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Jun 12

minipost-Take your money and get lost

Written by: real name | Filed under:-mini-posts, economy, politics | 9 Comments » newest

“Let some people get rich first, lead and help other areas, other people and this way can gradually achieve common prosperity” was one of the slogans of economical reforms.

Many from the richest part of today’s China did not believe in talks about common prosperity and so from Hong Kong in years 1984-1997 (when HK was returned under Chinese control) nearly 1 million people emigrated (about one eight of population).

(Despite different average in Hong Kong is economical inequality even bigger than in rest of China.)

Even more people did not return from study abroad. To be more concrete: in years 1987-2009 it was about 1 160 000 people. But gradually returns more and more, during for world crisis year 2009 it was already 56 percent.

In that time they returned because of problems abroad, many with foreign passport (although sometimes hidden – China does not allow double citizenship), to try find a job at home or to outsource their business to country with lower costs.

But together with growing return of so called “sea turtles” another escape began – this time of the richest Chinese. Continue reading »

Mar 23

The urban myths around China’s property bubble are as compelling as they are odd. There are tales of office blocks, towering in Shanghai, Beijing and a dozen other provincial cities, behind whose mirrored-glass exteriors is a ghostly silence. There’s the story the cycling professor noting a complete absence of lights in ranks of buildings, during the most recent solar eclipse in Beijing. Of taxi drivers who ply their trade, whilst nailing down million-dollar property deals on the phone. Of couples divorcing, so they can claim an extra share of the property bonanza. Even allegations of 60 million homes mysteriously having no electricity charges for more than 6 months. Continue reading »

Sep 20

This week has been contentious week between China and the US. Timothy Geithner came out and blasted at China for undervaluing its currency which hurts American Jobs. Leading the charge, NY times has been the loudspeaker of this Anti-China effort.
Continue reading »

Jun 26

The ECFA trade agreement between China and Taiwan looks like it will be signed in the near future.

It is hard at this point to be sure of who will benefit the most from it economically. There are concerns in Taiwan that there will be a net loss of jobs as a result of the agreement. Whilst Taiwan will be able to ship goods to China with fewer trade barriers, this does not mean that increased trade will employ more Taiwanese than lose their jobs due to an increase in Chinese imports. After all, some Taiwanese bosses may just pocket increased profit, though others will see increased demand and need to employ more workers. It will be easier to consider the impact of the agreement after it has been in place for a year or two.

But now that the ECFA has been agreed upon, where do Sino-Taiwanese relations go from here? The Wall Street Journal has a suggestion.

Continue reading »

May 30

The following is a translation of an op-ed published published in China Review News.

May 27, 2010 – Opinion: the Foxconn Incident is a Reflection of the Growing Pains Associated with China’s Traditional Mode of Development

The recent spate of suicides at Foxconn in China has brought unprecedented attention to this major international manufacturing subcontractor of electronics equipments.  While the causes of these suicides are inevitably complex,  the incidents are a general reflection of the stress the traditional mode of development has wrought on China’s society and provide a warning that change must be brought about soon. Continue reading »

Feb 08

As the Chinese New Year approaches, I think I should write some lighter posts.  So here is something funny I stumbled across on WSJ’s China Realtime Report: Continue reading »

Jan 25

Google’s recent drama in China has endeared itself to some human rights activists, democracy advocates, even Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  Many have applauded Google for taking a “principled stance” against the evil empire of China.  I find such rhetoric comical. Continue reading »

Jan 13

Google issued a press release on their blog just a few hours ago pertaining to their operation in China. It is big news and will take some time to digest. I don’t want to comment, just get the story out.  Continue reading »

Jan 07

Haiers true wireless HDTV (gizmodo.com)

Haier's true wireless HDTV (gizmodo.com)


The word “wireless” has really become an oxymoron. For example, are cell phones really wireless? Not really, because without a charging cable, cell phones are useless. At the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Haier has demonstrated a true wireless HDTV. No wires. No power cable.
Continue reading »

Jan 02

When I started following the China-ASEAN free trade agreement few years ago, I knew they were on an accelerated pace, and I knew this day would come. This is such an awesome start for 2010! I have no doubt ASEAN+China will eventually extend to ASEAN+China+Japan+Korea. Here is Xinhua’s report, “China-ASEAN free trade area starts operation“:
Continue reading »

Dec 19

Apparently, after much drama, intrigue, and sleepless nights, we have some sort of agreement at Copenhagen. We’ll probably get the text of the Copenhagen Agreement soon. But I think the gist of it is as follows: Continue reading »

Dec 14

A theory often taught in foreign policy courses is that heavily interdependent states tend to want peace and stability between them. I was very encourage to read that a massive gas pipeline, 1,833-kilometers in length, has been constructed, linking Turkmenistan through central Uzbekistan, southern Kazakhstan, and into China through northwestern Xinjiang province.
Continue reading »

Nov 26

Officials from both China and the U.S. have lauded Obama’s recent trip to China as a great success.  While some have criticized the trip for producing little in terms of specifics, one should not casually dismiss the achievements actually made (see U.S.-China Joint Statement). In so many ways, the relationship between U.S. and China has never been closer.

Yet despite the goodwill generated by the trip, there is one sharp difference that festers between the two – and that is the value of the Yuan.  Many in America feel that the Yuan is not only undervalued, but has created a huge trade deficit, setting in motion the current global financial crisis and threatening to prolong the current U.S. recession. Continue reading »

Nov 06

Despite great strides made over gender equality in the last 60 years, there are still a lot China can do as a nation to promote greater equality and promote the livelihoods of women – especially in the rural areas.

But in the city at least, the power dynamics between men and women seems to be changing – at least on a family per family basis.

Here is an entertaining video from James Fallow on who holds the family purse in China? Continue reading »

Oct 20

According to a Xinhua report, the 6th China-ASEAN Expo is being held in Nanning, Guangxi province, Oct 20 – Oct 24th.

I have mentioned in the past, that Asia is underway to form its own free trade zone like the E.U.. (For material goods,) the article says China-ASEAN Free Trade will commence in 2010 – which is on schedule. More details: China-ASEAN FTA to be completed in 2010, ASEAN envoy.

The E.U. took many treaties between member states to culminate in the union that exists today and then the single currency, Euro. See, E.U. Timeline for details. I see what is happening in Asia mirroring what happened in Europe.

In my Sept 1st post, “Yukio Hatoyama, Japan’s new Prime Minister: “A New Path for Japan””, I brought to your attention Hatoyama’s support of an Asian Union.  In this Xinhua article, we hear Asian leaders continue the push towards this direction. It’s all slowly adding up.

Continue reading »

Oct 13

The Chinese government has been repeatedly criticised by various countries, such as America and European states, for its lack of action/results over protecting intellectual property. Thus it’s welcome to hear that a group of Chinese and foreign firms have united to take matters into their own hands, even if they are motivated by different factors. The Economist has the story.

In mid-September the China Internet Video Anti-Piracy Alliance, a group comprising both big Chinese internet portals and foreign rights-owners, including the Motion Picture Association of America, announced a broad legal attack. It said that it had begun collecting evidence against more than 1,000 suspected violators of intellectual property and would start filing lawsuits, with the first target being 503 videos found on Youku, an increasingly popular website, that the alliance claims are pirated. Youku has counter-sued for defamation. Continue reading »

Sep 29

In my prior post about Japan’s new Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama’s opinion piece on the NYT, I was encouraged by Hatoyama’s view of an Asian Union. This is an interesting trend I encourage our readers to follow. Xinhua reported Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and ROK Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Yu Myung Hwan has met in Shanghai on September 28, 2009 to “deepen their all-round cooperative partnership.” This is in preparation for the three countries top leaders to meet in October in Beijing. It will be interesting to see what new trilateral agreements they reach by then, at which time the top leaders will endorse and announce.

Sep 21

In this installment, Compton talks to Fools Mountain about the business climate in China. As a venture capitalist and a business executive, Compton brings a very unique perspective on “where China is at” in her development. In producing the documentary film, “Win in China,” he has had chance to interact with many business leaders in China.
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Sep 08

Bob Compton and U.S. President Obama

Bob Compton talks to U.S. President Obama abour education reform

More Americans are becoming aware of Bob Compton (standing next to U.S. President Obama in the picture to the left) for his efforts in changing America’s education system.Compton is one of the most successful businessmen in America.He has created numerous companies, lead companies with sales of a million dollars to hundreds of millions, and served as President of NYSE-listed companies.  He is an active venture capitalist as well as an angel investor.  Compton traveled the world extensively.  He is also keenly interested in what is happening outside the USA.  His funded companies hire engineers in China and India.

Compton produced two documentary films:  “Two Million Minutes” and “Win in China.”

Continue reading »

Aug 25

In 2007, China had 20+ million new brokerage accounts opened in that one year.  Total stock accounts topped 100 million that same year.  Also, around 2007, China had roughly 80 million middle class citizens.  While this extrapolation is not scientifically based, I would venture to say that the number of Chinese investors in 10 years time will be staggering.  My assumption is that the number of Chinese citizens continue to graduate into middle class will be proportional to China’s GDP growth.  The number of middle class income earners will likely be equal to number of investors.

Continue reading »

Aug 14

It was not that long ago the “Western” media constantly talked about how insolvant many of China’s banks were, and that they were choked full of bad loans. Obviously, the irony of it was they were talking about their own banks! Continue reading »