China Business Blog
Putting China Business News in Context. From China Business Services.



Briefly…Top Ten Tweets (From Unreliable Figures, Non-Performing Loans & Competition, To Challenges, Consumers & Brands) (Sep 1)
This week’s revirew of last week’s news follows below: The latest estimate of GDP growth for 2010 comes from the Chinese economist at the World Bank, and suggests 10% – inline with the estimate from Development Research Center of the State Council a couple of weeks ago. Inflation, as then, remains a worry. China’s overseas investment continues to heat up, with US$100 billion estimated by 2013, according to the China Industrial Overseas Development and Planning Association. People’s Daily notes that “In the first half of 2010, China’s direct investment in the United States reached 605 million U.S. dollars, 3.6 times the same period of 2009, and China’s direct investments towards ASEAN reached more than 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of nearly 126 percent compared with 2009…In addition, China’s direct investment in the European Union reached 406 million U.S. dollars, an increase of more than 107 percent compared with 2009” While economic and ODI growth has been positive,...


Briefly…Top Ten Tweets (From Education, Protectionism & Investment To Strategic Search, Electric SOEs & A Megacity) (Aug 27)
Welcome to our weekly pick of (last week’s) news from our ChinaBlogTweets Twitter feed. This week’s post is another lighter, holiday version. Full service (and commentary will follow again next week). Education: Fraud, ethics etc RT @chinahearsay: Guardian: Understanding China’s academic woes – Steven Kuo http://is.gd/evOG8
Protectionism: Huawei & ZTE (also see earlier tweet re US checks) RT @chinaimport: India Allows…Chinese Telecom Gear – WSJ http://ff.im/-prfpa (See also: Again… RT @NiuB: Senators Demand Huawei Cyberespionage Answers (Forbes): http://bit.ly/9ZleFJ)
ODI RT @ChinaDailyUSA: Rewards for overseas investments http://bit.ly/d4ktOu (See also: ODI politics RT @WSJChina: Anshan’s U.S. Investment Is in Doubt http://on.wsj.com/9h6rpQ)
A searching question RT @raykwong: Is Search Now A Strategic Industry in China? (TechCrunch) http://twurl.nl/injr0q (See also: RT @weishutong: #Chinese government approved #IPO of #Xinhua.net, one of 10 #news websites to go public http:/...


China The Biggest: IPO (Aug 27)
We already know that China is the largest IPO market but, after the Agricultural Bank of China slipped on its “greenshoe”, China has now also produced the largest IPO ever (again). Reuters reports: “Agricultural Bank of China’s (AgBank) (1288.HK)(601288.SS) initial public offering hit a record $22.1 billion on Friday, after it exercised an over-allotment option in full…AgBank’s IPO thereby toppled fellow Chinese lender Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s (ICBC) (1398.HK)(601398.SS) $21.9 billion offering in 2006 to become the world’s biggest.”. Perhaps the bank (and its advisors) will celebrate over a few cold beers – as, you guessed it, China is now the biggest beer market… From The Economist (via @Chinahearsay): “In the space of a couple of decades the country has gone from barely touching a drop to become the world’s biggest beer market, a considerable distance ahead of America. And beer drinking in China is growing fast, by nearly 10% a year according to Credit ...


Briefly…Top Ten Tweets (From Shadow Income, Consumer Confidence & Labour Costs, To New Energy, State Competition & Certification) (Aug 19)
Welcome to our weekly pick of the news from our ChinaBlogTweets Twitter feed. This week’s post is a lighter, holiday version (next week too). Full service (and commentary will follow again thereafter). Useful set of 2010 stats: China Economy by Numbers – July http://goo.gl/bXZJ (China Daily) (see also: RT @chinaeconreview: China posts $28.73b trade surplus in July http://dlvr.it/3bq5j)
RT @BullishChina: State Researcher Sees China Economy Growing 10% to 11%, Bloomberg http://sns.ly/dGY47 (see also: Est 3.4% RT @ChinaRealTime: Economists expect China inflation picked up in July. http://tinyurl.com/26r4s4j
@caixinmediafeed: Caixin: China’s shadow income is growing faster than GDP. Here is why and how http://tinyurl.com/27pbqvk (see also: sinocism China’s Rich Have $1.1 Trillion in Hidden Income, Study Finds – Bloomberg http://bit.ly/aODRTY full report here http://bit.ly/afEgpl)
Urban-Rural divide RT @chinaeconreview: Consumer confidence rises in 2Q on rural optimism http://dlvr.i...


Profiles: Li, Li & van der Chijs (Geely, Baidu, & Tudou) (Aug 19)
Three personal profiles, relating to three interesting businesses, caught our attention last week, and they are presented via the links below. Li Shufu: Geely Chairman
Profile RT @eobserver: Reading: The Economist’s Face value: Li Shufu – China’s lucky man bags Volvo – http://bit.ly/9Tgdj4 Robin Li: Baidu CEO
RT @niubi: Meet Baidu CEO Robin Li. @ChristinaLarson FP Passport http://bit.ly/aVLw0Q @kaiserkuo underpaid $bidu Marc van der Chijs: Tudou Co-founder / Director
@ThatsShanghai Who made Tudou (Chinese YouTube)? The ultimate expat success story: http://bit.ly/tudouguy We’ll be keeping an eye out for key people in China’s business world, so stay tuned.


Briefly…Top Ten Tweets (From Slowing Growth, Fishy Stats & Industry Clusters, To M&A, Alignment & Secret Risks) (Aug 11)
China’s growth seems set to continue its managed slow-down – and a recent estimate from the State Information Centre, reported in China Economic Review, puts the Q3 GDP figure at 9.3% year-on-year (compared to 10.3% in Q2 and 11.9% in Q1. However, for all the estimates and statistics, an open mind is still required. As Global Times reported “Something is fishy in the provinces” – where GDP rates run ahead of the national figure. All that growth has been fuel for China bears fearing a bubble. So it was interesting to see Standard Chartered’s research in the Wall Street Journal’s blog, suggesting that the real estate developers in tier 2 and 3 cities remain relatively bullish, despite Beijing’s cooling measures and, “if sales and construction activity holds up in most Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, then the economy will not tank”. As usual, you have to get into the detail, and not make too many assumptions, based on too few data points in too few cities (and with too much reliance on b...


Briefly…Top Ten Tweets (From Rankings, Relocations & Consumption To FDI, Exports & Gifts) (Aug 4)
Last week’s news included the a warning that while policy-induced slowing of the economy continues (not a bad thing), some risks remain. In Caixin, Yi Gang, a deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China (and leader of SAFE) said that “the probability [of a double dip] is small. Nevertheless, he said that the growth rate will inevitably slow down, given the current size of China’s economy as well as environmental restraints”. Some measures, however have been growing – as yet more statistics have been revised. The China Real Time Report notes that the “National Bureau of Statistics’ on-the-ground efforts discovered additional household spending equivalent to about 0.8% of annual gross domestic product over the years 2004 to 2008… In 2008, for instance, household expenditure was revised up to 11.06 trillion yuan, an increase of 220.23 billion yuan or about $29 billion”. Regional GDP figures have also been called into question. Not for the first time. As ever, take statistics with ...


Briefly…Top Ten Tweets (From Goldilocks, Growth & Economic Crimes, To Oil Spills, Espionage & SMEs) (Jul 27)
The economic debate on growth and inflation continues to rage, and was put nicely in the FT – drawing on an old Standard Chartered report it wondered whether the economy could be served up at just the right temperature, or whether the bears (exemplified by Andy Xie) would be right about inflation risks. For the moment it seems the bears are under control, and Morgan Stanley has revised its 2010 (CPI) inflation and GDP estimates to 2.8% (from 3.2%), and 10% (from 11%) respectively. China’s continued growth remains an opportunity for international business but, as we have noted in previous posts, many have become frustrated with what is perceived to be a more challenging business environment (“indigenous innovation”, state secrets etc.). While difficulties remain, it should be remembered that China cannot be seen in black and white – and some companies are doing very well. The reality is that structure, sector and location play an important part in commercial success. As the FT not...


Enjoy (Daily Deals) (Jul 27)
Regular readers may recall our involvement with (and interest in) Enjoy Shanghai (also on Twitter). We are excited to announce the launch of a new daily deal service for group purchases. Check out EnjoyMeitain which offers, each day, a “fantastic deal on something cool to do in Shanghai. From dining and nightlife, spas, health and beauty services, sports, arts and cultural activities, we’ve got something for everyone. Enjoy!


China Business News(letter, Blog & Tweets) (Jul 27)
There is little time available for most people to prioritise and process the torrent of information that constantly flows out of China. But, with the rapid pace of change, executives and investors in China cannot afford to fall behind the times, or to miss emerging trends, opportunities or risks. As a result we have put 20 years of China-watching and practical experience to work, and have structured our public news feeds for your convenience: Quarterly newsletter: Providing a brief summary of key issues, by email, every quarter, this is the peak of our information pyramid…Did you miss our Q2 2010 newsletter? See the latest on stats, issues & services online: http://ht.ly/2cotH. Register here for future editions: http://ht.ly/2cwKk
China Business Blog: “Putting China Business News In Context”. That is this! We have an extensive archive of material containing our views on key China business issues, as well as a regular weekly review in our “Briefly….” series of posts. The blog ha...