How the US failed to stamp out the coronavirus, unlike China – Harry Broadman

 

Harry Broadman

The US failed to stamp out the coronavirus, unlike China, says Harry Broadman, a former senior US trade official to the Sydney Morning Herald. And since South Korea and New Zealand also dealt with COVID-19 efficiency, it is not China’s authoritarian regime that made the difference, he adds.

The Sydney Morning Herald:

“Obviously, the US government bungled it,” said Harry Broadman, a former senior US trade official and managing director with Berkeley Research Group. The singular authority of China’s Communist Party helped Beijing enforce contact tracing and lockdowns, Broadman said. But other democracies, including New Zealand and South Korea, stamped out the virus as China did.

The real difference between the US and China was that Washington “has been arguing over stimulus issues on Capitol Hill and it’s still far too little and too late”, said Broadman, who has served under both Republican and Democratic presidents. “That has created more and more uncertainty on the part of business.”

More at the Sydney Morning Herald.

Harry Broadman is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau? Do you need him at your (online) meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

Are you looking for more experts on the coronavirus crisis at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

US, UK top destinations for study – Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf

Both the US and the UK retain their top positions as a destination for study, reveals the Hurun Chinese Luxury Consumer Survey. They are followed by Australia and Canada. Surprising newcomer is New Zealand at not five, Hurun founder Rupert Hoogewerf tells in the PieNews.

The PieNews:

The top five destinations for undergraduate and postgraduate study were the US, the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, the survey by luxury publishing and events group Hurun Report shows. 

This is the first year New Zealand has entered the top five, overtaking Switzerland. “New Zealand breaking into the ‘Big 5’ shows how far it has come to building a global education programme, attracting many of China’s most successful families to send their children to study there,” commented Rupert Hoogewerf, the Hurun Report’s founder, chairman and chief researcher. 

“New Zealand’s all-round education system is able to compete at the very highest levels in the world.” 

Survey respondents also nominated their favourite study abroad education agencies, with BE Education voted the best high-end overseas study brand. 

Shinyway was voted China’s best education agency for consumers heading to the US, while Haiyi was dubbed the best education agency for Switzerland. 

Hoogewerf noted that 80% of wealthy families in China now intend to send their children overseas. The average age for millionaires to send their children abroad for study is 16, while the average for billionaires is 18. 

Now in its 11th year, the report is based on a survey of 376 Mainland Chinese ‘millionaires’, each worth RMB10m (US$1.6m) and with an average wealth of $6.8 million.

More in the PieNews.

Rupert Hoogewerf 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.

Finding a study destination is often a first step, followed by purchasing real estate and other investments, by wealthy Chinese. Are you interested in more experts on China´s outbound investments at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check our latest list.

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New NZ visa? Show your UnionPay platinum card - Wei Gu

Wei Gu

The agreement between China and the US to issue 10-year visa might have been a first watershed moment, other countries are following suit. WSJ wealth editor Wei Gu discovered soon for a New Zealand visa, showing your platina UnionCard opens door.

Wei Gu:

Countries around the world have been streamlining visa processes for Chinese travelers, who have made 98 million trips so far this year. They are also big spenders, splurging the most on tax-free shopping last year and accounting for 27% of global tax-free travel spending, according to Global Blue, which processes tax refunds.

Chinese travelers have already begun to discover the allure of New Zealand, accounting for the second-most number of tourists there, after Australia. Average spending by Chinese visitors to New Zealand is higher than any other groups of tourists, according to China Unionpay. 

New Zealand topped a list of 22 nations as Chinese tourists’ most satisfying destination in the first quarter of 2014, according to China Tourism Academy, a research center under China’s Tourism Bureau. The poll measures travelers’ satisfaction with public services, environmental conditions and security. New Zealand’s fresh air and stunning scenery can provide a bit of a reprieve for those living in heavily polluted Chinese cities. 

But the influx of Chinese tourists—and property buyers—has also led to a backlash in New Zealand. Mr. Peters, leader of conservative political party New Zealand First,argues that the credit-card policy essentially allows Chinese to buy their way into the country by skirting key criteria. 

However, Kevin Bowler, chief executive for government agency Tourism New Zealand, said any effort to streamline the visa process for international visitors are good for the tourism industry.

More in the Wall Street Journal.

Wei Gu 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 interested in more experts on luxury goods at the China Speakers Bureau? Check our latest list.  

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80% of China´s rich plan to send their kids abroad - Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf

The story China´s rich send their kids abroad is not new, but their numbers are growing and the ages of the kids are dropping, found the latest Hurun report. And says Hurun founder Rupert Hoogerwerf, they go to more different countries, he tells at Yibada.com.

Yibada:

The report, according to Xinhua, found that some 80 percent of the country's rich people have plans to send their children abroad, the highest ratio in the world. 

Also, the report found that these rich people are most likely to send their children to the U.S. and the U.K., while other countries like Australia, Canada, Switzerland, New Zealand, Singapore, France and Germany attract most of the rest. 

Finally, the report said that the latest average age of the millionaires' children is 16 years old when they were sent abroad. 

The publisher of the monthly magazine, Rupert Hoogewerf, also known as Hurun, observed that 10 years ago, Chinese rich people could only send their children to Canada and Australia because there were a large number of Chinese people already living there. Now, because the Chinese rich people have a much broader social network, he said "they can find trusted people anywhere in the world and can rest assured sending children to any country." 

Hurun's the "Chinese Luxury Consumer Survey 2014" came from a poll of 400 Chinese parents who each had at least 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) in disposable income, according to China Daily. 

For undergraduate study, completing it in the U.S. tops the list among China's richest parents, with the U.K. second and Australia third. For a university degree, U.K. is their first choice and the U.S. as second for their children. 

Hoogewerf told China Daily: "We have been keeping a keen eye on overseas education as it indicates a trend in emigration. It is common practice for the rich to send their children overseas as a first step before they move to the country themselves when the children finish their education." 

Also, education has long been considered a high priority in China. On average, the country's high-net-worth individuals spend 170,000 yuan (about $27,000), to educate each of their children. This was the third-highest area of their spending, after travel and luxury goods, according to IB Times.

More at Yibada

Rupert Hoogewerf 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.

Are you interested in more experts on luxury goods at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out our latest list.    

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What do Chinese tourists want? - China Weekly Hangout

Chinese tourists (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Chinese tourists are a hot commodity internationally. They are spending per head more than tourists from any other country, and the growth is in the double digits. So, the question what do Chinese tourists want, is high on the agenda, for many countries and also for the +China Weekly Hangout on May 30.
According to the latest figures, Chinese went abroad in 2011 more than 70 million times (not including Hong Kong).
But getting Chinese to your country, and letting them spend their money is not that easy. Earlier this month +Simon Young told in the China Weekly Hangout his New Zealand prime minister went to China to see how to get more tourists to their country, and she is not alone. Now they would visit Australia, and add a few days on the other country.
The Schengen countries in Europe (most EU countries with the UK as notable exception) mostly offer multi-country tour packages, and seem to have an advantage for that reason. But despite their high expenditure, most Chinese tourists want the cheaper hotels and prefer an affordable Chinese restaurants, if there is no McDonald's around.
They do spend money on diamonds, luxury goods. For example the Swiss city of Luzern knows the Chinese tourist pass by to buy watches, so a day trip (longer they mostly do not want to stay) focuses on those watches. But many countries are looking for ways to let those tourist stay longer, and spend more.

At this stage about 3% of the Chinese have a passport. Does that mean that 97% is still looking for an opportunity to go abroad, and should the tourist industry focus on them. Or is it more lucrative to focus on the current 3%, who have more to spend than the remainder? Can you use the Chinese internet to get to your potential customers?

Enough issues to discuss on May 30, and to facilitate the participation from Africa (a key destination!), the UK, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, we change our regular broadcasting hours to 10am CEST (Europe), 4pm Beijing Time, 6pm in Sydney and 8pm in Wellington. You can register here for the event.

You can leave your questions and remarks here on this blog or at our event page. During the event, you can watch the discussion on YouTube both here and on our event page. During the event, you can also leave you remarks and questions on Twitter or Google+ (add the hash tag #CWHCWH)
Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra of the +China Speakers Bureau. Panelists will include +Simon Young. Additional participants will be listed here as the event nears.

Below you find the initial planning meeting, where we discussed a range of issues on the agenda for the +China Weekly Hangout .

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Office hours - China Weekly Hangout

Earlier today we planned some sessions of the +China Weekly Hangout, focused on different time zones, now Australia and New Zealand. We discussed some plans on tourism, the luxury industry and the dairy industry. For upcoming Thursday we have not set a subject, but we will hold open office hours if you want to discuss current affairs in China, or contribute to our hangouts later on.
You can register here for our open office hours on Thursday 16 May,  10pm Beijing time, 4pm CEST (Europe) and 10am EST (US/Canada).

For next weeks we are already booked, starting with a session on March 23, 10pm Beijing time, 4pm CEST (Europe) and 10pm EST (US/Canada) on the changing Chinese labor force next week, with +Dee Lee (Inno) as our expert guest. You can find our announcement here, and register for the event here. We already have an interesting selection of guests here, seats are limited, but you are welcome to join our hangout.

The question "What do Chinese tourist want", we plan to discuss on May 30 with +Simon Young , who is currently training the tourism industry in New Zealand to attract Chinese tourists by social media, and he plans to include people from his network. Later today we hope to send out the invite for the hangout (although the date is not yet set in stone). Planned time schedule: 4pm Beijing time, 8pm Wellington time, 10am CEST (Europe) and 9am London time. Unfortunately, the US drops out of our schedule.

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Australia/New Zealand session - China Weekly Hangout

English: Orthographic map of the Australasian part of Oceania: Australia, New Guinea, Island Melanesia, and New Zealand, but excluding the Maluccas. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

More than once the +China Weekly Hangout has been asked to change its regular broadcasting hours, so people from the time zones in Australia and New Zealand can also join. As an experiment we will host coming Monday, 13 May, a planning session with adjusted times, to test the water.
Both Google+ users from the region, and those with a link to Australia and New Zealand living in China are cordially invited to join. Feel free to share this announcement with others.
The hangout will take place on Monday 13 May, 9am CEST, 5pm Beijing Time, 9pm New Zealand, 7pm (Australia, Sydney).
In that session we will discuss subjects and the best way to now and then include Oceania into your hangouts.
A few subjects have already emerged (thanks to +Simon Young ): the Chinese influence on the dairy industry and Chinese tourism into Australia and New Zealand. A third subject emerged this week: has China become Australia's frenemy? 
On Monday we want to figure out what subjects do appeal to the visitors of our hangout, and whether we can get a few people in who can make sense out of these subjects.
During the event you can watch not only the show here, but also at our live YouTube page. No event? You will be redirect to our entry page.
You can leave your comments and suggestions here or at our event page; also you can register at our event page for participation. If you are interested, do sign up for our +China Weekly Hangout page. You can check out our previous hangouts here.
Are you new to Google Hangout? It is all very easy, and you only need an internet connection, a webcam and a mic. Feel free to sign up at my account at +Fons Tuinstra so we can set up a dry run and test your settings and add a few useful goodies.

The regular China Weekly Hangout is holding on May 9 an open office, where you can discuss current affairs in China or suggest subjects for hangouts later this year. You can read our announcement here, or register for the hangout here.
Regular China Weekly Hangouts take place at 10pm Beijing Time, 4pm CEST (Europe) and 10am EST (USA/Canada).

Earlier we organized a first session on Africa, and how China's media advance there, with veteran journalists +Eric Olander of the China Africa Project, and +Lara Farrar, previously working for both the China Daily and +CNN International. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra, president of the +China Speakers Bureau.

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Open office meeting - China Weekly Hangout

Barack Obama in a hangout

A set of holidays in Asia and Europe have disrupted our regular +China Weekly Hangout this week and next week.
As an alternative we will host next week, Thursday May 9, an open office session of our hangout, where you are welcome to discuss current affairs in China and offer suggestions for upcoming hangouts.

The event will be held at Thursday May 9, 10pm Beijing Time, 4pm CEST (Europe) and 10pm EST.
You can already register at our event page here. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra, president of the +China Speakers Bureau.
Until the start of the event you can also leave here or at the event page questions, remarks or additions.
During the event, we will monitor Google+ and Twitter (add hash tag #CWHCWH) for your contributions. You will be able to watch the meeting at YouTube, this page and our event page, also the recordings will be available after the event.
We also encourage you to sign up for our +China Weekly Hangout page if you have not yet done so, so you will get regular updates on our events. You can have a full overview of our previous hangouts here.


One suggestion for a future event came already from +Simon Young, residing in New Zealand, who pleaded for a change of the timing of our hangout, so participants from New Zealand and Australia, could join. We have initially planned an Aussie/New Zealand session on May 16 or 23, which will be held six hours earlier from our normal broadcasting times. So, at 4pm Beijing Time, 10am CEST (Europe) and 8pm Wellington time. (Otherwise we intend to stick mostly to our regular hours, unless Japan California report for business).
wo subjects for this Australia/New Zealand session have been suggested by Simon:  1. the Chinese influence on the dairy industry, and 2. the development of Chinese tourism in New Zealand and Australia. Depending on the participants, we will discuss both subjects, or limit ourselves to one.
Do you have hands-on experience in one of those industries and do you want to join our discussion? Do drop me a note for a possible dry test of a hangout and fine-tuning of the event.

Update: Yet another subject reached our digital radar screen. How much can you earn on a management function in China? +Richard Brubaker suggests here that at CEIBS foreign graduates still earn 30/40% than their Chinese counter parts. On Thursday, I will put the subject on the agenda, but only to narrow the subject down a bit, discuss possible experts to join and set a date.

Which reminds me, we should also plan another China Weekly Hangout on Africa, after our first well-visited session on about the advances different Chinese media groups make in Africa with veteran journalists +Eric Olander of the China Africa Project, and +Lara Farrar, previously working for both the China Daily and CNN in March.
Do join us next Thursday for our open office session.

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Lack of trust hinders creativity - Tricia Wang

Tricia Wang

After two years of on-the-ground research in China sociologist Tricia Wang is drawing some conclusions on how the lack of trust and creativity interact. Trust with individuals and institutions if key to allow creativity to blossom, she writes  on the website 88-bar. A story about hacker spaces. 

Tricia Wang:

In my work, I show that the lack of trust between individuals and social trust with institutions is hindering creativity. The problem is that institutions can really promote or damper the expression of creativity, and in the case of China, its education system (combined with cultural elements and political control) has hindered, not promoted, creativity among Chinese youth... 

But creativity is not about how much you know, but about how much you can think beyond what you know. 

The reality is that Chinese people are not as creative as they could be, for now. There is nothing inherently uncreative about the Chinese. I mean who really thinks that about Chinese people after spending a day on the streets. Migrants and youth all over are doing mind-blowing stuff. China is dripping with creativity as your research confirms. But we aren’t’ seeing the mind-blowing stuff happening within formal spaces. 

So where are the creatives in China? I don’t think the future crazy ass disruptive innovators are going to come through Tsinghua, this is not to say that there aren’t brilliant freaking people there doing cool stuff.

More at 88-bar, and the stories of some real creative hackers.

Tricia Wang 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.

Tricia Wang will be speaking in New Zealand in the second week of February 2013. Are you interested in having her as a speaker too? Do get in touch for her availability and conditions.

How would your life in China look like without VPN? That question a lot of people are asking themselves as the internet filter systems gained the ability to shut down their VPN's and China's media kindly point out foreign VPN's are illegal in China anyway. The China Weekly Hangout will focus on Thursday 20 December on this issue.  Read the full announcement here, or register directly here.

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Visa rules still hamper Chinese tourists - Roy Graff

Roy Graff

Tourist offices worldwide compete to get more heavy-spending Chinese to their countries, but strict visa rules remain the no.1 barrier on the road for traveling Chinese, writes hospitality specialist Roy Graff in ChinaContact. But things are getting better.

Roy Graff:

As previous projections on the development of Chinese outbound tourism by UN-WTO, WTTC and others are rendered obsolete by even better than expected growth statistics, many destinations want to become the next ‘hot spot’ for Chinese to visit and spend their cash. 

Since other traditional markets for many destinations have slowed or gone into decline due to economic woes, the Chinese market is now seen as a potential bonanza for travel suppliers and retailers. But not all is as it seems and not each and every destination in the world would be able to benefit in the short term. Beyond objective challenges such as distance and cost of living are the political circumstances that affect both the ability of a destination to market itself in China and capability of Chinese to obtain visitor visas. 

We have noticed that in recent weeks several countries and regions are trying to address visa restrictions for Chinese and other BRIC markets in order to be more inviting.

More in ChinaContact, with news from Australia, Europe, New Zealand and the UK.

Roy Graff 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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