BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries have contributed to almost half of global growth in the past decade, but their high times may be over as they face an aging labor market. The major effects in demographics are already beginning to be seen in China, where its one child policy is holding itself back from growing a strong young labor force, thus raising doubts on how to fund its growing pension bill. more ›

We already know how many people live in Shanghai and how many foreigners live in China, but we've never had a very clear picture of how many foreigners live in Shanghai. Global Times breaks it down for us, with numbers from last year's Shanghai census, the first ever to count foreigners. Here are some of the more interesting figures: more ›

Via TechRice comes this fascinating presentation on internet cafes in China and what really goes on in them. You will never look at a wangba (网吧) the same way again: more ›

Another week, another handy Economist infographic! This time they take on the Chinese one-child policy and its effect on population size if it were theoretically 100% enforced across the board. They couple that with the predictions from the UN a few weeks ago, which estimate the population as it actually will be with the current one-child policy, a policy that has been unevenly implemented with various exemptions and rigidity across China. According to the Economist's chart, if the one-child policy had been enforced strictly, China's population would shrink to less than 200 million within the century! Man, that'd make for a lot more empty cities. More from the Economist here. more ›

Especially here in Shanghai, one look out onto any main street and you'll see luxury car after luxury car roll by. Anyone with half a brain could deduce that the Chinese have money and love to show it off by their choice of ride; that's certainly not rocket science. That the top three luxury car brands are all German--Audi, BMW, followed by Mercedes-Benz -- is not news either. We could've guessed that one too. However, where the market research from J.D. Power & Associates becomes interesting is its demographic breakdowns on who's buying these cars. more ›

Six million census takers given the gargantuan task of counting the world's most populous country began making their rounds yesterday, but despite the government's efforts to accurately account for the population, two groups in particular are proving troublesome. more ›

New rumors have surfaced that China could be changing its infamous one-child policy. According to an independent demographer, He Yafu, the government will start allowing 2 children per couple in five of its provinces next year but skimpy sources makes this sound like another Chinese parent's pipe dream. more ›

Underground Resistance's first foray into mainland China last Saturday at The Shelter was truly a significant milestone for Shanghai's underground scene. DJ Dex aka Nomadico unleashed a set that's been described as a "real history lesson in dance music" — one that took the 800 or so revellers from the pre-electronic routes of modern dance music in the shape of parliament and James Brown, right up to the proper "electro" from the Advent ("program da... more ›

Colleague: Haha, I understand. I'm not a very good CCP member, and not a very bad one either, but you probably can't say I'm a member anymore. I have not been paying my party membership fees for three years now, and haven't been keeping up with the meetings, so they probably struck my name off the list. more ›

We wrote about Thames Town earlier, and it seems that Kristie Lu Stout, armed with her "Shanghai Diary" has taken it upon herself to bore many, many people with her take on what several hundred thousand people have already had their take on. You'll enjoy this: more ›

While some choose to generalize and lump all Chinese into one big pool of "Confucian consumers," others might say that to do so would be akin to corporate suicide (not to mention just plain stupid). For example most young Shanghainese want iPods and the latest mobile phones while their counterparts in Guangzhou would be happy with a nice mobile phone that doubles as an mp3 player. The expert in this interesting International Herald Tribune story calls the kids in Guangzhou "pragmatic cool." We suppose youth in Shanghai are legitimately cool ... or just rich and spoiled. more ›