Category: F13

Trying to insert ouTube links. I cannot find a way to decrease their size commensurate with the page width. First video Second video

Because it represents a deep look into China’s Business culture and society from an approachable  standpoint, Country Driving is a good place for people who aren’t experts on china to start with to understand the culture. The following links give reviews of the journalistic novel and there is also a link to a talk given… Continue reading Links to more info on Country Driving →

Human Resource Leapfrogging, a term coined by Harvard Economist Richard Freeman, describes how developing nations  “with many less-educated peasants and relatively few scientists and engineers can compete” in industries that have traditionally been dominated by advanced countries. The example that he uses is the IT industry, which has relatively high knowledge requirements as a barrier… Continue reading Human Resource Leapfrogging →

Whether its telecoms or energy supplies China continues to find itself barred from entry to new markets. Canada’s Prime Minister plans to keep foreign SOEs from taking over Canadian companies. The Canadian government accepts the fact that slower growth will result to ensure that foreign control does not encompass key Canadian companies and resources. The… Continue reading Canada Verses China →

In October 2013 sales in China reached 1.92 million units – see the China Auto Industry Association statistics page for details. That’s just shy of a 24 million unit rate, and is surely the largest number of vehicles ever sold in a single market in a month. For GM, sales were 282,000 units – 25%… Continue reading China’s Auto Industry from a North American / European perspective →

Archeologists and historians are running into an increasingly common dilemma when investigating shipwrecks off the coast of the Phillipines. Legally registered research teams are being instructed by China’s coast guard to leave the shipwreck sites claiming that they  are the property of the People’s Republic of China. While we have focused a lot in class… Continue reading China Claims Shipwrecks →

With all our discussion of the importance of Chinese culture, the arts should certainly play a role. The late Chinese-French painter Zao Wuo-ki’s piece titled “Abstraction” went up for auction last Sunday through Sotheby’s. The work is from the artist’s “Oracle Bone” period. The final sale price, including the art house’s commission, was about $14.6 million,… Continue reading Sotheby’s First Full Beijing Auction a Huge Success →

Market forces are leading to more Luxury hotels being build in China. It is probably that the recent uptick is a result of the complementary forces of increased native Chinese incomes which lead to increases in domestic tourism, and increasing  expectations from western tourists that they be able to enjoy the same luxury accommodation that… Continue reading Luxury Hotels are increasing in China →

According to a New York Times article on China, new HIV cases are rising in china, with “70,000 new cases identified in the first nine months of this year.” In the past, the means of transmission of the disease were often drug use and untested blood sources, but current trends have 87.1% of all new… Continue reading HIV among young Chinese →

    China’s growing market strikes again as the placement of a strategic sales endeavor. The Swedish car brand Saab (bought last year by National Electric Vehicle Sweden AB) constitutes the latest product to enter the Chinese market with great hopes of a boom in sales. The brand has just started to produce the “9-3… Continue reading Electric Saab to Enter Chinese Market →

A recent pipeline explosion in Qingdao left over 50 dead, with 136 injured and nine people still missing.  Regulators and the pipeline’s operator have been passing the blame back and forth since the accident.  Authorities have reported that the explosion was caused by severe human error and a dereliction of duty. Yang Dongliang, director of… Continue reading Pipeline Explosion Turns Focus to China’s Urbanization Problems →

Greenland Holdings Group of China has entered into a preliminary agreement to acquire a majority stake in a 15-tower apartment project in Brooklyn, N.Y. The project is in the Atlantic Yards site which is where the recently constructed Barclay’s Center is located. Brooklyn is undergoing a considerable renaissance and it is not surprising investors are… Continue reading Chinese Developers Invest in Brooklyn →

Continuing on my blogs about China and the internet  I wanted to share this map illustrating what percentage of the population uses the internet in each country around the world. The study was carried out by the Oxford Internet Institute using data on a country’s internet users and population from the World Bank. Countries like… Continue reading China’s Internet Penetration →

Chinese scientists in Shanghai have developed a light bulb that emits a wireless internet signal. The new technology is being called Li-Fi and could have an interesting impact in the future. Currently, one bulb can provide internet for up to four computers. What is perhaps most interesting about the Li-Fi bulbs is that they transmit… Continue reading Wi-Fi Light Bulb →