56 « Week In China

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WiC 56 (Apr 16, 2010)

Very much appreciated

Rise of the RMB, Talking Point Who gains and who loses from a stronger yuan?

Apparently a more cordial chapter in Sino-US relations is upon us. After weeks of barbs and brickbats, the mood appears to be mellowing. Currency ...

A new era of PC banking

Internet & Tech Lenovo’s parent is buying banks, hailing a ‘findustrial’ revolution

First it was Chinese oil giant PetroChina buying Xinjiang-based Kunlun Bank. Then telecomprovider China Mobile said it was spending over $5.8 billion ...

Recipe for disaster

Chinese Character A classic rise-and-fall has lessons for whole Chinese economy

Henry Ford’s pioneering use of assembly lines to build the first Model T in 1908 quickly made the company bearing his name into one of the largest ...

China Ink The country has been gripped by the successful rescue of 115…

A miracle that so many survived? The state press gave the rescue efforts blanket coverage and celebrated the survival of the 115 ...

Boxed into a corner?

Energy & Resources Chinese steelmakers boycott iron ore purchases from BHP, Rio and Vale

At 9pm on April 6, 1893 Andy Bowen and Jack Burke started what would be the longest fight in history. Their boxing match would last 110 rounds. At 4am ...

Falling flat at 30

Property Mortgages outlast the buildings they pay for

"We found cracks in the living room walls the second year we moved in,” Guo Fan, a 30-year-old homeowner in Beijing, told the China Daily. “We call ...

Red Star Pearl Buck

Born in West Virginia, Pearl Buck (1892-1973) spent most of her childhood in Zhejiang, where her parents were missionaries. As a result, Buck was ...

Sport New golf course angers critics

Viewers of last weekend’s Masters will have marvelled not just at Phil Mickelson’s back-to-back eagles on the penultimate day of play, but also at ...

Sealing the deal

Society Another record auction

Tremblingly obey and show no negligence!” the Qianlong Emperor once ordered England’s King George III. It was one of the last occasions a Chinese ...

Television’s girl power

Entertainment Why millions of Chinese are watching a TV show where girls…

Two years ago, Feng Xiaogang’s blockbuster film If You Are The One topped the mainland box office, earning Rmb320 million. The movie – ...

Feeling powerless

Economy Is China’s low-cost manufacturing model unravelling

It must feel like a tough time to be a Chinese factory owner. Even as demand from overseas picks up, labour costs seem to be on the increase, and a ...

Who’s Hu China’s Don Draper: the man who invented a new advertising medium

Born in 1973 in Shanghai, Jiang Nanchun got an early taste for advertising, working part time at an agency while at East China Normal University. In ...

Of good rural stock?

Banking & Finance Agricultural Bank IPO finally back on track

Despite its 5,000 year history, China didn’t open its first modern bank till May 1897. According to historian Jonathan Fenby, the Imperial Bank was ...

No queues, at least

Planet China If you’re looking to compile a list of civil aviation’s most…

If you’re looking to compile a list of civil aviation’s most egregious white elephants, the Rmb396 million ($58 million) airport in Libo should ...

A Galaxy no longer far away

Cartoons A Galaxy no longer far away

If you’re looking for signs of a recovery in risk appetite then look no further than Macau. This week property tycoon Lui Che Woo announced that ...

Language barrier

And Finally Chinese state television bans English terms

China has long had a curious relationship with the English language. When Chiang Kai-shek’s KMT ran the country, the ‘Generalissimo’ became the ...