CRCC Asia has extensive experience in China, and we would like to share our knowledge and insight into this complex, unique and exciting business environment.
China’s real estate market has recently been showing further signs that it is ripening, though to the point that it may be fit to burst. The effects of a pop may not only impact China, but also at a wider level, various other global economies – something which will doubtless not be welcomed given the choppy economic waters countries have had to navigate over the previous four years. Given the potential rippling side effects, it is little surprise that analysts, such as Jonathan Anderson – former economist at UBS – have described China’s property market as the “most important sector in the known universe”.
Mr Anderson’s claim is perhaps at first glance bold, though not necessarily inaccurate. Real estate alone amounts to approximately one fifth of Chinese investment; and investment alone contributes over 50% of China’s GDP growth. In its full spectrum of activities, real estate not only shapes … Continue reading
The economic rise of China over the past few decades has been a much documented and analyzed phenomenon. Articles, books and dissertations have gone into great detail about the unprecedented growth of the export-led manufacturing industry in China. While this trend towards production was ultimately what brought China out of poverty, there is a new development that is catapulting China to the upper echelons of the global economic order, more specifically the rise of the Chinese consumer.
In recent years, the Chinese government has made a concerted effort to change the course of the economy. With the Chinese economy long dependent on export-driven production, the Politburo has since made pains to shift China over to the more Westernized consumption-driven model. Since this change in policy, China has undergone (and continues to undergo) a major shift. It has not been simple to so abruptly and profoundly change the course of the … Continue reading
It is impossible in today’s sphere of international relations to discuss top world players without touching upon the dichotomy of US-China ties. In less than 20 years, a transformation has taken place in the world order as China has surpassed numerous nations in reaching an economic prosperity typically only held by Western nations. In the financial and political realms, this rising star of a nation has exceeded all expectations and is now seen as an extremely viable player on the international stage.
Political scientists and economists have closely studied China’s rise to economic power and have written numerous articles and papers stating their concern. Many believe that the global unipolar system that so dominates the free world today will soon be challenged by China, thus causing an unstable see-saw of power that hasn’t been experienced since the Cold War. However, though we are seeing the accession of a legitimate superpower, … Continue reading
In my previous article entitled ‘the coming Chinese century’ I laid out a number of reasons as to why I believe China is destined to dominate the world economically in the coming years. This poses an interesting question that is summed up by former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd:
“Very soon we will find ourselves at a point in history when, for the first time since George III, a non-western, non-democratic state will be the largest economy in the world. If this is the case, how will China exercise its power in the future international order? Will it accept the culture, norms and structure of the post-war order? Or will it seek to change it? I believe this is the single core question for the first half of the 21st century, not just for Asia, but for the world.”
In short, is China a challenger to the post-war order and … Continue reading
Just how significant is China as an emerging market? Prior to the 2008 global financial crisis leading investment bank Goldman Sachs predicted that China’s economy would surpass the United States’ by 2027. At current pace, with the US economy mired in debt and recession and China’s economy growing at a vertiginous 9.5%, the Eastern colossus could be No.1 well before then.
Western countries, the United States in particular, have traditionally been seen as the key destination for internationally-minded students seeking high-flying internships and work experience. As a result of the increasing shift of global economic power from West to East however, more and more graduates are setting their sights on China tipped to be the world’s next economic superpower. But haven’t we been here before? The Financial Times columnist Gideon Rachmann has suggested that the question of American economic decline is effectively the international affairs equivalent of the “boy who … Continue reading
One of the major concerns when considering an extended trip to China is how, as a non-native, will one be received by the Chinese people? There are many contradictory factors within Chinese society that may impact the answer to this query. On one hand, China is famous for its culture of hospitality. Confucius, the father of Chinese culture, is said to have exclaimed, “What happiness it is to have friends visit from far away!” As such, if you are invited into a home in China you can expect to be welcomed with open arms and overflowing pots of tea. On the other hand, despite several thousands of years being a great global trading power, Chinese society has maintained high levels of homogeneity, with the majority of the population remaining apart from the rest of the world culturally and economically. It was not until the “opening up” of China in the … Continue reading
There is an old Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times” and over the last couple of years this cliche has been borne out around the world. We exist in a reality where the unthinkable becomes orthodoxy within months. For those of us who live in Britain we are having to re-assess where future careers and investment is going to come from and this leads millions of people to be looking to the world’s emerging economies when searching for their future prosperity.
However these new markets often present radically different ways of doing business and so without expertise in these new markets we can see businesses fail to fulfill their potential. One way that those people who seek a career in these emerging economies can gain this experience is by undertaking an international internship.
The benefits of gaining experience, particularly for those students and graduates looking to take … Continue reading
The 2008 Olympics was seen as the confirmation of China’s arrival on the world stage, confirming, if such confirmation were needed, the important role that sport can play in shaping the impression that the world has of a country. Despite this, China has so far made little impact on the global stage in the world’s most popular sport, football, however developments in the domestic game may be about to change that.
The consistent under-performance of China’s men’s football team is something of a running sore, reaching the status of a virtual national joke in a country whose development in other sports has been as rapid as it economic growth and a signifier of its new place in the world, a mark of this is its move from 11th to the top of the Olympic Medal table from 1988 to 2008. By contrast the senior men’s team has only reached … Continue reading
An ancient Chinese saying goes, “there is paradise in heaven, but there is Luoyang and Hangzhou on earth.” Many Europeans have probably never heard of these places as in the past European travellers in China have mostly been touring the east-coast to visit the country’s hot spots, such as Beijing, Shanghai or Hong Kong. But these days, more and more travellers head to rather undiscovered parts of the Middle Kingdom with its millenniums-old history.
The last few decades have boomed not only for China’s economic development but also for its tourism industry.China is the third most visited country in the world with growing numbers and roughly 60 million foreign tourists in 2010. The World Tourism Organization predicts that China would become the world’s largest tourist destination by 2015, challenging France and the United States of America.
Even though the majority of travellers visit China’s popular tourism spots, such as the … Continue reading
In the winter of 2001, China was formally inducted into the World Trade Organization, the international body charged with promoting free trade and enterprise throughout the globalized world. After 15 years of grueling negotiations, the terms of the admission were finally accepted by China and the world at large. This process has arguably been the single most important factor that has led China to become the economic powerhouse that it is today.
The China of 2012 would have been virtually unrecognizable in 2001. Before being admitted into the WTO, China’s trade was one-fifth the level that it is now. China is now the world’s second largest economy and the biggest exporter in the world. According to Zhang Hanlin, head of The WTO Studies Institute in Beijing, “Seventy percent of China’s economic achievements this decade can be attributed to our membership in the WTO.” Examining just how China’s entrance into the … Continue reading