Doing business in China: January 2008 Archives
By The Miami Herald
January 20, 2008
After acrimonious debate, Miami Beach commissioners have decided to end city sponsorship of a cultural and business exchange program with China because of concern over the communist country's dismal human rights record. Instead, commissioners voted unanimously to move the program to the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce.
The China Cultural and Business Exchange Program is the pet project of Commissioner Jerry Libbin, who defended it as a valuable way to boost tourism. Libbin started the program in 2005, led a local delegation to Beijing in 2006 and Shanghai in 2007, and has hosted reciprocal delegations as well.
But Commissioner Jonah Wolfson, who led the anti-China charge at Wednesday's commission meeting, criticized the program ``in light of the nation's blatant and ongoing human rights abuses.''
By BBC News
January 14, 2008
Apple and China Mobile have called off talks to launch the US group's popular iPhone handset to Chinese consumers.
While no explanation was given in China Mobile's statement, there is speculation that the two firms failed to agree on a revenue sharing deal.
The news means the iPhone is unlikely to be released in China anytime soon.
China Unicom, the country's only other mobile network, said last year that while it had no plans to introduce the iPhone it remained open to the idea.
Double average salaries
Mobile phone analysts have long said Apple would struggle to introduce the iPhone in China.
In addition to difficulty in gaining agreement over a revenue sharing deal, they have pointed to technical and content issues.
The iPhone sells for about $500 (£255) in the US, double the average monthly salary in China.
Though out of reach for the great majority of Chinese, it would likely prove very popular among the growing middle classes of Beijing, Shanghai and the other big eastern cities.
The iPhone was launched in North America and Europe last year, where Apple chose a single network provider in each country.
It is now continuing with talks to launch the handset in Japan.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | The New York Times
January 12, 2008
Ron Rust and Beve Kozub were poking around the toy booths at China's biggest trade fair two years ago when something caught their eye: pouty-faced baby dolls snuggling in light blue and pink fleece blankets, their eyes tightly shut or gazing with a newborn's woozy stare.
The American dealers plunked down $22,052 for a shipment of 2,740. But the lifelike dolls turned out to be knockoffs. Rust and Kozub were slapped with a lawsuit that could have cost them their home in Harmony, Pa.
Despite getting burned, they were back in China this fall. For new products at the right price, China is ''the only option at this time,'' Rust said.
The Americans fell prey to one of the many dangers of China's rough and raw capitalism. It's a cutthroat, predatory world where many factories cut corners to make an easy buck or just stay ahead of the thousands of others vying for their business. Safety scares, copyright ripoffs and outright thuggery are endemic.
Yet, foreign buyers keep snapping up toys, clothes, laptops and a myriad of other products that the world's factory floor churns out. Getting your hot product made in China is seen as a sure moneymaker. In the first 11 months of 2007, China's exports totaled $1.1 trillion, up 26 percent from the same period in 2006, according to China's Commerce Ministry. Chinese exports to the U.S. totaled $212.7 billion, a 15 percent increase from 2006, the ministry said.
The buyers are not blameless: Many breeze in on buying missions and don't stick around to ensure the goods are made right.
For consumers, it can be a dangerous and even deadly game. Chinese-made toy trains coated with lead paint ended up in playrooms worldwide. Cough syrup containing a poisonous chemical used in antifreeze killed dozens in Latin America. A tainted pet food ingredient killed dogs and cats in North America.
Chinese officials defend their factories, saying only a tiny fraction of the billions of dollars in exports each year have problems. But it takes just one bad batch of toothpaste to cause deaths.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | The New York Times
January 10, 2008
A Japanese educational company is recalling 10,000 electronic talking globes after customers complained that self-governing Taiwan was labeled a part of the People's Republic of China.
The ''Smart Globe'' sold by Tokyo-based Gakken calls Taiwan -- which split from communist China amid civil war in 1949 -- ''Taiwan Island'' and says it comes under the jurisdiction of Beijing, the company said in a statement Thursday.
An electronic voice also tells users pointing to Taiwan that the island is part of the People's Republic of China, the official name of the Chinese communist regime, according to Gakken spokesman Satoru Aihara.
He said Gakken's Chinese manufacturer had refused to produce the globes -- which are sold only in Japan -- unless Taiwan was labeled as a Chinese region.
''Selling these globes was a serious error on our part,'' Aihara said. ''Unfortunately we let cost considerations override sound judgment.''
By Associated Press | The Straits Times (Singapore)
January 03, 2008
China has decided to restrict the broadcasting of Internet videos - including those posted on video-sharing websites - to sites run by state-controlled companies and require providers to report questionable content to the government.
It wasn't immediately clear how the new rules would affect YouTube and other providers of Internet video that host websites available in China but are based in other countries.
The new regulations, which take effect Jan 31, were approved by both the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and the Ministry of Information Industry and were described on their websites Tuesday.
Under the new policy, websites that provide video programming or allow users to upload video must obtain government permits and applicants must be either state-owned or state-controlled companies.
The majority of Internet video providers in China are private, according to an explanation of the regulations posted on Chinafilm.com, which is run by the state-run China Film Group.
The policy will ban providers from broadcasting video that involves national secrets, hurts the reputation of China, disrupts social stability or promotes pornography.
Providers will be required to delete and report such content.
'Those who provide Internet video services should insist on serving the people, serve socialism ... and abide by the moral code of socialism,' the rules say.
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