Liu Xiang,Still Standing?

【摘要】Appliance Price War China’s three leading suppliers of home appliances, Suning, Taobao and 360buy, launched a price war in August. Analysts attributed the action to Ch...

As in Beijing in 2008, China’s star athlete liu xiang fell at the first hurdle in London this time in the heats once again leaving Chinese sports fans devastated by the ongoing effect of injuries on the country’s leading figure in track and field. In the wake of his ignominious exit in London, some have questioned the country’s wisdom in continuing to invest in Liu, with some netizens accusing him of deliberately throwing a race he knew he couldn’t win. Others struck back against Liu’s critics, arguing that his failure to perform in London shouldn’t eclipse his success in other international competitions since 2008. Expectations seem to have forced Liu to promise he will go on to compete in Rio, leaving fans concerned that he may risk further injury simply to appease the media and his critics.

Chinese Tea Boiling Over

A recent report by Greenpeace has revealed that six of 18 samples of Chinese tea taken from nine popular brands have been proven in laboratory testing to contain residue from over 10 types of pesticides, with 11 samples found to contain insecticides banned under international agricultural law. The China Tea Marketing Association responded that the samples tested conformed to China’s domestic standards, arguing that without pesticides, some 70 percent of China’s total tea crop would be damaged by insects. As of 2010, China had banned the use of 42 types of pesticide on tea plantations, but has not yet ascertained these chemicals’ potential impact on human health, leading many farmers to ignore the ban.

Who Pays for Losses?

Lured by huge profits, the government of Xinyu, Jiangxi Province sank a huge amount of public money into Asia’s largest solar cell manufacturer LDK Solar, only to find the company shackled with US$6 billion in debts due to the collapsing international market for solar technology. On July 12, the government announced a US$73 million subsidy to be paid directly to LDK in a bid to avert the collapse of Jiangxi’s biggest corporate tax contributor and safeguard two million local jobs. However, this temporary solution will only work if a buyer can be found soon, and with investors quitting the solar industry left, right and center, Jiangxi may have to face up to its misguided industrial policies.

Appliance Price War

China’s three leading suppliers of home appliances, Suning, Taobao and 360buy, launched a price war in August. Analysts attributed the action to China’s sluggish capital market, with all three giants struggling to attract financial backing. Experts claim that 360buy needs money to expand its operations to allow the company to go public, while Suning needs a capital injection into its flagging online business. Customers, however, were allegedly turned off by the price war, with many complaining that they had no way to check prices against those posted by competing stores. Analysts said as e-commerce in China moves incrementally towards a B2C model prioritizing logistics, service and product quality over price, consumer loyalty will be determined by more than price cuts.

Costly Ad

Zhang Yimou, the world-renowned Chinese director, drew fire from domestic media after the National Audit Office revealed that a five-minute promotional film the auteur had directed for the Ministry of Railways in 2010 had cost US$2.9 million, a flat rate quoted by Zhang’s commissioned production company that was never opened for bidding. Given that national auditors claim that similar promotional films should cost no more than US$1 million, the Audit Office is investigating whether the extra cash was spent on kickbacks. Although Zhang argued that he only received a fee of US$370,000, and denied knowledge of any kickbacks, he has been roundly criticized for his profit-oriented approach to filmmaking.