A day in the life of Pyongyang - Paul French

+Paul French 

Author Paul French publishes this month his next book on North Korea, North Korea: State of Paranoia: A Modern History. In the Guardian an extract where he describes a normal day in the life at its capital Pyongyang.

Paul French:

6am The day starts early in Pyongyang, the city described by the North Korean government as the "capital of revolution". Breakfast is usually corn or maize porridge, possibly a boiled egg and sour yoghurt, with perhaps powdered milk for children.

Then it is time to get ready for work. North Korea has a large working population: approximately 59% of the total in 2010. A growing number of women work in white-collar office jobs; they make up around 90% of workers in light industry and 80% of the rural workforce. Many women are now the major wage-earner in the family – though still housewife, mother and cook as well as a worker, or perhaps a soldier.

Makeup is increasingly common in Pyongyang, though it is rarely worn until after college graduation. Chinese-made skin lotions, foundation, eyeliner and lipstick are available and permissible in the office. Many women suffer from blotchy skin caused by the deteriorating national diet, so are wearing more makeup. Long hair is common, but untied hair is frowned upon.

Men's hairstyles could not be described as radical. In the 1980s, when Kim Jong-ilfirst came to public prominence, his trademark crewcut, known as a "speed battle cut", became popular, while the more bouffant style favoured by Kim Il-sung, and then Kim Jong-il, in their later years, is also popular. Kim Jong-un's trademark short-back-and-sides does not appear to have inspired much imitation so far. Hairdressers and barbers are run by the local Convenience Services Management Committee; at many, customers can wash their hair themselves.

More in the Guardian.

Paul French 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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China's demographic abyss - Paul French

+Paul French 

The population bubble created by Mao Zedong is becoming a wave of pensioners, as China's current population - limited by a one-child policy - might not be able to sustain that grey gulf. Analyst Paul French takes a peek at the country's demographic abyss for the EastAsiaForum.

Paul French:

Auguste Comte, the father of sociology, famously said that ‘demographics is destiny’. China now has an ageing population. The National Bureau of Statistics estimates that by 2015 there will be some 200 million Chinese people over 60, increasing to 300 million by 2030, and perhaps as many as 480 million by 2050... 

Chinese society does seem to be starting to respond to its ageing demographics. The government is slowly reforming the pension system while the savings rate remains high partly due to saving for retirement, or because people are setting aside funds to look after parents in their old age. Senior citizens’ homes and care facilities have started to appear, overwhelmingly in the private sector. 

Despite this, old age will increasingly be a major strain on the Chinese economy. At a time when the government is seeking to boost personal consumption, increasing amounts of income and savings will have to be diverted into care for the elderly, geriatric healthcare and medicines. While the quality of life of China’s elderly will become a key ‘quality of national life’ indicator, the strain on family budgets will also see the cost of old age trickle down the system, forcing many to make hard choices between, say, paying for their child’s overseas education or their parents’ care. 

China cannot escape its demographic bind. All China can do is realise it and make the best preparations possible. Providing quality of life for China’s elderly will require the current economic reforms to successfully create jobs, maintain wage rises, allow for continued savings and permit a more regulated and participatory tax base to allow for additional government spending on geriatric care. It is impossible to divorce China’s demographics from its macroeconomics—a secure and pleasant old age will, for most Chinese, depend on continued economic growth.

More in the EastAsiaForum.

Paul French 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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Taiwanese brand Shiatzy Chen takes on Tokyo - Paul French

Paul French

Taking on the Japanese market is not easy for anybody, and certainly not for Chinese. But Shiatzy Chen, a luxury fashion brand from Taiwan with a 35-year history, seems to be making all the right moves, says retail analyst Paul French in the Women's Wear Daily. 

The Women's Wear Daily: 

Paul French, a China-based analyst, said it makes sense for Shiatzy Chen to target Tokyo.
"[It's] well made and cut nicely for a slimmer hipped, reduced bust figure that suits many women in the region... Wang Chen over there is very canny - she's always seen herself as the Asian region's Chanel - understated, known by the discerning... [those] who want the clothes that say 'Chinese' etc without the quality issues or bling," he said.

More in the Women's Wear Daily.

Paul French 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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Creativity cannot be ordered by the government - Paul French

Paul French

Innovation and brand building are high on China's official agenda. But without the necessary freedom, creativity might be an illusion, warns author Paul French in the Guardian.

The Guardian:

Skeptics say that Chinese brands like Chery will never surpass foreign rivals unless they can embrace fundamental principles of innovation – open communication, risk-taking – that require more than cash. This extends to creative industries, such as music, film, and fashion. "We get these endless things from the government saying there should be more innovation and brand building," says Paul French, chief China market strategist at market research firm Mintel. "But there isn't anything behind it. The problem is that no one really wants to invest in innovative design. It's very market-led. So if reports come to the stores that red shirts are selling, they'll tell their in-house designers to design more red shirts. This means the designers don't get a chance to do anything." 

"I don't think anyone in government understands creative industries," French adds. "They spent 60 years driving creativity out of the system. To reintroduce it in 10 minutes is a bit hopeful."

More in the Guardian.

 Paul French 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

Skeptics are not holding back China's internet companies, who have been developing plans to go global over the past few months. The +China Weekly Hangout will focus on their plans, and their chances to succeed, together with +Steven Millward of +Tech in Asia, on September 5. You can read our announcement here, or register at our event page here, if you want to participate.

Pundits have often argued China's government controlled media would never find an audience outside their own country. But the +China Weekly Hangout discovered on March 7 they were wrong, in a discussion 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. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra, president of the China Speakers Bureau.

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China's retail, moving from the big boys to the small guys - Paul French

Paul French

China consumers are outspending the moderate GDP growth, but underlying changing undermine the big players in retail, as the sales increasingly go to the little guys, including e-commerce, writes retail analyst Paul French in the China Economic Review.

+Paul French:

China’s overall economy may be in a bit of a downward spin but consumer activity keeps on looking good. Retail sales in China rose 12.4% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2013 and 13.3% year-on-year in June alone – not half bad and above GDP growth of 7.7% for the first three months of the year. 

However, the bulk of this growth in shopping is from the largely unorganised sector – independent stores, small chains and the like. This means that we have the conundrum of retail sales growing but the stock performance of China’s big listed retailers declining. China retail used to be all about the big boys. Now, it seems, it’s much more about the little guys and, increasingly, the e-commerce players.

More in the China Economic Review.

Paul French 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 Speakers Bureau

Janet Carmosky

Are foreign firms having a hard time in China? That is the question the +China Weekly Hangout will address on Thursday 22 August, with as panelists China veteran-at-large Janet Carmosky, CEIBS business professor +Richard Brubaker and international lawyer +Nathan KAISER. You can read our announcement here, or register directly at our event page here.

On September 6, 2012 the +China Weekly Hangout held a debate on the question why foreigners are leaving China, following some high-profile departures. With +Andrew Hupert from Chicago and +Richard Brubaker from Shanghai. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra, president of the China Speakers Bureau, from Lausanne.

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Searching for China's fast food chains - Paul French

Paul French

Foreign fast food chains like McDonalds and KFC are wildly popular in China, but domestic chains failed to have a similar success. Retail analyst Paul French explores in Foreign Policy why his favorite Real Kung Fu restaurant has only a few hundred outlets, while foreign competition has many thousands.

Paul French:

My Shanghai Real Kung Fu is still around -- even flourishing. The once-dirty floors are now mopped every hour; the dog-eared paper menus have given way to illuminated menu boards that hover over high-tech registers manned by smiling, uniformed employees who move almost robotically from counter to kitchen and back. Real Kung Fu promises your entire meal within 60 seconds of ordering or your money back, and I have yet to claim a refund for my favorite dish, the really rather good chicken-and-mushroom rice. They've learned a few tricks. 

The same can be said of other vastly improved and emerging local fast-food places, such as Mandefu and Baijila, small-scale Chinese chains doing slightly Westernized variants of local favorites, complete with knockoff Western logos -- Mandefu's red and yellow sign front owes more than a bit to McDonald's palette, while Baijila taunts KFC with a slightly feminine Colonel Sanders. 

But China's up-and-comers, its aspiring middle class, prefer the status of the real thing. McDonald's and KFC are still largely the preserve of the bai ling and young families on the make, who go for a little taste of things foreign, and a sign perhaps that they really are moving up. As Warren Liu, a former KFC senior executive, has written, when the chain's first restaurant opened just outside Tiananmen Square back in 1987, "Customers were attracted to KFC's Chinese brand name; its American roots; its likeable, grayish, beard-bearing brand spokesperson -- Colonel Sanders; the unique restaurant décor; the new way of ordering food; the bright red and blue colors of the brand logo; the American music broadcast inside the restaurant; and, as an added bonus, a very clean toilet!" That's mostly all still true... 

The truth is: The Chinese people are both aspirational and eminently sensible when it comes to partaking of the benefits of global capitalism. Great cars come from Germany, luxury fashion from France and Italy, and fast food from America. And the hundreds of millions who make up China's new middle class want the best of everything: Audi cruisers, Gucci purses -- and, it would seem, KFC's Dragon Twister.

More in Foreign Policy.

Paul French 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

Not all foreign firm are doing well in China. The +China Weekly Hangout discussed on January 30 why foreign companies fail in China, with as panelist +Richard Brubaker of Collective Responsibility and +Andrew Hupert, expert on conflict management in China. Moderation: +Fons Tuinstra of the China Speakers Bureau. Including references to Apple, Mediamarkt, Foxconn and many others.

The upcoming cyber war is the subject of the +China Weekly Hangout on Thursday 27 June. The revelations by Edward Snowden showed that the US is preparing a military shake-out, as both China, Russia and other countries are building up their cyber war capacities too. Joining us are former security consultant +Mathew Hoover and media en communication lecturer +Paul Fox of the Hong Kong University. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra, president of the China Speakers Bureau.

A relaxed urbanization in Yichang - Paul French

Paul French

Fast urbanization often leads to stressful lives, of people living on the edge. But it can be different, author Paul French discovered at he visited Yichang, Hubei province. A relaxed urbanization in a city of 6.5 million, described in the China Economic Review. 

Paul French:

Yichang appears to me to have a nice mix of green and industry as well as old and new. Perhaps it’s not a perfect case study or about to get into Monocle’s infamous list of the world’s “most liveable” cities just yet, but it seems to be getting something right. 

I pondered this question of livability with some Chinese bankers while in Yichang. One of them raised the interesting idea that a big problem in Chinese cities is a lack of relaxation-related facilities for most people. He bemoaned that while leisure giants like Disney were actively courted by Chinese cities, everyday leisure facilities providers – private sports centers, smaller scale attractions, etc – could never get funding from the banking system as it is presently structured. Consequently they either don’t happen, or they get built and are underfunded, disappointing and go broke pretty fast. 

Another Yichang contact believed that the problem lay more with people not being sure what to do with leisure time, outside of going on full-blown holidays. There simply aren’t enough outlets to let people develop hobbies. 

This does seem to be a problem. A friend who works for a major photography equipment brand tried to start up a camera club a while ago – to encourage people to take pictures, join communities of camera enthusiasts, take better pictures and buy more expensive kits. 

But trying to get such a club started proved impossible legally, and in the end he dropped the idea. China has legions of amateur photographers, desperate to enjoy their hobby and sometimes coming together online or in small informal groups, but rarely in organized clubs. 

All of these problems are going to become more acute. China’s aging population is a big theme now with China pontificators. In Yichang, the range of new providers of services for the old, from care homes to at-home help, was astonishing.

More in the China Economic Review.

Paul French 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

The upcoming cyber war is the subject of next week's +China Weekly Hangout . The revelations by Edward Snowden showed that the US is preparing a military shake-out, as both China, Russia and other countries are building up their cyber war capacities too. Joining us are former security consultant +Mathew Hoover and media en communication lecturer +Paul Fox of the Hong Kong University. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra, president of the China Speakers Bureau. You can read our announcement here, or register right away for participation at our event page.

Last month the China Weekly Hangout discussed the fast changing labor force in China with +Dee Lee (Inno), of the NGO Inno in Guangzhou, who is running a workers' hotline, mainly funded by big brands who want to keep an eye on working conditions. Heleen Mees, NYU professor in New York, +Sam Xu  and +Fons Tuinstra, of the China Speakers Bureau, ask him questions.  

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How to pitch your China book to a publisher - Paul French

Paul French

Award winning author Paul French explains how to pitch your China book to publishers, and - even more important -  which books on China you might as well not write anymore, for the Asia Society

The Asia Society Blog:

1. Build your book around a specific topic, rather than China in general. "More depth, less breadth." 

2. Focus on "bottom-up analysis," rather than the "3,000-feet view of China from the airplane." "People are much more interested in what people are doing on the ground." 

3. Take a more nuanced approach, because China is not as alien to the average reader as it once was. "The idea that you can just do a book that's called Doing Business in China is probably passed now." 

4. Write about Chinese lives. "Memoirs of expatriates and foreigners who lived in china … are just not selling." 

5. Try rapid-response publishing. "China is always a fast-moving target. Waiting around a year-and-a-half or two years or more for a book to come out … just isn't the way things work anymore."

More on the Asia Society Blog.

Paul French is an author on the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Weekly China Hangout

Apart from writing a book, you can of course also join our China Weekly Hangout now and then, to give your comments and pave your road to fame. Like our April broadcast on the bird flu in China with flu expert +Harm Kiezebrink from Beijing, HKU-lecturer +Paul Fox from Hong Kong and CEIBS adjunct professor +Richard Brubaker from Shanghai. We try to figure out what is happening with N7H9, and what possible scenario's can develop. And we discuss what the Chinese government has learn from SARS, now ten years ago. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra of the +China Speakers Bureau.
  The 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, orregister for the hangout here.  

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