Whenever I am asked about what I get out of this blog, I never fail to mention something along the lines of “information from our readers.” Both co-blogger Steve Dickinson and I are always talking about how we are the rare lawyers who love our jobs and we both list “learning something new every day”… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: September 2011
How Not To Lose Your Molds In China.
Posted in China Business, Legal NewsEvery other month or so, we get a harried call from someone wanting our help in “getting their molds” back from their Chinese supplier. Though I know this cannot be the case, it does seem that nearly every time a foreign company decides to terminate its Chinese manufacturer, the Chinese manufacturer refuses to return the… Continue Reading
On The Global Classes. Et Tu China?
Posted in Recommended ReadingI have been sitting on this Atlantic Magazine article for too long. When I first read it, I found it mostly true and I knew it to be important. I was planning to write a long post on it, but I kept finding myself tongue-tied for words and eventually concluded that I am not qualified… Continue Reading
Injuring People With Your China Product. What To Do.
Posted in China Business, Legal NewsI am often asked by my clients what they can do to minimize the risks of getting stuck holding the bag when the product they import from China either injures consumers and/or needs to be recalled. My first answer is usually “not a whole lot” and then I talk about how they need to inspect… Continue Reading
China Employee Contracts And Employee Manuals. Not Optional.
Posted in Legal NewsCo-blogger Steve Dickinson wrote an email to a client the other day that nicely sets forth much of what is involved with China employment agreements and with China employee manuals. Steve sent this email after having completed the first draft of the client’s employment contracts and its employee manual, both of which documents are absolutely… Continue Reading
China In America. Newton, Iowa, Edition.
Posted in China Travel, Good PeopleJust spent the last day and a half in the heart of Iowa. Though I was there to be on a bunch of panels at Grinnell College, parents weekend there necessitated that I spend my nights in the neighboring town of Newton, Iowa. Newton has a population of about 15,000 and it is known for… Continue Reading
Recent Chinese Secrets. China Rises Has Them.
Posted in China Business, Recommended ReadingI know I am revealing my age here, but when I was reading China Rises today, I coudn’t help but remember an old (racist?) Calgon commercial in which the Chinese proprietor of a laundry explained that the customer’s clothes were so clean because he was using an “ancient Chinese secret.” Far more interesting and relevant… Continue Reading
Cool China T-Shirts. At Last.
Posted in China Business, Good PeopleI spent my junior year in high school in Istanbul, Turkey. Before I left Istanbul, I sold all of my English language t-shirts for around three times what I had paid for them new. I remember getting $30 for my “Harris County Community College” t-shirt, which should have had no value to anyone other than… Continue Reading
International/China Lawyering.
Posted in Legal NewsToday I am going to be speaking at Grinnell College, my undergraduate alma mater. I am going to be talking to students about what it takes to practice international law. I know this sounds geeky, but I love speaking before students because I enjoy talking with people who are excited/energized about what they will be… Continue Reading
Arbitration In China. Get Used To It.
Posted in Legal NewsFive years ago, it was the rare contract between a Western company and a Chinese company that called for arbitration in China. Maybe 25% of Chinese companies would suggest arbitration in China back then. We would usually respond to that request in such a way as to make clear that only a complete sucker would… Continue Reading
China Law Enforcement And Why We’ve Changed
Posted in China Business, China Film Industry, Legal NewsWe did a post a little while back, entitled, “Making Films in China. You Talkin’ To Me?” (please tell me you all got the Taxi Driver reference!). That post was written by Mathew Alderson, who though he has been practicing China law for about a decade, still expressed surprise at a commenter publicly boasting of… Continue Reading
Moving On Out To China’s Interior. Why Things Go Slowly.
Posted in China Business, Legal NewsA few months ago I was talking with a Korean lawyer friend of mine about where Korean companies are locating in China. He talked of how Qingdao and Dalian were still really popular with his Korean clients, but that some of them were looking at Chengdu and a few other places “more inland.” They were… Continue Reading
Innovation In China. It’s Happening, But Not How You Think.
Posted in China Business, Recommended ReadingDavid Barboza, the New York Times’ crackerjack Shanghai business correspondent, recently did a story on his interview with Dan Breznitz and Michael Murphree, authors of the book, Run of the Red Queen: Government, Innovation, Globalization, and Economic Growth in China. The book (which I have not yet read) is, according to Barboza, about “China’s innovation… Continue Reading
As China Goes, So Goes The World. How To Sell To China’s Consumers.
Posted in China Business, Recommended ReadingI am fascinated by China as a consumer market. I am fascinated by it for the same reasons companies have been fascinated by it for hundreds of years. 1.3+ billion people and it is not yet clear what they will be buying. I just read the book As China Goes, So Goes the World: How… Continue Reading
China Product Quality. An Update?
Posted in China BusinessStrangest thing. Two of our clients in the last few weeks have remarked on how happy they are with their Chinese suppliers and how they are really starting to see improvements in Chinese manufacturers’ understanding of what American companies want from their product suppliers. Both of these companies have been doing business with China for… Continue Reading
How To Conduct Business In China. Lay Low. Make Friends. Obey The Law.
Posted in China Business, Legal NewsA US based client of ours recently had me conduct a talk on how its people should conduct their business in China, from a legal perspective. I am not going to go through most of what I talked about because it is too legalistic and too tailored for this particular client and we have covered… Continue Reading
China FDI. Whatever Happened To “Show Me?”
Posted in China BusinessOne of my favorite things about writing this blog are the emails I get from readers. Many many months ago, I got a quasi-anonymous email from someone in Moberly, Missouri. The mail dealt with a plan by the City of Moberly and the “show me” State of Missouri to bring in and heavily subsidize a… Continue Reading
China’s Core Interests Made Crystal Clear. Ignore At YOUR Peril.
Posted in China Business, Legal NewsIf you want a watered-down, not horribly written, somewhat sanitized, quasi-westernized version of what the Chinese government is thinking (and get some decent photos to boot), there is probably nothing better than the Global Times. The Global Times just came out with an article that says pretty much nothing new, but its coming out and… Continue Reading
Protecting Hollywood Films In China Makes Sense For China.
Posted in China Business, Events, Legal NewsBy Mathew Alderson I was fortunate enough to have been invited to attend a recent session in Beijing convened by Nancy E. Kremers, the Senior IP Attaché to the US Embassy here. The purpose of the session was for intellectual property lawyers from US firms, together with representatives of IP-dependent US companies, to brief the… Continue Reading
Why Is China Cheaper? Truths And Myths.
Posted in China BusinessGot an email from a client/friend yesterday with a link to an Industry Week Article and a note saying that i needed to give this “CLB’s dumbest article of the month award.” We do not actually have such an award (should we?) so for that reason alone, it is not in contention. Bad articles on… Continue Reading
Is This THE Physical Manifestation Of A China Bubble?
Posted in China BusinessAprès Nous, Le Déluge. Have at it.
China Fashion. One Day You’re In… And One Day You’re Out.
Posted in Events, Good PeopleI live in a house with three fashion-conscious females, which means a fairly steady TV diet of Project Runway and Fashion Police (both of which I really like), Say Yes to the Dress (which I hate) and What Not to Wear (which I despise maybe more than any show on TV). Overall, I love fashion… Continue Reading
Privatization In China. The State Never Falls Too Far From The Business Tree.
Posted in China Business, Recommended ReadingThe Economist has a very interesting article on “privatization in China.” The article is entitled, “Capitalism Confined” and its subtitle is that “Chinese companies, like companies everywhere, do best when they are privately run. In China, however, the state is never far away.” The article does an excellent job explaining the role the Government(s) play… Continue Reading
Dumb Americans/Smart Chinese???
Posted in Recommended ReadingExceptionally thoughtful post on the always-thoughtful Seeing Red in China Blog. The post is by Yaxue Cao and it is entitled “Dumb Americans” and its thesis is essentially that Chinese find Americans dumb. I know that is a common perception of Americans around the world and it is one I am always fighting. Near as… Continue Reading
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