Prostitution: A mirror of society - Zhang Lijia

Zhang Lijia

Prostitution is a mirror of society, tells Beijing-based author Zhang Lijia at the BBC. Her book Lotus: A Novel shows some of China's most urgent problems related to prostitution: migration, the gap between men and women and moral decline.

While entering the sex trade on their free will, most women did so for economic reasons, she tells. They gain economic independence, but often against a price. Much of their income is used to support their families back home, who often have no idea about the source. Why prostitution in China should be decriminalized.

Zhang Lijia is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Are you looking for more stories by Zhang Lijia? Do check out this list.

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Zhang Lijia at the BBC

China's economy does not need 8% growth - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein

Eight percent growth has seen by many economist as a red flag for China's economy. When China grows less than eight percent, panic is near. But business analyst Shaun Rein explains in an opinion piece for the BBC why the country can remain stable with a lower growth. 

Shaun Rein:

There is indeed a deal between the Communist Party and the Chinese people, but what it is really about is not a particular growth figure. 

It is about the Chinese government stepping out of people's lives and continuing to provide ways for them to make money and improve their quality of life from the end of the Cultural Revolution onward. 

At this point in China's economic history, achieving 8% annual growth is no longer essential to accomplishing that, as real poverty has mostly been eradicated. 

People on the lower end of the income scale are continuing to get richer in real terms today. 

In 2012, China's lowest earners saw their wages rise by 14% on average, while inflation was held to about 2%. 

In fact, my company's research suggests that people earning less than 3000 yuan ($480; £300) per month are among the most optimistic segment of Chinese society. 

That is because they are seeing their incomes rise in real terms and there is strong demand for workers in a shrinking labour pool. The low-income labour market remains tight, as many factories and companies are running at 20% below ideal employment numbers... 

China's key mission will have to provide real progress on corruption and pollution, as well as food and product safety. 

Accomplishing this will be necessary to maintain social stability, but will not necessarily mean reaching 8% annual growth. 

In fact, lower growth is healthy, as it will force officials to green-light sustainable businesses, rather than merely approve anything that can help economic growth, despite the effect of pollution.

More in the BBC.

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.  

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More losers than winner in fashion brands - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein

H&M and Zara might be winners in the competitive fashion market in China, tells author Shaun Rein of "The End of Cheap China" to the BBC. But brands like  Gap, Marks & Spencer, American Apparel, Abercrombie & Fitch and Banana Republic belong to the majority of the losers.

The BBC:

Shaun Rein, managing director of Shanghai-based China Market Research Group and the author of the "The End of Cheap China", says that fast fashion retailers like H&M and Zara that quickly churn out affordable copies of runway designs are most likely to succeed. 

He says brands like Gap, Marks & Spencer, Abercrombie & Fitch and Banana Republic will find it difficult to gain any traction in China because they fall into a middle-class image trap, where the product is fairly expensive for the local market, but carries little prestige. 

"The middle class in China - they trade up or trade down and anything in the middle will struggle," he says. 

"That's why I am very bearish on M&S as their DNA is very middle class. You buy our clothes because you want to present yourself as middle class - that's not something that any Chinese person I've ever met wants. 

"When we interview Chinese who are middle class, they really think they are on the way to riches because everyone knows someone that 15 years ago was a dirt-poor farmer but now is driving a BMW." 

Branding has also presented challenges for some players in China. 

US retailer American Apparel found that its overtly sexy marketing was not to local tastes and ultimately had to close down some stores. 

Gap promotes its 1969 jeans, but in China the year is associated with the violence of the Cultural Revolution not flower-power nostalgia, Mr Rein notes. 

And even the foreign fashion brands that have the biggest market share in China are not yet household names that trip off local shoppers' tongues

More at the BBC.

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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Electricity usage no longer a good measurement for growth - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein

A severe drop in the usage of electricity has been used to point at a drop in economic growth. But business analyst Shaun Rein, and author of "The End of Cheap China" explains to the BBC why electricity is no longer a good measurement, and China's growth is still well at track.

Shaun Rein:

The power generation figure is somewhat misleading since it disproportionately reflects the heavy manufacturing sector. 

Electricity use will become less popular as an indicator as China's economy changes 

Energy-intensive, high-polluting industries like steel construction have been hit hard by collapsing demand from Europe, creating a significant impact on power consumption. Manufacturing hubs like Guangdong have suffered, but other provinces that are less reliant on manufacturing are continuing to see strong growth. 

Not only that, the government is continuing to limit power-intensive industries to encourage growth in more energy-efficient areas, such as higher-end manufacturing. 

There will naturally be some friction in the economy during a shift and that is to be expected, not feared. 

To be sure, a slowdown is taking place. 

However, the economy will grow faster starting at the end of the third quarter as increased liquidity makes its way into through the financial system.

More in the BBC. Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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