What can China learn from Singapore on sustainability? - China Weekly Hangout

Richard Brubaker

Sustainable development expert and CEIBS adjunct professor +Richard Brubaker has spent six weeks in Singapore and was impressed by the progress the city-state has made in developing sustainable practices. On Thursday the +China Weekly Hangout will ask him what lessons China can learn from Singapore. At this Google+ pages your will find reports about some projects he visited (including a great video on vertical farming)

Join us in our weekly China discussion on Thursday 10 October at 10pm Beijing times, 4pm CEST (Europe) and 10am EST (US/Canada). You can register at our event page.
You can leave you questions in the comments or ask them live during the hangout at our event page.
China Weekly Hangout

Last week the +China Weekly Hangout discussed the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. +Steve Barru, +李洛傑 and +Fons Tuinstra  wrapped one week of news on Shanghai's Free Trade Zone, and end in a not-so positive mood about what this new zone is actually going to do.



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Solar energy: fail or future? - China Weekly Hangout

Solar panels to heat hot water at the Tea-Horse Trade Guest House along the Tiger Leaping Gorge trail in Yunnan, China. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The unceremonial collapse of Suntech, the Chinese solar energy firm who was previously the darling of the investors, shows that rosy investments can fail. But what went wrong in this case, and how can China profit from the upcoming innovations in solar energy?
China's solar energy has been mostly focusing on the export, not on domestic use. And as investments in solar energy in Europe and the US dropped dramatically, so did the basis of companies like Suntech. But the ambitions are still in place. Can solar energy safely replace more environmental dangers sources like oil, coal, nuclear power and even fracking?

On Thursday 11 April, 4pm CEST, 10pm Beijing Time, 10am EST, the +China Weekly Hangout will discuss the future of solar energy in China. What is its perspective after the failure of Suntech, and what does it need to get solar energy going? You can register for the discussion here , leave your questions and comments at the event page. During the hangout (which can be watched in this space), you can also join the discussing using twitter and Google+ if you add the hash tag #CWHCWH to your messages.
+Chris Brown has already promised to chip in, but we will certainly have more knowledgeable panelists.

The energy security has been on the agenda of the +China Weekly Hangout before. In September 2012 we discussed energy security with +Merritt Cooke and +Richard Brubaker , moderated by +Fons Tuinstra .


In November 2012 +Richard Brubaker and +Fons Tuinstra discussed the recent developments of nuclear power, as China resumed the building of new plants after a moratorium after the Fukushima disaster.

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Political reform under Xi Jinping, the top-3 - China Weekly Hangout

Guests of honour book at the opening of Russia Day at the 2010 World Expo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What do you expect from Xi Jinping, we asked a few days ago, preparing for tomorrow's +China Weekly Hangout.  Political reform in several formats popped up to be most popular among the 14 subjects we proposed: austerity measures, the poor-rich divide and political reform are the top-3 in our poll. We even noted some optimism here, although it was not overwhelming.
Pollution, food security and internet connectivity also scored well, but not that well, and all three subjects have already been covered in earlier China Weekly Hangout. (You can have an overview of earlier hangouts here.)

The hangout is held on Thursday 10pm Beijing times, 4pm CEST and 10am EST.

Please register here if you want to join our debate here. The usual suspects can expect an invite, if we catch them online. Until the event starts, you can leave your questions or comments there too. During the event, you can join the discussion in Twitter and Google+; do add the hash tag #CWHCWH. You can watch the event also in this space.
How does the pollution affect you, was the subject of our +China Weekly Hangout in January 2013 with +Richard Brubaker , our most successful show that attracted already more than 2,000 viewers.

Next week we plan to focus on solar energy in China, the downfall of Suntech and the prospects of new developments in solar energy. +Chris Brown is for sure attending the hangout.

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Food security and dead pigs (II) - China Weekly Hangout

Since our first announcement of this week's +China Weekly Hangout on food security in China, triggered off by thousands of dead pigs floating in the Huangpu River in Shanghai,  not only more pigs turned up. The number is now already over 12,500, and in their slipstream the first factlets about their origin turned up in the media.
Those facts are still far from clear, but I believe most attention went to the wrong subject: potential water pollution. The real story is food security, I firmly believe.

An interesting detail from a recent AP story:

Villagers have told state media that pig dumping is on the rise following police campaigns against the illicit trade of pork products harvested from diseased pigs that were illegally sold, instead of properly disposed of.

So there is actually a huge positive angle on this pig story: those pigs ended up in the Huangpu River and not on your plate. That is very good news, although everybody is still waiting for more details. Who is familiar with the Huangpu River (and Suzhou Creek for that matter), knows that those rivers have seen much worst pollution in the past than a few thousand dead animals.
On Thursday 21 March our sustainability expert +Richard Brubaker is joining us, and we hope to discuss the food security side of this issue more thoroughly. Who is actually in charge of food security? How is this melange of government agencies fighting each other? Can we expect action from the new government? What can ordinary consumers do to protect themselves. Richard recently visited Shanghai's slaughterhouses, and has during earlier hangouts been food security as an issue more than once.
Just a few questions to discuss on the China Weekly Hangout, Thursday 21 March, 10pm Beijing Time, 3pm CET (Europe) and 9am EST (US/Canada). You can watch the video here at this space, or at our event page, where you can register for participation. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra , president of the +China Speakers Bureau .
During the event you can field questions and remarks at Twitter and Google+ (Do add our hash tag #CWHCWH).

How does the pollution affect you, was another question +Richard Brubaker and +Fons Tuinstra discussed earlier in January. A full overview of all +China Weekly Hangout 's you can find at our YouTube channel.

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Food security and dead pigs - China Weekly Hangout

More than 3,000 dead pigs in Shanghai's Huangpu river illustrated clearly how much is amiss with the food production in China. Scandal after scandal hit the media and internet, and China's inhabitants have a lot of reasons to be worried about the quality of their food, very worried.

At next week's China Weekly Hangout we will be joined by +Richard Brubaker of "Collective Responsibility" and teaching sustainability at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS). We will have a look into how China's government is (not) dealing with food security, its bureaucratic warfares and the effects for the consumers. We will discuss how worried we should be and what can be done to change this dangerous food situation in China.

The hangout will be held on March 21, 10pm Beijing Time, 3pm CET (Europe) and 9pm EST (US/Canada).
Do you want to join us, ask questions or make you own point? Here you can register on our event page. An overview of earlier hangouts, you can find at our YouTube channel here.

This week, on Thursday 14 March, the China Weekly Hangout will focus on the media in Hong Kong. In the 1990s they were a beacon of hope, and Hong Kong one of few global news capitals. With Paul Fox of the HKU we will discuss the state of Hong Kong media. You can read our announcement here, or directly register at our event page. 

In November 2012 the +Richard Brubaker also joined the China Weekly Hangout to discuss the Chinese plans to restart its ambitious nuclear power program, and the possibility NIMBY protest would derail that plan.

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Failing foreign firms - China Weekly Hangout

KFC Localized Logo Beijing China (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

No month passes without yet another foreign firm trying to enter the China market throws in the towel: they do not make it. The China Weekly Hangout dives on Thursday 31 January Wednesday 30 January into the backgrounds of those failures. Are Chinese governments giving foreign firm a harder time than their domestic competitors. Or is it stupidity on the foreign side who do not get what the Chinese consumers want? Or a combination of both.
Will they survive competition, food scandals and increasingly critical customers?
On Thursday CEIBS-adjunct professor Richard Brubaker will join us and we will discuss both KFC and Apple at length. Yes, both are still successful, but will they hang on?

Last week, in our China Weekly Hangout on pollution, Richard Brubaker mentioned names of foreign firms who do well in China: Alstrom, Siemens, GE and others who offer the quality Chinese companies do not have. But the number of failures seems larger: Media Markt, BestBuy, Google, Yahoo, Caterpillar, B&Q, just to mention a few.

Update: who is next heading for trouble? We bet on General Motors, who is busy jeopardizing their relationship with their China partner SAIC. They should first talk to Volkswagen, who did a similar move in the 1990s.

Do you want to have you say too? Leave your questions at our event page (available here), or register for participation.

The China Weekly Hangout takes mostly place on Thursdays 10pm Beijing time, 3pm CET (Europe) and 9am EST (US/Canada). This week it will be on Wednesday. You can follow the discussion also on YouTube at our event page on here in this space.

Is this going to be your first Google+ Hangout and do you want to try it out in a dry run before participating. Send me an email, or add me to your Gtalk (if you use that).
Yesterday the China Weekly Hangout discussed how pollution affects the lives of those living and working in China. Participating, Richard Brubaker and Fons Tuinstra, president of the China Speakers Bureau.

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China Weekly Hangout: the innovation debate

CEIBS China Europe International Business School (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Is China a copy-and-paste culture, stealing innovation from others, or the upcoming paradise for global innovation, replacing Silicon Valley? Two schools of thought are heavily divided on the innovation issue and the China Weekly Hangout on Thursday 11 October is going to try to drill a bit deeper than the daily one-liners about this subject. You can register here on our dedicated event page.

For this hangout we have invited eminent experts on innovation on China:

• Bill Fischer, professor of innovation at IMD and former CEIBS dean. He recently co-published The Idea Hunter: How to Find the Best Ideas and Make them Happen
• Greg Anderson, consultant and author of Designated Drivers: How China Plans to Dominate the Global Auto Industry (confirmed)
• China-guru at-large Janet Carmosky, Ceo of the China Business Network (confirmed). 
• Richard Brubaker of CEIBS is currently traveling, but will join if possible.

Fons Tuinstra of the China Speakers Bureau will moderate. 

Together with a few other subjects like sustainability, international relations and political and economic developments, innovation is likely an issue that will make regular appearances in our China Weekly Hangout. In this first innovation hangout we will draw some first sketches and dive into China's possibilities in the auto market. In the official hangout only a few additional seats are available, do drop us a line if you want to join.
Others can follow the event on YouTube and give comments or ask questions a our dedicated event page.

Every two, three months we will address additional issues regarding innovation like: education, intellectual property, creativity, government policies, Confucianism and other elements of the innovation debate. If you want to get regular updates, do register at our China Weekly Hangout page or you can register for this event only at our event page. Changes will be announced here, and at our event page.

The China Week is in principle held every Thursday from 10pm Beijing Time, 4pm CEST (Europe) and 10am EST (US). During and after the hangout a YouTube screen and link will be available on this page.

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