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Issue 82

WiC 82 (Oct 22, 2010)

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Quality not quantity

Economy, Talking Point Why Beijing’s new ‘Five Year Plan’ puts less emphasis on GDP…

Invitation only. That was the welcome for walk-in customers at the Jingxi Hotel in Beijing earlier this week, where a small group of China’s top ...

Trust me, I’m a congressman

Rise of the RMB China’s position on renminbi appreciation needs explaining. Here goes...

Two Rs have been in the news in the past week or so. They are, of course, Rooney and the renminbi. The English footballer wants to leave Manchester ...

“I’ll be back”

Energy & Resources CNOOC to buy stake in Texan shale oil field

"If you don't review this one, that law is meaningless," Democratic senator Ron Wyden told then US treasury secretary, John Snow in 2005. He was ...

Mind the gap

Rail & Infrastructure China’s top two train-makers in underground war

For conspiracy theorists there is a tendency to think of China’s large state-owned firms as chess pieces, guided by ingenious planners in Beijing ...

Holiday handbags

China Consumer Why Golden Week is golden for luxury brands

Anyone visiting Hong Kong in the first week of October hit peak shopping season. For some of the high-end boutiques there were queues to get in. The ...

Wheels of fortune

Auto Industry How the Michelin man’s conquering Chinese roads

In 1839, after several years of searching, the American inventor Charles Goodyear finally discovered a way to make rubber strong enough for widespread ...

Not fare

Rail & Infrastructure A looming train crisis

WiC must be in a train-spotting mood this week. Here is another China railway statistic, this time about the ‘Harmony Express’ high-speed train ...

Greed is good?

Entertainment A new Chinese TV show about Wall Street proves a hit

The last time Gordon Gekko was on cinema screens, in Oliver Stone’s 1987 hit Wall Street, China didn’t even have a stock market. It would ...

Silence, please

Society Why even China’s prime minister is being censored

In 1969, a rock festival broke new ground and became the inspiration for a generation. It was, of course, called Woodstock and around half a million ...

Thinking small

Banking & Finance Indian debacle sends warning to China

Local events in India’s financial system would not usually shape the deliberations of Beijing policymakers. But when one of the subcontinent’s ...

Court battle

Sport Chinese basketballers beat Brazilian opponents – literally

It was Brazil’s finance minister who began the talk of war with China in late September. In this case, Guido Mantega was referring to a ...

Fu Jian

History Lessons Battle of the Fei River

During the state of Sixteen Kingdoms (304 to 439 AD), China was divided into numerous short-lived sovereign states. The Qin, led by Fu Jian, dominated ...

A bridge too far

Planet China China’s new infrastructure is famously constructed at China-speed i.e. about three…

China’s new infrastructure is famously constructed at China-speed i.e. about three times quicker than in the West. But putting stuff up so fast does ...

Giving everyone a lift?

Cartoons Giving everyone a lift?

The drama that saw 33 Chilean miners rescued last week has aroused as much interest in China as elsewhere. Adding to the feelgood brew, reports the New ...

Rich pickings

And Finally Just how many billionaires does China have?

When the Hurun Report was launched in 1999, it had just one US dollar billionaire. And only just: “red capitalist” Rong Yiren, the former China ...