Analysis: The sheer volume of producers, along with arcane systems of public oversight, means tainted food scandals are a regular affair in China. Beijing would be wise to look westward for business-driven systems of reducing food safety risks.
Tag: china
A helpful lubricant for human relations or national corruption racket? Either way, the so-called “gift economy,” now in full swing as the Chinese New Year begins, is key to understanding social and economic interaction in China.
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Meet China’s Most Open Party Leader
Both by what he says and what he blogs, Chinese politician Zhang Chunxian appears to want to truly hear from the people he’s charged to lead. But he may have pushed his luck by posting messages on his microblog account directly from inside a Comm
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Shanghai’s Tale Of Three Towers
In the early 1990s, planners in Shanghai envisioned a trio of mammoth skyscrapers that would symbolize the Chinese city’s rebirth. Nearly 20 years later, two of those towers are built. The third is 109 stories to go. Our writer strolls through this 21st c
Essay: Jin Xing, one of China’s greatest modern dancers, has divided public opinion after she was barred from being a television show judge because censors thought she was a bad influence on teenagers. A close-up look at a unique role model in mo
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How To Catch A Chinese Millionaire
In Beijing, women take classes to learn how to charm wealthy men. Millionaires go crazy for participants, who pay over 2,000 euros for the course. A worthwhile investment all around?
Recent vows by Beijing to eliminate child begging by next year show that though Chinese may care about society’s most vulnerable, they don’t yet know how to really help them.
The French and Swiss firms have a longstanding presence in China, but are still outstripped by local competitors. Add to that rising land and labor costs, and foreign food giants must recalibrate their strategies in the world’s No. 2 economy.
Just a few years ago, booming manufacturing industry in the Pearl Delta Region was an unprecedented opportunity for well-paid jobs for millions of young Chinese domestic migrants. Now, shuttered factories and dashed hopes are creating social unrest.
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Beijing Holds The Key To North Korea
Op-Ed: As North Korea bids farewell to its all-powerful leader Kim Jong-il, foreign powers look with uncertainty toward his son and successor Kim Jong-un. Its giant neighbor China could be both model and power broker for Pyongyang, but the West may have o
Analysis: When a Chinese fisherman was accused of the fatal stabbing of a South Korean coast guard officer public outrage came quickly from both countries. The incident shows the fragility of all the new talk of regional cooperation when ancient mistrust
Essay: Politicians used to work behind closed doors, now their days are spent moving from one public appearance to the next. A glance at how leadership fashion sense matters more and more, from country to country, from East to West.
Analysis: The death of North Korea’s Kim Jong-Il opens major questions for his nation and the region. During his 16 years in power, the supreme leader — pushed by President Bush’s ‘axis of evil’ showdown – achieved nuc
The Chinese business world has seen several recent examples of how bad management of customer relations can inflict serious damage on the social web. But will the big corporations see the upside in time?
Analysis: As Japan tries to regain its late 20th century prowess in cultural exports, it should look next door to the steamrolling Chinese economy: both as a market and an industrial resource. A soft-power plan to conquer the world.
Essay: He Jianchao, director of the Daming Palace Bureau, is leading efforts to restore the remains of the imperial city of the Tang Dynasty. His response to criticism about the quality of the restoration might be funny — if it weren’t for the h
Analysis: A very public U.S. air pollution monitor has become central in the debate over Beijing’s air quality. But China is so far from facing its environmental crisis that it doesn’t even use the latest standard means for measuring smo
The first ever Sino-German car is being launched in China by Daimler, but won’t be a Mercedes brand. As a foreign business, Daimler had to pick a Chinese partner to launch the all-electric auto, opting for BYD (Build Your Dreams), the world’s lar
One middle manager takes us inside an all-too-common practice: public offices that must spend their annual funding increasingly turn to travel agencies to set up all-expense-paid vacations for the whole staff. And of course, the big bosses get extra speci
Analysis: China’s decidion to donate 23 school buses to Macedonia seemed like a small, generous gesture. But it has sparked a firestorm of criticism from ordinary Chinese, still angry about a badly overcrowded school bus that crashed in rural Chi
As U.S. Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton makes a historic visit, Myanmar may be starting to edge to more openness, and perhaps even real democracy. But along the border with China, the so-called “golden triangle”is a haven of drug and
After being subsequently acquitted and released, a 42-year-old falsely accused of multiple murders, and sentenced to death, recounts a decade of torture and forced confession in a Chinese prison. It’s an experience few have lived to describe.
Cobras and scorpions, centipedes and seahorses on bamboo sticks are among the things you never thought you’d taste. A Laotian in Beijing compares two of the world’s more “out there” eating experiences.
Op-Ed: Scandals and sex in China are becoming part of the scenery, but what if the public’s eagerness to shame law-breaking officials is in itself undermining the rule of law?
Essay: A Beijing-based Japanese writer looks at history, diplomacy and body language to try to explain the chilly reception new Japanese Prime Minister Noda has received from China’s Hu Jintao. What could it mean for a region at the center of shi
Essay: A Chinese commentator notes a disturbing uptick in U.S. drumbeating in the Pacific region. But China’s response, he warns, should be diplomatic pragmatism not more nationalistic posturing.
Chinese carmakers have made some inroads in the automotive industry, but don’t yet pose much of a threat to their major European, Japanese and American counterparts. That could change – and quickly.
Chinese-American mother Amy Chua’s bestseller “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” opened debate about severe parenting techniques. Now, a Chinese businessman has written about even harsher treatment of his kids — and of course,
Essay: Yet another avoidable tragedy has struck rural China, where a crammed school van crashed and killed 18 children. One Chinese writer’s j’accuse against public officials who are busy spending money on luxury cars instead of safe school transportation
The Bejing Olympics was an occasion for China to show off its new architectural gems. One of the most original was the China TV building, a curious rectangular vertical loop designed by the German architect, Ole Scheeren, who has chosen to plant roots in
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China’s Slow-Burning Sexual Revolution
Fueled by income inequality, gender imbalances and repressive laws, China is experiencing a barely-hidden sexual crisis. The government criminalizes Internet porn and sex toys, but offers no better solution for the urban lonely and millions of men unable
The new Super rich of China are indulging in another world classic: Caviar from wild sturgeon in the Caspian sea comes in at hundreds of dollars a spoonful. But China has also quietly become a new source of farmed caviar, which experts say can compete wit
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Coffee Wars In China: Starbucks vs. Costa
Both the American and British coffee chains have big plans for expansion in China. Starbucks, which has opened 500 stores since it first arrived in China in 1999, is giving more autonomy to its Chinese managers to tailor shops to local tastes.
In China, a group of professors at Yangtze University knelt down in front of the local municipality building to plead for the closure of a polluting steel mill. Some say it was a shameful sign of the times. But you know what? It worked.
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A Snapshot Of The Chinese Super-Rich
China is starting to study the origin of its newfound wealth, and the behavior of those who possess it. A recent report shows China’s wealth largely comes from real estate and manufacturing, with a surprisingly high percentage of the money now invested ab
Essay: China’s state-run Red Cross has recently been a regular source of controversy. Now, some accuse it of forcing Chinese students to join – and pay. But assuming it fulfills its mission, the Chinese Red Cross is an organization well worth preserving.
Chinese farmers are tired of selling their milk to Nestle at steeply discounted prices, and want an end to local bans on selling elsewhere. Some have threatened to slaughter their cows instead of letting Nestle and their government-backed local monopoly m
Essay: Recent charges that Gucci China workers faced sweatshop-like conditions expose bigger questions about Chinese society. The pursuit of luxury in itself is not a problem, but its side-effects can be.
New Chinese regulations limiting entertainment shows on regional television channels may be an attempt to halt the declining ratings of the CCTV state-controlled network. But with the growth of the Internet, and other new freedoms, it may not work this ti
As industrial development booms along the northeast coast, stretches of waterways are being destroyed by massive pollution. Attempts to cover up the damage in Bohai Gulf failed, and both local fishermen and environmental activists are demanding better pro