Joan Turley joins China Speakers Bureau

Joan Turley by Fantake via Flickr

In her successful book Connecting with China Joan Turley takes relationship building in China just that extra layer deeper. In a dynamic style, she convinces corporate audiences on what makes the difference between success and failure.
From the testimonials:

“Joan Turley’s deep and delicate observation is really refreshing and practical and her understanding about China goes beyond my expectations. I believe Ms. Turley’s new book will not only be welcomed by British people but the Chinese people as well”

Dizun Chen, Director of the General Office, Liaoning Provincial Party Committee.

We are happy to announce that Joan Turley joined the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.

Related articles

• Why the bears are wrong on China - Arthur Kroeber (chinaherald.net)
• 'Fat China' scores in most-sought speakers for September 2010 (chinaherald.net)
• China's rich: no time to spend money on charity - Rupert Hoogewerf (chinaherald.net)
• China's defense industry elbows into Africa - Wendell Minnick (chinaherald.net)

Most-sought speakers for August 2010

Shaun Rein by Fantake via Flickr

The summer holidays and the summer heat forced many to lay low - we noticed from the traffic to our websites - with one exception: Shaun Rein. Almost no day passed without Shaun sharing his views on mainstream TV-stations or on Forbes and Business Week. No wonder he rose to the first place again in our top-10 of most-sought speakers for August 2010. (You can see our listing for July here.)
Shaun Rein covered a wide range of subjects: sex and porn, the stress test for banks, the China blame game of Western media,  the lack of savings, and many more subjects. (See also our speakers' corner).
Kaiser Kuo has his first full month as director at China's leading search engine Baidu. And although we miss his opinion leadership in the mainstream media, he still maintained a firm second place. Otherwise, for those who are following our speakers, not that many surprises in this month's top-10 (July 2010 in brackets).

1. Shaun Rein (3)
2. Kaiser Kuo (1)
3. Arthur Kroeber (4)
4. Tom Doctoroff (10)
5. Rupert Hoogewerf or Hurun (8)
6. William Overholt (-)
7. Paul French (5)
8. Wendell Minnick (-)
9. Jasper Becker (-)
10. Victor Shih (6)

Related articles by Zemanta

• Sex, porn and their lessons for business - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• The China blame game - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• Stress tests but no stress for bank sector - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• Take care when investing in China - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• Key lesson China billionaire: Sharing - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• Saving no longer tops China's agenda - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• China's dilemma's in dealing with foreign firms - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)

1. 

China Speakers Bureau to visit Sweden, Switzerland

Kaiser Kuo by Fantake via Flickr

In September Fons Tuinstra, president of the China Speakers Bureau, will visit both Sweden and Switzerland and is available to discuss the availability of its speakers. Stockholm is on the agenda for the first week of September, Switzerland, especially the Lausanne area, for the third week of September.
Are you interested in one of our eminent speakers? Do get in touch.

Related articles by Zemanta

• No rhyme or reason to internet censorship - Kaiser Kuo (chinaherald.net)
• The rocket girl in Italy - Zhang Lijia (chinaherald.net)
• From famine to feast in two generations - Paul French (chinaherald.net)
• Travelling in a changing China - Marc van der Chijs (chinaherald.net)
• Military expert hits top-10 most-sought speakers in June (chinaherald.net)
• CSB expansion of publishing service (chinaherald.net)

Stress tests but no stress for bank sector - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein     by Fantake via Flickr

Bot real estate prices and A-shares in China keep on getting investors attention, but as the country prepares for stress tests of their banks, Shaun Rein expects the government will be able to channel fears about the debts of central and local governments, he tells Bloomberg TV.
Rein foresees a soft lending for the real estate as sales dropped 70 percent over the past few months, indicating consumers are not taking too high risks. Total government debts is at 42 percent of China's GDP, much less than in some of the developed countries, putting it in a good position to deal with those debts with huge problems for the banks. Rein expects no problems as China will expose its banks to the stress tests earlier conducted in the US and Europe.
More at Bloomberg.

Commercial
Shaun Rein is a speakers at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Key lesson China billionaire: Sharing - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• More losers than winners on China's luxury market - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• Image building and education lagging - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• The China blame game - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)

Saving no longer tops China's agenda - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein by Fantake via Flickr

Saving tops no longer the agenda of China's consumers as new generations kick in and see their disposable income grow, tells Shaun Rein Chinese media

"We interviewed 5,000 people under the age of 32 across China. They have an effective savings rate of zero," he said.

Not only are the young abandoning the thrifty habits of their parents and grandparents, they are also starting to follow the example of American consumers by buying on credit. Rein said the number of credit cards in China has jumped from 13.5 million to 200 million in just five years.

"Younger Chinese are unbelievably optimistic. That's why what you see is a secretary earning six or seven hundred dollars a month – they're the ones buying thousand dollar Gucci bags.".

Consumers have become the thriving force behind China's economic growth:

Rein also points to major demographic shifts. Women are increasingly taking the big spending decisions in Chinese households and in many cases are the major breadwinners. Women's concerns about product quality and food safety in particular are favoring high end, especially foreign brands. In the wake of the melamine scandal, wealthier young mothers even began to fly overseas to stock up on baby food.

The fastest growth in consumer spending, says Rein, is taking place in China's lower tier cities and rural areas. When the government gave subsidies to rural families to buy consumer durables as part of its stimulus package, fridges and cookers sold well, but televisions did not. The reason, Rein said, is that flat screen televisions were not subsidized, and people no longer wanted older box-style sets.

Commercial
Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you want to share his insights at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Inflation around the corner - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• More losers than winners on China's luxury market - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• Apple picked the wrong iPhone partner - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)

Tudou turns to internet TV - Marc van der Chijs

Marc van der Chijs Flickr

Tudou, one of China's largest video hosting companies, is making a surprise move by making the first -made-for-internet soap, explains Marc van der Chijs, co-founder of Tudou, to CNNgo. Not surprisingly, the production wants to reach the 250 younger Chinese at the internet with the theme of "love",
In CNNgo:

Van der Chijs explains that, “Although producing shows ourselves is more expensive than licensing shows we feel it is worth it. Not only does this offer us the opportunity to differentiate ourselves once again from the competition, but also we have more ways to recoup our costs. Instead of having pre-loaders and other advertising as main revenue drivers for our content, we are now able to also use product placement and script placement in the series."

He continues that “Being able to integrate brands into the story line is of course very attractive to brands focusing on a young, urban audience with a high disposable income (Tudou’s core audience).”

Commercial
Marc van der Chijs is a successful Dutch entrepreneur in China. He works also with the China Speakers Bureau. Are you interested in having him a a speaker? Do get in touch.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Tudou and Minute Maid Online Brand Campaign (slideshare.net)
• Insights into Tudou's Original Web Content Move (prnewswire.com)
• In China, a Boom in Internet TV and Films (nytimes.com)

CSR program adds to competitiveness - Rupert Hoogewerf

Hurun by Fantake via Flickr

Programs for corporate social responsibility (CSR) adds to the competitive advantage of companies in China, says Hurun or Rupert Hoogewerf in his latest report. Most of the top-50 companies in his CSR list are domestic, says he says in the Shanghai Daily.Over 30 companies were domestic, the others foreign multinational companies.

The list is based on a survey of 50 leading CSR experts in China.

Bayer stood out as the company with the most respected CSR program among multinational firms, followed by HSBC and Intel.

Domestically, Vanke, Lenovo and China Mobile held the top places.

Commercial
Rupert Hoogewerf, better known as Hurun, is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need him at your meeting of conference, do get in touch.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Huang Guangyu, not enough of a politician - Rupert Hoogewerf (chinaherald.net)
• Chinese women take over top-10 rich list - Rupert Hoogewerf (chinaherald.net)
• Most-sought speakers for July 2010 (chinaherald.net)
• Military expert hits top-10 most-sought speakers in June (chinaherald.net)

China's dilemma's in dealing with foreign firms - Shaun Rein

Image via Wikipedia

China's central government is walking on a thin line when it defends itself against recent foreign accusations of protectionism against those foreign firms, tells Shaun Rein in Asia One. Senior executives of foreign firm, including Siemens, Google, General Electric and BASF have taken the lead in criticizing China's government, something that would be unthinkable, only a few years ago as those firm would fear - rightfully - a backlash.
In Asia One:

'I think they are emboldened because they feel now many people are coming out to complain,' said Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group in Shanghai. ...

Rein however said he does not believe the investment environment in China is any worse than it was a decade ago ' the market is just far more crucial to the foreign firms present in the world's most populous country.

'It's always been difficult to operate here,' Rein said.

'You have always had to transfer technology and have joint ventures, but it is a market that matters now.'

At last weekend's meeting with German businesses, Wen [Jiabao, China premier] rejected suggestions that the Asian giant did not provide a level playing field to foreign investors and insisted overseas businesses were not at a disadvantage.

Rein said he expected the Chinese government to ease restrictions on foreign firms in the next six to 12 months, as they try to walk a fine line between securing foreign investment and avoiding criticism at home.

'I think the government is very sensitive to be seen letting foreign companies making money off poor Chinese,' Rein said.

'They need to be protectionist for political reasons.'

Commercial

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need him at your meeting or conference, do get in touch.

Related articles by Zemanta

• China's booming luxury market - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• China's consumers keep on spending - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• Take care when investing in China - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• Key lesson China billionaire: Sharing - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)

Take care when investing in China - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein    by Fantake via Flickr

While mostly optimistic about China's economic future, Shaun Rein warns in Forbes against too lighthearted investments in China's companies, even when they are listed in the US.

Why? First, Chinese company stock prices remain very volatile, because of hedge funds. There are only several dozen good Chinese companies traded on the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, so hedge funds control an inordinate amount of Chinese equity. If they grow bearish or need liquidity, they might sell stakes quickly. Second, despite some improvement, the transparency of Chinese firms remains questionable...  Many Chinese companies keep three sets of books, one for the tax bureau, one for investors and one for senior executives.

More warnings in Forbes.

Commercial
Do you need more advice on where to invest in China? Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau and happy to speak at your meeting or conference. Interested? Do get in touch.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Key lesson China billionaire: Sharing - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• China's booming luxury market - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• No bubble in the real estate - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• Image building and education lagging - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• What Apple got wrong in China - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• Military expert hits top-10 most-sought speakers in June (chinaherald.net)

Green tech: China's only way - Paul Denlinger

Paul Denlinger via Flickr

Business analyst Paul Denlinger explains in Forbes why China has to go green, for offering its citizens a Western lifestyle, while preserving the environment at the same time. Becoming a dominant player in green technology is the country's only choice, argues Denlinger. It might not make China popular in the rest of the world, for example by its recent efforts to retain rare earth resources for itself, rather than export.

At the same time, Beijing wants to cut back rare earth exports to the rest of the world, instead encouraging domestic production into wind and solar products for export around the world. With patents on the new technology used in manufacturing, China would control the intellectual property and licensing on the products that would be used all over the world. If Beijing is able to do this, it would control the next generation of energy products used by the world for the next century.

More arguments in Forbes.

Commercial
Paul Denlinger is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need him at your conference, do get in touch.

Related articles by Zemanta

• The Party sets the digital agenda - Paul Denlinger (chinaherald.net)
• Why Google needs a mapping service in China - Paul Denlinger (chinaherald.net)
• US firms learn from China in making money online - Paul Denlinger (chinaherald.net)
• Apple's lack of a China strategy - Paul Denlnger (chinaherald.net)

Internet censorship as an economic indicator - Paul Denlinger

Paul Denlinger  via Flickr

Business analyst Paul Denlinger makes at his weblog China Vortex a smart connection between the recent upsurge in internet crackdowns and the expected economic uncertainty caused by an expected economic downturn and China's leadership swap in 2012. China's leaders turn to more control in times of economic uncertainty:

When you put this into the Chinese context of domestic politics, and see that the Chinese leadership will be handed over to a new president and premier in 2012, what is happening on the Internet makes perfect sense. The current leadership of President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao are due for retirement then, and will hand over leadership to a new leadership team. With two years left in their term, it is safe to say that world markets look unstable, with another wall of debt about to hit the US and Europe in the next year, further dampening consumer spending in the west. How can they manage a smooth handover without things getting unstable?

More at the China Vortex.

Commercial
Paul Denlinger is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you want to share his insights at your meeting or conference, do get in touch.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Why Google needs a mapping service in China - Paul Denlinger (chinaherald.net)
• All is not fine for Google in China - Paul Denlinger (chinaherald.net)
• Apple's lack of a China strategy - Paul Denlnger (chinaherald.net)
• Going One Level Deeper About China (blogs.forbes.com)

Not bullish on AgBank - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein     by Fantake via Flickr

Shaun Rein, managing director of the market research group CMR, might be in general optimistic about China's economic development, at CNBC he cautions against too many bears on the road for China's Agricultural Bank, also called AgBank or ABC. The bank performed poorly at its listing on Thursday at the Shanghai stock exchange. The bank is too much a political tool and might not help investors, says Rein.
Most of its customer'base are poor Chinese farmers, who might switch to more consumer-savvy banks like the China  Merchant Bank, when they actually start to make money in the decades to come. Also, of its customers currently already 90 percent is not satisfied about the banks performance.

Commercial

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do let us know. 

Related articles by Zemanta

• China's AgBank opens up 2.2% in Shanghai debut (marketwatch.com)
• Key lesson China billionaire: Sharing - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• China's AgBank rises in Shanghai debut (marketwatch.com)
• No bubble in the real estate - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)

Russia tries to stop China's fighter jets - Wendell Minnick

by ASKYZ via Flickr

China's military industry is pushing its fighter jet JF-17/FC-1 on a global market, and apparently so successful its Russian competitor is trying to block it, writes Wendell Minnick this week in Defense News.The director general Pogosyanof the Russian Aircraft Corp. (RAC) MiG has been trying to stop delivering flight engines to his Chinese competitor.

"I am not against the export of separate technologies, but it should be agreed with those who make final products that such export would not harm them," Pogosyan told the Russian business daily newspaper Kommersant on July 6.

Pogosyan fears the single-engine JF-17, which costs up to $20 million per copy, could undercut sales of the $30 million, twin-engine MiG-29 Fulcrum...

China plans to show two JF-17s at the Farnborough International Airshow later this month - the planes' debut at international defense exhibitions - in hopes of drumming up export sales.

More details at Defense News.

Commercial
Are you interested in more background about China's emergence as a military power? Wendell

Wendell Minnick Fantake via Flickr

 Minnick is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do get in touch if you want him at your meeting or conference.

Related articles by Zemanta

• China's increased frustration with North Korea - Wendell Minnick (chinaherald.net)
• Military expert joins China Speakers Bureau (chinaherald.net)
• Military expert hits top-10 most-sought speakers in June (chinaherald.net)

Most-sought speakers for July 2010

Warren Liu     via Flickr

Major changes this month in our line-up for the top-10 most-sought speakers in July 2010, actually half of them is new. Highest newcomer of this month is Warren Liu, author of the best-selling book "KFC in China: Secret Recipe for Success (Paperback)", We only expected him to rise in our rankings by August or September, since we are almost done in releasing his new book, as a part of our publishing service. But you do not hear us complain, when the interest in our of our celebrity speakers goes up.
Warren Liu's next book, "China Key Success Factors. Past and Future rules for succeeding in China" (ISBN 978-0-615-37306-5) analyses eight key industries and their strategy of entering China. Its World Expo Edition will be available in August, and of course we will announce the book here too.
Two other relative newcomers deserve attention here. With the World Cup 2010 in South Africa behind our belts, it is no wonder Rowan Simons, our own soccer specialist, rose in the ranks. Many mainstream media found him to explain, why China has not been making it to the world cup.
Back from a long-term absence is also Paul Denlinger, who has not been really away, but until a few months ago been working outside the publicity he was used to. Now Paul Denlinger is back, and how.
Kaiser Kuo is back on the top-position, and not surprisingly, since he landed earlier this month into an interesting job at Google's major competitor in China, Baidu.com, where he is now director international communication. Fortunately, he is also available for speeches.
Now, without further delay, the top-10 most-sought speakers list for July 2010 (June 2010 in brackets).

1. Kaiser Kuo (6)
   
2. Warren Liu (-)
3. Shaun Rein (-)
4. Arthur Kroeber (5)
5. Paul French (7)
6. Victor Shih (-)
7. Rowan Simons (-)
8. Rupert Hoogewerf or Hurun (3)
9. Paul Denlinger (-)
10. Tom Doctoroff (-)

Related articles by Zemanta

• Starting a book publishing business (chinaherald.net)
• CSB signs first book publishing contract (chinaherald.net)
• Apple's lack of a China strategy - Paul Denlnger (chinaherald.net)
• Military expert hits top-10 most-sought speakers in June (chinaherald.net)
• Why Google needs a mapping service in China - Paul Denlinger (chinaherald.net)
• China;s rich give more to charity - Rupert Hoogewerf (chinaherald.net)

September book tour in Brazil - Zhang Lijia

Image by Fantake via Flickr

Our celebrity speaker Zhang Lijia is preparing for her next book tour, this time for her Portuguese translation of "Socialism Is Great!": A Worker's Memoir of the New China". She will be in Brazil from August 29 till September 16, starting off in Rio de Janeiro and the last few days in Sao Paolo.
For a Brazilian audience that would be an unique chance to share Zhang Lijia's profound insights in the Chinese society, and not many of our speakers make it to South America. When you are interested in having her as a speaker, do get in touch. 

Related articles by Zemanta

• The legacy of Tiananmen - Zhang Lijia (chinaherald.net)
• What do China's workers want? Zhang Lijia (chinaherald.net)

More losers than winners on China's luxury market - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein Fantake via Flickr

Many foreign companies get it wrong when they try to enter the booming luxury market in China, explains Shaun Rein to CNBC, just focusing on the wrong age groups, regions and getting the branding wrong. Most luxury car buyers, like those from Mercedes, have an average age of 39 years old, where in the US that age is 53.
Shaun Rein estimates the annual market for luxury products will grow to US$ 9 bn per year in China, but most wealthy people will spend that money in Hong Kong or Europe, because luxury has more cachet when bought in Milan. Exception are the second tier cities, outside Shanghai and Beijing, where its inhabitants cannot travel that easy abroad, so setting up stores in for example Harbin makes a lot of sense.
More smart observations in this clip.

Commercial
Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need him at your meeting or conference, do get in touch.

Related articles by Zemanta

• China's consumers keep on spending - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• AgBank confirms prices Shanghai IPO at top of range (reuters.com)

Inflation around the corner - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein by Fantake via Flickr

Increasing labor costs and price rises for food, oil and other minerals might push up the inflation and this needs the government urgent attention, says Shaun Rein on Bloomberg TV today. While Rein sees some bears on the road to economic recovery in the short run, he stays bullish for the long run, as a higher percentage of China's GDP now depends on domestic consumption.
Most observers still say that only one third of China's GDP depends on domestic consumption, while in the USA that is 71 percent. According to researach of the CMR-firm Rein leads, domestic consumption in China is now already good for 40 percent of its GDP and rising.



Commercial
Shaun Rein is a speaker of the China Speakers Bureau. When you need him at your meeting or conference, do get in touch.

Related articles by Zemanta

• China's consumers keep on spending - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• China's booming luxury market - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)
• No bubble in the real estate - Shaun Rein (chinaherald.net)