WorldcrunchStay updated with comprehensive news on China from Worldcrunch. Discover insights on Chinese politics, economic developments, societal issues, and cultural landmarks with translations from top international sources. Highlights include Beijing, Shanghai, and events like the Chinese New Year.
SHANGHAI – For years, the People’s Republic of China has been carrying the German car industry through tough times. In 2012, German manufacturers sold a whopping 15.5 million motor vehicles in China, and no end to that record is in sight. In March 2013 alone they sold 1.4 million cars, a rise of 20%. The […]
SHANGHAI – Times are tough for billionaires. In Italy, their tax returns are being tracked down. In France, their overseas accounts are being scrutinized. Brussels wants to ban bankers’ bonuses. Switzerland voted to outlaw golden handshakes. Even in the United States, billionaires – unless they are also philanthropists – have become suspicious characters. Fortunately, there […]
BEIJING – The city of Xi’an in central China is known for its army of Terracotta Warriors. Local authorities have decided to apply for UNESCO World Heritage status for a number of historical sites in Shaanxi Province along the Silk Road, the ancient trade route linking many points west to China. In their proposal to […]
This supposed “wonder drug” is rolled out anytime authorities fear a health crisis can spark a national panic. But are placebos a good approach to government policy?
Setting limits on having children has meant an army of Chinese civil servants systematically employing kidnapping, torture, forced sterilization and abortions. And for what?
More Michelle Obama or Carla Bruni? Peng Liyuan is breaking new ground in Chinese political life. It’s also another chance for retailers to practice the fine art of imitation.
BEIJING – On April 6, China’s new Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed the North Korean situation on the phone with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. Wang made China’s stance quite clear: it will not allow “troublemaking” at its doorsteps. This is the toughest talk to date from the Chinese government, and its intention is clear: to […]
The onus is on Washington and Beijing to forge a new, much deeper diplomatic bond to stop the Korean Peninsula and Japan-China conflicts from sliding into open war.
BEIJING – Last month, President Xi Jinping told the mayor of Suzhou, who had outlined a plan to make improvements on the water quality of the city’s lakes, that for China’s netizens, the best measure of acceptable water quality would be to see whether the mayor dared to jump in and swim. In February, a […]
BEIJING – Last month Shandong University announced that 97 of its students wouldn’t be granted their diplomas due to “poor academic performance after frequent warnings.” Ninety-seven is a drop in the bucket next to the school’s 43,000 undergraduates; and even of those 97, all but 16 have been given a reprieve allowing them to graduate […]
Look at the numbers, both environmental and economic, and the solution is clear: slower growth.
After several high-profile miscarriages of justice, could a Chinese movement take root to abolish capital punishment? But public outrage cuts both ways.
An interview with Zhang Xianmin, founder of one of the many independent cultural events that were banned last year by the Chinese government.
BEIJING – On March 9 and 10, many Chinese families were disappointed. It was on those two days that American private high schools announced their admission results for foreign students. For those who have just been through the one to two year enrolment process that includes cramming for tests, sending application forms and recommendation letters, […]
New Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has big economic ambitions for his country — and it may require a slap to its largest regional trading partner.
Food shortages are almost always a problem of supply, not demand, but don’t tell that to some top Chinese officials maintaining a tight grip on national family planning policy.
BEIJING – To stem surging housing prices and curb speculation, China has recently issued a new policy that enables local governments to impose a 20% tax on profits earned from the sale of a second home. This is a huge hike from the current 1-2% tax. The move immediately triggered panic among the affluent class […]
China’s basketball legend Yao Ming wants to save the sharks. Wang Haifeng wants to save 500 jobs. Who are you rooting for? Have you ever tried shark fin soup?
The two world powers and BRICS nations enjoy friendly relations, and both have an interest in expanding economic and political links. Still, there is another big player always looming.
Too many Chinese have taken their pursuit of happiness to the United States, and elsewhere in the West. China must ask itself why are there still so many good reasons for leaving.
BEIJING – Less than six months ago, U.S. Under Secretary of State Robert D. Hormats gave an exclusive interview to Caixin, in which he said that one of the most important tasks in US-China relations was to define differences on intellectual property rights protection and find common solutions within the next six months. On Feb. […]
–Editorial- BEIJING – It is a well-known fact that Chinese people don’t like to spend money. Since the 1998 financial crisis, China’s policy makers have been trying to expand domestic demand, and in particular Chinese consumption, to let the “caged tiger” loose. In other words, it is time that people dig into their savings. Since […]
More and more elderly Chinese people are living far awar from their children, bringing the reality of aging “empty nesters” to the country. The social impact is huge.
BEIJING – The 18th century British scholar Thomas Malthus predicted that when population growth exceeded agriculture’s capacity to support new population numbers, it would lead to starvation and misery. His prediction was wrong, because he did not take into account the impact of scientific and technological progress. His name has since become an adjective for […]
-OpEd- BEIJING – A few days ago in the northeastern city of Changchun, a man left his baby in his SUV while he went inside a convenience store. He returned to find his car, which he had left unlocked and running, stolen, along with the baby. After 48 hours of public mobilization and searches, Zhou […]
China’s incoming President has promised to tackle bribery and abuse of power. The country’s digital citizen-reporters will hold him to his word.
-OpEd- BEIJING – The four foreign criminals who murdered 13 Chinese sailors in 2011 on northern Thailand’s Mekong River were put to death by lethal injection on March 1. I support the death sentence in this case and the execution of these men. The significance of this execution is three-fold. First, whoever commits a crime, […]
-Analysis- BEIJING – One of the stated functions of the Ministry of Environmental Protection is to monitor the environment, and to publish the findings. But when a Beijing lawyer asked the Ministry to publish its national soil pollution survey, he was turned away. The reason? The findings were a state secret. In China, the “state […]
BARCELONA – Bas van Abel brought a novel idea to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The 35-year-old Dutch entrepreneur is currently at work, with ten others, on the first “FairTrade” smartphone – a phone that will contain no gold mined in war zones, will not be assembled in a soulless Chinese factory, and will […]
BEIJING – Before even leaving for the United Kingdom, we had already decided to try out the local cuisine as much as possible. It shouldn’t be too difficult to avoid Chinese food – even though there are Chinese restaurants in every corner of the world these days. After all, we were only spending a dozen […]
Hung Huang has come to Paris to unlock the secrets of the Chinese fashion market.
BEIJING – Over the past three years, a growing number of high-ranking officials in China have committed suicide, according to data from the Legal Weekly journal. In just the last two months alone, three officials — Qi Xiaolin, Deputy Secretary of Guangzhou’s Municipal Public Security Bureau, Zhang Wanxiong, Vice-President of Liangzhou Court of Justice in […]
BEIJING – After it was recently revealed that the entire family of a top housing administration official in the northern Chinese city of Zhengzhou had two sets of identity papers (or hukou), people have taken to joking online that China doesn’t really have 1.3 billion people, as many people have a “dual hukou.” The hukou […]
-OpEd- BEIJING – During and after the 18th Communist Party Congress, party and state leaders re-stated that the country should be ruled by law and governed according to the Constitution. They also said that the supervision of power should be tightened, including oversight through public opinion by news media. The 17th Party Congress report of […]
BEIJING – On the night of Aug 8, 1975, a line of people frantically piled sandbags atop the Banqiao Dam, in the central Henan Province, while being battered by the worst storm ever recorded in the region. They raced against the rapidly rising Ru River to save the dam and the millions of people that […]
CHINA AND TAIWAN MEET FOR HISTORIC GOVERNMENT TALKS Representatives of the China and Taiwan governments met today in the Eastern Chinese city of Nanjing, the first face-to-face meeting of cross-strait officials since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, which saw the separation of the two states. While no official agenda was released […]
A landslide last month in Zhenxiong County in southwestern China killed 46 villagers. Once the bodies were recovered, the local authority — without any prior agreement from family members — cremated them. This set off a storm of protest from relatives of the deceased, and widespread criticism from the public. Zhenxiong authorities sparked further outrage […]
BEIJING – Recently, pharmaceutical company Renhen Pharmacy went through a public relations nightmare after a doctor wrote on the popular Chinese micro-blogging site Weibo that its children’s cold medicine was dangerous. Could better preparation and response on Weibo have substantially mitigated the damage to Renhe’s image? On Jan. 21, a Weibo post about Renhe Pharmacy […]
How the intersection of show biz and state power looks from China.
The dispute over the Diaoyu islands, which Japan calls the Senkaku islands, is prompting some Japanese firms to consider closing Chinese operations. They quickly run into roadblocks.