31 Archives | Week In China

Sorry, you have not enabled Javascript for your internet browser, so some of our website's pages may not render as fully as intended.
Please Click here for easy instructions on how to enable Javascript on your browser or consult your IT support staff for help.

Back Issue

WiC 31 (Sep 19, 2009)

In it for the long haul

Aviation, Talking Point Should Airbus and Boeing worry about the Chinese C919?

If you want to understand China’s aerospace future, all you need to know is your alphabet. There’s an A for Airbus, a B for Boeing; and now a C ...

A Legend is reborn

Economy Against the grain: Lenovo’s parent slips out of state hands, not…

John Trumbull is not as famous an artist as Rembrandt or Cezanne, but one of his paintings is probably much more familiar to many of us. It appeared ...

Tyres now, chickens next?

China Ink, Economy Last week the Obama administration raised import duties to 35% on…

Why target tyres? The Chinese media puts together a pretty convincing rebuttal of Washington’s case. At least 10,000 US jobs will ...

Bond, Renminbi Bond

Rise of the RMB Offshore sovereign bonds set to be issued in local currency for…

In late March, Zhou Xiaochuan – the head of China’s central bank – made his first call for a new “super-sovereign reserve currency” to reduce ...

Who’s Hu Fridge-smasher extraordinaire

From a young age Zhang Ruimin showed engineering talent: he had a penchant for dismantling the family radio and reassembling it. Born in 1949, he says ...

History Lessons Plan for times ahead

Fan Zhongyan (989–1052) was a prominent politician and literary figure in the Song dynasty. This was a time when corruption in the government, as ...

Something of an own goal

Sport Team incurs ridicule for alleged match-fixing efforts

One of the most memorable moments of the 1970 World Cup saw Pelé attempt to lob Czechoslovakia’s goalkeeper, Ivo Victor from the halfway ...

Top of the class

Society A 38 year-old goes to primary school and impresses teachers

As the proverb states: “One is never too old to learn.” Yan Gao is taking the phrase literally. Unable to read and write, he has resolved that ...

How to lose 380m viewers

Entertainment Why one of China’s most successful shows lost popularity

Even Simon Cowell – the world’s best known reality-show judge – would be hard-pressed to call this year’s Happy Girl ...

No more foreign coaches

Energy & Resources Cautionary voice warns on China’s electric bus boom

Predictions involving buses should always be approached with caution, if the experience of one of Britain’s least successful prime ministers, Neville ...

See Taipei – don’t go home

China Tourist An unusual form of tourism hasn’t marred relations across the Straits

Chinese tourists to Taiwan have come up with a new island adventure that’s not advertised in the brochures. Going AWOL. Last month two men from ...

The man of steel

Chinese Character Why China’s answer to Andrew Carnegie is facing his biggest ever…

Shen Wenrong’s name is probably better known in Germany than in most Western countries. That’s because in 2001 he made the bold decision to buy ...

Planet China The financial crisis has seen many lose faith in the banking…

The financial crisis has seen many lose faith in the banking system. So perhaps it’s not surprising that some have resorted to tried-and-tested ...

The world’s most expensive dog

Cartoons The world’s most expensive dog

It is often assumed that the world’s most pampered dogs must be the corgis so beloved of Elizabeth II, Queen of England. But the corgis now have a ...

And Finally Street signs that get very lost in translation

Perhaps it should not be too surprising that a country that once declared war on sparrows might now choose to confront its own street signs. But for ...