US president Obama took along a larger number of business people on his trip to Africa, in an effort to outbid the Chinese success in the continent. Former China and Africa correspondent Howard French sees a positive sign as the US wants to do ready with Africa, but wonders in an interview with Valley Public Radio whether the US are ready for a different Africa.Read More →
The French luxury goods conglomerate Kering scored a major PR-success by returning two bronze statues, looted by foreign troops from the Beijing Summer Palace in 1860, to China, business analyst Shaun Rein tells in the Washington Post. The bronze heads of a rat and rabbit were given to China’s National Museum in Beijing.Read More →
Pork manufacturer Shuanghui’s purchase of Smithfield was the latest move of Chinese companies to enter a global economy, and they want to hedge a slower growth in their domestic markets, tells business analyst Shaun Rein AFP.Read More →
The bird flu and food scandals did not help KFC to continue their success story in China, their largest market. But also in terms of their offerings KFC is losing grip on the market, tells business analyst Shaun Rein in Business Week.Read More →
Despite legitimate concerns, like quality control and food inflation, the purchase of America’s largest meat producer Smithfield by China’s Shuanghui is a deal that can only deliver winners, says Shanghai-based business analyst Shaun Rein in the New York Times.Read More →
A tainted image because of a food scandal is one of the reasons China’s largest pork producer Shuanghui bought America’s largest meat processor Smithfield for US$4.7bn in cash. Shuanghui is trying to upgrade both management and technology, tells business analyst Ben Cavender in the Wall Street Journal.Read More →
Hong Kong retail is booming, as mainland shoppers in first-tier cities saw wages going up 12% in 2013, says business analyst Shaun Rein on CNBC. But consumer confidence is still weak, especially middle-class men who are fearing wage stagnation as investments drop.Read More →
Maybe the recent bird flu was not as bad as SARS ten years ago, but the fear for a pandemic has certainly damaged business in China, tells business analyst Shaun Rein in NPR’s Marketplace. Read More →
Gambling enclave Macau faces some stagnation and looks with envy how its US counterpart Las Vegas is doing. Business analyst Ben Cavender tells the Macau Business Daily how Macau can follow in the footsteps of America’s iconic gambling city.Read More →
Shanghaiist sat down with business analyst Shaun Rein to discuss wide-ranging changing trends in China, as Rein described in his book “The End of Cheap China”. For example, how are Chinese brands going to fight the global heavyweights to make their markRead More →
Most companies in trouble restructure, scale down, very few are able to reinvent themselves. But it can be done, writes IMD-professor Bill Fischer in Forbes. Soon a book on the Chinese company Haier, one of the companies who reinvented itself, co-authored by Bill Fischer, will appear.Read More →
China’s most famous liquor Moutai is the Ferrari among alcoholic drinks. But when austerity is high on the political agenda, that might actually create a lot of trouble, explains business analyst Shaun Rein to Reuters. Although they might be able to circumvent those measures.Read More →