China Herald: Occupy Central

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

China Mobile tops again Hurun top-200 brand list - Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf

The Hurun Research Institute publish yesterday its annual top-200 Chinese brands, with China Mobile for the sixth time in a top-position since the start of the ranking in 2007, tells Hurun founder Rupert Hoogewerf in the Global Times.

The Global Times:

The Shanghai-based Hurun Research Institute announced Monday that private companies now outnumber State-owned enterprises on its list of the 200 most valuable Chinese brands. The Hurun brand list, compiled annually by the group since 2007, this year includes 98 brands created by private companies such as Baidu Inc and Wahaha Group as well as 94 brands launched by State-owned enterprises such as China National Petroleum Corporation."The top brands usually communicate efficiently with customers on new media platforms using innovative campaigns," Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of Hurun Report, said Monday.

"Effective branding is key for any companies, private or State-owned, to sustain their growth and achieve success in the long run."

Hoogewerf said no listed companies sponsored the report.

State-owned China Mobile won the first spot on the top-200 list by creating a brand that is worth 251 billion yuan ($40.9 billion), according to the Hurun Report. The telecom giant has topped the list six out of seven years since 2007.

More in the Global Times.

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.

China Weekly Hangout

Coming Thursday 25 July the +China Weekly Hangout corruption and healthcare are on the agenda. You can read our announcement here, but when you also follow our Google+ page, you won't miss any announcements.

Is the Occupy Central going to make a difference? How eager are the Hong Kong people to get one-person, one-vote. CSR expert +Brian Ho is answering the questions by +Fons Tuinstra of the +China Speakers Bureau in the China Weekly Hangout of 11 July.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Writing in English: gaining political, literally freedom - Zhang Lijia

Zhang Lijia

Why are you mostly writing in English, is a question author Zhang Lijia, a native from Nanjing, often has to answer. In English: "I can be bold and adventurous", she writes for the English Editing Blog.

+Lijia Zhang:

I choose to write in English because, first of all, it frees me politically. I wouldn’t be able to publish books with politically sensitive content in Mainland China. Also, it frees me literally. It frees me from any inhibition I might have if I were to write in Chinese. Without these constraints, I can experiment with the language: I can be bold and adventurous. Because it’s not my mother tongue, I consciously and unconsciously use different words and I structure my sentences differently to those of native speakers. Let me give you an example. “One early spring day, I took my children to a park. It had been bleak winter only a week ago. Then almost overnight, it became warm and flowers were blossoming everywhere.” The word ‘bewitch’ came to my mind. In my diary, I wanted to use that word to convey a sense of drama and sudden change as if being touched by a magic wand. At first I wrote: “Bewitched by spring, the park came to life and the glorious peonies blossomed everywhere.” Then I decided to use a more active verb: “Spring had bewitched the park where glorious peonies blossomed everywhere.” Native speakers, please do tell me if they work at all or which sentence works best. Writing in English also allows me to play up my advantage in some ways. Writing for the domestic market or the international market is very different ball game. There’s always a great deal of presumed knowledge if your target are domestic readers. Having written for international media for many years, I feel I know when and how to explain certain terminology. Tamade, I’d explain it is a national swear word, good for expressing joy or anger in equal measure. I belong to a growing yet small number of people who have the insight into a culture that remains largely unknown in the world yet able to communicate with those on the other side.

More at the English Editing Blog.

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.

China Weekly Hangout

The +China Weekly Hangout will hold on Thursday 18 July an open office where you can drop in to discuss upcoming subjects, panelists and current affairs in China. Here is our announcement, or you can register for participation right away on our event page.

Last week the China Weekly Hangout discussed the difficult relationship between Hong Kong and Beijing. Is the Occupy Central going to make a difference? How eager are the Hong Kong people to get one-person, one-vote. CSR expert +Brian Ho answered questions by +Fons Tuinstra of the China Speakers Bureau.