The American retailer already has a presence in China, but its aim now is to develop shopping malls in smaller Chinese cities, where its community supermarkets can serve as anchors.
Tag: china
A workplace murder in China’s Forbidden City, farmyard horrors in northern Italy and a lucky smartphone in Florida are among the crimes that made it on this week’s global police blotter. photo credit: alvaro-qc
BEIJING – It’s rare that one sees the Communist leaders of China transformed into caricatures. However, a few days ago a video appeared called “How leaders are made” in which Xi Jinping’s avatar appears, from 2 minutes and 35 seconds onward, as a comic figure along with American President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister […]
A green city collaboration between Singapore and China has all the features of an environmentally sustainable future. But one thing it’s missing: people.
In 2003, when Singapore, New Zealand and Chile launched the Pacific Three (P3) Closer Economic Partnership, few could have predicted that this agreement would grow into the greatest force driving the economic and political landscape of the region. The changes began in 2008 when the United States joined the negotiations and proposed launching the Trans-Pacific […]
BEIJING — When recently visiting four Central Asian countries, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the starting point of the ancient Silk Road by which China exported its silk, china and jade to Europe was his own hometown of Xi’an. He suggested that China and the Central Asia countries, with a total population of 3 […]
In Russia, bribes taste good; In Itay, undertakers are on the take; French panty thief and endangered turtle smuggling … and other global crimes that made headlines this week.
SHANGHAI — The annual rush in Apple stores all over the world started Sept. 20 when the Cupertino, Calif.-based company released its new iPhones 5S and 5C. Outside Fifth Avenue in New York, the queue was the longest in store history. Similarly, in China, people went en masse to buy the latest smartphone, but for […]
PARIS — Will the yuan dethrone the dollar one day? The Chinese currency may have just moved a step further in that direction with the October 10 signature between the European Central Bank and the People’s Bank of China (the country’s central bank) for the establishment of a “currency swap” mechanism. The terms of the […]
BEIJING — The “Hierarchy of Needs,” an influential psychological theory put forth by American psychologist Abraham Maslow, tells us that humans have different levels of needs. From the most basic physiological necessities such as water, food and sex, to love, belonging and self-actualization. It is notable that security comes in second on the hierarchy after […]
Monday, October 20, 2014 TURKEY TO LET IRAQI KURDS FIGHT IN KOBANI Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced the country would let Iraqi Kurds cross its border and join Syrian Kurds fighting against ISIS in the city of Kobani, the BBC reports. The announcement came after U.S. aircraft dropped ammunition, small arms and medical supplies […]
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Is China’s Urban Boom A House Of Cards?
BEIJING — “Better city, better life …” This was the theme of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, a nod to the ancient Greek scholar Aristotle who understood what people expect from urban life: to make their living a better living. But what is the reality in people’s lives right now? During China’s golden week — […]
Following fast on the heels of President Xi Jinping’s recent trip to Indonesia and Malaysia, China’s Premier Li Keqiang also showed up in Southeast Asia, attending the East Asia leaders’ meeting before bilateral visits to Brunei, Thailand and Vietnam. It is rare in China’s diplomatic history that its president and premier visit the same region […]
BEIJING — In China, questions over how to treat workers who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) has always been controversial. LGBT people in China are referred to as tong-zhi, which literally means “comrade.” Today’s Chinese entrepreneurs need to look at the issue from a new perspective. That is, how to be more open-minded […]
DHARAMSALA — After the Dalai Lama relinquished political power in 2011, increasing attention has turned to the head of Tibet’s government-in-exile Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay, in the hope of breaking a decades-long standoff with Beijing. And yet the situation remains grim, with some 120 Tibetans having set themselves ablaze over the past four years to […]
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Bodyguards, Chinese-Style
BEIJING — As a Shaolin Temple disciple since childhood, Shi Xingfeng, president of Bojing Security Agency, often has to remind himself to hide the heroic spirit that often glows from the eyes of martial arts masters. “It’s professional discipline,” Shi says. “You’ve got to learn to be an invisible bodyguard.” As a matter of fact, […]
Online business is booming in China. According to data from iResearch, an Internet market research firm, the current scale of China’s e-commerce is similar to that of the United States, at $206 billion. A recent study by the Boston Consulting Group estimated that by 2020 China’s e-commerce market will exceed $1 trillion. What tangible effects […]
TEL AVIV — “One of my mentors and a very dear Jewish friend once shared with me the meaning of the Hebrew words Tzdakah (“alms’) and Tikun Olam (“healing the world”)…” So began Chinese billionaire Li Ka-shing, speaking in Tel Aviv recently, just before his Hong-Kong foundation signed a $130 million grant to the Technion, […]
Since the opening-up of China, the hukou system — a household registration system that basically divides citizens into urban and rural categories — has come under increasing fire. As urban citizens enjoy a range of preferential public services such as free schooling and social security, migrant workers living in the same city but with rural […]
Over the past 15 years, global investors have experienced a series of bubbles: the Internet bubble in 2001, the real estate and credit bubbles in 2008, and then gold this year. The expansions and adjustments of these bursting bubbles seem to have already become commonplace. Though many governments with troubled economies have tried to face […]
-Op-Ed- Last week finally saw the epilogue of the eventful Bo Xilai affair. The former high-ranking official of the single-party state, both a member of the Chinese Community Party (CCP) Politburo and the most powerful figure of the Chongqing municipality, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in the Shandong province. But this legal […]
BEIJING — In October, a tour group of 20 of China’s top tycoons will be paying a different kind of luxury visit to America. The tour is organized by Gopher Asset, an asset management firm, and the aim is for these Chinese super-rich to investigate how Single Family Offices (SFOs) operate in the United States. […]
JIANGNAN – It’s that time of a year again for Chinese crab lovers. Connoisseurs of mitten crabs, this expensive seasonal delicacy, know that the crustacean is concentrated in Jiangnan, in the southern part of the Yangtze Delta, The autumn harvesting is carried out mostly very early in the morning before sunrise. Using the crab’s phototropism, […]
It’s a weekend morning. Y, a lesbian woman, changes out of her usual masculine attire and puts on an elaborate woman’s outfit to go and visit the parents of A, a homosexual man. The visit is to inform the parents that Y and A are getting married, and hope that they will approve of their […]
-Editorial- BEIJING – At the recent International Investment Forum, Justin Lin Yifu, the former World Bank chief economist, was asked how he personally invested his money. “All my money is in the bank, in fixed deposits,” he said, before adding with a smile, “When I sleep at night, they are still earning interest for me, […]
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The People’s Republic Of Unhappy China
The United Nations just released its World Happiness Report, ranking China No. 93. Denmark is the winner, and the U.S. finishes at a respectable No. 17.
-OpEd- BEIJING — Apple released the iPhone 5c and 5s in Beijing last week, marking the first time ever that Apple has chosen the world’s biggest market for a launch. The company seems to hope that the two new smartphones will help the brand here, where it hovers alternately between fifth and sixth place in […]
Sept. 11, 2014 OBAMA OUTLINES ANTI-ISIS STRATEGYOn the eve of today’s 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center attacks, President Barack Obama vowed to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the Mideast’s ISIS terror group, also known as ISIL. Saying he had authorized air strikes against the jihadist group in Syria and the deployment […]
China currently has just one-fifth the number of robots as Japan, and just one-third as many as the United States, but as manufacturing there grows, the country is poised for big bot growth.
Chinese companies justify shoddy products because of fierce competition. One businessman explains why this approach is nothing but a dead end.
AFP, CHINA DAILY, THE ECONOMIC TIMES (India) Worldcrunch SHANGHAI — In a bold push to reform the world’s second-largest economy and open it to cross-border business, China will allow unfettered exchange of its RMB currency in the country’s first free trade zone, according to a draft plan AFP previewed Thursday. The Free Trade Zone is […]
RIA NOVOSTI (Russia), REUTERS, RUSSIA TODAY, AFP, BBC Worldcrunch ST. PETERSBURG — The leaders of the world’s 20 most powerful economies arrived Thursday in Russia for the annual G20 summit. The two-day meeting was initially supposed to focus on the economic slowdown in the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) as well […]
The most populous country in the world has no clear method for reporting or responding to abuse of its most vulnerable. Child welfare organizations fight to make a change.
LONDON — This is the fourth month that Shen has promptly received the 2,600 pounds ($4,050) from his tenants. The newfound landlord bought a London flat in January, having calculated that even if he doesn’t raise the rent, he’ll be still able to pay off the down payment in just five years. Shen is but […]
BEIJING – Is recess time over for China’s whistleblowers? Are we seeing the beginnings of a crackdown on this group of influential bloggers who have contributed to exposing corrupt public officials over the past few months? These digital activists and journalists had believed their crusade had the implicit backing of the central government after new […]
As the country plans to seize farmers’ land and move them into more populous, resettled areas to drive the economy, it’s clear who the losers will be.
Meanwhile, Japan and South Korea cash in thanks to rigorous health standards and smart labeling.
By 2034, there will be 400 million people in China over age 60. And now, it seems, the state has finally decided to open up the business of caring for the elderly. What that means.
New York Times, China Daily, BBC Worldcrunch JINAN — The trial of Bo Xilai, the disgraced former Communist official accused of corruption, bribery and abuse of power, began Thursday morning in the eastern provincial capital of Jinan, according to China Daily. One of the most serious charges against him relates to his wife’s role in […]
To dodge fines in China for violating the one-child policy and give the advantages of an American passport, many Chinese women are flying to the U.S. to give birth. But there are risks involved.