Go ahead and call me a Luddite, but I generally am not a big fan of podcasts because they take too long. We lawyers can read (or skim) documents at a much faster speed than mere mortals. Podcasts take away that edge. But for those who like podcasts…. Rick Martin over at The Little Red… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: April 2008
China Terror Alert
Posted in China TravelThe US embassy in Beijing issued the following email travel alert for all US residents and visitors in China (h/t to AmCham Daily): There is a heightened risk that extremist groups will conduct terrorist acts within China in the near future. In light of these security concerns, citizens traveling in China are advised to use… Continue Reading
China Visa Certainty: Z (employee) Visas Are Z Best
Posted in Legal NewsGot a worried call the other day from a China based foreign businessperson complaining about being forced to return to his home country because his China tourist visa was about to run out. Not only was he mad about being unable to renew his visa from within China or even by jumping over to Hong… Continue Reading
How To Retain Your Star China Employees
Posted in China BusinessAnyone with a business in China knows how difficult it is to retain Chinese high level Chinese employees. Rapidly rising salaries are obviously factor into this difficulty, but according to Andrew Hupert at ChinaSolved, a China retention policy must consist of more than “just dumping cash, bonuses and big commission payouts on star employees.” In… Continue Reading
Understanding Made In China: April 28, 2008 In NYC
Posted in EventsOn Monday, April 28, 2008, The Asia Society is putting on a China speaking event, entitled, “Product Safety: Understanding the ‘Made in China’ Brand” This will be from 6:30 pm until 8:00 pm at the Asia Society and Museum, 8th Floor, 725 Park Avenue, New York City. The event is described as follows: As China… Continue Reading
China Using Its VAT To Highgrade Manufacturing
Posted in Recommended ReadingThe China Economic Review is just out with an article by CLB’s own Steve Dickinson on the wholesale changes China has made to its VAT (Value Added Tax) system. The article is entitled, “VAT’s all folks: How changes in the tax system reflect an evolving approach to foreign investment.” The article is on how China… Continue Reading
Beijing International Terminal 3 And The Quality Of Chinese Products. What’s Up With That?
Posted in China BusinessJust arrived Beijing a few hours ago. Came in via the new Terminal 3. Here is what I was thinking from the time I arrived to the time I unbelievably quickly cleared customs: – It’s huge – It’s huge – It’s so incredibly big – It’s awesome – It’s huge Co-blogger Steve Dickinson arrived Beijing… Continue Reading
China Law As Guessing Game
Posted in Legal NewsStan Abrams over at China Hearsay did a great post, detailing the difficulties of uncertainty in dealing with Chinese law. The post is entitled, “The Law and New Tech in China,” but the issue it raises regarding the gaps in China’s commercial laws goes well beyond just new technologies. Stan starts out with the following… Continue Reading
China IP? The Answer Is Better Luck Next Time.
Posted in Legal NewsDavid Dayton of the always excellent Silk Road International Blog just did a post, entitled, “Show Questions,” on some of the questions he was asked as a speaker at the Global Sources Buyers Show now going on in Hong Kong. My favorite interaction was the following: Finally, I had a very nice conversation at the… Continue Reading
China Is Making Visas Interesting.
Posted in Legal NewsVisas have always bored me. Sorry about that, but they have. A law school education is rarely needed to figure out visa issues and I did not go to law school for that. I have always taken a rather perverse pride in not keeping up on visa requirements. Anywhere: Client: Will I need a visa… Continue Reading
Chinese Joint Ventures — The Information The Chinese Government Does Not Want You To Know
Posted in Legal NewsUntil a couple of months ago, co-blogger Steve Dickinson was the legal columnist for one of China’s most prominent English language business publications. As part of his regular monthly gig, Steve submitted an article on how to avoid joint venture mistakes. The censors rejected it and I assume they did so because it might be… Continue Reading
China US Tax Treaty Explained
Posted in Legal NewsNobody should dabble in international tax. It is hugely complicated, and should be handled only by attorneys and accountants who specialize in it. Incredibly few do. Gary Tober here in Seattle is one who does and he has a great reputation. All of this is a preface for the fact that a reader just emailed… Continue Reading
Beijing Olympics Blog: Specialty Blog Worth Reading
Posted in Recommended ReadingUntil a few weeks ago, I actually thought there was little need for a blog focused solely on the upcoming Olympics. Silly me. For those seeking a one stop blog on China’s Olympics, I heartily recommend the Beijing Olympics Blog, which describes itself as “An unofficial look at China & the Beijing Olympic Games.” It… Continue Reading
CLB About To Go On BBC’s World Have Your Say
Posted in EventsJust got the call this morning and I will be live on air in about three minutes. The question is whether your leader (in my case, President Bush) should go to the Olympic opening ceremony. My answer will be yes. I say yes because I want the US to be on good terms with China… Continue Reading
The Protests, The Olympics, And The Yellow Peril.
Posted in Recommended ReadingThere is so much great stuff out there on the Olympics; I could devote the next few months to nothing but that on this blog. Though I have studiously sought to avoid covering these issues too often, I could not resist saying something about this post on Shanghai Scrap, entitled, “The Protests, the Olympics, and… Continue Reading
China: Fair And Balanced
Posted in Recommended ReadingYou want to know the reality about the evolution of human rights in China? Go here.
Ten Reasons China Matters
Posted in Recommended ReadingI hate the title, “Ten Reasons Why China Matters to You,” and I also think some of the ten were tossed out just to get to ten. But because Thomas P.M. Barnett is one of the best international strategists out there, and because the analysis behind the items is so good, I am recommending you… Continue Reading
Doing Business in China: The Labor And Employment Law Story. Is That Elliott Spitzer?
Posted in EventsOn May 9, 2008, The Center for Labor and Employment Law at New York University (NYU) will be putting on what looks to be an excellent seminar on China’s new labor contract law. The seminar will take place in Pollack Colloquium, Ninth Floor, Furman Hall, NYU School of Law, 245 Sullivan Street. (h/t to the… Continue Reading
Sun Bin Has Been There (In Western China) So Read His Blog
Posted in Recommended ReadingThe force behind the Sun Bin blog has been to the big city in T1be*t and he is putting up some very good writing on his trip. Not that I should have to say this, but on this topic I fear I do, but my saying he has some very good writing does not mean… Continue Reading
Jury Nullification With Chinese Characteristics
Posted in Legal NewsStan Abrams of the always excellent China Hearsay blog just posted on the decision of a Guangzhou court to dramatically reduce a previous verdict of life imprisonment to a five-year jail term for a person convicted of stealing money from a bank by taking advantage of a malfunctioning ATM machine. This “rare change of verdict… Continue Reading
China’s Olympics: What’s Reality Got To Do With It?
Posted in Recommended ReadingAs a huge fan of John Pomfret, based on his excellent book, Chinese Lessons (for my review of that book, go to my post not so subtly entitled, “John Pomfret’s Chinese Lessons — LOVED IT!“), I was happy to learn from Danwei that Pomfret is just starting a blog on China for the Washington Post…. Continue Reading
China’s New Labor Law Means Tenure For Everybody
Posted in Legal NewsSFO Airport Tomokazu Sushi Restaurant 7:52 pm PST Dinner Before My Next Flight Just came across this podcast interview with CLB’s own Steve Dickinson on the always superlative Danwei blog. The post is entitled, “China Businesscast: China’s new labor law, everybody gets tenure” and it provides the following executive summary (which is good because my… Continue Reading
The Future And The Past For China Manufacturing
Posted in Recommended ReadingJoe Nocera of the New York Times just did an article, entitled, “Seeing the Sights of Industrial China: 2 Factories, 2 Futures,” contrasting a textile factory with a manufacturer of silicon wafers for use in solar panels. The textile manufacturer is sinking fast due to the rising Yuan, rising labor costs, and China’s policy of… Continue Reading
Yuan/Dollar Exchange Rates
Posted in Recommended ReadingMy knowledge of currency hedging is based mostly on the following: 1. I am right now wearing a Swiss watch I bought in Korea at the height of the 1997 Asian crash. When I bought it, I was getting about 2000 Korean Won to the Dollar and Korea’s economy was in such bad shape, the… Continue Reading
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