virtualreview

china: news and opinion

Latest stories from Countdown to Beijing 


05 Nov 09 visit Beijing’s graffiti: art or mayhem? Beijing's young graffiti artists use derelict buildings as the canvas to share their take on the world.
28 Oct 09 visit From Reuters TV: ING’s Greater China fund likes telcos, banks ING IM on China prospects.
25 Oct 09 visit China’s changing palette Pampered grapes and expensive price tags in China's growing wine market.
23 Oct 09 visit Temple of Heaven Ma Junqiu, a 86-year-old folk artist, performs during a morning exercise session at the Temple of Heaven park in Beijing October 16, 2009. REUTERS/Grace Liang
20 Oct 09 visit China mimic - birdsong in Beijing Chinese mimic Cheng Jiaqiang is a walking menagerie.
19 Oct 09 visit A Hu-Ma summit in 2012? When Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou was elected ruling Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman in July, pundits jumped on the idea that he would use his new title to help secure a meeting with China's President Hu Jintao.
15 Oct 09 visit How cheap is cheap? "How cheap is cheap?" That was the most frequently asked question among bankers and private equity experts attending a recent forum in Hong Kong.
14 Oct 09 visit That’s right, Grandpa Wen!! China's Communist Party rarely admits mistakes, but Wen got kudos for facing up to his.
14 Oct 09 visit When China is allowed to sell, it buys instead Central Huijin, the domestic arm of China's sovereign wealth fund, has revived a scheme to buy shares in the country's three largest listed banks.
13 Oct 09 visit North Korea’s Great Leader knew his cabbage (Photo: North Koreans offer flowers to a statue of state founder Kim Il-sung to commemorate the 61st anniversary of the founding of the state, in Pyongyang September 9, 2009, in this picture released by North Korea's official news agency KCNA.)
13 Oct 09 visit Beijing gate-keeping disadvantages Chinese buyers As the takeover of General Motors Co's Hummer business shows, Chinese bidders may have to pay more to compensate for the regulatory risk at home.
13 Oct 09 visit China retail speculation adds risks to gold price     As gold prices surge to a new record, China's retail investors are trading more of the yellow metal, often using borrowed money. This is further evidence that recent high prices may not be sustained.    Like investors around the world, ...
08 Oct 09 visit A “Wynning” strategy of betting on VIPs Top-tier casino operator Wynn has always bet on VIP gamblers. Now it is adopting the same approach with its stock market flotation.
07 Oct 09 visit Grandpa Wen, so happy to see you! North Korea knows how to put on a show. Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was this week treated to a special performance of the "Arirang" mass games, the world's biggest choreographed extravaganza with as many as 100,000 participants. This time it...
07 Oct 09 visit China can be smarter on reserving more resources China might have good environmental reasons to restrict the production of rare earth metals, but export quotas and duties are not the way to do it.
05 Oct 09 visit Bankers leave little upside for new Hong Kong IPO A dozen or so companies have raised money in Hong Kong over the past month to cash in on rebounding equity markets, but that window is threatening to close after a string of poor debuts.
30 Sep 09 visit China’s 60th anniversary : Live The People's Republic of China will mark the 60th anniversary of its founding on Thursday with a military parade showcasing its growing political and economic clout
30 Sep 09 visit China might keep the weakest bank all to itself Faced with a backlash against foreign investors, Beijing may be tempted to offer shares in the last of its big four banks to a domestic audience.
29 Sep 09 visit Imagine when China runs a trade deficit If current trends continue, China might swing to a trade deficit in the not-too-distant future. Even if it happens, this would not necessarily be something for the world to worry about.
25 Sep 09 visit Starbucks and the overvalued yuan Is latte at Starbucks in China overpriced or is the local currency, the yuan, unexpectedly overvalued? The former is certainly more plausible, but it might be equally true that the yuan, if not overvalued, is at least not as undervalued as other measures...
24 Sep 09 visit China’s close shave How would you like to sport a Tiananmen square or the Great Wall on your head ? Then just step into Jiangshanxiu salon. National flags are placed at the entrance of the salon in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province in central China and staff wear...
24 Sep 09 visit The Pear Necessities The 45-year-old has cultivated 18,000 baby-shaped pears in his orchard this year, hoping to find a new way to make a fortune.
23 Sep 09 visit China’s start-up market can win against the odds There are reasons to believe that China's start-up market, set to debut in October, offers better potential than previous efforts in Singapore, Germany and Hong Kong.
22 Sep 09 visit The great Chinese commodities play China's hunger for commodities is only matched by its demand for market expertise.
22 Sep 09 visit Another nail in the Malthusian coffin? All the talk of addressing the global imbalances throws a spotlight on contrasting demographic trends in the world's two most populous nations -- China and India.
18 Sep 09 visit “Leasing” bankers to CIC Investment banks may find a payoff in the end for lending their bankers and offering free expert advice to China's $200 billion sovereign wealth fund
17 Sep 09 visit For Chinese exporters, the grass is greener abroad The U.S.-China tyre dispute threatens to spill into other sectors and further squeeze Chinese exporters’ already razor-thin margins. It might seem mind-boggling to many that Chinese manufacturers are still hanging on to weak overseas markets even thou...
17 Sep 09 visit Taiwan’s killer mudslides "It should be said that the population is too high, that not so many people should be living up there." --Chen Hung-yu, geosciences professor at National Taiwan University.
15 Sep 09 visit Identifying bubbles One of the biggest debates about China today is whether it is at the stage of asset price inflation or has entered into a bubble. Here are some useful quotes from leading bubbleologists to help you decide.
15 Sep 09 visit U.S.-China trade spat more about cars than tyres Why are the U.S. and China trading blows about something as mundane as car tyres at a time when the world is trying to avoid slipping back into trade protectionism? It's not purely about the $1 billion worth of tyres China sells to the U.S. every year. It...
15 Sep 09 visit National Day magistry China is taking no chances that anything unexpected will upset the planning for it's high-profile military parade on Oct. 1 to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Communist state. Foreigners along the parade route have been given instructions...
14 Sep 09 visit Ex-Google China chief’s dream factory Google's former China head Kai-Fu Lee wants to create China's next internet giant in a factory. That sounds like an ideal model for venture capital, but is he being realistic?
11 Sep 09 visit www.V.cn What's the likely shape of any recovery to the global financial crisis? It could be www.V.cn, says Zhou Yuan, a top executive with China's sovereign wealth fund.
11 Sep 09 visit Hit with Maria? A perk of the job for China’s leaders Despite being mayor of Beijing for most of the period running up to the Olympics and now Vice Premier of China with responsibility for financial and economic affairs, Wang Qishan has still found time to indulge his passion for tennis.
10 Sep 09 visit Making a submarine with scrap Amateur inventor Tao Xiangli scoured second-hand markets for two years in search of spare parts for more than just a broken appliance. He's built a home-made submarine he hopes will give him his big break.
09 Sep 09 visit Bad debt below 1 percent in China soon? After the credit emission in China during the first half, international investors are concerned that bad debt will pile up after three years. Bankers in China are certainly a lot more optimistic.
08 Sep 09 visit Google to $115 million in 4 months After heading Google's fast growth in China for four years, Kai-Fu Lee was sick in a hospital bed thinking about a pornography investigation and the future. Less than four months and $115 million in investment later, Lee had set up a new venture capital...
08 Sep 09 visit Misinformation age in Urumqi With communications sharply restricted in China's divided city of Urumqi, where reports of syringe attacks have spread fear and panic, residents fill the void by passing on rumors.
08 Sep 09 visit Hong Kong for the weekend For many investment bankers based in Hong Kong, the territory is considered "home" only on weekends. The rest of the time, they are off doing deals in mainland China.
03 Sep 09 visit Dalai Lama’s laugh lines The Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan had a somber purpose, praying for victim's of last month's typhoon and comforting survivors. But injected a characteristic humour into his speeches, helping to bring people together, his supporters say.
02 Sep 09 visit The visible hand Bejing's efforts to provide affordable housing and prop up the crucial property market are not popular with some developers.
02 Sep 09 visit China leading other markets? It's becoming increasingly common to blame Chinese stocks for recent volatility in global markets. In places, numbers do back up why China and other markets are increasingly moving in tandem.
02 Sep 09 visit IBM skips around China Internet censorship Internet access is a sensitive subject for foreign companies doing business in China, especially electronic firms such as IBM, which must tip-toe carefully around the issue.
02 Sep 09 visit First, be confident Advice from JP Morgan's Brian Gu, head of M&A for Greater China, for cash-rich Chinese looking for acquisition targets: First, be confident.
01 Sep 09 visit Lenovo’s next big thing? Lenovo is short on details about a new gadget that could bring together the cellphone and the PC into one neat device.
01 Sep 09 visit Lessons from children, old ladies Looking for ways to build a solid banking system, you would not normally think that the answer could lie in the practices of children and old ladies.
31 Aug 09 visit Look in the mirror When China comes under criticism for blocking corporate takeovers, an academic with the government's top planning agency suggests the U.S. should look in the mirror.
31 Aug 09 visit Interest rate barometer If Chinese bank regulators needed a forward looking indicator for interest rate movements, they should look more closely at underground banks.
31 Aug 09 visit Don’t bank on mortgage spike Chinese banks actively pursue mortgages as they are seen as quality long-term loans. Such loans have surged recently but they will not have a big impact on banks' earnings since they still only account for a small portion of total loans.
31 Aug 09 visit Where others won’t go Chinese mining firms aggressive move into risky markets in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America is based on economic factors, says a Beijing-based mining executive.

« Today's Stories