Results tagged “business”

France24 reports:

The buoyant market for Chinese contemporary art over the last few years has made millionaires in the country. But the financial crisis has led to a massive slump in demand for works.

Yes, indeedy, change is coming to the US of A and people, you'd better believe it! If Sen. Nancy Jacobs, Sen. Barry Glassman and Del. Wayne Norman, three Harford County, Maryland Republicans, have their way, it is soon going to be ILLEGAL to sell an American or Maryland flag made outside the country (ie., China), and all flags displayed on state property must be manufactured in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Said Sen. Nancy Jacobs to the Baltimore Examiner: "It just seems rather unpatriotic to be buying flags made in China... It's important to a lot of people. Basically, I'm happy that this starts the conversation on buying American." She proposed the general prohibition because she was asked to by "a good friend of mine who happens to be a union leader and who believes very strongly in buying American products." According to the Flag Manufacturers Association of America, the US imports about $5 million worth of flags each year, mostly from China. The association boasts of a wonderful programme that certifies that every step of the flag-making process -- fiber, dyeing, weaving, sewing, staff-making -- is completed in the US so that bored inmates at the Maryland Correctional Enterprises have something to do. Addendum: Adam Minter of Shanghai Scrap writes in to inform us that as of late 2007, it's been illegal to sell Chinese-made US flags in Minnesota. Here's what he wrote last year.

Less than three months after the much-touted launch of its four-level store in Shanghai, Marks and Spencer has sacked Richard Sweet, its top man in China. According to Malcolm Moore of the Daily Telegraph, even twenty years of experience opening stores in India, Russia and the Middle East did not prepare him for China -- much of his stock were impounded at Shanghai customs and as a result, rows and rows of shelves were left bare during the opening. Apparently, the 40,000 sq ft store was also deserted during the Christmas season. A quick check by Shanghaiist last Friday evening found the store similarly devoid of shoppers, in spite of an ongoing Spring Festival sale which sees items going for as much as 50% off.

Starbucks has launched a new brand of coffee grown in Yunnan Province in southwest China called South of the Clouds, the meaning of Yunnan (云南) in Chinese. Martin Coles, president of Starbucks Coffee International, told AP that his goal is to bring Chinese coffee not just to China but to the world: "Ultimately I'd love to see our coffees from China feature on the shelves of every one of our stores in 49 countries around the world."

Beginning Jan 1, Mengniu, one of China's leading dairy firms, has launched a new advertising campaign entitled "Happy Niu Year" which is scheduled to run on television, in print and online, all the way through to Feb 9. The word "Niu" is a play on the Chinese word "牛" which means cow (as well as ox and bull) and this year happens to be the Year of the Bull. This is the first major ad campaign by a Chinese dairy company since the melamine scandal struck late last year. The television commercial for this campaign follows after the jump

• A man and a woman have been killed by a carbon monoxide leak in a downtown Shanghai apartment yesterday morning while two of theirr roommates remain in a coma.
• Taiwan is coordinating with mainland authorities on the possibility of increasing the number of charter flights to and from Shanghai for the convenience of Taiwanese residents looking to go home during the Lunar New Year season.
• North Carolina has opened its seventh foreign trade office in Shanghai. This is the state's second China trade office after Hong Kong.

So the rumors we heard over the weekend at Kiito's were true ... and sooner than expected. According to SmartShanghai, China West — the outfit that brought, among others, Norah Jones, James Brown, Black Eyed Peas, The Roots, Incubus, James Blunt, Kanye West and Kylie Minogue to China — was "unable to maintain a profitable bottom line" after five years here. SmartShanghai says China West is "bowing out of the Chinese market for 2009," so perhaps they not ruling out a return to the market in 2010 or beyond. Either way, a shame. And then there was one? (OK, maybe two.)

           

Shanghai-based photographer Andreas Larsson takes us around the Suzhou production facilities of Lelo, a Swedish high-end sex toy label that manufactures adult toys for upwardly mobile women. We hear they're known for producing dildos so cute you'll want to put them into your handbag and carry them with you wherever you go. Now who says you can't be horny and classy at the same time?

Christopher St. Cavish reports that superstar chef Jereme Leung is out at Whampoa Club, the restaurant he helped found. Cavish also says David Laris is now acting as a consultant to the restaurant that bears his name. Meanwhile — and this should be classified as gossip for now — a source on the Bund recently told us that days could be numbered for several of the tenants of the former Union Building. Stay tuned.

The public toilet outside the Shanghai Railway Station costs RMB1 per visit and is said to earn RMB100 million each year. To see whether there is truth to this rumour, Steward Du stood outside the toilet for a good five minutes to count the number of people entering the toilet and did all the math for us.

China Eastern's chairman Li Fenghua (李丰华) has been replaced by Liu Shaoyong (刘绍勇), chairman of rival China Southern Airlines in what's been described as a "government-orchestrated industry shake-up". There is no news on where Li Fenghua is off to next but we're curious because this was the guy that had earlier bitterly vowed that China Eastern would "never consider Air China as a strategic investor" after Air China blocked Singapore Airline's proposed HK$7 billion bid for a 24% stake in China Eastern. The management shakeup has piqued the interest of the Chinese business press. Some have speculated that Li is moving on to some new position in the State Council but this remains quite unlikely. As an anonymous insider revealed to the Securities Daily 《证券日报》, Li presided over China Eastern's worst performance ever, and bears some responsibility for losses of up to RMB5 billion in fuel-hedging. For that, Li may be sent off to "idle" at some work unit for some time before being "audited and reviewed" for his performance.

We’re hunting for a Project Champion, an American corporate executive most likely, to get us started (i.e., $250,000 to organize, plan, and create enough documentation to pursue serious funding). Although an old law prohibits government funding, we have good connections in the new one and that could change. Unfortunately, they aren’t in charge until February, two months into the one year left for us to do anything of quality.

French retailer Auchan hypermart, perhaps worried about the rising anti-French fury among the Chinese public and the calls for boycotts against French businesses and products resulting from President Nicolas Sarkozy's meeting with the Dalai Lama, did something it knew would tug at the heartstrings and the pursestrings of the people of Shanghai — it called for a sale. The two-hour sale on Tuesday night at Auchan's Changyang outlet in Yangpu District was so successful that a stampede nearly broke out. Shanghai Daily adds:

At least one shopper fainted and children were left crying in the crush as crowds stormed the shop at 10pm trying to find the discounted specials. "I was shopping about 9:30pm and was astonished to find people rushing to the store late at night," said a customer surnamed Cheng.

Continue reading "Boycott? What boycott? Auchan sale brings in crowds and chaos"

Shanghai-based China Eastern airlines has announced that it will increase its flights to Taipie from 3 times weekly to daily beginning next Monday. Also, whereas previously all flights had to bypass Hong Kong airspace, now flights are all going direct, ie., you can now get to Taipei in a little over an hour and for less than what you used to pay for! This is truly historic. A quick check with Elong.com indicate roundtrip flights to cost approximately RMB2100 plus tax of about RMB658.

Robert Scoble visits Seagate's Wuxi hard drive factory and sits down with Tan Leong Hooi, VP of Wuxi Manufacturing at Seagate, for a chat.

Russia Today reports that the end of a 40 year old border dispute that's seen 340 square kilometres, or half of an island called Bolshoi Ussuriyasky (or Heixiazi island in Chinese) being officially ceded to China has warmed up bilateral ties and boosted trade. BBC cites unnamed Chinese reports that say Russia will also return all of Yinlong island (or Tarabarov in Russian) — a detail which was not mentioned in this report. In the first five months of this year, Sino-Russia bilateral trade rocketed ahead by 60%.