Trends in the 11/11 festival – Ashley Dudarenok

 

Ashley Dudarenok

China’s Double 11 consumer festival has kicked off for its longest edition ever with five weeks. Consumption expert Ashley Dudarenok looks at this year’s trends for Campaign Asia. Dudarenok, author and China digital expert predicts that countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea—now part of the “free shipping zone”—will see a sharp rise in new users.

Campaign Asia:
Ashley Dudarenok, China digital transformation expert and founder of ChoZan, agrees, noting that “emotional consumption” is on the rise, particularly among younger Chinese consumers. “Toys and plushies are popular for comfort and stress relief,” she says, pointing to Jellycat’s dominance in the plush toy category, even surpassing Disney last year.
Taobao and Tmall’s official data have identified several booming consumption trends, including designer toys for young adults, pet products, and niche home appliances and furniture. As of October 24, 284 brands surpassed $14 million in sales. In particular, the beauty, fashion, sports & outdoor, and digital product categories have seen significant growth this year. Zhang refers to this phenomenon as the “lipstick effect,” an economic theory suggesting that “people are more likely to buy small, affordable luxuries when facing economic uncertainty. Hence the rise of small luxury purchases such as lipsticks, fragrances, concerts, wellness products and pet products”. Dudarenok, with years of observation from China marketing, sums up that consumers are buying more furniture and appliances. A total of 224 brands surpassed their entire first four-hour performance from last year. “The IP economy is still thriving”,  and Tmall now features over 1000 IP-based products to meet rising fan interest. She also highlights “Apple’s increasing efforts to attract budget-conscious buyers in China by making premium devices more affordable during the annual shopping festival. Apple quickly achieved one billion yuan in sales within just five minutes on Taobao and Tmall”…
Dudarenok, author and China digital expert predicts that countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea—now part of the “free shipping zone”—will see a sharp rise in new users as well. Early data from Singapore and Hong Kong already show a doubling of new consumers compared to last year.

More at Campaign Asia.

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Can Saudi-Arabia follow China and US as a leader in AI? – Winston Ma

 

Winston Ma

Winston Ma, an investor, attorney, author, and adjunct professor in the global digital economy, discusses at a Miami conference who can follow as leaders in AI for Arab News. He believes also countries like Saudi Arabia can follow those two leaders, although it does mean a lot of targeted investments.

Winston Ma 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 looking for more innovation experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list. 

How artists can make money from their music – William Bao Bean

 

William Bao Bean

Investor William Bao Bean, Managing Director of Orbit startups, explains how he helped artists make money from their music at All That Matters 2023, introducing three successful investments from his portefeuille. Explaining the fast-changing models to generate money, using for example Tiktok/Douyin, and many more new tech models.

William Bao Bean 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 looking for more innovation experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

Singapore: the financial center of South-East Asia – Jim Rogers

 

Jim Rogers

Singapore is going to be the financial center of South-East Asia, driven by China investments, says international investor Jim Rogers at the Wall Street Journal.

Jim Rogers 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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2023-10-03

Positive, confirmed and unclear coronavirus developments

As the severe economic challenges caused by the coronavirus or Covid-19 show a less favorable development, scientists still argue on how to count patients, and how to assess the medical situation. Revealing was an article in Nature discussing the difference between positive-tested patients and confirmed ones, and how to count them in must-quoted public statistics.

Those debates have a profound impact on the assessment of the disease, the fear for mortality, government action and in the end how long the economic standstill might last. 

Positive-tested patients mostly used a nasal test and got - if the result shows corona-related results - a 14-day quarantine to see if they would really develop symptoms, while they might not be sick or contagious at all. Confirmed patients have the disease, are put into isolation. The debate is which groups should be counted in the official statistics. The first group does include a large group of patients who will never develop the disease, so you get a pretty high number of patients in your statistics, and a rather low mortality. The second group has a much higher mortality, but you might also miss cases of patients who do not yet have confirmed symptoms, but can develop the disease later.

Either approach has pros and cons, but the problem is that both methods have been used next to each other and cause severe differences in the number of patients and the mortality for the virus. Western media have sometime been accusing China of hiding the real impact of the virus, but there seem also profound scientific assessments underlying different ways of counting patients.

That is a key scientific debate, but also has a profound impacts on the fallout of the Covid-19 disease. For China and its international trade relations damage has already been done, but a rising number of cases elsewhere - like South Korea, Singapore and Japan - signal a possible spread of the virus, depending on the way governments react on the latest scientific debates.

At this stage, for China, we do not see a fast recovery. Yes, it may become better after the virus has come under control, but before production, logistics, tourism and regular business practices have been restored, we might well be late in the summer of 2020.

In our event-related business we expect that even if in April planning is back on track, it might easily take two to three months to get things running again. And then we do not take darker scenario's into account, while come of our clients obvious do.

Do you want to discuss latest developments on the coronavirus and China, and how the China Speakers Bureau can help you in planning future events? Do get in touch.

Governments cannot stop business even if they want to - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean, partner at SOSV managing director at the Shanghai-based Chinaccelerator, discusses the investment climate in the US, China and Europe at the F50 Global Capital Summit 2019 Fall.  He does not fear the Trump administration, he says, "governments cannot stop businesses even if they want to," he adds.

William Bao Bean 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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Hong Kong loses its clout as a financial market - Jim Rogers

Jim Rogers

Hong Kong's days as a financial market are not yet numbered, but in the long run, the city has tough problems, says celebrity investor Jim Rogers to RT. Rogers is Singapore-based, an island that hopes to benefit from the downturn of Hong Kong as a recession is looming.

RT:

The deteriorating situation has been forcing investors to look for ways to move their money to a more stable place. Capital outflows happen not “because there is any immediate danger, but it indicates in the future that there will be less and less security in Hong Kong,” finance guru Jim Rogers said in an interview to RT. 

According to Rogers, Singapore is one of the main beneficiaries of that capital outflow. It can be explained not only by the fact that it is easier and more convenient to deal with Singapore, as locals speak Chinese, but also by the security issues since countries like Austria or Lichtenstein are not as secure as they used to be, the investor points out. 

“This is already making Hong Kong less of a major financial center because it’s unlikely that people will take their money to Hong Kong now,” the analyst said. “So even if nobody takes their money out of Hong Kong, but people are taking it out, other people will not take their money to Hong Kong.”

Hong Kong is losing its status as a major financial center as investors seek a ‘safe haven’ for their assets in places like Singapore amid rising tensions in the city, legendary investor Jim Rogers told RT.

Weeks of unrest have already taken a toll on tourism, stock and property markets, as well as the entire financial sector. Even before the recent shutdown of the airport by protesters, between July 14 and August 9, bookings to Hong Kong from Asian countries fell by more than 33 percent compared to same period last year. 

The ongoing trade war between Washington and Beijing in addition to the protests affected the economic situation in the autonomous region, bringing the quarterly contraction in GDP to 0.4 percent in the three months to June. If the trend continues and losses extend in the third quarter, the city would technically fall into recession for the first time in decades. 

The deteriorating situation has been forcing investors to look for ways to move their money to a more stable place. Capital outflows happen not “because there is any immediate danger, but it indicates in the future that there will be less and less security in Hong Kong,” finance guru Jim Rogers said in an interview to RT. 

According to Rogers, Singapore is one of the main beneficiaries of that capital outflow. It can be explained not only by the fact that it is easier and more convenient to deal with Singapore, as locals speak Chinese, but also by the security issues since countries like Austria or Lichtenstein are not as secure as they used to be, the investor points out. 

“This is already making Hong Kong less of a major financial center because it’s unlikely that people will take their money to Hong Kong now,” the analyst said. “So even if nobody takes their money out of Hong Kong, but people are taking it out, other people will not take their money to Hong Kong.”

“I expect the Hong Kong dollar to break free of the US dollar once the renminbi [Chinese yuan] is convertible. The Hong Kong dollar will disappear… but that will not happen until the renminbi is completely convertible,” said Rogers.  

Another indicator of the capital outflow is the Hong Kong dollar, which is pegged to its US equivalent and has weakened within the pegged exchange rate over the last month, Rogers believes. He predicts that the local currency will further weaken, untie from the greenback, and eventually disappear.

More in RT.

Jim Rogers 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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Bridge between East and West - Jim Rogers

Jim Rogers and his daughter Happy

US investor Jim Rogers started to explore China in 1984 and has since become a bridge builder between the East and the West. At China's state TV CGTN he dives into his views on China, the way he raises his family in Singapore and the ongoing madness in Washington. Jim Rogers published several bestsellers, including A Gift to My Children: A Father’s Lessons for Life and Investing.

Jim Rogers 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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How we help startups using big data - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

Enterprise accelerator MOX (mobile only accelerator) let six startups show-case in Singapore last week. William Bao Bean, partner at the Shanghai-based SOSV explains how his network helps to use big data to enhance their chances on a global market, he tells at E27.

E27:

As its name suggests, MOX invests and works with mobile-focused startups to refine their solutions, business models and teams. It also helps them acquire users by connecting them with 167 million smartphone users on its platform, partnering them with brands and telcos, and also via cross-promotion with other apps (in return for revenue share). 

William Bao Bean, General Partner, SOSV, said that MOX helps startups analyse large swaths of market data so they can optimise their localisation and monetisation strategy.

Currently, MOX focuses on India, Indonesian and Philippines-based startups. It is looking to expand to other countries in the region, such as Malaysia and Vietnam, in the near future. 

That said, it is also open to companies that hail from other parts of the world — as long as they have an amazing product to share. At its 5th Demo Day in Singapore today, MOX showcased 6 such mobile startups.

More at E27.

William Bao Bean in action in Singapore

William Bao Bean 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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After English and Mandarin, Singapore turns to Chinese dialects - Ian Johnson

Ian Johnson

Singapore's directive government has long focused language training on English and later Mandarin, for commercial reasons. But journalist Ian Johnson notes at the New York Times that traditional Chinese dialects, including Hokkien, are making their comeback, allowing families to talk to each other and understand their past.

The New York Times:

“Singapore used to be like a linguistic tropical rain forest — overgrown, and a bit chaotic but very vibrant and thriving,” said Tan Dan Feng, a language historian in Singapore. “Now, after decades of pruning and cutting, it’s a garden focused on cash crops: learn English or Mandarin to get ahead and the rest is useless, so we cut it down.” 

This linguistic repression, and the consequences for multigenerational families, has led to a widespread sense of resentment — and now a softening in the government’s policy. 

For the first time since the late 1970s, a television series was recently broadcast in Hokkien, which in the 1970s was the first language of about 40 percent of Singaporeans. Many young people are also beginning to study dialects on their own, hoping to reconnect with their past, or their grandparents.

More in the New York Times.

Ian Johnson 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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William Bao Bean: the man behind one of the successful accelerator programmes in China

William Bao Bean

Often innovator William Bao Bean prefers to give the stage to his China-related innovative startups, but ahead of the MOX - the Mobile Only Accelerator in both Taipei and Singapore in March, E27 profiles the force behind China´s drive for innovation.

E27:

William Bao Bean, SOSV Managing Director and the head of Chinaccelerator, one of China’s most successful accelerator programme, is the managing director for another, mobile-only, programme. It is called MOX, and its goal is to help the best mobile startups go cross border, and reach up to 130 million potential users. 

On January 2nd, the programme kicked-off its second batch that included companies from the US, Russia, Ireland, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Vietnam and Thailand. “Our goal has been to help the best mobile startups go cross border into mobile-first, mobile-only markets in Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and South America,” said Bean. 

“This batch represents the best of the best, and our goal is to help them reach 130 million users.” 

The Demo Days will be held on March 7 in Taipei and March 9 in Singapore.

More at E27.

William Bao Bean 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 looking for more innovation experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.    

The next four billion internet users will be mobile only - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

The first billion internet users entered the space using their PC´s. But the last four billion users will be mobile only, says innovation expert William  Bao Bean in Tech in Asia, talking about the MOX demo days. To reach those billions, innovation startups also has to be mobile.

Tech in Asia:

MOX is a program by SOSV, a US-headquartered venture capital firm that invests in seed- and growth-stage tech startups. The difference is, it’s doing so through its own accelerators. The firm also operates IndieBio for biotech, Urban-X for smart cities, Food-X for restaurants, HAX for hardware, and Chinaccelerator for internet software. 

“In the US and Europe, you have one billion people who started using the internet on PCs,” MOX managing director and SOSV partner William Bao Bean tells Tech in Asia. “In China, one billion people will soon be online, first on mobile – the largest mobile-only population in the world. That’s the next billion.” 

MOX operates out of Taiwan and is about what William calls “the last four billion” – specifically Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and South America. MOX partners with one of William’s local investee companies, GMobi, which offers smartphone advertising services and a payment platform.

More in Tech in Asia.

William Bao Bean 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 looking for more experts on innovation at the China Speakers Bureau? Check out this list.

William Bao Bean discusses how mobile payments are going to change the financial world

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China´s defense firms become better, but stay secretive - Wendell Minnick

Wendell Minnick

Getting a Chinese defense company at an exhibition would be awkward, since they were not prepared to give any information, not even to customers writes defense analyst Wendell Minnick at Defense News. At the latest Singapore Airshow they improved, but only slightly.

Wendell Minnick:

There was a time not long ago when Chinese defense companies exhibiting at international defense shows would provide no information about their products to journalists, or for that matter, even customers. 

A model of a new fighter aircraft or an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on display would come with no brochure and no placard indicating even the name. It was a curious experience to ask about a model of a new weapon system only to get shrugs from Chinese representatives who appeared just as baffled by its appearance at the airshow as the journalist. Journalists would take a picture and move on, assuming that boxes of brochures in the back room of the booth would be reshipped back to China unopened. 

It was a public relations disaster for Chinese defense companies to spend enormous amounts of money for booths/chalets and allow for no dialogue about their products. It was a mystery most likely explained by China’s history of opaque behavior and the fear of losing face. 

This week’s Singapore Airshow was a little different. The China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corp. (CATIC) displayed the supersonic Hongdu-built L-15 Falcon attack/fighter/trainer (AFT) aircraft armed with new weapon systems not seen outfitted on the Falcon before. It even included a brochure, if you asked nicely, but even then badgering often came into play.

More at Defense News.

Wendell Minnick 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 stories by Wendell Minnick? Check out hist list.  

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How can governments stimulate innovation? Get out of the way - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

Everywhere governments are looking for ways to encourage innovations. For super-innovator William Bao Bean the solution is pretty simple: get out of the way. And give visas where possible. Compensating VC for possible losses, like Shanghai wants to do, is certainly the wrong way. Singapore on the other hand does a good job.

William Bao Bao 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 looking for more experts on innovation at the China Speakers Bureau. Check out our list here.

Do you want to know what eight Chinese innovations might disrupt your industry in 2916? Check it out here.

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"Brute force" to get local governments in line - Arthur Kroeber

+Arthur Kroeber 

The reform plans from president Xi Jinping asks for a notable reshuffle of power relations in China, notably from the powerful local governments to the central government. It  takes "brute force", says economist Arthur Kroeber in Bloomberg to reorganize local finances.

Bloomberg:

Tightening control over local finances and allowing new channels for funding would limit the risk of a debt crisis hobbling the world’s second-biggest economy, while corruption arrests since Xi became party chief may signal that officials ignore directives at their peril. The scale of regional debt woes is set to be shown in an audit that the Finance Ministry said was due last month although it has yet to be released. 

“It requires a lot of political brute force and it’s something you can only achieve if you are extremely vigorous,” said Arthur Kroeber, Beijing-based managing director of economic research firm GaveKal Dragonomics, referring to efforts to ensure local governments toe the line. “The localities have so much power and their incentives are so non-aligned with the party’s grand objectives that it’s a real problem.” 

The anti-corruption campaign started by Xi when he took over as party chief last year may be a way of telling officials and state-company bosses, “Look, this is the way it’s going to be, and if you don’t like it, we have a lot of space in the jails for you,” said Kroeber, who is also a fellow at the Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy in Beijing.

 More in Bloomberg

Arthur Kroeber 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 Third Plenum

Labor camps, the one-child policy, hukou's, pollution, internet censorship, state-owned companies, energy policy: they are just a few of the subjects that appeared last week in the 21,000 character document released after the Third Plenum of the Communist Party, spelling out reform plans for the coming years. The +China Weekly Hangout  plans to discuss some of those plans and will ask panelist whether the Third Plenum did bear a mouse or an elephant. Pending a few logistical challenges, we will hold our online meeting on 21 November at 10pm Beijing time, 3pm CET and 9am EST. We will pick subjects, depending on the expertise of the people joining us on Thursday, and summarize with the question how likely it is president Xi Jinping will pull off the planned reforms.

Sustainability

What can China learn from Singapore in sustainability, +China Weekly Hangout  asked our sustainability expert +Richard Brubaker from Shanghai on October 21. He explains what features in sustainability in Singapore could be applied in China too, and what it takes to get it done. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra of the China Speakers Bureau.

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US investors can slowly enter China's stock markets - Shaun Rein

+Shaun Rein 

One of the financial markets off limits for foreigners were China's stock markets. But that might slowly change, and Shanghai-based business analyst Shaun Rein explains in Marketplace what is happening on the ground.

Marketplace:

Other than an elite few, not many foreigners are permitted to buy stock in a Chinese company on a Chinese stock market. But that will change soon. The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that China has approved a new plan to allow U.S. investors to indirectly access its stock markets. The move is being seen as an important step forward in opening China's markets to the international community. 

Shaun Rein, managing director of the China Market Research Group in Shanghai, says the reason China has so far been reluctant to allow U.S. investors into its stock markets has to do with fundamental differences between the Chinese and American economies. 

"The Chinese government has always prevented everyday Americans from buying equities in the Chinese stock markets because they're very scared about manipulation in the financial system, because they run a command economy, and they're not really prepared for fluctuation like we are in the United States," Rein says. 

Currently, if an American investor wanted to place a bet on more Chinese growth, she might buy stock in a company that does a lot of business in China, such as Caterpillar.

More in Marketplace. 

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.

China Weekly Hangout

Will the banking bubble burst?

Will the banking bubble burst? On Monday 11 November shadow banking expert Sara Hsu will be discussing the latest developments in the +China Weekly Hangout  and give her view in an upcoming hangout on what we can expect in the months to come, and hopefully has already some idea of what the Third Plenum will lead to. Broadcasting time will be 5pm CET, 11am EST and (unfortunately) midnight at Beijing time (but you can watch the session also later). Questions will be asked by +Fons Tuinstra of the China Speakers Bureau. There will be no other guests in the hangout – unless you have some very good arguments. But questions can be asked during the event, from our event page here.

What can China learn from Singapore on sustainability?

Our sustainability expert +Richard Brubaker from Shanghai explain in the +China Weekly Hangout  on October 10 what features in sustainability in Singapore could be applied in China too, and what it takes to get it done. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra of the China Speakers Bureau.

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The lack of value of the 2013 APEC summit - Michael Justin Lee

Michael Justin Lee

Media have been pushing the idea the China's president Xi Jinping filled the vacuum US president Barack Obama left by not attending the 2013 APEC Summit. Lecturer Michael Justin Lee is not convinced the summit adds that much value. He offers to draft a statement for the summit in the Washington Times.

Michael Justin Lee:

For that matter, one could issue one [statement] now on behalf of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders to give reporters a jump on their coverage. Here it is: “We remain committed to the principles of economic cooperation, cross-border investment and trade liberalization, and pledge our mutual support for the achievement of global peace and prosperity.” Not too bad, eh? Took all of sixty seconds. 

The business world knows all about client relations. But for goodness’ sake, with all that meeting convening, when does any work get done? But maybe the conclusion is right before us. Although the world economy is definitely not back to full strength, it is also definitely no longer flat on the canvas. If the major economies were able to achieve this by sending these grandees out and away to issue bland and trite declarations, then consider how much better they could do by thinking up even more such events for them to attend. 

That said, maybe we do want President Obama to attend meetings like this after all. And Vice President Biden too. And how about Treasury Secretary Jack Lew? The more the merrier. 

How about sending them all to the Atlantic-Pacific Business and Economic Forum? Or to the Euro-American Governmental Chamber of Prosperity? Or to the Seven Continents’ Global Prosperity Caucus? 

Never mind what they talk about. Just imagine all the economic benefit to the hosting city just from sales at the souvenir concessions and hot dog stands. That benefit alone may make these endeavors worthwhile.

More in the Washington Times.

Michael Justin Lee 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

What can China learn from Singapore on sustainability? Join the +China Weekly Hangout  where Shanghai-based sustainability expert +Richard Brubaker   will share his recent experiences in Singapore on Thursday 10 October. You can read our initial announcement here, or register for participation here. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra of the China Speakers Bureau.

Visas are an important tool to strengthen trade, but since China introduced new visa on September 1, the world is still trying to figure out how they work. Ambiguity is the word Beijing-based lawyer +Gary Chodorow uses most when talking about the new visas in China, on the +China Weekly Hangout on September 12. What to do with spouses, interns, people with F-visas and other visitors who are not allowed to work. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra of the China Speakers Bureau.

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