301 « Week In China

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Back Issue

WiC 301 (Oct 30, 2015)

Hatching an escape plan

China Consumer, Talking Point Why Yum Brands is rethinking its key market

When KFC debuted in China in 1987 it sold 2,200 buckets of fried chicken on its opening day – with the only disappointed customers being those who ...

Too much of a punt

China Tourist Another replica town for the tourists – but are they losing…

In the early 1920s British accountant Roland Callingham began building models of railways that he set against the landscape of rural England. When his ...

Upwardly mobile

Internet & Tech Strong results for Alibaba, as Singles' Day sales boost looms

In the run-up to Alibaba’s IPO late last year, analysts as well as media pundits struggled to find enough superlatives to express their admiration. ...

Testing the waters

China and the World US navy sails close to ‘island’ of Subi

On Tuesday morning, after months of deliberation, the US Navy sailed a 9,200-tonne warship within 12 nautical miles of a Chinese-built artificial ...

Property Commercial landlords adjust to new challenges

He sat on Enron’s board at the time of the energy giant’s collapse, which might suggest that Ronnie Chan isn’t the first person you might think ...

China’s investment bank

Banking & Finance CICC goes public amid a slew of financial IPOs in Hong…

You’ve got to call this a hot new issue,” an analyst told the New York Times. The flotation under discussion was that of Morgan Stanley and the ...

Society Professor pilloried for his marriage proposal

Sometimes you have to admire quite how straightforward the Chinese language can be. Take the word ‘polyandry’ as an example. In English its ...

A run for their money

Society Sporting themes set to dominate China’s reality TV schedule next year

China is rarely a country of small numbers and where TV choices are concerned that’s true too. At the end of 2014, there were at least 300 television ...

Healthcare Tu Youyou’s Nobel win breeds hope for domestic artemisinin suppliers

In the weeks since Tu Youyou was awarded a Nobel Prize for her contributions towards fighting malaria (see WiC 299), the role that Chinese companies ...

China Tourist Hong Kong’s ‘zero-fee’ tours back in the spotlight

In spite of their reputation amongst Hongkongers, most Chinese tourists aren’t profligate spenders. The bulk are very conscious of what they buy on ...

Peggy sue, mark two

Society Directors deny Coppola copy

In Francis Ford Coppola’s 1986 comedy drama Peggy Sue Got Married, a woman about to get divorced is transported back in time to her final ...

Red Star The son of China's old friend

In 1970 Canada’s then prime minister Pierre Trudeau was one of the first Western leaders to formally recognise the sovereignty of the People’s ...

Planet China Previous winners of the Confucius Peace Prize have included Fidel Castro…

Previous winners of the Confucius Peace Prize have included Fidel Castro and Vladimir Putin. But some overseas pundits were even more shocked by the ...

Cartoons Grey market

With so many choices for fast food fans in China, how do you get their attention? One of the quirkier attempts from McDonald’s this month was the ...

America, you are welcome to join!

Sino-File “This is not a Chinese bank. This is a bank owned…

Jin Liqun tells the Financial Times that the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) won’t be an instrument of Chinese power. The inaugural head ...

And Finally Around 200,000 absusive complaints flood ministry’s new weibo page

The internet can be a cruel and vindictive place, as many politicians, celebrities, and even regular people have found. Last week, some fresh meat ...