The other day I did a piece, entitled, “Hey China Milk Man, What Part of Price Fixing Do You Not Understand,” on what appeared to me to be price fixing/collusion in the dairy industry and wondered why the dairy producers were so public about it. Seems China’s noodle industry tried the same thing but it… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: July 2007
China’s Environment Sucks And That Ain’t Racist, But What Is?
Posted in Recommended ReadingVery thoughtful post over at Richard Spencer’s Telegraph Blog entitled “China’s Environment Sparks Heated Debate.” Post is much more on racism than on the environment. The post starts out discussing a comment by a self described “anti-Stalinist leftist” (I am not making this up) who considers criticism of China’s environmental problems racist. The post then… Continue Reading
Everyone Doing China Sourcing Is Stupid — NOT
Posted in China BusinessIn an article entitled, “Is sourcing in China worth it? Businesses weigh the costs and benefits, in the wake of product recalls and bans,” CNNmoney.com tells us that companies are now doing a cost benefit analysis before just up and having all of their goods made in China. As my ten year old would say,… Continue Reading
China Law Blog Begs For Votes
Posted in Good PeopleThe race for best blog over at the Chinalyst competition is getting down to the wire, with only two days left. Therefore, I beg, implore, plead, and cajole all loyal and not so loyal readers to click HERE and vote for China Law Blog. Push that little plus sign on the right and rest easy,… Continue Reading
China’s Me Generation: Party Over Politics
Posted in Recommended ReadingInteresting article in Time Magazine by Simon Elegant of the Time China Blog. The article is entitled “China’s Me Generation” and it is on how China’s youth are so apolitical. Interesting for the interviews, but I really have to wonder how representative these youth really are of China as a whole. And does anyone think… Continue Reading
China Product Outsourcing Done Right: A Sort Of Guide
Posted in China BusinessChang W. Lee of the New York Times, recently wrote a very informative article on China product quality, entitled, “Toymaking in China, Mattel’s Way.” [free registration may be required] The article touts Mattel as a paragon of quality control in China and sets out what Mattel does to ensure the quality of its products from… Continue Reading
China Food, Drink, And Jackie Chan
Posted in Recommended ReadingBen Ross, of Ben’s Blog fame, just came out with an interesting new website appropriately entitled, How to Order Chinese Food. I will let Ben explain: The new site is now up and running and will be a comprehensive (as possible) guide to Chinese food geared towards Western taste buds. There are listings of different… Continue Reading
China Quality Control: Darkness Before The Dawn
Posted in China BusinessVery thoughtful article on China product quality over at the Knowledge@Wharton site. The article is written by Paul Midler, founder and President of China Advantage, which provides China outsourcing and supply chain management services. Paul is a Wharton MBA graduate, who has been living and working in China off and on for the last 15… Continue Reading
China: It’s The Shoes
Posted in Recommended ReadingIs it the Shoes? Is it the Shoes? Is it the Shoes? … it’s gotta be the SHOES!” – Mars Blackmon, from Spike Lee’s 1986 film, “She’s Gotta Have It” Great article over at Slate, entitled, “Female Weightlifters, Spanish Basketball Stars, and Kim Jong-il: The strange world of Chinese sneaker endorsements.” It’s by Jacob Leibenluft… Continue Reading
China Lawyer Ethics — Perils And Pitfalls For Foreign Companies
Posted in Legal NewsBrad Luo over at the China Business Law Blog recently did a two part series on legal ethics in China. Bear with me here people, because this post is highly relevant to anyone who uses or is thinking of using a Chinese lawyer or law firm. The first of Brad’s posts is entitled, “Time to… Continue Reading
China Hiring And Employment By The Graphs
Posted in China BusinessThe Talent in China blog has an interesting post up on China hiring issues. The post is entitled, “Graphs, Graphs, and More Graphs,” and that is exactly what it is. It is a collection of graphs, graphically illustrating the following: • China employee turnover, by industry • Top 10 departments for turnover • Foreign employers… Continue Reading
Taking Judgments To China (And Korea), Let’s Not Sue Twice.
Posted in Legal NewsI often write on how American (and other companies) must not rush into suing Chinese companies in their home country because such lawsuits are usually of no value at all. See my posts on this here and here. Brendan Carr over at the Korea Law Blog just did a post, entitled, “Enforcement of Foreign Judgments… Continue Reading
No Clean Hands. No China.
Posted in China BusinessBeen looking for an excuse to mention what is shaping up to be an interesting new blog — China Bystander. The blog gives no indication of who is behind it, beyond describing it as “A curious glance from an old China hand as the country develops before our eyes.” The posts tend to be short… Continue Reading
China Food Safety — Something Less Than Heaven
Posted in Recommended ReadingExtremely well written, in depth, summary of China food safety issues by Jonathan Ansfield over at the Spot On Blog. Post is entitled “The People’s Heaven” and it makes for a great read. To grossly summarize, China is like the US at the time of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. Concludes with the following thought: “That’s… Continue Reading
Hey China Milk Man, What Part Of Price Fixing Do You Not Understand?
Posted in Legal NewsFascinating post over at the Chinese Law Prof Blog, entitled, “What part of “colluding to fix prices” don’t you understand?” The post is on a recent public announcement by the Chinese Dairy Industry Association essentially saying five of its Beijing members are going to collude on prices so as to create a more orderly dairy… Continue Reading
Chinese Companies Coming To America: Sometimes The Cure Is Worse Than The Disease
Posted in China BusinessGot an e-mail today from Robert Luedeman, an attorney in Des Moines, Iowa. Mr. Luedeman writes the Dougloid Papers Blog, subtitled as follows: devoted to the pursuit of all things of interest to former Douglas Aircraft workers and anything else that looks remotely interesting. I do not wish to think, or speak, or write, with… Continue Reading
Don’t You Be Doing No Geographic Surveys In China
Posted in Legal NewsReuters article just out, entitled, “China warns against illegal surveys by foreigners,” warning foreigners not to conduct geographic surveys in China. My advice on this is to take heed. Many years ago, a good friend of mine, Dann Oppfelt, was detained in Russia for alleged spying arising from his having being “caught” with pictures of… Continue Reading
China Power. China Inequality.
Posted in Recommended ReadingExcellent post over at the Time China Blog, entitled, “Comments on Slavery From a Former Prisoner,” on how none of the “big fish” behind the China brick kiln forced labor have yet been touched. Though I am not usually a fan of analogizing China’s problems to those of other countries as though every criticism of… Continue Reading
China Real Estate: Bubble, What Bubble?
Posted in China BusinessTim Iacano of Iacano Research and the Bad Macro Blog has a post up on the China Stock Block saying China is not in the midst of a housing bubble. Entiitled,”The Economist Says There’s No Housing Bubble in China,” the post is based on a recent article in the Economist, entitled, “Home truths: Talk of… Continue Reading
China Manufacturers Learning About Trust. Well Sort Of.
Posted in Recommended ReadingJust read a very long, thoughtful post over at Stephen F. DeAngelis’s Enterprise Resilence Management Blog on the value of trust in business and on how China is just starting to appreciate the need to be trusted. The post is entitled, “China Learning About Resiliency and Trust” and Relence and it starts out by stating… Continue Reading
Chinese Companies Can Say, “So Sue Me.”
Posted in Legal NewsNice post up today over at Asia Business Intelligence on the value (or lack thereof) of US judgments against Chinese companies. The post is entitled, “What Happens When Your Chinese Supplier Says: Sure, Go Ahead, Sue Me!” and it is based on a 2004 article written by law professor Donald Clarke of the Chinese Law… Continue Reading
Noodles In China, New York City Rent Control, Legal Fees In Poland, And Zimbabwe. I Have A “Beef” With All That.
Posted in China BusinessGreat post over at the always excellent Heritage Tidbits Blog (worth reading just for the quotes of the day alone) on the city of Lanzhou capping the price its restaurants can charge for beef noodles. The post is entitled, “Free Market Believers in China, Even When It Comes to Beef Noodles,” and it details how… Continue Reading
China Strategically Moves To Slow Exports
Posted in Legal NewsForbes Magazine just did an article on likely impacts of China’s July 1, 2007, changes to its Value Added Tax (VAT). In a nutshell, China has reduced the rebates on VAT it gives to exporters, leading to a net raise in the VAT tax on exports. The increase in overall tax payments tends to be… Continue Reading
China Products: Forget Trust, Just Verify
Posted in Legal NewsNational Public Radio’s Marketplace did a great story today on “customer service” in China, which goes a long way towards explaining what foreign companies must do if they are to get good product from their Chinese suppliers. This article nicely highlights some of the major differences one is likely to encounter in sourcing product from… Continue Reading
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