211 « Week In China

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WiC 211 (Oct 4, 2013)

We’ll take more bear of you

Aviation British Airways launches debut Chengdu flight to lure tourists to UK

In January 1999 Chengdu still seemed like a fairly exotic place. When the editor of this publication landed there that year, the first thing he noticed ...

Breaking up is hard to do

Energy & Resources After plague of scandals, critics want to break up oil giant…

As memos go, Reuters describes it as unusually “blunt”. The message was issued last year to staff at China’s second biggest oil major and warned ...

Let me entertain you

Property, Talking Point From malls to movies, Wanda is investing billions as it goes…

The last time a real estate mogul ventured into Hollywood, it was a decided failure. Having become the biggest commercial landlord in America by ...

Internet & Tech Stock exchange boss tells of Alibaba dream

As far as nightmares go, Alibaba’s decision not to IPO in Hong Kong has been a pretty big one for Charles Li. So last week the head of Hong Kong’s ...

China Consumer Companies in the consumer goods sector prove acquisition targets

According to Chinese brand Midea, the average US home contains 50 different types of electrical appliance. In China the equivalent figure is less than ...

M&A New scrutiny over state firms’ foreign purchases

Chinese enterprises have been going global for a decade. In terms of assets, they have a large harvest. But failures have been more common than ...

The richest TV guy

Who’s Hu Jia Yueting

When a record share price made Apple the most valuable company of all time last year, it was unthinkable for Foxconn to contemplate life beyond the US ...

One law for them…

Society Is China’s death penalty only for poor, ask bloggers

Two murders have been compared and contrasted by millions of Chinese recently, especially the sentences doled out to the perpetrators. Case one: ...

The final challenge

Sport Football club makes history by reaching Asian final

When Marcello Lippi was unveiled as Guangzhou Evergrande’s coach last May, he made a rather memorable prediction. “My arrival may be the most ...

Close to the truth

Entertainment Amazement as director’s new film is untouched by censors

Is Jia Zhangke a successful director? That depends on your point of view. His first three films were banned in China. His next four managed to get ...

Earning the big bucks

Entertainment TV stations pay record amount for new drama hit

Early this year Netflix committed the staggering sum of $100 million to make two seasons of House of Cards, an American political drama based ...

Banking & Finance Does a “negative list” have a positive twist?

Is it full speed ahead for Shanghai’s free trade zone? After months of uncertainty about how the project is going to take shape, there’s been a ...

Daddy come home

Planet China Zhao Bingxian is one of the many Chinese businessmen who likes…

Zhao Bingxian is one of the many Chinese businessmen who likes to compare himself to Warren Buffett. “Yes, we are alike, both of us are calm on the ...

Feeling flighty

Cartoons Feeling flighty

Usain Bolt is the world’s fastest man. But a pigeon called Bolt hit the headlines this week after it was impounded at Beijing airport along with more ...

Sino-File “Both sides expect to extend the partnership for another 20 years”

Jochem Heizmann, CEO of Volkswagen China, discusses negotiations to renew the joint venture with FAW, which was established in 1983. The German ...

Clinking feeling

And Finally Bo Xilai follows father to Qincheng

There are certain family traditions that are hard to buck. In Bo Xilai’s case the dubious custom is a jail sentence at Qincheng. Both his father Bo ...