A couple of months ago, co-blogger Steve Dickinson, wrote an article on China mergers and acquisitions for China In Business Magazine. Towards the end of that article, Steve set out, in layman’s terms, the following realities of China M&A: ● Foreigners are permitted to purchase small Chinese companies that the central government is not interested… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: February 2008
CLB’s Steve Dickinson On CCTV-9
Posted in EventsCLB’s own Steve Dickinson will be on CCTV’s Dialogue show tonight at 7:30 pm talking about China’s new individual income tax laws. We will run another post on this as soon as CCTV puts the show on its website. Don’t miss it! UPDATE: It will be aired again on CCTV-9 on February 28 at 0:30,… Continue Reading
Huawei, Bain, 3Com. There Will Be Blood. Because I Said So.
Posted in China BusinessThe Wall Street Journal has an interesting article on the failure of the Huawei/Bain 3Com deal. The article is entitled, “Harsh Climate In Washington Ices 3Com Deal: Hope for Buyout Revival Led By Foreign Capital Dims Amid China Jitters,” and it mostly focuses on how the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., (CFIUS) likely… Continue Reading
China FDI — You Got To Know What To Hold, Know What To Fold
Posted in Legal NewsCo-blogger Steve Dickinson is interviewed over at Danwei FM on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in China. The interview, which can be heard here, focuses on China’s new catalogue on foreign investment. I urge anyone contemplating investing in China to go have a listen. Here are the highlights: Real Estate. China does not have a problem… Continue Reading
China As Manufacturing Center. Yes, Yes, Maybe, And Chill.
Posted in China BusinessThis has to be some sort of record as this is my third post today on essentially the same topic: Does manufacturing in China still make sense? I just read an excellent nuts and bolts post, entitled, “China’s First Steps Away From Low-Cost Manufacturing and What it Means For Your Company,” by Ashton Udall over… Continue Reading
Moving To Inland China: Anhui As The New Guangdong
Posted in China BusinessEarlier today I did a post on how I do not see many companies moving out of China for countries like Vietnam. One of the reasons I do not expect that to occur is because there are still huge swaths of China that are still incredibly low cost. A number of readers pointed out to… Continue Reading
Rising Factory Costs Erode China’s Edge. Yada, Yada, Yada.
Posted in China BusinessNew rule on this blog. If I am emailed the same article by three different people, I will write something about it, whether I want to or not. Four people emailed me this article and none said much more about it beyond, “have you seen this?” I am not even sure what the big deal… Continue Reading
Why Chinese Companies Fail In The US, Part II.
Posted in China BusinessA couple weeks ago, I did a post setting out lists as to why Western companies fail in China and my own list of why Chinese companies fail in the United States. Nina Ying Sun over at the Plastics News Blog (I know it sounds boring, but it most emphatically is not) has made some… Continue Reading
China’s Incremental Revolution. Litigation As Political Force.
Posted in Legal NewsVery interesting post on the Transnational Law Blog on a very interesting Christian Science Monitor article. The post is entitled, “Another Reason to Have Faith in China’s Maturing Legal System,” and the CSM article is entitled, “How one man in China strengthens the rule of law: Hao Jinsong, a Beijing lawyer, defies authorities with small… Continue Reading
Managing the Risks of Manufacturing in China – Las Vegas, February 28 and 29
Posted in EventsOn February 28 and 29, I, along with Paul Brogan, Director of Supply QA for Burger King Corporation, will be co-chairing a conference on “Managing the Risks of Manufacturing in China” in Las Vegas. The conference is aimed at quality assurance and product safety officers and legal counsel dealing with product liability and litigation. My… Continue Reading
Guanxi In China: Fugetaboutit!
Posted in China BusinessCo-blogger, Steve Dickinson, just wrote an article for China International Business Magazine entitled, “Debunking the Guanxi Myth.” (if you are not reading this magazine, you should be) (h/t to Travis Hodgkins over at the Transnational Law Blog). Steve starts out talking about how so often after he has informed a client that a proposed transaction… Continue Reading
Not So Random China Complaints
Posted in China BusinessFunny, yet informative post up on Matt Schiavenza Blog, entitled, “Random Complaining.” Methinks it is not so random. Schiavenza lists five rants and I focus on the following two: – If for whatever reason I don’t answer my phone, it means (a) I have it on silent mode because I am busy (b) I don’t… Continue Reading
For All The Coal In China
Posted in Recommended ReadingWhen I was a young associate at a Chicago mega firm, I worked on a huge breach of contract case involving two massive utilities. As part of that case, I had to drive down to Southern Ilinois to tour a coal mine. I cannot even remember why it was necessary for me to do this,… Continue Reading
The Two Contract China Deal. I Have One Word For It: Don’t
Posted in Legal NewsMany years ago, I received a call from a US company that wanted us to help them sue a Russian aviation company for around $750,000. The Russian company had allegedly failed to provide $750,000 in contracted for parts. I told the US company to send us the documents and we would get back to them… Continue Reading
China Innovation. And When Will That Be?
Posted in China BusinessFascinating post over at This is China, entitled, “Are We Innovative Yet? The China Challenge.” The post relays a conversation with a Chinese national who believes China is not innovative and never will be. She bases this on China’s educational system, parents not letting their kids decide what to study, and a legal system that… Continue Reading
Three Biggest Misconceptions Regarding China IP. One Trumps All.
Posted in Legal NewsIP Dragon has a very short, but highly relevant post, entitled, “Catherine Sun Debunks Misconceptions About Chinese IP Protection.” The post relates to a less than three minute video of Foley & Lardner (a Milwaukie, Wisconsin mega firm) attorney, Catherine Sun. Ms. Sun sees the following as the three biggest misconceptions: 1. IP is not… Continue Reading
In China Real Has Prestige. iPhone Makes Me Say Res Ipsa
Posted in China BusinessOne of the things I am always saying on here is that Chinese consumers are like consumers everywhere else in that if they can afford the real thing, they want it. Is not China’s voracious appetite for iPhones proof of this? Check out this New York Times, article by David Barboza, entitled, “After China Ships… Continue Reading
Foreign Management In China Dos and Don’ts
Posted in Recommended ReadingVery helpful/relevant post on China Vortex, entitled, “Business and Social Context Isn’t Important; It’s Everything,” on foreign companies’ management mistakes in China. Biggest mistake: not recognizing the need for local help. Money quote, with which I completely agree: “Now more companies are going into the Chinese tier 2 and 3 cities and they are realizing… Continue Reading
China Cultural Awareness: Going Beyond Not Being An Asshole
Posted in China BusinessR-E-S-P-E-C-T Find out what it means to me R-E-S-P-E-C-T Take care … TCB Aretha Franklin Sang It, Otis Redding Wrote it. About a month ago, I did a post entitled, “Chinese Cultural Awareness Simplified: Don’t Be An Asshole.” In that post, I sought to sum up everything one needs to know about cultural awareness with… Continue Reading
Let’s Rag Some More On China Joint Ventures
Posted in Legal NewsAs regular readers of this blog know, we are not big fans of Chinese joint ventures. Yes, sometimes they are necessary, and yes, sometimes they even make sense. But most of the time, a strong contract can achieve the same thing with far less potential for harm. John Hjelset, executive director of consulting company Norse… Continue Reading
China In Professor Lehmann’s Life: 1950 To Present
Posted in Recommended ReadingJean-Pierre Lehmann, a Professor of International Political Economy at International Institute for Management Development (IMD), has written a very interesting six part series on China from the inside, beginning in the 1950s and running right up to the present and beyond (h/t to China Economics Blog). The series is entitled, China in my life and… Continue Reading
China IP Teleconferences — February 19 and 26
Posted in EventsJust this second got an email announcing what looks like a very interesting Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Teleconference on Chinese intellectual property, set for tomorrow. For more information and to register, go here. It will consist of the following two live 90-Minute teleconferences with Interactive Q&A. Part 1 – Essential Preemptive Steps to Protect IP… Continue Reading
Trader Joe’s Spewing China Hatred?
Posted in China BusinessSome Facts behind Trader Joe’s <a href="Trader Joes Drops China“>recent decision to stop selling single ingredient Chinese foods: 1. Trader Joe’s will continue stocking foods that contain Chinese ingredients. This proves Trader Joe’s knows not all food from China is dangerous. 2. Trader Joe’s said it will replace the goods with “products from other regions… Continue Reading
China’s Olympics. Darfur. Steven Spielberg. Take It Away, ImageThief
Posted in Recommended ReadingI was going to do a post surveying the blogosphere on Steven Spielberg’s decision to pull out of the Olympics. My post was going to highlight Mutant Palm’sand Silicon Hutong’s posts because I know the writers behind those two blogs really understand China and because I found their posts extremely interesting and thoughtful. But ImageThief… Continue Reading
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