113 « Week In China

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Back Issue

WiC 113 (Jul 1, 2011)

Problems going overseas

Economy, Talking Point China Inc’s ambitious plans to ‘go global’ are experiencing setbacks

At a cost of $7.2 billion, San Francisco’s new Bay Bridge will be one of the most expensive bridges ever built. But California officials say it would ...

Rail & Infrastructure Will Beijing to Shanghai bullet train be world’s busiest railway?

It took a day and a half to get to Beijing from Shanghai by train when Mao first took power in 1949. A new high-speed rail line opening today can do ...

Banking & Finance The first local government default sends a serious warning signal

The road ahead is far from clear for Yunnan Highway Investment and Development Company. With no obvious income flow, it’s not apparent how the ...

Feeling sandwiched

China Consumer Fast food firm Subway looks to emulate China growth of KFC

Here’s a slightly surprising statistic: at the end of last year, the sandwich store chain Subway had more restaurants worldwide (33,749) than ...

Sport China footballers disappoint

China’s football team has been the butt of many jokes over the years – but last week was probably the first time that the women’s coach offered ...

Turning 90 but far from grey

Economy Anniversary gives outsiders a peep inside China’s ruling Party

Imagine if the Washington Post was edited by Rush Limbaugh and Jon Stewart on a rotating basis. One week the front page might decry America’s slide ...

Society ‘Red Cross Girl’ in the headlines

Try as they might, China’s leaders continue to struggle with the country’s endemic corruption. President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have ...

Message of regret

Society China’s queen of tweets posts controversial message on her Sina Weibo

Earlier this month Lady Gaga became the first person on Twitter to reach 10 million followers. In addition to promoting her latest hit songs, Lady ...

The new commuter belt

Property Real estate near nation’s high-speed train stations soars in value

Bengbu, once a sleepy city in Anhui, now has one of the hottest property markets in China. Thanks to the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail link, the ...

Who’s Hu Ding Shuibo

At the age of 17, Fujian-born Ding Shuibo told his father that he wanted to drop out of school so that he could help his family lead a better life. He ...

Banking & Finance More hard landing talk?

As a question, it is proving a resilient one: is China’s economy facing a hard landing (see WiC108)? HSBC’s strategy team thinks not. While ...

Planet China China’s healthcare system made the news again this week after Liuzhou…

China’s healthcare system made the news again this week after Liuzhou Workers’ Hospital saved the life of Tan Jun. Nothing odd about that – ...

Emission impossible

Cartoons Emission impossible

Premier Wen Jiabao’s European tour sent some mixed messages this week. On the negative side was the news that his government had blocked the purchase ...

Not a director’s cut

And Finally Controversy at the Shanghai Film Festival

Susan Sarandon was there, and so was Rupert Murdoch (to lend some star power to his wife Wendi Deng, who has now become a film producer). And perhaps ...