which has ...

Cartoons Not set to set sail?

The Chinese military has confirmed for the first time that Beijing is building an aircraft carrier, but says it won’t be deployed ...

And Finally Efforts to curtail plastic bag usage fail because law is largely…

Enforcing environmental rules can prove difficult in China. Efforts to wean consumers off plastic bags are a good example. Last week was the third ...