We have been writing frequently regarding the end of cheap China because we are just about every day seeing how this impacts our (mostly American) clients. This post by Steve Dickinson is on how buyers of manufactured product from China’s Pearl River Delta are going to be impacted by the end of cheap China. Here… Continue Reading
Monthly Archives: January 2012
Learn Chinese For Business? The Pros And Cons
Posted in China BusinessThe following is a guest post by Jonathan Poston. Jonathan is the Editor-in-Chief of the Learn Chinese Business Blog and Chinese Carolinas. Though learning Chinese well is obviously helpful for doing business in or with China, actually accomplishing can be so difficult that many a learner has given up or just pondered whether it is… Continue Reading
China Rep Offices, Bankruptcies And The Perils Of Being Chief Representative
Posted in Legal NewsI know I keep reading how China’s economy is just fine, but my firm just keeps getting more inquiries and more work relating to shutting down offices and companies in China. Of those, the most heartbreaking are coming from Chief Representatives of China Representative Offices who are concerned about their own liabilities when their China… Continue Reading
China Product Quality Problem? Here’s My Template Answer.
Posted in China Business, Legal NewsBecause I receive countless emails every day and because so many of them involve the same questions, I have developed various templates to respond. Here’s the template I use when a US company writes me with a China product quality problem and the contract they have provided me is not good at all. Much of… Continue Reading
China Grammar Wiki. What A Great Idea!
Posted in China Business, Recommended ReadingI think (and hope) this is the first time we have used an exclamation point in a blog post title and I assure you that this will not become common. I just am so impressed by the idea and the ingenuity and the hard work and the sheer helpfullness of the AllSet Chinese Grammar Wiki…. Continue Reading
China. The Full On Harvard Course.
Posted in Recommended ReadingMalcolm Riddell at China Debate just did a post noting how Harvard University has posted online (for free!) a 37 class course on China. The 37 lectures were filmed as they were given as part of a course entitled, China: Traditions and Transformations. The course was/is taught by William C. Kirby and Peter K. Bol. … Continue Reading
The End of Cheap China. Part II.
Posted in China BusinessLast week, we did a post enttitled, “The End of Cheap China, With A Giant Caveat.” The point of that post was to pick up on the widespread discussion regarding the end of cheap China, but to highlight how this “end” has, and will continue to, impact foreign companies very differently. Our initial “end of… Continue Reading
China Joint Ventures Tips. You Have Been Warned.
Posted in China BusinessThe Foreign Entrepreneurs in China blog is in the midst of a very worthwhile three part series, entitled, “A China Joint Venture Survival Guide. 22 Facts and 22 Practical Tips.” The series is now at tips 9 through 15 and I like all of them. Not only are they good tips for those contemplating doing… Continue Reading
Shanghai Rego International School. One-Off Or Sign Of Things To Come?
Posted in China Business, Legal NewsAt least once a month, I get an email from an English teacher in China wanting to start a language consulting business or school in China. I have a form response that summarizes what it will likely take and likely cost for them to do so legally. Virtually none of them had any idea of… Continue Reading
The End Of Cheap China, With A Giant Caveat.
Posted in China BusinessThe Boston Consulting Group came out with an excellent piece last year, entitled, “Made in America, Again: Why Manufacturing Will Return to the United States.” An excellent summary of that article can be found here, from which I pull the following: Within the next five years, the United States is expected to experience a manufacturing… Continue Reading
Why Hiring China-Based “Employees” Without A Company Is Bad Business
Posted in Legal NewsToday I had a long conversation with a couple out of town lawyers who had called me regarding whether their client should shut down its China Representative Office and form a WFOE. My advice was that there was no need to do so from a legal perspective (because the company was that rare and dying… Continue Reading
Dueling Translations. You Got That Right. Why Chinese Is Our Favorite Contract Language.
Posted in Legal NewsBlog post at Letters Blogatory, entitled, “Dueling Translations,” expresses surprise/concern over how both parties in an ultra-high stakes international litigation matter “actually submitted dueling certified translations of the Ecuadoran appellate court’s decision (Chevron’s is here, the Lago Agrio plainitffs’ is here).” The post questions this as a waste of time/money: Really? Dueling translations? I know… Continue Reading
China Due Diligence. Cause It Really Really Really Matters.
Posted in China BusinessAs you can tell, I am a big fan of The Rule of Threes. Back in September, 2011, I wrote a post regarding a China deal that appeared to have badly soured. The post was entitled, China FDI, Whatever Happened To Show Me? and it was on a China deal that went bad for the… Continue Reading
Chinese Students In America. It’s Bad Out There.
Posted in China BusinessMuch has been written about Chinese students coming to American colleges. An article out today, entitled, “Chinese applications to U.S. schools skyrocket,” starts out quoting a Chinese high schooler who is contemplating attending the University of Washington: I know this [ambition] is pretty high,” said the 17-year old Beijing native. “But I think I can… Continue Reading
How Not To Write A Joint Venture Agreement
Posted in Legal NewsMany moons ago, a company contacted us wanting to sue its Chinese joint venture partner for having “clearly” violated their joint venture agreement. We looked at their case and advised them not to bother pursuing it. It had nearly every hallmark of the China deal gone bad, due almost entirely to the fault of the… Continue Reading
China’s New Foreign Investment Catalog. The Scope Of FDI.
Posted in China Business, Legal NewsBy: Steve Dickinson At the end of December, the NDRC issued its long awaited 2011 revision to the Catalog for Guidance for Foreign Investment 外商投资产业指导目录（2011年修订). It is a central policy of the Chinese government that foreign investment must be made in a manner that is consistent with Chinese policy and in a way that will… Continue Reading
Getting Your Share From China’s Movie Box Office. Good Luck With That.
Posted in China Business, China Film IndustryAs regular readers know, there is nothing I like more than being able to create a post straight from what goes into my email box. I am able to do that today by way of having been cc’ed on a long email discussion between our Beijing-based attorney, Mathew Alderson (who does quite a bit of… Continue Reading
Buying A Chinese Company? Why China Deals DON’T Get Done.
Posted in China Business, Legal NewsWe lawyers are known as deal-killers. Most lawyers get offended by that moniker and vehemently deny it. Me, I am more than willing to own up to it. Clients go to lawyers all excited about a deal and it is the lawyer’s job to point out the risks and to explain which of those risks… Continue Reading
They Like China Law Blog. They Really Like Us.
Posted in Good People, Recommended ReadingBack when China Law Blog was a young pup, the Wall Street Journal Blog referenced one of our posts and we went all Sally Fields about that. We ran a post, entitled, “The Wall Street Journal — They Like Us. They Really Like Us,” the sole purpose of which (near as I can tell nearly… Continue Reading
Will India Challenge China?
Posted in China BusinessJust read a very interesting post, entitled, “Will India Challenge China? Not yet.” The post is by GE Anderson over at the ChinaBizGov blog. I know GE Anderson to be one very smart guy (with a Ph.d and an upcoming book to prove it) and one damn fine analyst of things China, particularly those things… Continue Reading
US Courts For Chinese Litigants. The Year In Review.
Posted in Legal NewsThe following is a guest post by Ted Folkman, the force behind the Letters Blogatory blog, of which I am a long-time fan. Letters Blogatory has a very tight (and for me, very interesting focus). It “covers international judicial assistance in civil and commercial cases,” which means the following: Service of process abroad, including service… Continue Reading
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