Risk and reward

Private equity, venture capital firms scent rich pickings in China despite market turbulence.

Smooth sailing in rough seas

Power of the dream

Importance of differentiation

Daylight in China's gloomy PE sector

Quotable

"I've been working in Alibaba for 13 years. If I don't stop now, I'll lose the chance of doing something new and lose more dreams."

IN BRIEF (Page 2)

City struggles in war against smog

Talk is fine, but how about some changes?

Each year late in January the World Economic Forum brings together leaders from business, government, academia and the media at its headquarters in Davos, Switzerland, to meet and engage in five days' of lectures and discussions about issues of global importance.

China makes voice heard above din

Leviathan still needs to be tamed

A new digital species

Not so fast

The numbers are staggering for any Chinese CEO hoping to take his company public: More than 800 companies are on waitlists to secure initial public offerings in the nation's stock markets. Last year, there was a 43.5 percent decline (from the previous year) in the number of Chinese companies that went public and a 57.2 percent drop in the amount of funds raised. Those are not very promising prospects. That is, unless you're a CEO looking abroad.

Hengda gains an edge with Nasdaq listing

Quotable

IN BRIEF (Page 14)

AIM not such a long shot

Fitting place for fine furnishing

Love is in the air as furniture flies out the window

An armchair ride

Total recall

Easy on the eye

Drink king's new tonic: luxury on tap

Gaining trust on a global scale

Call of the wild

For Li Weiyi, a sketching tour to Zoige grassland in Sichuan province offered an unexpected and life-changing encounter with an orphaned wolf cub. "His ears stuck to the head, his fur was hard and looked like dried grass. He was weak and nearly dead. I wanted to help," Li says, vividly remembering the first time she saw the cub.

Treasured toys

Bum-A-Ride Guide

Island Paradise

As temperatures plummet and pollution levels rise in northern China's coldest winter for decades, Beijing tourists often make their escape to the tropical paradise of Sanya, on Hainan island. With a combination of golden beaches and lush green forest, Sanya confronts the senses with an instant blast of warmth, color, fragrance and beauty as well as the cleanest air in China.

Life and art

Liliane Fawcett says her gallery Themes & Variations has never attracted as much media coverage as in the past month, when it hosted its first exhibition of Chinese contemporary design.

Dream career

History in focus

In the presentation Rethinking Sino-European Comparative History, Dr. Hilde de Weerdt discusses the representation of Chinese history in comparative studies of pre-eighteenth-century empires.

Conferences & Meetings

Diplomatic Pouch: With Mike Peters

Free trade is only two signatures away

Jan Wouters suggests that a free trade agreement between China and the European Union is the best way to reduce commercial tensions between the two strategic partners.