In February, I wrote a post, “China Manufacturing: “We’re Bringing It Back Home,” talking of how my law firm had been seeing a massive uptick in companies shutting down their China operations and returning to the United States. A very recent (and very widely discussed) Economist article, entitled, “Moving back to America:The dwindling allure of building… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: May 2011
Promising New China Blog: China Debate.
Posted in Recommended Readinginteresting new China blog called China Debate. It is headed up by Malcolm Riddell and supported by an enviable roster of contributors and I recommend you check it out. China Debate describes itself and its mission as follows: At China Debate, we believe in ‘groupthink’—as long as the group is made up of fiercely independent individuals;… Continue Reading
On The Possibility Of Understanding China
Posted in Recommended ReadingTwo great, absolutely must read posts over at The Useless Tree Blog. One is “Understanding China — or not” and the other is “More on Understanding China.” Both ask whether it is possible for non-Chinese people to understand China and both answer in the affirmative: The point is that there is no one perspective, inside… Continue Reading
The Most Common China Law Issues.
Posted in Basics of China Business Law, China Business, Legal NewsClients, potential clients and the press are always asking me what foreign companies that do business in China need to know to stay out of legal trouble. Next time I get such a question, I will refer them to the list below as it sets out the most common legal issues foreign companies face when… Continue Reading
China’s Economy. How Much Do We Really Know?
Posted in China BusinessHad lunch yesterday with Benjamin Shobert. Benjamin is very intellectual and very knowledgeable about China. At some point during our lunch, he talked of recently having attended a China cleantech conference at which the participants talked of how China is THE place for developing cleantech because, among other reasons, it is so heavily supported by… Continue Reading
China Commercial Leases. Watching The Sausage Get Made.
Posted in Legal NewsThe basics of leasing commercial space in China.
China. Where Everything Is Local. Until It’s Not.
Posted in China Business, Legal NewsAbout a month ago, I wrote a post, entitled, “Variable Interest Entities (VIE) In China. What Would The Buddha (Steel) Say?” That post focused on Variable Interest Entitles which are workaround entities set up to allow foreign companies to do in China (through a Chinese domestic company) that which they are technically not supposed to… Continue Reading
How To Source From China. The Kindle eBook.
Posted in China BusinessI was recently referred to an Kindle Ebook on how to source from China. The eBook is called, “Find a Chinese Manufacturer: a guide to the ins and outs of sourcing from China.” It is written by M.Vancisin and it sells for $2.99, strictly as a Kindle eBook. The writer describes herself and her book… Continue Reading
No Discrimination Against Foreign Business In China. China Daily Doth Protest Too Much.
Posted in China BusinessI have been practicing international law for so long that I can understand English language lawyer emails from just about anywhere in the world, pretty much no matter how poor the English. I love getting an email in Kanglish (Korean-English) or Chinglish (Chinese-English) and showing it to someone else who has absolutely no clue what… Continue Reading
China Real Estate. There Is No Bubble.
Posted in China BusinessEvery time I am anywhere in China driving by rows and rows and rows of completely empty condominium buildings, I ask the people in the car with me (usually Chinese lawyers) why they think Chinese real estate prices keep going up even though there are so many housing units already available. Their answer is almost… Continue Reading
China’s Internet. Explained.
Posted in China Business, Recommended ReadingSomeone today asked me for good articles on China’s Internet and I told him to start with “China’s Internet: The Invisible Birdcage.” This article was written by Bill Bishop and it does an excellent job explaining the theories and policies regarding China’s Internet. If you have an interest in China’s Internet, I recommend you… Continue Reading
China Business And Glocalization. Should What Goes Around Come Around?
Posted in China BusinessJust the other day, I spoke with a client of ours who was telling me of how it was having to “harmonize” its China product return policies with those of the United States and Europe. Without getting too much into it, this company had previously given Americans and Europeans 6 months to return its (mostly… Continue Reading
China’s Mega Clusters. Qingdao Should Be No Shocker.
Posted in China Business, Recommended ReadingIf you are not reading the McKinsey Quarterly, you should be. It is an absolutely superb source of information regarding China and, in particular, China as market. It is consistently one of (if not the) best sources for free in-depth analysis of the China market. One of its recent issues has an article, entitled,… Continue Reading
Enforcing Your Judgment In China. We Cop To Ethnocentricism.
Posted in Legal NewsWe are always writing on how because Chinese courts will not enforce U.S. court judgments it is usually pointless to pursue litigation against a Chinese company in the United States if the Chinese company’s only assets are in China. So if you have an agreement with a Chinese company that requires litigation take place in… Continue Reading
Chongqing Dispatch. Just Because.
Posted in Recommended ReadingWe assiduously try to stick to legal and/or business issues on here, with only occasional straying into political and cultural issues, justified by my belief that knowing those issues can only help on the business side. I am not sure the post I am about to recommend qualifies in any of these categories (other than… Continue Reading
Getting Your Product Into China Via Distributorship. A Legal Piece Of Cake.
Posted in China Business, Legal NewsI often get calls from companies that want to get their product into China or increase sales there. Many times, they are under the false impression that they have two choices: go it alone or form a joint venture with a Chinese company. Entering into a distributorship relationship with a Chinese company (or companies) is another… Continue Reading
China In 2015
Posted in China Business, Recommended ReadingThough I generally hate economic predictions, I love graphs. I mention both these things to explain my recommending everyone go check out this article entitled, “Credit Suisse’s Fabulous Presentation On What China Will Look Like In 2015.” Whether they turn out to be right or wrong, the graphs alone are worth the price (free) of… Continue Reading
Foreign Manufacturing In China. Would The Last Company There Please Turn Out The Lights.
Posted in China BusinessOf course it is not nearly as bad as our headline makes it out to be, but I wanted to make a strong point to counter the crowd that acts as though China is and always will be the factory to the world…. Discussion closed. All Roads Lead to China recently did a piece, elliptically… Continue Reading
On The Difficulties/Injustice Of China Business. Have At It.
Posted in China BusinessAround five months ago, I did a somewhat long, very off the cuff, post, entitled, “Win-Win Negotiating In China. It Is More Than A Panda,“ on some of the things that make doing business in and with China so difficult. it drew some comments and, like most of our posts, was quickly forgotten (by just about… Continue Reading
An SME Handbook For China. It’s Really Good And It’s Free.
Posted in China Business, Legal NewsNew Zealand Trade and Enterprise, an NZ governmental agency tasked with helping NZ companies grow internationally is out with an excellent 80 page primer for small and medium businesses looking to make it in China (h/t Dragon Business Network Blog). It really covers the field of what SMEs need to know about China, and though it is nominally… Continue Reading
Does U.S. Law Treat Adopted Chinese Babies Like Stolen Cars?
Posted in Legal NewsJust got a very strange email, which after thinking about it a bit, might not be so strange after all. The email is from a Chinese lawyer who directed my attention to a recent article on CaixinOnline. The article is entitled, “In Hunan, Family Planning Turns to Plunder,” and it talks of how local family… Continue Reading
Helen Wang On China’s Opportunities. She’s Not Dreaming.
Posted in China BusinessFor years, I have been touting education, health-care, food, cleantech/greentech, and software as the five most promising areas for foreign investment in China. So I am always pleased when others tout the same (or roughly anyway) things. Jing Daily recently interviewed Helen Wang, author of the book, The Chinese Dream: The Rise of the World’s… Continue Reading
What You (And Facebook) Need To Do To Succeed In China.
Posted in China BusinessGreat post by David Wolf over at Silicon Hutong, entitled, “Nine Things Facebook Must Do to Better Its Chances in China.” This is the second in a trilogy Wolf is doing on Facebook in China. I have great faith in Wolf’s prescriptions for Facebook in China, both because he is indisputably one of the foremost experts… Continue Reading
China’s New Electricity Allocation Plan. Are You Ready?
Posted in China BusinessBy: Steve Dickinson The PRC National Development and Reform Commission recently issued a detailed set of rules on the allocation of electricity supply in China. The Measures for the Orderly Use of Electricity (有序用电管理办法) became effective on May 1, 2011. Since these Measures will affect virtually all companies operating in China, it is important to understand their… Continue Reading
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