Archive for the ‘China’ Category

Over the years, there have been more than a few articles on China’s interest, or lacking interest, in developing domestic innovation and IP in the commercial sector, and China’s use of soft power, or failing to use its soft power, to promote the best interests of the state. And while these issues are ... Full story

Apologies for the long absence. As some of you might have guessed, it has been a busy summer with things here at CGC, and it has been a struggle to keep up with my daily responsibilities.. For my first post back (and I do have more posted planned), I wanted to load up some notes I wrote down while preparing for a presentation recently on why ... Full story

So, the word is out.  China is #2， Numero Dos， 第二 … and EVERYONE is talking about it. Some are even saying China will be King of the hill by 2020 Officially word came down with the Japanese Cabinet’s announced their economy put out 1.288 trillion USD, a ... Full story

Young & Restless: China's Graduate Dilemma from SOOKSTV on Vimeo. If there was one group that was hit the hardest by the economic downturn was college graduates, and as I have managed to time both of my graduating dates in the middle ... Full story

Over the last month or so, I have spoken to a half dozen or so people leading firms (large and small) who have hit the proverbial wall. Wits are at an end, the bottom line isn’t looking good, and a process of deciding what the “next step” should be in underway. Some, particularly those in the relevant regional chambers of commerce, would say that China is ... Full story

The last few months have been filled with labor issues, and while the Foxconn issues received perhaps the most coverage, the recent Reuters Factbox: China Labor Strikes led me to ask one of my interns to see what else she could find in a couple hours on the internet… and ... Full story

  I guess it is only fitting that this become one of the last hot questions to be pondered in the public domain these days. After all, there is a cleantech war underway (which China is winning), there is talk that the world needs to move away from the USD, and the Moody’s of China saw it fit to saw that the US was now ... Full story

Not long ago, a Forbes.com article titled The iPad and Dreamliner Economy discussed the innovation that was taking place inside the US and why domestic technological innovation was far from a standstill. While the article reads like a litany of US brands the author’s firm likely holds an interest ... Full story

Over the last few weeks, a united front of sorts has begun to develop around the issue of whether or not China has erected a new wall, a wall meant to prevent the penetration of foreign economic interests within China’s domestic market. Consisting of chambers of commerce (American and European), multilateral agencies ... Full story

The other day while catching up on some reading, I came across a post on Fast Company called 20 Things I’ve Learned as an Entrepreneur, and it inspired me to spend 10 minutes and write down 20 things I have learned during ... Full story

  While taking a break from live the other day, I caught up on a few Youtube, BigThink, and TED clips. Sites that provided high value, entertaining, brain food.. and when I came across the clip of Gary Vaynerchuk’s presentation at the 2008 Web 2.0 EXPO, I knew I had an All Roads ... Full story

Coming up next month is the 3rd JUCCCE China Energy Forum, and anyone who is interested in learning about (or cracking) the China market should really consider joining this event. Why do I say that?  Simple, the 2008 event that Peggy (and her team) put together was the best conference I have been to ... Full story

Typically, when speaking about sustainability, I preface my thoughts on the issue that my definition is not simply one that is based in environment. That in addition to the environmental issues faced, we must also look at how we align economies and societies to be more sustainable as well. In China, this definition ... Full story

It is not often that I receive an article that sets me off quite like the one I received yesterday announcing the new program partnership between Marriott and Conservation International.  The article, Marriott International takes up water issues in China, highlights a recent donation of 500,000 USD to Conservation ... Full story

For long time readers of All Roads, you will know that one of the topics i have follows has been related to the systemic issues apple has faced within its supply chain. it is a topic that in the last few days has come to a head with the near daily suicides occurring ... Full story

I can not believe this happening which was happened on the busy street in Shanghai, China. The story is that a woman tried(?) to poop on the street as we are looking at the pictures. I do not know if she did or only tried to. Anyway, some Chinese claimed partial people still need ... Full story

With the last month being a full court press of travel, conference speaking, report writing, and partnerships…. I haven’t had much time to write, but I thought I would share an idea that a few friends and I had this morning while meeting over coffee. A mixture of discussing the trend that China’s elite have ... Full story

Relational Architecture   "the appropriate linkage between a supplier, the organization and its customers for maximum benefit; includes internal supply matter relationships throughout the organization."  If you haven't ever read the Silk Road International Blog, today is the day to start. The posts there consistently provide great insight into on-the-ground business in China. Earlier ... Full story

In what may be my favorite CNN piece in a long time, Emily Chang has put together a 3 minute piece on the water discharge that is created by the denim jean dying facilities lining the ... Full story

FTA boosts expansion into member countries, and stabilizes imported raw material costs and supply.  Despite general uncertainty in the global trading environment, China manufacturers have one positive development going for them. Implemented at the start of 2010, the China and ASEAN Free Trade Area eliminated import tariffs for most articles exchanged between the countries.  The ... Full story

For the last several weeks, it was my believe that the May 1st holiday was going to be perhaps worst week to try and visit EXPO. Besides the fact that May holiday usually attracts a large number of visitors to Shanghai, the additional 600,000 expected EXPO visitors was sure to ... Full story

The dry spell that started in the fall of 2009 is hurting China's industrial sector, despite affecting mainly agricultural provinces in the southwest.  China needs to experience at least 10 instances of medium to heavy volume of persistent rain to ease the aridity in Chongqing, and the provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi and Sichuan. ... Full story

Following up on the post I wrote earlier in the week about whether or not China was getting too competitive or expensive for foreign firms in China, I thought it would be appropriate to also address another topic of conversation that I have been having a lot lately.  Things are ... Full story

6 months ago when it became clear that China was going to act in a manner that defended its reserves or rare metals, it provided an opportunity perhaps the first public discussion on the fact that our reliance on these metals stretched beyond the traditional need. That, while ... Full story

With a rising level of awareness about the role of consumers in the overall environmental picture rising, it would make sense that we would not only begin seeing studies about how consumers felt about green, and whether or not they are willing to buy “green”, but begin to see companies take steps to ... Full story

Last week while attending Shanghai Green Drinks, the project manager of the ZEDFactory’s Shanghai EXPO facility gave a presentation on the building, and how they were able to achieve (by design) a carbon zero project.  The only carbon zero project on the EXPO site. A well known group from ... Full story

Suzhou Expo follows green path of Shanghai Full story

6 years while working on my first consumer research projects, I was speaking with the head of development for one of China’s largest beverage companies, and he loudly proclaimed that to win China, you had to win China’s mass markets. Markets that at that time were largely out of reach of the average ... Full story

  With less than 2 weeks to go, things on the EXPO site are starting to take shape, and one of the recent highlights was the unveiling of the EXPO buses that are going to be on site moving the estimated 400,000 – 600,000 daily visitors around the site: The first ... Full story

In this month’s Lancelot, a group of 6 authors have published the 10 page article Environmental health in China: progress towards clean air and safe water, and I would highly recommend readers take the time to download the paper (right click here) and read it. Here is their summary: Environmental risk factors, especially ... Full story

If there is one thing I have learned through my experiences in interviewing candidates, it is to do whatever you can to try and understand what will be their motivating factor. Are they only looking to get a couple years of experience, if you are lucky, before they apply to grad school? Are they ... Full story

  Going into the weekend, Zhang Xiaoqiang (NDRC Vice Chairman) made an announcement at the Boao forum that leaves little doubt that a series of new regulations are on the way.Regulations that are going to discourage resource intensive and environmentally degrading industries, while supporting those that are going ... Full story

  Following up on my previous posts on the role that academic institutions can play in developing leaders with a “sustainable mindset” and toolbox, I wanted to highlight four articles that Anthony D. Cortese recently wrote for Fast Company where he took a look at some of the trends occurring on US campuses. Part ... Full story

With less than a month to go to Shanghai EXPO, I have been receiving a number of requests for my opinion on the “sustainability” of the EXPO itself. It is a subject I addressed for the first time while speaking at a Net Impact event, and followed that ... Full story

If you are looking for something to do on Earth Day,then look no further than the Greennovate Earth Day event. A full compound affair, this year Greennovate has a lot of activities that will help participants learn about ways they can improve their lives, community ... Full story

Over the last couple of weeks, I have written a few posts that looked how firms considering China may not always be making their decisions on the best available data, or the best analysis of that data.  That, in a rush to please an executive, investor, or to solidify a ... Full story

1. Chengdu’s power saving technology world-leading, filling domestic gap On March 12th, Chengdu Gaowei Power Saving Technology Co., Ltd officially announced its latest R&D results costing 6 years and a few million yuans – the energy-saving technology and equipment of the submerged arc furnace and electric arc furnace. It ... Full story

Once you start looking at charts, you just cannot stop, and following my post last week of , I cam across this interesting chart in the post China Adapts to the Climate Change Fashion Show which plots energy intensities for the US and China. Besides the ... Full story

About two hours ago, Shanghai;’s 2nd WWF Earth Hour ended, and I gotta say that while there were a few hold outs (HILTON HOTEL…), overall, WWF did a good job getting the cities building managers to participate this year. Here are some stripes of my view (from the south side of ... Full story

  If you have been following China for any amount of time, then you will know that China is good for a chart that will shock and awe readers.  Few, if any, in the cleantech space have as much power as the one above, from the Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP study ... Full story

Growing up in St Louis Missouri offered a life very different than that I have found in Shanghai. Very. Yet, it is a city that shares a lot in common with some of the more interesting, and successful cities, I have found in China. Located at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, St. Louis is pretty much right in the dead center of the continental United States, and is a city with a long history as a trade port and industrial center. It is a city that has transformed over the last 20 years from almost a pure manufacturing based economy (cars, automobiles, beer, and chemicals) to one that was highly focused on services (banking, real estate, insurance, financial services, etc), and has been dinged pretty good over the last few years as things fell off. Full story

Went through my inbox this weekend and came across an email from a friend who had sent along their list of preferred China environmental blogs and sites, and thought I would pass it on to you. A few of them I frequent, but others are new to me, so proceed with caution. If you have others that you feel are worth mentioning, please let me know ... Full story

A few weeks back UBS’s ASEAN regional economist Ed Teather put out the piece of research Six questions on ASEAN’s links with China (email me for a copy) looking at trade, investment and policy links between ASEAN and China by working to answer the following the questions: Which countries in ASEAN have the highest export exposure to China? Which countries can compete with China? How significant is the ... Full story

Following up from my recent posts A Few Rules for Succeeding in China and  What is China’s Obligation to Make Firms Feel Comfortable?, and the fact that Google’s decision to finally pull the trigger has driven so many to question why Google did it.. and whether or not it was the right move…I felt the need to write another piece.  I do so hesitantly because I am really not that interested in entering the great Google debate, whether or not their move was driven by a moral imperative vs. failure to be the leader in the market, and while I have my opinions, I am not looking to chase the “will Google change China” analysts with my own post. However, where the Google case for me is so interesting is that many of the analysts who are supporting Google for how brave they are doing so as Google is making such a decision given the size of China’s potential market, and on the other side you have analysts against them saying that they are idiots for making the decision they did and possibly forgoing the potential China market.   Full story

Among all the chants of “being ready” (or was that Beijing Games?) and the billboards counting down the seconds between now and what is sure to be an event to remember, I have one fear…. that Shanghai’s metro is just not going to be able to cope with all the traffic. It is a ... Full story

A new shade of green is gradually sweeping across China’s export manufacturing industry, one that took a while to take root. Companies are riding the environment-friendly wave. Pressure from the national government and tightening regulations in overseas markets are compelling a growing number of suppliers to modify their business strategies and incorporate ecologically safe processes. The transition is neither extreme nor desperate, but the impact could be widespread as many midsize and small companies are also taking “green” initiatives. Due to the sheer number of these suppliers, they account for a large portion of the pollution and wasteful practices in the country. Full story

One of the more common “China” questions asked over the last years has been “When would China begin exporting brands?”. There have of course been the anecdotal exceptions like Haier and TsingTao that people hold up as successful cases, and there was some talk that Chinese firms would leverage their cash positions to scoop up cheap Western assets during the recession. Transactions, which did not really materialize as some had planned. Sure there was the attempt by Tongcheng to take Hummer, but outside of that, there seemed to be little noticeable movements in Chinese firms taking down Western brands. But, if one were to look at the infrastructure sector, one would find plenty of activity, as the article China to bid on US high-speed rail projects recently highlighted: China plans to bid for contracts to build U.S. high-speed train lines and is stepping up exports of rail technology to Europe and Latin America, a government official said Saturday. Wang gave no details of where China’s railway builders might seek contracts, but systems are planned in California, Florida and Illinois. He said state-owned Chinese companies already are building high-speed lines in Turkey and Venezuela. Full story

Earlier this morning, the following tweet came across from HBS Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter: 1st rule of success in life: Show up. 2nd rule: Speak up. 3rd rule: Partner up. 4th rule: Never give up. It was a well timed tweet as (1) I had just returned from an opening ceremony in Chengdu to launch our community center (2) I had just received my class evaluation (3) I had spent an hour and a half talking about what “success” means in Chin and (4) I had a few minutes to put together a post (I have been struggling with this for the past 2 months). Full story

1. Chengdu promised: to give “one hour to the world” On February 1st, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) announced that the Municipal Government of Chengdu had promised on January 29th that it participate in the activity of the “Earth Hour 2010” at 20:30 of March 27th, which indicated Chengdu had become the first city to join the WWF China “Earth Hour 2010”, and the prelude of the activity in China was also drew open therefrom. 2. Green Chengdu, 100 electric buses to drive on streets this year This year, the program of actions on the promotion of the industrialization of electric vehicles of Chengdu City had finally settled, learnt the journalist recently from the Municipal Energy Office. The program fixed the execution of the “Hundred-thousand-ten-thousands” project, the demonstration and popularization of electric buses, namely hundred urban public transport, thousand taxis and ten thousand private cars. According to the program phased targets, in 2010, Chengdu will complete the target of putting into the demonstrational operation of 100 electric buses and 100 electric city sanitation trucks. The State Grid Corporation Sichuan branch then launched a supporting facilities construction project, and will build 3 electric vehicle charging stations and 300 charging stacks in Chengdu this year. In 2012, Chengdu will form a production capacity of 20,000 electric vehicles. Full story

Almost 2 years to the day it was announced that Bo Xilai was going to be packing up and moving from Dalian to Chongqing.  It was an announcement that was part in parcel with several other high level provincial mayoral moves that I saw as an effort by Hu & Co’s to leverage the experience of trusted and respected from the East coast ... Full story

A bit of a rant here, but why is it that within many of Shanghai’s restaurants it is still considered acceptable to smoke a cigar?  Over the weekend, while enjoying my lunch with a friend in a cafe where the entire menu is “healthy” a patron came in a lite up ... Full story

Last year when preparing for my presentation at the 2009 CHaINA summit, I was given access to preliminary data from a survey that the China Supply Chain council had sent out on green practices.  The council, lead by MAx Henry, has always been (in relation to other industry groups) forward leaning on the issues and he was ... Full story

Perhaps one of the more interesting, and at times comical and frustrating, dynamics about working in China is that sometimes you just know that the word “China” can create an emotional response that some cannot overcome. It is a dynamic that China does bring upon itself sometimes, but it is also a response ... Full story

  Over the last couple of years, one of the firms that has popped up on the radar of firms whose labor conditions I felt were at some point going to come back to haunt them… and I think we have come a bit closer with the above CCTV report, an 11 and a half minute investigative report (in Chinese) where former employees of the Suzhou based Wintek facility speak about the physical ailments they experienced while working at the facility. It is a report that covers all the bases. Interviews of former employees who detail the illnesses they feel come from working at the plant, people in the hospital who are still recovering, labor bureau officials, the cursory tours, some scientific facts on the chemicals used in the process of cleaning/ finishing the screens, and even a Wintek Manager interview. Full story

Welcome back everyone. Seems like it has been a while since I have posted, it has been a whole 10 days, and I have a few posts in the cage getting warmed up. In the meantime, I thought I would just post a short clip ... Full story

   Tony’s Farm is located in Nanhui district and by car is just over an hour from downtown Puxi . It’s a large scale commercial operation with 280 acres of organic vegetables surrounded by other farm and agricultural land. Unlike some of the other organic farms this is a huge project and they are currently building their own moats, or what are best described as moats around the farm to create islands of vegetable plots. Tony’s Farm also has their own fertilization and manure mixing area, water filtration and holding tanks, ponds and a very impressive clubhouse with full kitchen and dining rooms. I believe I also spotted a wind mill in front of the glass house exhibition areas- in future they will hold tours and classes in organic farming. The water distribution system at Tony’s Farm is a combination of either hanging pipes and a drip system or an imbedded water pipe in the rows of soil mounds, depending on the type of vegetable growing in the tent. The surrounding gutters and drains were very clean and actually dry- no water run off or excess that we saw, and overall it appears to be a very clean and well organized operation. The fertilizers used are their own mixture which consists of mushroom and soy by-product which they get from Shanghai suppliers and manure from animals….there weren’t many animals observed though, except for about 20-30 healthy looking lambs in one pen area. During our tour of the farm and the fertilizer area, we also saw large tanks of bacteria, which they grow/ferment themselves and mix into the fertilizer mixture. No pesticides are allowed of course and they use the same yellow boards to attract and catch the bugs inside the tents. Full story

For those of you who are in the real estate/ building sector, CBRE has recently launched their first edition of Sustainability Asia (right click for PDF download), a publication dedicated to all things green about our built environment. Recent Green Building News, City profiles, Interviews with NGO leaders, and special features, and given ... Full story

   Hi everyone, my name is Kimberly and I have recently been asked to contribute to this website in the area of health, food, nutrition & well-being. I’ve been in China for almost 8 and a half years and have always been conscious of our surroundings in terms or air, water, food but have never really taken the time to explore certain areas for myself. Until now that is. Over the past 10 months I have moved on from just being well through exercise and fitness to seriously trying to be well through what I eat. A  TCM course, food therapy and now Integrative Nutrition has played a huge part in my shift from some packaged foods, eating out and convenience to whole foods, grains and incorporating organic produce as much as possible. With the aim of trying to understand what the term “organic” means in Shanghai and of course being able to answer confidently that organic farms are relatively healthy and the produce better than the local wet markets, I embarked on a few weekend adventures to the organic vegetable farms to find out if and how their farms are clean, chemical free and healthy. Full story

Over the last few weeks, I have been spending a lot of time things about the risks of China.  More specifically the risks that either are not thought through, are thought to be too low to consider, or are believed to be removed by a third party relationship.  It is a situation that, as the interview below will show, is almost systematic in the outsourced manufacturing game, and was highlighted by the recent strike at one of Apple’s Suzhou based suppliers two weeks. It was a strike that particularly frustrated me because Apple has had 3 or 4 other incidents in the past two years, and had in my mind simply not done anything to address the problems in a productive manner.  So, I asked long time friend and labor compliance specialist Pierig Vezin  (Founder and CEO of WethicA) to answer some questions for me based on his experiences in the field What are the biggest compliance issues that exist in china? The more common compliance issue in China is about working time. It is found in almost every factory as the Chinese law is quite strict (40 hours per week), but the reality is that the average working time is among the highest worldwide with around 70 to 75 hours per week. The toughest compliance issue, bounded labour (i.e. young child labour),  is rarely an issue of big factories. Second to the issue of child labor though is that we regularly meet factories that pay workers once a year only, which essentially means that workers can’t resign from their job once they have started. This kind of practice leads workers to be fully dependent on the factory, even in case of major needs to change. Full story

1) Chengdu eventually achieved 315 days of fine air quality in 2009 On December 16th, 2009, the number of days with fair air quality in the downtown Chengdu achieved 15 days earlier the livelihood project goal put forward by the Municipal Government at the beginning of last year to “reach 311 days of fine air quality in the downtown area”. According to the statistics, in 2009 Chengdu has eventually achieved 315 days with fine air quality. 2) Western China’s largest LED production base operates in Pixian On January 16th, the first phase of the “Sichuan Yuanli Photoelectric”, the biggest LED production base in West China, was officially put into operation in the Pixian Modern Industrial Port of Chengdu. It is learnt that Sichuan Yuanli Photoelectric’s LED production base invested with 540 million yuan, was started construction in May, 2009, which is the first LED project put into production in the industrial zone, and is also currently the biggest LED production base in the western region. Full story

A lot of conversation over the last few weeks about what China is for many firms. and what it is not. It is a conversation that, while recently catalyzed by Google’s announcement that they were looking at pulling the plug, is a conversation that I would say is had on a basis that is more frequent than many would like to admit to at time. Typically preceded by an event of some sort, commercial or political, and can be defensive, self defeating, or well analysed depending on the person, and one of the more interesting analysis I have seen lately comes from James McGregor in his recent piece in Time, The China Fix, where he writes the following: Full story

This afternoon I was asked by someone why I am involved in CSR and sustainability.  It is a question that I seem to asked frequently, but one that I am not sure I ever answer with any measure of clarity as I have worked in a very wide range of issues related to these big topics, and my interests for each issue hit me in different spots. But, if there is one common thread that I feel binds each of the issues I work on (see a recent list of 35 projects I am managing through my class at CEIBS), it is that of responsibility… or the lack there of. Full story

This weekend while attending the Three on The Bund Sustainable Business and Society Event I knew that it would be one that I would be interested in as at the top of the ticket you had thee leaders of business management schools talking about sustainability. Moderated by PhD Lu Xiongwen ,Dean of Fudan University’s Business School, the main event was really when Prof. Richard Locke got up to speak. Proceeded by his Dean, Prof Locke’s speech was basically broken out into a few major areas: How Sloan defined sustainability,where “sustainability” is going , and what Sloan was doing to educated its students. Full story

In what may be the biggest sign of the problems that China’s energy infrastructure faces, a recent Alibaba article China’s spreading power shortage by province listed out the provinces that are going through shortages (Henan, Hubei, Chongqing, Zhejiang, Shandong, Shanxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou), and by how much (5-20% short), and it is clear that something is gonna give.  and soon. Go back 2 years when China was hit by a blizzard the knocked out many of China’s North to South rail lines, which resulted in 17 provinces losing power, and fast forward to today (in a time where the export economy is off) … and there are still problems. The recent Jan 6 WSJ article Europe and Asia Struggle With Travel, Power Woes says: China faces potential power shortages as parts of the country struggle with the coldest weather in decades, authorities said. The cold spell is expected to persist through the week, driving up demand for heating and electricity. Full story

Just a notice for readers that in two weeks JUCCCE will be holding its next Idealab, and you will be able to see both myself and Charlie McElwee of China Environmental LAw blog presenting at the event.. as well as participate in a workshop that will look at what will happen with all the materials from the EXPO pavilions. When: January 26, 2010; 2pm to 6pm Where: ... Full story

One of the more interesting discussions I had last week was surrounding how one (a firm or an individual) could position themselves against China in the markets. That, if one believed, China’s economy was in a bubble – and that the bubble was going to pop – how would one position themselves favorably. It was an interesting discussion as the person I was speaking with historically would have loaded their portfolio with short positions on those he thought would be the first to fall. In China this option is largely negated by the fact that you can’t short Chinese stocks in China, and that there aren’t really enough firms listed overseas (or at least not the right ones should the fit hit the shan). Full story

When asking for a white Christmas in China, I guess you gotta be careful.. cause you might just get what you ask for.  It’s like a blizzard outside .. hard to see.. don’t advise anyone to go outside.. yet, as it is smog and not snow, it just isn’t the same. Full story

With the launch of its newest, fastest, and most expensive rail projects, you too can now pass through 20 cities, go over 600 bridges, and pass through 200 tunnels to on your way from Wuhan to Guangzhou to help to create better cooperation between Hubei, Hunan, and Guangdong. … and in about 1/3 of the time of the old snail rail method.... Full story

1. Chengdu’s Metro Line 1 laid completely, to start trial operation next October On November 30th, the municipal government of Chengdu held a press conference, announcing that the track-laying of the Metro Line 1 of Chengdu has been completely finished, and the trial operation is predicted to begin next October. 2. Chengdu expected to become emerging growth pole in Asia Inland in future On December 5th, the third Chengdu Economic Development Forum sponsored by the Chengdu Economic Development Institute was inaugurated, and around the topic of “Chengdu Economy in fifty years”, guests from the National Development and Reform Commission, the China International Economic Exchanger Center, Chengdu-based higher learning institutions and research organizations and relevant governmental departments of the city, have discussed the road of future development of Chengdu. Experts thought that in about 20 years, Chengdu is expected to become an emerging inland growth pole in Asia and an innovative international hub city. Full story

In what might be the regulation that slipped through the traditional media wires, Jay Boyle of EXPAT CFO just forwarded me a potential bombshell of a regulation where China will look to tax all those offshore transactions that investors have come to rely upon when setting up their China vehicles. … and it went into effect January 1, 2008 In short, the circular is meant to specifically address the offshore sales of China based assets, and Deloitte has already put together their thoughts on what this means for investors (download file here): Full story

In what might be the regulation that slipped through the traditional media wires, Jay Boyle of EXPAT CFO just forwarded me a potential bombshell of a regulation where China will look to tax all those offshore transactions that investors have come to rely upon when setting up their China vehicles. … and it went into effect January 1, 2008 Full story

    Just a quick celebratory note to announce that after a nearly 18 months of planning, designing, funding, and pushing.. the first Hands On Chengdu Community Flower project has been delivered to site and installed. Full story

When I visited Shanghai a few weeks ago, for the first time since March 2006, I was not really prepared mentally or physically for what Shanghai had become in its lead up to Expo 2010. My memories of Shanghai in 2006 were mostly filled with images that in one sense contrasted greatly with my Beijing experience in 2004 and in another sense echoed characteristics of living inTokyo's concrete jungle. Thus, I came away from multiple visits to Shanghai at that time with a relatively positive impression. Enter November 2009. What I witnessed last month was a city consumed by preparations for Expo 2010, whether you wanted to be or not. Almost every construction site was covered in Expo 2010 signs, either because the site really was being built or remodeled for the Expo or because it provided great PR cover for construction not entirely related but happening in parallel with everything else. This included the new building going up close to the apartment of my parents-in-law. Since my father-in-law is part of the administration preparing for Expo 2010, I sensed from him a particular determination and faith that all of the construction, dust and resulting chaos throughout the city would be justified once everything completed by the end of March target and once Expo 2010 kicked off shortly thereafter. Going into the heart of the city each day to brave the hustle and bustle revealed to me the determination of Shanghai to have its moment in the spotlight following the Beijing Olympics. Full story

One of the most interesting things about living in China is the phenomenon where something in the expat community happens that lights off a series of emails and text messages meant to unite everyone to either do something … or to not do something. In the case of the email below, it is the later, and it is simply titled: attacked at the fabric market *Physically Assaulted at Booth 272 * I went to booth 272, “Famous Costume Store”, at the South Bund Soft-Spinning Material Market on LuJiaBang Road to have a costume made. When the costume was ready for pick-up, I gave the woman the slip of paper/receipt and she gave me the costume to try on. After trying it on, I changed back into my clothes, placed the remaining money I owed on the counter, picked up the slip of paper and the costume in the bag and proceeded to leave. Full story

One of the things that fascinated me most about this city was its express delivery network, a service that I had used quite often to send letters/ packages across town, but paid little attention to as the people behind it seem quite decentralized and rarely cared to say anymore more than “sign here”. Then, a couple years while wondering why so many people seemed to be hanging out near the turnstiles of the metro station, I realized something. That, in addition to handling millions of riders a day, the Shanghai metro system was in fact the backbone for moving Shanghai’s express packages around, and that the people hanging out by the turnstiles were in fact collecting and distributing packages and letters that were moving through the system. Over time, as my eyes adjusted and my time on the metro increased, I began to see that there were more actors in play.  You had runners who would move the packages from the originating office to the metro, to dedicated metro runner who did not more than run packages from the turnstiles to the the train carriages, and then the person who rode the metro all day long making the hand off.    It was a hive of activity that was low costs, and had the potential to move packages across the country! Full story

When Walmart called 1000 CEOs to Beijing for a meeting last year, it was an event that many covered as being a turning point in sustainability. With China still working through the “Made in China” label, and the world entered the recession, Wal-Mart’s announcement that it was going to use its size to ... Full story

Last month as part of some advisory work, I was asked to speak to a panel of executives from an American firm who were on their exploratory trip to China. Typical to many speeches, I was asked to provide my thoughts on what made companies successful in China, and what I thought were likely to be the guideposts that they should keep in mind as they moved forward Keeping in mind that the audience I was speaking in front of was representing one of the more well known American brands, and that they were ONLY on their exploratory trip, I spent some time running through old posts and thinking of “key characteristics”. It was a process that in many ways, like blogging, forced me to sit down and distill the millions of data points that I have been exposed to.. which in itself was somewhat therapeutic. … and here is some of what I told them. Full story

Given it was less than 2 weeks ago that Obama, and his full team, were in China discussing the value of the RMB with senior officials, this morning’s WSJ headline China Talks With the EU About Yuan caught my eye. Equally interesting is that while US exports have benefitted from the current situation, the EU has not.  That as the dollar has sunk, the Euro “peg” to the RMB has gone the wrong way for most of the EU making its goods and services more expensive. European finance officials relayed to China’s premier and central-bank governor frustration over the Chinese currency’s rigid exchange rate at talks on Sunday, but said they didn’t expect a change in policy soon. further The yuan has emerged as the focus of wider frustrations roiling Europe’s relations with China. There are political concerns that the euro’s strength against the yuan is undermining economic recovery in the euro area, where unemployment remains stubbornly high, and that Beijing’s exchange-rate policies mean Europe isn’t benefiting fully from China’s surging growth. Ahead of the Copenhagen climate-change summit next month, Europe is challenging China’s argument that as a developing country it isn’t able to cap its output of global greenhouse gases. “I certainly asked the Chinese and all our partners to explore the outer limits of their positions,” said European Commission President José Manuel Barroso. (All Roads comment – what does this have to do with currency discussions?) The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China warned last week that China’s massive economic-stimulus program risked unleashing a new wave of industrial exports and sparking trade conflicts. Full story

  Following the previous two posts on how I would make improvements to the metro line, Part 1 and Part 2 here, I have another easy one that came to me while I was in the station looking for a map that would effectively plot where I needed to go. I was on the way ... Full story

It’s that great time of the month again: Green Drinks! 每个月最让您愉悦的集会: “GREEN DRINKS”! Green Drinks will be June 18th from 6-8pm at Racks M.D.B (5/Floord Xintiandi Mall, 123 Xingye Lu, near Madang Lu). Please mark your calendars and feel free to invite others to the event. Remember, 2-for-1 drinks and food and ... Full story

A friend from the Qinghai organization Friendship Charity Association has sent me a proposal to bring solar electricty to 400 people in Qinghai. PROJECT PURPOSE/GOAL This Solar electricity generating panel project would provide a reliable source of electricity for Tsanak Tibetan villagers and solve problems as follows: Local villagers, especially the local women and girls, have to complete loads of daily chores, such as collecting fuel from the grasslands, which is five to six kilometers away from the village. This fuel is used as the source of light at night as well as for cooking. Also, they take trips to the local town 11 km away to buy oil and lamps for their night lighting. It is traditionally women’s responsibility to collect fuel and buy lamps to light their tents. Consequently, a large proportion of their energy and time were occupied by these tasks. For years, the villagers have lived in their smoky houses and tents. As a result, their health deteriorates with eye problems and respiratory problems. In addition, cleaning smoke stained walls is also a headache for the household The local students have difficulty in doing their homework at night. During the day, the students need to help their parents with chores, often leaving little time for studying. Consequently, local children tend to perform poorly at school. The villagers take large sacks to collect fuel. Dragging these sacks for five or six kilometers damages the grassland. It is very difficult to travel to obtain fuel during snowy winters and rainy summers. Villagers lack electricity and therefore cannot benefit from access to information channels like radio. Full story

One of the interesting phenomenon over the last 18 months, as the Cleantech market reached its bubble, was how important it was to have a “China play”. There was a lot of coverage on the issues, a lot of announcements by corporations/ funds looking to capture the market, but there has yet to any real penetration of the market.  That while many media reports tout the fact that there is a Dongtan ecotown project, and debate its future, few have understood that in the meantime 10,000s of buildings have been built using the same old standards.. and that even if all 30 ecotowns were successful,the face is that very little of these ecotowns will penetrate the market in a way that will influence the way the next 5 million buildings are built. It is a constant question on my mind, and the minds of some friends that I have met with recently, and do I wanted to devoted a little time to this issue of how can firms really crack the China market. The Problem: Hitting the Brick Wall How to bring a product to market that will not just succeed in the traditional sense of bringing in a profit for that company in particular, but will penetrate the wider market and influence the wider market. Full story

It is not often that I promote the purchase of a product, or the following of a single brand.  I am more of a “use it until it dies” kind of person, however there are times when execptions must be made and recognition given. In this case ... Full story

Seriously.  What is the use of this plastic bags?  It is clearly not strong enough to support the weight should I chose to use the bag as a … bag, and it is clearly not meant to act as a measure of protection. Is this the result of a food safety law, or is it just another wasted addition ... Full story

In what I belive is one of the first steps in teh right direction to relieving the pressure of China’s water table, reservoirs, and Hebei province itself, officials in Beijing are now looking to increase the price of water. According to the China.org report Beijing looks to dampen demand for scarce water, the primary catalyst is a delay in the south to north diversion project (a project readers know I am skeptical of): “The current prices are not sustainable for a water-scarce city like Beijing,” said Professor Wang Dangxian, a researcher with the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research. As a short-term fix, Beijing brought in around 225 million tons of clean water from Hebei province before the Beijing Olympic Games last year. Full story

Last month, at Australia National University, members of China’s and Australia’s scientific community came together to discuss climate change: Australia is one of the largest per capita annual emitters.  Our respective economies are inter-dependent and GHG intensive.  The Australia China Climate Change Forum, to be held on Wednesday 15 April 2009 at The Australian National University, will stimulate ... Full story

As readers know, one of the key tenants/ pillars of CGC is that athere is more to sustainability than solar panels and hybrids.  It is not that I have anything against them.  It is just that I often feel that the debates of how to be more sustainable are too driven by the need to “find solutions” and “invest in technologies”, and fail to address the waste (physical and philisophical) that is so prevalent the current system. For me this is worrying as the average Joe’s (Zhou’s in China) fail to connect the dots between their daily lives, and waste. Full story

Here is a fun one for you. A guide to building your own yurt, or as they are known in Mongolia. the Ger: The oldest complete yurt yet discovered was in a 13th century grave in the Khentei Mountains of Mongolia. Discoveries at Pazaryk, Southern Siberia indicate that the technology to make yurts was in use during the ... Full story

Having just finished an article on the need to develop industrial systems that better capture and reuse waste, I found the follow clip interesting. In the article Chinese Vice Premier says recycling can help boost economic growth, Vice Premier Li Keqiang says: Promoting recycling would not only improve the use of resources and protect the environment, it would also help companies become more profitable, ... Full story

Last night, at 8:30 while walking down the street, we noticed that the lights along Nanjing Road had gone out.  We had just finished our dinner, and it was good to see that the normally bright lights of Plaza 66 were off. There are a few articles covering the event, and I am pleasantly surprised with the results that ... Full story

While the Rainbow warriors may be known around the world for the way that they create awareness on environmental issues, in China they have made a name for themselves as providers of amazing research. To highlight some of their recent pieces, they have released a newsletter containing descriptions and links to 4 new pieces. Ignoring the Environment Is Not a Viable ... Full story

In what may sound like a bit of propaganda, Fuji Xerox’s Suzhou facility has just received ISO9001, ISO14001 and OHSAS18001 Certifications for their plant which was designed for the three zeros: Fuji Xerox Eco-Manufacturing (Suzhou) constructed an integrated recycling system in China and commenced operation in January 2008 with the aim of achieving “zero landfill,” “no pollution” and “no illegal disposal.” It is a fantastic example of a facility whose very design will result in not only a reduced direct footprint, but will help to drastically improve the legacy footprint of many Fuji products: Fuji Xerox Eco-Manufacturing (Suzhou) completely disassembles and recycles used products including copy/multifunction devices and cartridges recovered from all over China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) by Fuji Xerox (China) Ltd., Fuji Xerox’s sales company in China. The recycling site commenced operation in January 2008, has the capacity to disassemble and recycle 15,000 devices and 500,000 cartridges per year, and aims to achieve recycling rates of more than 96 percent for devices and 99 percent for cartridges by the end of March 2009. Full story