WorldcrunchThe Economic Observer is a weekly Chinese-language newspaper founded in April 2001. It is one of the top business publications in China. The main editorial office is based in Beijing, China. Inspired by the Financial Times of Britain, the newspaper is printed on peach-colored paper.
Editor’s note: Following Beijing, the municipality of Guangzhou introduced passenger car purchasing restrictions last June in order to ease the traffic pressure. Each month a free lottery system is used to decide the lucky ones who get to buy cars. Another parallel system allows people to pay more by bidding for a car license. Public […]
LEIYANG – After working for many years in Foshan, a city in China’s manufacturing heartland of Guangdong, Zi Xiaohu and his wife recently decided to move back to his hometown in the central province of Hunan. The couple’s child, who remained behind in the village while the parents worked, is about to start preschool. The […]
-Op-Ed- BEIJING – On April 28, the Japanese government held a ceremony it dubbed the “Anniversary of Japan’s Restoration of Sovereignty and Return to the International Community.” Held in Tokyo, the occasion celebrated the end of the American-led occupation in Japan in 1952, and featured Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe asking the public to cheer […]
After five long years of battle in court, Adidas has finally settled with Adivon, a Chinese sportswear company. The latter is to transfer its Chinese trademarks and the triangular logo to the German multinational and will not be allowed to use them again, in any store. Meanwhile, another unfinished lawsuit has aroused even more attention. […]
BEIJING – China is busy in America’s backyard. Over the past five years, Chinese businesses have been expanding their footprint in Latin America in a number of ways, beginning with enhanced trade to ensure a steady supply of bulk commodities such as oil, copper and soybeans. At this year’s Boao Forum for Asia, for the […]
Real estate agents from the troubled Mediterranean country have identified potential buyers in China, looking for both cheap real estate, and EU residency. But buyer beware.
On April 15th, India announced that an “intrusion” of around 50 Chinese military personnel had crossed onto the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, and set up a tent camp. The Indian military immediately responded with tit for tat camp of tents nearby. Thus started the so-called “Tents Confrontation” standoff. The […]
-Essay- BEIJING – On April 10, Fenghuang, a popular tourist town that is on the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list, started charging entry for visitors, triggering public outcry in China. Fenghuang is located in Xiangxi Prefecture, in China’s central Hunan Province, which is home to the Miao and Tujia ethnic minorities. Now, whoever wants to […]
The sensational details surrounding the case of disgraced Liu Zhijun have captivated the public and media. But the real question is why is this the norm?
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?
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 […]
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.
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.
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 […]
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.
–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 […]
Why has Washington stayed so quiet about South Korean allegations of secret North Korean bank accounts?
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.
-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 […]
-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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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.
BEIJING – Since 2010, China’s number one state-owned newspaper, the People’s Daily, has published quite a number of commentaries concerning hot-button social issues. We are very pleased and applaud this. In general, these commentaries have a higher purpose and discuss national issues with sharpness. Recently, though, the People’s Daily published a commentary written by Bai […]
Some 1.2 million were forced to relocate by China’s massive Three Gorges project. Moving to unfamiliar land, many of these internal migrants struggle. Some tell another story.
A Chinese reporter crosses the border to take the pulse of the closed-off nation, where young North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may have begun to loosen things up ever so slightly.
-Essay- BEIJING – Recently, a fire killed seven children in a private orphanage in the Eastern Chinese town of Lankao. The woman who runs the Henan province orphanage, Yuan Lihai, called “Loving Mother” by locals, became a controversial figure overnight, even though she has cared for more than 100 abandoned children over the past 20 […]
BEIJING – A new study published by the National Academy of Economic Strategy (NAES) finds a global energy market that is in the midst of major changes. China, in this context, is facing both opportunities and challenges; in particular, there are concerns about China’s energy security brought on by shifts in the sector in North […]
The target year is 2020, and the subject on the minds of many world economists: the Chinese consumer. In a report published last month, “Consuming China: How to get ready for the next stage,” McKinsey & Company predict that consumption will replace investment as the driving force of China’s GDP growth. Meanwhile, Dong Tao, Asia […]
-Editorial- BEIJING – The ambulance was stuck behind a sea of cars. Even though its blue lights were flashing and its siren was blaring, no cars gave way. Instead they squeezed by skillfully, one after the other. The video, which captures perfectly how difficult it is for an ambulance to drive through the streets of […]
BEIJING – In the history of Eastern and Western art, the aesthetic standards for painting have been more or less the same. The most esteemed paintings were large scenes with people in them. They can be broken down into the two categories, of either historical or religious nature. The classic scene of Christ being taken […]