China’s retailers on Thanksgiving: thank you very much!
As Americans tuck into their Thanksgiving dinners, Chinese internet users are also sending messages of gratitude online.
Thanksgiving was listed on Thursday as the hottest search word on Sina Weibo, the Chinese microblogging platform, which garnered over 22m posts under a theme to encourage bloggers to say “Xie Xie”. Continue reading »
China: the Singles Day online boom
The once-a-year Singles Day in China is becoming a big event for both online shoppers and retailers, with some of the bigger sites such as those run by Alibaba offering 50 per cent off and seeing growth in sales explode.
The alternative to Valentine’s Day, which was started among Chinese college students and held on November 11 (as a numerical pun of four single digits) has now become mainstream – and very big. It is also causing something of a challenge for couriers and delivery companies in the mad rush. Continue reading »
US election view [1]: China – a discredited “game of money”
As America votes, Chinese official media and the country’s netizens have offered a wide range of views on events across the Pacific, but one aspect keeps cropping up – the money. Continue reading »
Corporate watch: around the world in a Chinese bus
In many Asian countries people have been getting around for years on second- or third-hand Japanese and South Korean buses.
But take a road trip in some of those countries today, and there’s an increasingly good chance you’ll be sitting in a brand new Chinese vehicle made by Zhengzhou Yutong. Continue reading »
China: service tax reforms to spread, as other jurisidictions follow Shanghai
China is speeding up tax reforms to boost its weak service sector after in which the system has been skewed in favour of the country’s manufacturing industry.
Under the current taxation system, the country’s service sector pays business tax of 3-20 per cent on sales, which represents a heavier tax burden than faced by the manufacturing sector, which pays value added tax of 13-17 per cent on gross profit. From September 1, things will be different. Continue reading »
China outbound M&A set for record year
China is heading for a record year for outbound M&A as more buying opportunities emerge in Europe and US amid the economic slowdown.
Outbound deal values have tripled in the first half of 2012, according to research released by PricewaterhouseCoopers in Hong Kong on Tuesday. North American and European companies are the favourites for Chinese buyers for their head-start in technology and energy resources, according to the report. Continue reading »
China’s local debts start to bite
The issue of local government debt in China isn’t new – many analysts have long pointed to this as a major challenge to the stability of the Chinese economy.
Local funding is in a delicate state. With economic growth stalling and more debts due to be repayed, cities and provinces have to balance falling revenue with rising funding costs. Continue reading »
China slowdown: feeling the pain in the Pearl River Delta
China’s overall GDP figures give reason enough to worry about its economic slowdown (or Chindown). But the story is even more worrying at a local level.
In Dongguan, a manufacturing hub in Guangdong province, GDP growth in the first half of this year hit a three year low. Its expansion of just 2.5 per cent shows the pain China factories are feeling as the engine driving the world’s second biggest economy begins to misfire. Continue reading »
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Stefan Wagstyl
Rob Minto
Pan Kwan Yuk
Jonathan Wheatley
Heba Saleh