China Fines 6 Milk Suppliers in Price-Fixing Probe

New York Times
 China announced Wednesday it has fined six milk suppliers, including Mead Johnson and New Zealand’s Fonterra, a total of $108 million for price-fixing after an investigation that shook the country’s fast-growing dairy market.

The Changing State of Smartphone Competition in China

Bill Bishop
Deal Book
Xiaomi has released a new Android phone so agressively priced, it could cause damage to competitors and other component suppliers. Consequently, Apple’s iPhone is no longer the most sought out phone in the country. 

China Box-Office Standoff: Cabinet to Discuss Tax Issue

Clifford Coonan
Hollywood Reporter
China’s State Council, or cabinet, will discuss ways to resolve a tax standoff that has delayed box-office payments to Hollywood for months and jangled the nerves of overseas producers keen to access the world’s second-biggest film territory.&...

Caixin Media

08.05.13

County in Shaanxi in a Deep Hole as Mining Bubble Pops

A financial crisis triggered by falling coal prices is brewing in Shenmu County, in the northwestern province of Shaanxi.Construction projects have been halted, universal health care has run into payment problems and many private bankers have...

“‘Homeless for a Month’: U.S. Interns in China Learn to Reset Expectations

Rob Schmitz
Marketplace
Rowland Madson traveled 10,000 miles around the planet so that he could greet visitors at the front gate of a Chinese amusement park. His job was to wear a candy cane striped suit and collect entrance tickets from Chinese tourists.

The Price of ‘Made in China’

Peter Navarro
New York Times
The $34 milllion in steel production and fabriation needed to refurbish North America’s longest suspension bridge, the Verrazano-which connects Brooklyn and Staten Island has been outsourced to China.

China Bans Milk Powder of Two South Pacific Nations

Reuters
Nearly 90 percent of China’s $1.9 billion in milk powder imports last year originated in New Zealand. Economists said a prolonged ban could produce a shortage of dairy products in China, including foreign-branded infant formula.

Chinese Court Rules Against J&J in Monopoly Suit

Joe McDonald
Associated Press
Health care giant Johnson & Johnson has become the latest global company accused of misconduct in China after a court ordered it to pay damages to a distributor in a lawsuit brought under an anti-monopoly law.

Now Playing: China’s Booming Movie Market

Wei Gu
Wall Street Journal
In China, where pirated movies can be bought for less than $1, people are flocking to theaters, a sign of how Chinese consumers are willing to spend more on entertainment.

Move Over Bordeaux: French Premium Winemakers Eye China Vintage

Terril Yue Jones
Reuters
In a country where cheap plonk and overpriced mediocre wines still define the domestic industry, the French are partnering with Chinese investors to produce super-premium wines for increasingly discerning drinkers at the market’s top end.

Japan Looking for Ways to Restart Top-Level Meetings with China

Asahi Shimbun
Japan and China have not held high-level meetings since the Japanese government placed the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea under national ownership in September 2012.

Huayi's Chairman Joins Ranks Of China Movie Billionaires; Stock Climbs To Record

Russell Flannery
Forbes
Huayi’s shares have climbed by more than 160% in the past year amid rising prospects for home-grown entertainment industry content in China.  They gained 5.5% today at close at an all-time high of 42.2 yuan.

Books

07.31.13

Pacific Crossing

Elizabeth Sinn
During the nineteenth century, tens of thousands of Chinese men and women crossed the Pacific to work, trade, and settle in California. Drawn by the gold rush, they brought with them skills and goods and a view of the world that, though still Chinese, was transformed by their long journeys back and forth. They in turn transformed Hong Kong, their main point of embarkation, from a struggling, infant colony into a prosperous, international port and the cultural center of a far-ranging Chinese diaspora.Making use of extensive research in archives around the world, Pacific Crossing charts the rise of Chinese Gold Mountain firms engaged in all kinds of trans-Pacific trade, especially the lucrative export of prepared opium and other luxury goods. Challenging the traditional view that this migration was primarily a “coolie trade,” Elizabeth Sinn uncovers leadership and agency among the many Chinese who made the crossing. In presenting Hong Kong as an “in-between place” of repeated journeys and continuous movement, Sinn also offers a fresh view of the British colony and a new paradigm for migration studies.   —Hong Kong University Press {chop}

Conversation

07.30.13

Is Business in China Getting Riskier, Or Are Multinationals Taking More Risks?

Arthur R. Kroeber, David Schlesinger & more
Arthur Kroeber:The environment for foreign companies in China has been getting steadily tougher since 2006, when the nation came to the end of a five-year schedule of market-opening measures it pledged as the price of admission to the World Trade...

Africa Wants Jobs From China

Reuters
It is true China’s boom has brought many benefits to Africa. But in many countries, China’s demand for ore, timber and oil is forcing African states to specialise at the bottom of the value chain in areas with low productivity gains.&...

Conversation

07.23.13

What Would a Hard Landing in China Mean for the World?

Barry Naughton, James McGregor & more
Barry Naughton:Paul Krugman in a recent post (“How Much Should We Worry About a China Shock?” The New York Times, July 20, 2013) tells us NOT to worry about the impact of a slowing China on global exports, but to be worried, very worried about the...

Drug Research in China Falls Under a Cloud

Katie Thomas
New York Times
A leaked document related to the recent G.S.K. scandal underscores the problems that can arise when major drug companies export their scientific development to emerging markets like China. 

Bruno Wu, Former Bertelsmann CEO Form China Media Venture

Hollywood Reporter
Thomas Middelhoff and the Chinese mogul launch BT Capital, a “China-originated global media and alternative investment group” that will pool their entertainment assets with revenue of $1 billion-$2 billion.

Bruno Wu, Former Bertelsmann CEO Form China Media Venture

Hollywood Reporter
Chinese media tycoon Bruno Wu is partnering with former Bertelsmann and Arcandor chief executive, Thomas Middelhoff to form a China-focused media and investment joint venture. 

Caixin Media

07.22.13

Liberal Urge Gaining Support for Bank Policy

The orchestra is tuning up for an interest rate liberalization initiative that financial analysts are calling music to their ears.Recent high-level comments and policy statements heard in Beijing have clearly sounded a central government call for...

Billionaire Jack Ma Makes About-Face, Praises Chinese Government

Oiwan Lam
Global Voices
Prominent Chinese Internet entrepreneur Jack Ma has in the eyes of some shattered his independent image during a recent newspaper interview in which he applauded China for its online censorship and brutal, strong-arm tactics. 

China Relaxes Some Film Censorship Requirements

Hollywood Reporter
The media regulator will now only require film summaries to be submitted for censorship approval before production, rather than full scripts, for select film categories.     

Huge Chinese Theme-Park Project Aims to be the ‘Orlando of China’

Brady MacDonald
Los Angeles Times
The $2-billion marine-based Chimelong Ocean Kingdom theme park and resort on Hengqin Island is to be connected by bridge to Macau and by ferry to Hong Kong.  

China Bars GlaxoSmithKline Executive From Leaving During a Bribery Inquiry

David Barboza
New York Times
The effort to restrict Steve Nechelput’s travel came as the government ramped up an unusually bold anti-corruption campaign against GlaxoSmithKline, which is one of the world’s biggest drug makers. 

Hershey Takes a Bite Out of China’s Huge Candy Market

CBS News
Hershey attempts to to break into China’s candy market by figuring out what qualities the Chinese like in their sweets. Hershey’s research shows the Chinese prefer salty flavors, nuts and chocolate that is not as sweet as what is sold in...

China Pushes Europe to Lower Hurdles to Solar Deal

Ethan Bilby
Reuters
A European Commission document dated July 12 said China wants any solar agreement to expire by the end of 2014, that the so-called certain parts of the panels should be excluded from tariffs and that any cap on Chinese exports should be...

For Global Drug Manufacturers, China Becomes a Perilous Market

Katie Thomas
New York Times
Selling pharmaceuticals and other health care products in China is increasingly fraught with peril. China is accusing GlaxoSmithKline of funnelling payments through travel agents to doctors, hospitals and government officials to bolster...

Viewpoint

07.16.13

CFIUS and the U.S. Senate’s Anti-China Bug

Samuel Kleiner
Last week, senators from both parties finally came together for a common objective: stopping the $4.7 billion sale of America’s largest pork producer to China. Their reason? The sale of Smithfield Farms to a Chinese company, Shuanghui, could pose a...

Conversation

07.16.13

What’s the Senate’s Beef with China’s Play for American Pork?

Arthur R. Kroeber, Steve Dickinson & more
Last week the U.S. Senate held hearings to question the CEO of meat-producer Smithfield Farms, about the proposed $4.7 billion sale of the Virginia-based company to Shuanghui International, China’s largest pork producer. The sale is under review by...

Google’s Greater China President Steps Down

Paul Carsten
Reuters
Google Inc. said on Monday that its vice-president and Greater China president, Liu Yun, has stepped down to be replaced by Scott Beaumont, who currently runs the company’s partnerships business in Europe.&...

Training Future Macau Casino Bosses

Calvin Yang
New York Times
Macau opened its doors to major U.S. investors like Sands and Wynn Resorts when it liberalized its casino industry in 2002. It now has at least 35 casinos employing more than 81,000 staff, mostly expatriates.  

Caixin Media

07.16.13

As Red Cross Probe Stumbles, Critics See Red

Two box lunches—and nothing more. Yuan Yue says that’s what the Red Cross Society of China has frugally handed out so far to each member of a special committee assigned to investigate the charity group’s finances.But critics of the special board...

Media

07.15.13

A Rite of Passage to Nowhere

Ying Zhu & Frances Hisgen
Tiny Times, a Chinese feature film set in contemporary Shanghai, made headline news on its opening day in late June by knocking the Hollywood blockbuster Man of Steel from its perch atop the domestic box-office and breaking the opening-day record...

China’s Blackout of U.S. Media Can No Longer Be Ignored

Jim Sciutto
Washington Post
Web censorship is not just an inconvenience but also a reminder that many leading U.S. media and technology companies are excluded, or largely excluded, from one of the world’s largest markets and this country’s largest trading partner. ...

China Likely to Lift Foreign Game Console Ban

George Chen
South China Morning Post
China is expected to soon end a 13-year ban on the sale of gaming consoles with only one key condition: foreign firms like Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft must make their products in Shanghai’s new free trade zone. 

CSRC Opens Chinese Audit Papers to the U.S. for 1st Time

Caijing
The China Securities Regulatory Commission has finished arrangements of auditing working papers of a Chinese company, and is ready to transfer them to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the state-run Shanghai Securities News reported on...

Economists See Further Slowdown in China

Richard Silk
Wall Street Journal
China’s continued slowdown is bad news for the global economy, as the U.S. recovery remains slow and the euro zone is mired in recession. At the same time, with export sales looking weak, Chinese manufacturers have little reason to invest in new...

Reports

07.09.13

Prospects for U.S.-China Trade in Meat Products and Associated Investment Opportunities

Dermot Hayes
Paulson Institute
The rapid growth rate in per capita disposable income in China, coupled with a continued migration of hundreds of millions of new consumers to urban areas, has created challenges for the Chinese crop and livestock sectors. Faced with an increase in...

Caixin Media

07.08.13

Central Bank Raises the Red Flag over P2P Lending Risks

A recent report by the central bank about peer-to-peer (P2P) lending websites in China has shed light on some severe problems in the business for which there is, as yet, little regulation.The original idea for P2P lending websites was that they were...

Ping An of China Said to Buy Lloyds of London Building

Bonnie Cao
Bloomberg
 Ping An Insurance Group Co., China’s second-largest insurer, agreed to buy the Lloyd’s of London building from a Commerz Real AG-managed fund, two people with knowledge of the transaction said.

China Second Quarter GDP to Test Reformers’ Stomach for Slower Growth

Langi Chiang and Koh Gui Qing
Reuters
China's resolve to revamp its economy for the long-term good will be tested this month when a slew of data show growth is grinding towards a 23-year low, with no recovery in sight.

Environment

07.03.13

Understanding China’s Domestic Agenda Can End U.N. Climate Gridlock

from chinadialogue
Li Shuo of Greenpeace China has recently argued on chinadialogue that U.N. climate talks can drive more ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions in China, the world’s largest emitter. This optimism goes against much of the conventional wisdom...

What Will Get Chinese People to Sip Bubbly?

Gwynn Guilford
Quartz
Though China is the world’s fifth-largest wine market, people just don’t go for bubbly that much. Moët Hennessy is trying to alter that trend by opening a new French chateau in poor and predominantly Muslim Ningxia. 

Caixin Media

07.01.13

Renewed Growth on the New Third Board

The State Council announced on June 19 that it would expand the New Third Board, an over-the-counter (OTC) market for non-listed companies’ shares, to include all small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) nationwide.One of the experts estimated the...

Media

06.27.13

Jackie Chan—The Young Master Comes of Age

Jaime Wolf
Once in a while, if you’re lucky, and paying the right kind of attention, events align to give you a clear view of the future. In 1995, I was in Los Angeles staying with a friend who produced independent films and had the trade magazines Variety and...

Major Airlines' Headphones Linked to Chinese Prison Labor

Erik Crouch
Shanghaiist
Qantas, British Airways, and Emirates have allegedly been sourcing their in-flight headphones from a Guangdong prison, according to the testimony of two recently released inmates.

Caixin Media

06.25.13

Legal, Economic Reforms Important At Coming Party Session

China’s blueprint for economic reform is finally taking shape. The government has appointed a taskforce to draft the plans, ahead of the third plenary meeting of the 18th Central Committee. With the country’s economy at the crossroads, these plans...

Conversation

06.21.13

How Should the World Prepare for a Slower China?

Arthur R. Kroeber & Patrick Chovanec
Get Ready for a Slower ChinaThe recent gyrations on the Chinese interbank market underscore that the chief risk to global growth now comes from China. Make no mistake: credit policy will tighten substantially in the coming months, as the government...

Markets Slump Over Fed Exit Plan and China Credit Squeeze

David Jolly
New York Times
Just a day after the Federal Reserve hinted that it could soon begin winding down its bond-purchasing program, investors were unnerved by reports that Chinese banks had become reluctant to lend to one another, causing interest rates in the...

A Chinese Acquirer in a Poke

Joseph Sternberg
Wall Street Journal
After weeks of speculation about whether Washington politicians would oppose the acquisition by a Chinese company of America's largest pork producer, a challenge to the deal is emerging from another quarter—the market.

Rupert Murdoch's Split: Divorcing Wendi, China Or Both?

Doug Young
Forbes
News Corp’s recent China pullback could be partly linked to Rupert Murdoch’s divorce, with few major new investments likely in the next 2 years.

What Paintbrush Makers Know About How to Beat China

Adam Davidson
New York Times
Chinese manufacturers long ago wreaked havoc on the U.S. textile, apparel, toy and electronics industries, but the disruption came slowly to the brush business. Companies have employed two strategies to stave off Chinese competition: 1)...

Caixin Media

06.18.13

Will Bond Market Tidying Trigger Clean Sweep?

China’s financial regulators are rewriting rules for the interbank bond market after criminal investigations early this year led to the arrests of several well-known bond traders and exposed serious flaws in the market’s supervision system.The...

Conversation

06.13.13

Who’d You Rather Be Watched By: China or the U.S.?

Tai Ming Cheung, Andrew J. Nathan & more
Reports of U.S. gathering data on emails and phone calls have stoked fears of an over-reaching government spying on its citizens. Chinese artist Ai Weiwei worries that China will use the U.S. as an example to bolster its argument for surveillance on...

International Revenue for Chinese Films Fell by Half in 2012

Clarence Tsui
Hollywood Reporter
Titled “Silver Paper: Report on International Spread of Chinese Movies 2012,” the survey found that only 75 domestic productions were sold overseas last year, generating rights fees and ticket sales of $172.8 million (1.06 billion yuan). ...

‘Monsters University’ to Open Shanghai Festival

Clarence Tsui
Hollywood Reporter
Monsters University will make its bow in China as the opening film of the Shanghai International Film Festival. The premiere adds to Pixar’s major publicity blitz in pushing Monsters University in China.&nbsp...

An Empire Built By Aping Apple

David Barboza
New York Times
In a country where products like iPhones are made but rarely invented, Lei Jun — entrepreneur, billionaire and professed Jobs acolyte — is positioning himself and his company ‘Xiaomi’ as figurative heirs of Mr. Jobs. 

Features

06.06.13

Bad Medicine

Kathleen McLaughlin
In 1967, as the United States sank into war in the jungles of Vietnam and China descended into the cataclysm of the Cultural Revolution, Chinese soldiers secretly fighting alongside the North Vietnamese also battled swarms of malarial mosquitoes...

China’s Economic Empire

Heriberto Araujo and Juan Pablo Cardenal
New York Times
 Beijing’s essentially unlimited financial resources allow the country to be a force in both the developed and developing world, one that threatens to obliterate the competitive edge of Western firms and kill jobs in Europe and America...