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Ultimate China Sourcing Guide, Part I. AND Part II.
2008-09-06 14:38:00
Bizcult just did a very good post setting forth the basics of how to find a China supplier. The post, entitled, "Ultimate China Sourcing Guide, Part I," very nicely analyzes the pros and cons of finding suppliers through trade fairs, online, search engines, and trade associations. All good. Where it falls down however, is on what it does not say. Nowhere does it say that it is critical to visit any supplier before signing on the dotted line. I suspect that advice will be in part II of the series, but not mentioning it at all in Part I is rather dangerous. A real world example is in order here. I had lunch with a long-time client/friend yesterday, who had just returned from China looking for a supplier of ultra high end boxes for a luxury product. My client gave the following explanation as to how he had found the right company to make the boxes: I started out focusing on Shenzhen because I have been there many times before and because it is close to Hong Kong, where I somet...

China For Business Goes Beyond Beijing And Shanghai.
2008-09-04 17:52:00
China Business Blog just did a post on China's best cities for foreign business, appropriately entitled, "New Cities On The Block." The post starts out discussing a recent Forbes Magazine ranking that sets out China's "Best Places in China for Business," as follows: 1. Hangzhou 2. Ningbo 3. Dalian 4. Shanghai 5. Wenzhou 6. Beijing 7. Suzhou 8. Wuxi 9. Shaoxing 10.Shenzhen The Economist Magazine's Business Intelligence Unit, did its own China city ranking, based on economy, "market opportunities," labour market, infrastructure, and environment (mostly air quality) and its top ten ranking was as follows: 1. Shanghai 2. Guangzhou 3. Beijing 4. Hangzhou 5. Nanjing 6. Shenzhen 7. Tianjin 8. Qingdao Xiamen 10. Ningbo 11. Suzhou 12. Fuzhou Chengdu Dalian 15. Foshan China Business Blog sees these rankings as making clear the "that, just as the China story has moved on from being just about low-cost exports to being about added va...

Dudano, Mind Your China Manners. Or How To Make International Whoopee.
2008-09-04 09:49:00
Back before the true advent of reality TV, I used to love watching the Newlywed Game. Back in its day, that show, more than any other, evidenced the lengths to which people were willing to humiliate themselves for fifteen minutes of fame. My favorite episode was when the host, Bob Eubanks, asked the wives if they were to write a book about themselves that devoted one page to each man with whom they had made whoopee, would it be a page, a pamphlet, a novel, or an encyclopedia? (I am not reciting this word for word, but I am getting the gist here.) With the husbands off stage, one of the wives said encyclopedia. When her husband returned, he guessed she had said a page. When he learned she had said encylopedia, he was both stunned and unhappy and he got her to admit she had always told him he was the first. At which point, Eubanks, in his usual inimitable style, asked the wife why she was telling the truth now. The wife replied, "because I can't lie on National TV." I thou...
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Steve Dickinson To Speak On China Law And Economics At China Economic Revie
2008-09-03 20:55:00
China Law Blog's own Steve Dickinson will be the Keynote speaker at the China Economic Review Breakfast Series on Friday, September 26, at the JW Marriott Hotel at Tomorrow Square. Steve's talk will begin at 8:40 am, but the breakfast itself starts at 7:30 am. CER describes this event as follows: Following the sold out China Economic Review Breakfast with Andy Xie, we have our next event coming up on September 26th, this time featuring guest speaker Steve Dickinson, Partner and China Manager of Harris Moure PLLC. As a renowned lawyer and long term China resident, Steve Dickinson is particularly knowledgeable on the legal and economic landscape of China. He is the author of the popular China Law Blog. Steven was named as one of Washington State's "5 Most Amazing Attorneys for 2005" by Washington CEO magazine and has published many articles on China in prestigious law journals, including Columbia Journal of Transnational Law. Steve was the first attorney invited to China by a...
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Obama/Biden vs. McCain/Palin On China
2008-09-02 08:58:00
China Comment has a nice piece up, entititled, "China and the American Election," analyzing which side (Obama /Biden vs. McCain/Palin) would be better for US-China relations and concludes McCain likely would be, by a slim margin. What do you think? NOTE: Silk Road International just came out with its own advice regarding the candidates' positions on China: don't believe "anything" you hear. Will Lewis over at Experience Not Logic, in a post entitled, "Obama's Acceptance Speech & China," calls himself an Obama supporter, but dissaproves of Obama's China comments at the Democratic convention, but notes that "this political race has greater implications than trade with China and I'm mostly willing to overlook what Obama is currently saying about China, and hope that it is still just campaign rhetoric."

China Arbitration. When, Why, Why Not, And Where.
2008-09-01 06:59:00
Co-blogger Steve Dickinson recently wrote a column for the China Economic Review on the plusses and minuses of arbitration provisions in contracts with Chinese companies. The article is entitled, "Overseas arbitration and enforcing contracts in China," and, not surprisingly, it says that decisions on whether to arbitrate should be made on a case by case basis. Steve's article starts out by noting that written contracts are "essential" for protecting the rights of foreign companies doing business in China, but such contracts are of no value if they cannot be enforced. Steve then notes how foreign company distrust of China's legal system too often leads them to insist that any dispute be subject to foreign law and resolved outside of China even though doing this sometimes renders the contract "practically or legally unenforceable." Steve then sets out "three common dispute resolution disasters": Disaster 1: Exclusive jurisdiction in a foreign court. A Chinese supplier has...

National Security Review Under China's New Anti-Monopoly Law
2008-08-29 23:48:00
By Steve Dickinson China 's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) recently reported on its plans for forming an interagency committee to review the national security impacts of foreign acquisitions of Chinese companies. Contrary to many of the news reports in both English and Chinese, this is not a new policy adopted by the NDRC. The formation of such a committee is consistent with longstanding China policy and it is required by law. China's Anti Monopoly Law (AML) became effective on August 1, 2008. Article 31 of the AML provides for national security review of foreign M&A transactions as follows: Article 31. If the merger with or acquisition of domestic enterprises by foreign investors or other forms of concentration involving foreign investors concerns national security, in addition to the review for concentration of undertakings in accordance with the provisions of this Law, it shall be examined for national security review in accordance with relevant regulat...
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China: Where The News Is Always Good.
2008-08-28 10:44:00
Black and White Cat does a great job showing how China 's media sanitizes foreign media articles on China, in its post entitled, "How the New York Times (should have) covered the Olympics." I am "speechless" not because I am surprised (I am not), but because the post speaks volumes all by itself. Read it. (h/t to Peking Duck)
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Why To Go To China For Growth And How To Succeed At It
2008-08-28 08:41:00
Very good article on China Success Stories on why and how to sell and market in and to China. Article is written by Beijing-based advertising guru Dan Mintz and is entitled "Sagging Markets? Look To China: Wealthy Chinese consumers are ripe for the pitching, but approach with caution." Selling and marketing in China 101. Check it out.
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China's Anti-Monopoly Law. People, We've Got The Rules.
2008-08-27 18:39:00
By Steve Dickinson On August 3, 2008, the PRC State Council released its long awaited merger notification rules: Regulation on Notification Thresholds for Concentrations of Undertakings, State Council Regulation Number 529, available online in Chinese here. These merger notification rules are required by Article 21 of the PRC Anti -Monopoly Law (“AML”), which requires prior notification for mergers meeting the State Council rules. Since failure to provide notification renders the merger void, the requirement has be viewed with concern, particularly since no hint was given in the AML on what the standard would be. The particular concern was that an excessively low standard would cause excessive involvement of the PRC authorities in international mergers not specifically targeted at China . Under the new rules, there are two notification thresholds: one for foreign M&A transactions with an impact on China and another one for M&A (mergers and acquisitions) transactions with purely...
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Tony Blair Gets It Right On China. Why Not America?
2008-08-27 08:19:00
England's former Prime Minister, Tony Blair , has an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal today that lays out exactly how the West should deal with a resurgent China , and why. Do politicians have to retire from office to speak coherently and sensibly on foreign policy, or has Blair always been so smart? After listening to months of foreign policy pablum from Barack Obama, John McCain and now Joe Biden (will someone please explain to me how merely having done something for a really long time all of a sudden makes one a genius?). Let's be honest, when it comes to the candidates' policy with China, the best we America ns can hope for at this point is that none of them really mean what they are saying. The odds are certainly pretty good.

Beijing Olympics Quote Of The Day
2008-08-26 08:35:00
Of course this one is late, but I just heard it on The Daily Show, where Jon Stewart refers to the little girl who sang the opening night song, but whose face did not make it on TV: You thought your middle school days were tough? Imagine if your government got together and decided yohttp://calpolymbatrip.com/2008/china/jo n-stewart-is-still-a-god/u were not cute. UPDATE: Some consider Stewart worthy of deification and use him as part of their graduate level syllabus. On a somewhat related note (using pop culture as a learning device), while listening to Bruce Springsteen's, The Rising, this morning, I concluded that if one listed to every song by Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and Marvin Gaye, one ought to get at least 16 hours college credit in sociology, political science and US history, 1965-2008. Do you agree?
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Phillip Pan's "Out Of Mao's Shadow" Is One Great Book.
2008-08-25 08:08:00
"If you want to make an omelet, you must be willing to break a few eggs." Vladmir Lenin "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.." Lord Acton Phillip Pan, former Washington Post Beijing bureau chief has written a great book on China, entitled, "Out of Mao's Shadow : The Struggle for the Soul of a New China." The book profiles 11 Chinese, mostly present day, and by doing so, it very nicely provides a not very pretty snapshot on China's political development. Pan was in China from 2000 to 2007 and one gets the distinct impression he was working on many of these profiles the entire time. Pan clearly views the people of whom he writes as markers on where China is now and where it likely will be heading. Pan takes a decidedly pessimistic view of the party's ability to reform from within and is overall rather negative on the idea of China's growing economy automatically leading to a corresponding growth in the political arena. I agree and I disagre...
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Beijing Olympics Quote Of The Day
2008-08-23 07:06:00
This one from Steve Kelley, consistently excellent sportswriter for the Seattle Times, in an article entitled, "Usain Bolt electrifies Beijing , winning the 200 in a world-record time": If you're old enough to remember the first time you saw Muhammad Ali, the first time you saw Roberto Clemente, the first time you saw Magic Johnson, watching Bolt has that same never-seen-it-before feeling.
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China Too Expensive? That Depends
2008-08-22 12:44:00
All Roads Lead to China has a very helpful post, entitled, "Is China No Longer Competitive?" All Roads asks the question and then proceeds to answer it in the only sensible way: it depends. The question is asked in the context of all the media reports of prices rising in China and companies fleeing because of it. My views on this have remained constant. China was NEVER the place for everyone and it never will be. On the flip side, it is a great place for certain companies. During the absolute height of the China craze, I asked a very well run, very prosperous fishing company client of ours why it was not sending its fish over to China for processing when it seemed like all its competitors were doing so. I was so drunk on China as the place to be at that point that I assumed the client would respond by saying something about how it was planning to go to China but it just had not yet found the right people over there to get started. Instead, I was told something along the...

China Quality Control (QC). Who To Hire?
2008-08-21 13:42:00
The relatively new Quality Wars blog is looking like it will be a good source of information on quality control (QC) in China . The blog's subtitle is "The fight for quality export product in China." I especially liked two of its posts. The first, entitled, "QC…In-house vs. Outsource," deals with whether foreign companies manufacturing in China are better off doing their own QC with an employee in China or hiring an outside QC company. The post very nicely sets out the following pros and cons of each: Outsource QC to a 3rd Party QC Company Positives 1. Opportunity to work with management and trained staff who specialize in checking product, factories and production in Asia 2. Can capitalize on the acquired knowledge of a QC company who has checked various different products and understands how factories in Asia attempt to “short-cut” and cheapen products for which a standard has already been established 3. Ease and economic value of having staff contracted on a “p...
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Shanghai And Beijing Maps Good Enough For Tom Cruise
2008-08-21 08:37:00
Mapmatrix.com has what appear to be excellent maps of Shanghai and Beijing in pdf format. (h/t to James Fallows)
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Chinese Litigation: This Is The Way (Uh Huh) We Like It
2008-08-20 12:27:00
By Steve Dickinson When we draft contracts in China, our foreign company clients usually instruct us to have the contract be governed by foreign law and for any disputes to be decided by arbitration, preferably outside of China. This is often a mistake. One major reason is that when any form of arbitration is required, the plaintiff has no access to the very effective prejudgment remedies available within the Chinese litigation system. A recently completed matter shows how this can work. A very internationally savvy Japanese client came to us for help resolving a difficult foreign trade dispute. A Chinese company owed our Japanese company a substantial sum, but the amount was not documented by a clear contract and the exact sum owed was nowhere clearly specified in writing. We were able to convince the Chinese side to enter into a new agreement where the Chinese company agreed to an exact payment amount and a precise payment date. In our initial drafting of this agreement, ...
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Postcard From Beijing: Home Of Clean Air And Cheap Beer.
2008-08-20 08:42:00
Just got an email from my friend and blogger extraordinaire, Ben Ross. I thought it did a nice job encapsulating what is going on in Beijing these days and after I secured his permission to post it, here goes: Just wanted to give everybody a quick update from Beijing. For starters, this has probably been the most enjoyable week I have ever spent in the Chinese capital. The Olympics are in full swing, and although I never thought I'd say this…I hope they never end. I've been spending much of the past week enjoying clean air, drinking cheap beer, and watching world class athletes compete for the price of upper-deck Royals tickets. As I'm sure you have probably heard, starting July 20 the local government closed most factories around the outskirts of Beijing. They also implemented a new system where private cars could only drive every other day, based on their license plate numbers. The impact of the traffic regulations were immediate. (Chicago could really use a rule lik...
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China's 10 Worst Laws
2008-08-19 18:01:00
Foreign Policy Magazine is out with a fascinating and very well done list of China 's 10 worst laws (damn, why didn't I think of that). (h/t to Jeremiah over at Peking Duck) I certainly agree with most of those on the list, but I hardly think it fair to put the New Property Rights Law on there. Here's what Foreign Policy has to say about it: What it says: A first, this law granted the right to property ownership by private persons. What it does: Although one can own buildings and fixtures on land, the land itself still belongs to the state. The Chinese government also has a right to seize private property for “a public purpose,” a vague standard that is often exploited by commercial interests. The state must “provide compensation” for such seizures, but it usually offers a menial amount. Some analysts think that giving peasants in particular the right to sell their land would have tamped down rural unrest and helped millions find work and overcome poverty, but such ...
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On The Benefits Of Chinglish
2008-08-19 13:38:00
Very insightful post on Matt Schiavenza's blog, entitled, "Why Chinglish Exists." Post starts out with a great story on the Great Communicator (Ronald Reagan) and then explains the marketing benefits of using English, no matter how mangled: In mainland China, having English advertisements represents modernity, internationalism, and sophistication. Most Chinese people wouldn’t realize that the actual words were nonsensical, as most don’t read English. Besides, their eyes would immediately go to the (properly written) Chinese text first. Just having the words there is what matters, not what the words actually say. In addition to appealing to Chinese consumers, when I am in a foreign country (not just China), I am more likely to go into a restaurant or store if there is some English somewhere. I figure that no matter how bad the English, the effort means they probably want English speaking customers and there is a greater chance someone inside speaks at least some English. ...
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Beijing Olympics Quote Of The Day
2008-08-19 09:55:00
James Fallows telling us not to worry about the plethora of "I love China" decals we are seeing on so many Chinese people's faces: History is full of examples of "rising national powers" getting the big head, feeling arrogant, and doing dangerous things. That's not the main feeling I get here. It's negative Chinese nationalism, like what appeared after the protests over the Olympic torch relay in April, that we should worry about. So a confident China is to be congratulated; a victimized-feeling China is the one to be feared.
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Beijing Olympics Quote Of The Day
2008-08-19 03:37:00
Too good a line not to repeat. It is from a Lost Laowai post, entitled, "Beijing : Chinatown in Disneyland," reflecting on the atmosphere in Beijing during the Olympics : The Beijing people seem happy in the way that the staff at a five star hotel are happy, but not in the way that a group of old men playing mahjong in a hutong are happy.
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Qingdao Olympic Update (Live)
2008-08-18 12:17:00
Qingdao Olympic s Report Week Two August 18, 2008 By: Steve Dickinson From: Qingdao, China We are heading into week two of the Olympic Sailing Events here in Qingdao. It is time for a short report. In order to host the Olympic sailing events, Qingdao built a modern sailing center right in the heart of the central business district. This modern facility will be converted into a sailing school and public park after the Olympic sailing events are concluded. You can find an introduction to the sailing center here. I have an apartment on Dong Hai West Road in Qingdao, just one block from the entrance to the sailing center. So my neighbors and I have been in the middle of the preparations for the event. The primary concern of the Qingdao Olympic committee has been to ensure a smoothly functioning event. Olympic sailing is quite complex, involving numerous races on multiple courses with many different types of vessels. You can get an idea of the complexity by looking at the race sched...
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Our Policies, Biases, And Conflicts
2008-08-17 22:58:00
I am a huge fan of Seth Godin's books and of his blog. His piece, "Small is the new big," is a classic. Godin is a marketing genius. On Godin's blog yestertoday, he had the following post, entitled, "Policies , biases and conflicts": I don't take advertising on this site. I never have, I don't intend to. If there's a link on this site, it's because I thought it was a good idea. I don't get paid to include links. I write about stuff I like, stuff you might like and people that I like. The only affiliate program I belong to is Amazon. All my proceeds go to charity. I don't take PR pitches. If you send me a press release, I will go out of my way not to mention you here. I'm a principal shareholder in Squidoo.com, a company I founded. I don't get paid a salary by Squidoo and all my Squidoo royalties go to charity. I get paid to write books and give speeches. I don't mention them on this blog because I want you to buy them, though, I mention them because I figure people...
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Who Is Winning The Olympics?
2008-08-17 19:25:00
So is it gold medals that determine it or is it total medals? Should we give 3 points for a gold, 2 for a silver, and one for a bronze? And shouldn't team sports in something big-time like basketball or volleyball or even soccer count for more than an individual metal in synchronized dive wrestling? For more on this, check out James Fallows' post, "More on Chauvinism. medals, and Olympic TV" UPDATE: Peking Duck also addresses this issue.
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Global Rainmaking. What's Good For Lawyers Is Good For All.
2008-08-17 17:22:00
The International Lawyer Coach has an excellent post, entitled, "Global Rainmaking Tips: Pointers on Developing Clients Abroad." Though the post is geared towards international lawyers, its advice no doubt applies to nearly everyone trying to globalize their service business. My favorite takeaway: Lastly, having a general interest in other cultures really enhances global rainmaking. Prospective clients can sense whether a lawyer is genuinely interested in them and their culture—or is just trying to get the economic benefit of their new business. So true.
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Basketball As China Metaphor: The Expanded Edition.
2008-08-16 20:38:00
Will Lewis over at Experience Not Logic has an interesting post up riffing on my post wondering why China cannot produce an elite point guard, nicely weaving in the David Brooks/James Fallows/John Pomfret discussion on individualism versus collectivism. (I always love it when someone elevates one of my posts to a higher intellectual plane, figuring at least something good has to rub off on me because of it.) Will quotes this from Pomfret, questioning why Brooks viewed China's putting a 9-year old hero in the Olympics' opening ceremony as a sign of totalitarian: What am I missing here? How is a sense of responsibility, instilled in any leader, no matter how small, in any society (ever hear of a class president?), taken as a sign of totalitarian brainwashing or a propaganda campaign? Don't we hear this kind of sentiment in the voices of Americans who go down into mines or back into fires to save their comrades? "I'm the fire chief, I couldn't leave my men behind." And so wha...
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China Olympics Athlete Blog List And Why No Chinese Magic Johnson?
2008-08-15 14:23:00
Got an email this morning asking me why I was not writing more on the Olympics . Main reason is because I am vacationing in Pentwater, Michigan, placing me about 1800 miles from my 50" HDTV and forcing me to watch it on a 21" circa 1970s model. But, I have asked co-blogger, Steve Dickinson, who is in Qingdao right now, to give us all a report on the Olympic goings-on there. Expect that soon. In the meantime, Danwei has a great list of Olympic Athletes who are blogging on the games. But I feel compelled to discuss one thing I have noticed in watching the Olympics and that is that China 's basketball team does not have a single point guard worth a damn and I have to wonder why. Is it further evidence of the shortcomings of a planned economy? Does China pull out the great athletes for other sports, leaving only tall people for basketball? Is it further evidence of a lack of innovation or take-chargedness (I know I am making up this word, but it works) in China? Great point...
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Everything You Want To Know About China's Internet. Just Ask.
2008-08-14 23:31:00
Nothing new here (near as I can tell), but nice collection of facts and figures regarding China 's internet can be found on Trendspotting by going here. (h/t to China Venture News)
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