13 « Week In China

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WiC 13 (Apr 30, 2009)

Pirates no more

Economy, Talking Point Does a big win in an intellectual property dispute signal changing…

It is the high profile result that the international business community has been seeking for years. A major company claims that it has suffered ...

Everything must go

China Consumer Why Chinese consumers benefit when export firms cut prices and sell…

A case of the pen being mightier than the sword? Not exactly, but the protests at a Dongguan factory gate did involve pencils, reports the 21CN ...

Banking & Finance Bank loans are now at Alibaba’s command

China’s banks lent $671.6 billion in the first quarter of this year. The problem is that hardly any of this money went to small and medium-sized ...

Why rare earth is cheap

Energy & Resources Chinese legislator’s bold plan could drive up world prices

Deng Xiaoping once said: “The Middle East has oil, while China has rare earth.” China’s former leader was right. China tops the global rankings ...

Society A novel about 1970s China

It is not often a Chinese novel gets translated into English; and in this case the book’s title seems to make the point – the novel is simply named ...

Economy African attendance surges at the Canton Fair

So how is the trading environment for China’s exporters at the moment? As a twice-yearly barometer of export health, the 630,000 square metres of ...

History Lessons Looking for weak points

During the Warring States Period (476-221 BC), the King of Qi appointed Sun Bin (see WiC2) as military counsellor in a conflict against Wei, who ...

Society Wine sales are on the increase

Chinese drinkers are no longer mere dabblers in the world of fine wine. Despite a tendency to turn as ruby-hued as the claret they are tippling, the ...

What lurks beneath

Entertainment War and office politics

Another week and another hugely popular war series is the talk of Chinese television. We reported in WiC9 on two other military blockbusters ...

Yin, yang and Porsches

Healthcare Chinese medicine booms

Times are good,” says Huang Xin. Evidently they are. Huang, a Chinese medicine doctor, says he is looking to purchase his third Porsche in less than ...

Red Star Bai Yansong

Born in Inner Mongolia, a largely poor and underdeveloped area, Bai Yansong has overcome his humble roots to become one of China’s most popular ...

Learning the expensive way

Society Educating a four year-old in China costs more than an MBA

You’ve bought the DVD, you’ve been to the Hong Kong theme park, and now you can send your child to the Disney school. Well, if you are Shanghainese ...

Come to Tangshan

Environment A bucolic wetland where the fish taste of diesel

Isn’t prevention supposed to be better than cure? A case can be argued as far as hangovers are concerned, even if abstinence makes for rather a dull ...

First pandas, then phones

Economy "Historic” agreement sees China and Taiwan boost economic ties

It says a lot about the historical relationship between China and Taiwan that the two sides cannot even agree on what to call the giant panda. In ...

Full steam ahead

China Ink Interpreting the maritime signals from last week's People’s Liberation Army Navy…

A new dawn for a nation with a long history at sea? Most of the Chinese newspapers are keen on history, especially the voyages of ...

Planet China At job fairs in China you often see advertisements for positions…

At job fairs in China you often see advertisements for positions that specify a height or age (for secretaries or security guards, for instance). But a ...

And the winner is…

Cartoons And the winner is…

A district of Shanghai, worried by declines in consumer spending, has added a lucky draw to its attempts to boost the local economy. According to the ...

Central “party” offices

And Finally How some fake Moutai stirred up a storm for local government…

China is no stranger to fakes; the country has long enjoyed a reputation for counterfeited goods. It is, therefore, rather surprising that the ...