Comment
Taking cars off the road is no solution
2012-07-13 12:31
Guangzhou has decided to emulate Beijing and Shanghai in clamping down on the number of cars on the road. There is little doubt that this policy will hurt the automobile industry, even if initially it can produce a buying frenzy. Only two days after the measure was introduced, the market value of the two listed companies Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation shrank by nearly 16 billion yuan ($2.5 billion, 2 billion euros).
Business advantage lies in creativity
2012-07-13 12:31
The road to manufacturing headed East many years ago, but the question now is: will service solutions head in that same direction?
Much work to do on influencing Asia
2012-07-13 12:31
As the European Union has grappled with its sovereign debt crisis over the past two-and-half years, its preoccupation with internal problems and turf battles between member states has weakened the continent's willingness and ability to have a strong policy toward East Asia.
US sails into dangerous waters
2012-07-06 12:25
For several years the United States has pursued rapprochement with Vietnam, its bitter adversary during the Cold War. Although the establishment of cordial relations should be beneficial not only for both countries but all of East Asia, basing that new relationship on military cooperation threatens to pervert the process and produce greater tensions in the region. Instead, US officials should build a closer relationship with Hanoi primarily on economic, diplomatic, and cultural ties. That approach would not only improve bilateral relations, but more extensive economic links in particular would help draw Vietnam further into the global economy. Such a development would be all to the good.
Real estate bubble that refuses to burst
2012-07-06 12:25
The announcement of an interest rate cut on June 7 coincided with claims from several quarters that the number of houses being sold in many cities is rising and that price falls are easing. Given that real estate regulation has failed more than once in the past, there are many who suspect that the present round of regulation will end the same way and that house prices will start rising again.
Drugs firms must make quick moves
2012-07-06 12:25
Industry developments and traditional benefits are rapidly turning China into one of the world's biggest pharmaceutical powerhouses. Quick to smell the country's huge growth potential, big pharmaceutical multinationals have had a presence in China for more than 10 years.
US has much to learn about Africa from China
2012-07-06 12:25
When the White House recently published its report US Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa, it was not a surprise to observers of US-Africa relations. Over the past weeks and months, the US has been grappling with how to engage Africa in the wake of the consistent upward mobility of China's influence.
In the silver wave, gold nuggets are to be found
2012-07-06 12:25
Insurance companies need to prepare as China's population ages
Being in the right place at the right time
2012-06-29 12:47
Product placement, also known as embedded advertising, has been around for more than 50 years but it is only recently that the emergence of Chinese brands in the international media and Western brands in the Chinese media has taken place.
Outlook need not be so bleak for outlets
2012-06-29 12:47
They used to be all the rage, the darling of the retail industry. After the Yansha group set up the first outlet store in Beijing 10 years ago they began to sprout up all over the country. Eventually there would be more than 200 full-fledged outlets, and another 400 discount malls wearing that badge.
China has a key role in safeguarding the Arctic
2012-06-29 12:47
Arctic affairs can be divided into those of a regional nature and those that have global implications. Those that are regional are properly resolved through negotiations between countries of the region. China respects the sovereignty and sovereign rights of arctic countries, and hopes that they can peacefully resolve their disputes over territory and sovereignty.
Building the road to harmony needs social capital
2012-06-29 12:47
A recent World Bank report identified six reform priorities that China should implement to avoid a so-called hard landing. Underpinning China 2030: Building a Modern, Harmonious and Creative High-Income Society is, as the name suggests, the notion that the country's future depends on creating a harmonious society.
The wisdom in China's Tao of Centrality
2012-06-29 12:47
Thirteen years ago the influential Pentagon strategist Andrew Marshall endorsed the Asia 2025 report, one in which the idea of Sino-American synergy was not even considered. "A stable and powerful China will be constantly challenging the status quo in East Asia, an unstable and relatively weak China could be dangerous because its leaders might try to bolster their power with foreign military adventurism," it said.
Bringing luxury brands out of the digital Stone Age
2012-06-22 16:53
Five ways in which high-end companies can market themselves on the Internet.
By the seaside, a new world emerges
2012-06-22 16:53
The days of US dominance are over, and multilateralism is with us.
Quality towers over quantity in building cities
2012-06-22 16:53
The major problems caused by China's rapid and massive urbanization cannot be going unnoticed.
Lessons for China from a Greek tragedy
2012-06-22 16:53
After a close election, Athens is left standing at the edge.
Telling China's true story
2012-06-15 12:40
For almost 25 years I've been going to China and working to facilitate communication between China and the world. With my long-time business partner, Adam Zhu, I began to tell China's story as a matter of frustration, when, during the mid-1990s as the country was changing, most Westerners still imagined China as the commune-like monolith of the 1950s and 1960s. Telling the true story of China has always been important. Today it is essential.
Tax shake-up to make business easier
2012-06-15 12:40
This year the Chinese government has embarked on one of the most ambitious tax reform programs in recent history. The reforms initially consist of introducing a pilot program in Shanghai in which business tax (BT) is replaced with a value-added tax (VAT) for the transport, asset leasing and modern services sectors. The initial program is the first step, in an overall plan, of replacing BT with VAT across the whole services sector in the Chinese mainland.
Time to review family planning policy
2012-06-15 12:40
China's family planning policy has been in place since 1979. It was implemented primarily out of economic considerations. Although enforcement is generally strict in urban areas, rural families are allowed to have a second child if the first is a girl, and some ethnic groups are exempted from the policy.
E-paper
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