After two long years, the void left by the departure of Jerry Liu has been filled by telecommunications technologist Li Yinan. Li was the former Chief Technology Scientist at Huawei Technologies and oversaw the development of 3G mobile chipsets. This position was made vacant in 2006 when Liu resigned to rejoin a search engine competitor Tianwang that he founded in 1999 prior to joining Baidu. Robin Li the CEO of Baidu said this about Li......

From Reuters: UP TO five per cent of infants in Shanghai could have kidney stones after drinking tainted milk formula, media reported on Friday, as publicity surrounding the scandal was muted by China's manned space launch. Beijing is battling public alarm and international dismay after thousands of Chinese children were hospitalised, sick from infant milk formula tainted with melamine, a cheap industrial chemical that can be used to cheat quality checks. 'A recent city-wide health......

It's widely known that Microsoft has taken a fairly laxed approach to software piracy in China. Bill Gates has even admitted to Fortune Magazine last year that "while it was terrible that people in China pirated so much software, if they were going to pirate anybody's software he'd certainly prefer it be Microsoft's." It seems that after years of piracy, Microsoft has turned on its marketing machine and launched a one-week campaign during China's National......

The President of China Investment Corp, Gao Xiqing, has made his way to the U.S. with Wei Christianson, CEO and Managing Director of Morgan Stanley China, sparking rumours that the Chinese sovereign wealth fund may buy up to 49% of the beleaguered investment bank. Gao has been scheduled to meet Morgan Stanley executives in San Francisco after the New York-based company plunged 42% after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch sold itself to......

“I can't explain myself, I'm afraid, Sir, because I'm not myself you see.” ~ Alice, from Alice in Wonderland According to the South China Morning Post (subscription required), the Chinese government has taken to censoring the financial media in effort to stem the floodgates of discontent brewing over dismal market sentiment. With the craziness of the financial meltdown in the United States, the Shanghai Stock Exchange has followed the rest of the world down the......

James T. Arredy of the Wall Street Journal writes that Morgan Stanley's latest moves to sell luxury apartment projects Jinlin Tiandi and Pinnacle Century Park serviced apartments in Pudong have raised question marks as people wonder if Shanghai's real estate market has reached its peak.Hannah Beech of Time Magazine writes that the spotlight is back on Shanghai now that the Olympics are over. The 2010 World Expo, she says, will be Shanghai's chance to "throw......

Valleywag points us to an interesting article in the Financial Times which highlights five markets in which Google plays second fiddle to local rivals — Russia, the Czech Republic, Japan, Korea and, you guessed it, China. In Russia and the Czech Republic, Mohammad Gawdat, a Google executive who oversees 112 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, admits rather squarely that Google was late to the game there and performs poorer than its rivals,......

China Eastern, Shanghai Airlines say not in merger talks [AFP] "China Eastern Airlines and smaller rival Shanghai Airlines said Wednesday they were not in talks on a possible merger, responding to reports that the two might join forces."China inflation drops as trade surplus hits record high [AFP] "The figures have pushed the case for Beijing to boost growth, economists said, following months of efforts by policymakers to slow down the world's fourth largest economy and......

You won't have to go to Dubai to enjoy seven-star luxury anymore as the world's second seven star hotel — and China's first — is going to be built in Sanya, Hainan. Construction of the 120m high hotel will begin later this year and will be completed by 2011 to be managed under the Fairmont Hotels & Resorts brand. Shanghai Daily tells us more:Located in the center of Haitang Bay in Sanya City, the hotel......

Ramadan, Islam's holiest season has just begun, and as Muslims around the world begin a month-long period of prayer and fasting, manufacturers across the Middle East have little reason to smile as they find themselves edged out with increasing numbers of Chinese producers flooding their markets with products that are cheaper and better than their own. Adding salt to injury is the fact that many of these products are symbols of their own cultural and......

The World Expo Tunnel, which stretches beneath the Huangpu River, connecting Pudong and Puxi reached its full length on August the 20th: it's 2.67 kilometers long, and located 1.117 kilometers below the river.The soccer World Cup qualifier match between North and South Korea has been moved from Pyongyang to Shanghai, because the North had refused to play the anthem or fly the flag of its opponent (technically the two Koreas are still at war). The......

Many businesses in Beijing expected the Olympics to bring a boost to the local economy, but an article in The Economist has proved the opposite. Due to visa restrictions and the temporary shutdown of many bars, restaurants and street vendors, local shops have actually witnessed a downturn in business. Furthermore lower than expected visitor numbers have also left many hotel rooms unoccupied during the games. The article reports:At least the police are not rigorously enforcing......

Rachel Dupuy of Current TV speaks to two highly successful Chinese businesswomen — Yuki Tan of Folli Follie and Judy Leissner of Grace Vineyards.......

"All stalls and businesses inside Metro stations will be shut for a month from today, including news stands, because of public security concerns for the Olympic Games. Shentong Metro Group, owner and operator of Shanghai's Metro, said it had decided to close them because of local government requirements to step up public security at stations. The suspension of business will affect 1,080 stores as well as up to 12,000 square meters of commercial areas inside......

And you thought they'd never get to it! Ctrip.com is now looking a lot more like a dot.com because you can now finally pay for that ticket you booked online via Paypal and with your foreign credit card. As far as we can remember, the last time we tried to book a ticket with our foreign credit card, their customer service staff directed us to fax in an authorisation letter to allow them to charge......

And so the “will-it-ever-be-built” Shanghai Disneyland saga continues, tediously dragging as long as Celine Dion's love for you. This hasn’t stopped residents in the village of Jinjia. According to the Wall Street Journal, good ol’ Chinese opportunism has prevailed, as seen in the latest money grab proliferating in Jinjia village in Pudong. Residents strongly believe that they will be the property target for a Shanghai Disneyland, and many have taken to building faux businesses on......

We know — the on-again-off-again Disney Shanghai deal is getting kinda bawwwrrrriiiing — but latest news has it that the deal could include a major media component that would leave other media companies salivating and give Disney unrivalled access to the highly sought-after Chinese market: The joint venture agreement would give Disney a huge advantage over U.S. media rivals by allowing it to bypass foreign film import quotas and summer and holiday blackout periods, as......

Carrefour is in a bit of trouble again — but not the same sort of trouble as what happened a few months ago. This time, its Nanjing outlet has been caught by regulators for "illegally" using the Olympic rings and the Five Friendlies together with its own logo in the store. A store manager clarified that the store had done so to show their support for the Beijing Olympics, but "clearly there were a few......

Dan Harris of China Law Blog brings us an interesting take on the new pay deal Wal-Mart struck on Friday with the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) in Quanzhou, Shenyang, and Shenzhen. As reported by Forbes, the U.S. retailer operates more than 100 of its namesake stores throughout China and employs 48,589 people. Its new agreement with its employees in Shenyang calls for an 8% pay increase in both 2008 and 2009. Harris remarks......

In fact, all cities hosting Olympic events will do the same. The Shanghai Foreign Economic Relations and Trade Commission said it will postpone approval of notification letters needed for business visas until mid-September for all but essential travel, ruling out visits for market research, training or to carry out inspections. Some, albeit limited leeway exists. Foreigners can apply for business visas for "urgent" matters but the Chinese counterpart inviting them will need to give detailed......

The tale of the Apple Computer Corporation in China has been a story of false starts, misadventure and curious competition. Like the all seeing eye of Mordor peering at China from the 3G enabled land of Hong Kong, Apple has sent its minions into the mainland many a time before but never with the success that they have enjoyed in markets like the USA. Even with success in Hong Kong and the rest of the......

What do the digits 25, 35 and 82 have in common? They were all part of China news this week, as journalists, businessmen and government officials counted out and ranked up different individuals and groups related to the PRC. In ascending order:Forbes announced China's 25 Most Powerful Celebrities, with the number one spot going to basketball star Yao Ming. To create the ranking, Forbes looked not only at income (Yao brought in 388 million RMB......

The miracle of miracles has happened, and 56.com has come back online, more than a month after it was shut down. While the company had promised a revamp, the website looks pretty much like it did before. Pacific Epoch tried to find out more, but the company is keeping its lips tightly sealed on what exactly transpired within that month.......

Sex is on the agenda this month and it's all about accessory-assisted sexuality. Next weekend, The 5th China International Adult Toys and Reproductive Health Exhibition (a.k.a. China Adult-Care Expo—we love the name) takes place. As an exclusive and trade-only show, China Adult-Care Expo has become one of the more renowned trading fairs in the industry. Items on display will include: vibrators, dildos, love dolls, anal stimulators, bondage gear, lube, erotic furniture, piercing, condoms, toys for......

Liu Genshan, "Shanghai's King of the Road," has been detained on suspicion of bank loan fraud involving 4.6 billion yuan ($671 million). The highway and property development tycoon, one of China's richest men, was held for questioning by officials a week ago, the Shanghai Daily reports. According to AFP, police are investigating Liu's transactions in connection with the Yongjin highway, which opened in 2005. Liu was first accused earlier that year of moving 3 billion......

A study released Tuesday by a U.S. research group concluded that China's economy will overtake that of the U.S. by 2035. The report, by economist Albert Keidel of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, also announced that China's economy will be twice the size of the U.S. economy by 2050. Under current market estimates, China's GDP now stands at about $3 trillion, compared to the U.S.'s $14 trillion, reports Rob Lever of AFP. Keidel, a......

While the American flag has always been surrounded by its share of regulated stipulations (lighting it at all times, always flying it in fair weather, never letting it touch the ground), a new one has been ushered in by the state legislature of Minnesota. Effective this year, selling Chinese-made American flags within Minnesota is a crime punishable by up to 90 days in jail and/or a US$1,000 fine. As the Minnesota Star Tribune reports, Rep.......

Last Wednesday's episode of The Riz Khan Show on Al Jazeera English dealt with Chinese industries in Africa. Khan hosted a debate among three experts on the subject: Richard Behar, an investigative journalist and author of an article this month in Fast Company titled "China Storms Africa;" John Afele, former director of the International Program for Africa at the University of Guelph; and David Shinn, former U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia. The question on the......

The 60-seat China-made turboprop MA600 has been unveiled in Xi'an amid great fanfare. It is some 300 kilogrammes and 40 percent more fuel-efficient than its predecessor, the MA60, 122 orders of which have been received since it was introduced. While most of the foreign orders seem to be from African countries like Zimbabwe and Zambia — not the most exciting aviation markets — the China Aviation Industry Corporation has ambitious plans to take over its......

With less than six weeks before the Games, the Chinese visa situation Shanghaiist reported on earlier this month is not getting any better. Many foreign residents living here for years are now being forced to leave China, and some of them are reconsidering "how much of their operations they keep in China," Andrew Work, executive director of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, said. The Wall Street Journal follows a story similar......