Ranking international schools in China - Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf

International schools are big business in China, not only for expat families living in China, but increasingly also for ambitious Chinese. Rupert Hoogewerf, chief researcher of the Hurun China Rich List ranked those schools for the first time at Hurun Education. YK PAO school, International School of Beijing, Dulwich College Beijing and Keystone Academy lead the top international schools in China, the report says.

Hurun Education:

 “China's international schools are young, especially compared with the top schools in the UK and US, many of which have been around for several hundred years. With the demand in the market for an international education, expect to see these schools and their alumni build an international reputation of excellence,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report Chairman and Chief Researcher. 

Average annual tuition is about US$20,000, rising to US$45,000 for the big cities of Shanghai and Beijing. “It is a big cost to put a child through the international education system in China,” continued Hoogewerf. 

Between April and October, Hurun Education asked 110 international education experts in China an unprompted question to recommend up to five schools in each of ‘Greater Shanghai’, ‘Greater Beijing’, Guangdong and ‘Rest of China’. Hurun Education received 942 nominations in total, an average of just under 9 nominations per expert. Half of respondents were school principals and senior teachers with the other half including investors, overseas study agents, training institutions and administrative departments of education. 34% came from ‘Greater Shanghai’, including Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu; 33% from ‘Greater Beijing’, including Beijing and Tianjin, and 33% from the rest of China. 24% of respondents were non-Chinese. 152 schools received votes. Schools were ranked on an index of 1 to 100, the school with the most votes receiving the maximum index of 100. The rankings refer to international schools in Mainland China only. 

Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report Chairman and Chief Researcher, said, “I believe this to be the first serious attempt to rank the international schools in China. This ranking is targeted at parents with children in China and admission officers of universities from around the world. I hope this ranking will help parents form an opinion on which international school is the most suitable for their child, by providing a comprehensive study of the market from the views of international educational experts in China.”

More at Hurun Education.

Rupert Hoogewerf 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: A fast changing society - Zhang Lijia

Zhang Lijia

Stability is the key word for China's political leaders, but when author Zhang Lijia of Lotus: A Novel on prostitution in China looks back at her last thirty years for her life, she sees a unbelievable change, she tells in a wide-ranging interview in the Australian Financial Review.

The Australian Financial Review:

Zhang says today's situation is very different from 30 years ago. The initial working title for her memoir was Frog in a Well, to convey her feelings of being trapped in the factory, only able to see a patch of sky that hinted at the world beyond. At the factory, she was banned from wearing lipstick or dating and female workers had to prove they weren't pregnant by showing evidence of bleeding every month. 

Today, Zhang says people feel more comfortable with the freedoms they have. This has stopped people from speaking out about the government's tighter control of society, which Zhang finds frustrating. 

"I find it incredible so many people have swallowed the line that what we want is stability. I was even having a conversation with someone who supported me and took part in the demonstration [a group of 300 factory workers organised by Zhang to march in late May 1989 as a show of solidarity with the protesters in Tiananmen Square] and he saw that as a youthful, impulsive action and said China now needed stability." 

Zhang tells me she left China in 1990 to live in Britain but returned to Beijing three years later and began working for the ABC's then China correspondent Ali Moore as a fixer. She resigned from the ABC to become a journalist in her own right and her writing has appeared in the South China Morning Post, Far Eastern Economic Review, Japan Times, The Guardian, Newsweek and The New York Times...

Then: doing research on prostitution has not been easy.

"Prostitution is still a very sensitive topic," she says, with a distinct British accent, honed by years of listening to the BBC. Zhang also lived in Britain during her marriage to British reporter Calum MacLeod, which ended 12 years ago. The couple have two daughters. "Even academics have trouble to do research. They cannot get funding," she says "In China prostitutes are stigmatised. People think they are dirty and cheap. A few years ago there was a big crackdown [on the sex industry] in Dongguan. Prostitutes were paraded in the street." 

Zhang says a film director showed some interest in the novel but he was told by the authorities "prostitution doesn't exist in China".

More in the Australian Financial Review. Zhang Lijia is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Are you looking for experts on cultural change in China? Do check out this list.
 

Why religion did not die out in communist China - Ian Johnson

Ian Johnson

China started - after initial suppression - to tolerate religion under Deng Xiaoping, as the communist rulers of the country expected religion was something for the older generation and would die out. Journalist Ian Johnson, author of The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao explains in a Q&A to JWT Intelligence why they were wrong. And the implications for business.

JWT Intelligence:

Why was religion in China suppressed to begin with? 

It’s important to go back to before the communists, back to the 19th century when other countries were confronted with how to modernize. Many people felt religion was holding people back. In late 19th century China, some saw religion as a social ill, similar to footbinding or opium smoking. Buddhism, Daoism, folk religions were by and large suspect. Hundreds of thousands of temples were destroyed. When the communists took over in 1949, they carried it forward in more radical fashion. During Mao’s Cultural Revolution from 1966-1976, he banned all places of worship. Mao himself was almost like a god; the little red book almost like a bible. Then he died. 

Under Deng Xiaoping’s capital and economic reforms, control over a lot of society was loosened. He allowed seminaries to open, and monks, nurses and imams to be trained. It was thought that some old people still believed in religion and religions would slowly disappear. 

But they didn’t? 

No. As people got wealthier, there was a widespread perception that in China, there is a lack of shared values and China is in a sort of moral vacuum. We see this in social media—somebody is injured in the street and nobody helps them. There are food safety scandals. People are asking, “what sort of society have we become?” This is one of the reasons people are turning to religion. 

Now the government feels some religion can be useful, especially if it doesn’t have foreign ties. Some are viewed less favorably, like Islam and Christianity. But Buddhism and Daoism are now tolerated and even encouraged. This slow shift that began about 10 years ago really picked up pace under current President Xi Jinping. 

We see an explosion in the number of temples, churches and mosques paid for by ordinary people through donations. Religions are getting more active in proselytizing and even Buddhists and Daoists are trying to compete in this religious marketplace.

More in JWT Intelligence.

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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US regulator bans HK accounting firm - Paul Gillis

Paul Gillis

The efforts by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB)  to get access to Chinese data from US-listed Chinese firms went into a new phase as it banned a Hong Kong accounting firm, reports Beida accounting professor Paul Gillis on his weblog. It could be a new item on Trump's China agenda, he suggests.

Paul Gillis:

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has published disciplinary actions against a small Hong Kong CPA firm, Anthony Kam & Associates and Anthony Kam himself (Kam). Kam and his firm have been fined, censured, and banned from doing audits of US listed companies for at least five years because of shoddy work on Sino Agro Food, Inc (SIAF), a Chinese reverse merger. 

Kam was found to have signed off on the 2012 audit of SAIF without actually conducting an audit. Kam had taken over the audit from another firm and reissued the financial statements without doing any work other than obtaining a representation letter from the client and getting a copy of the prior auditors working papers. Serious deficiencies were found in the 2013 and 2014 audits. 

The PCAOB lamented that it should have inspected KAM at least twice since 2009, but was unable to do so because China blocks access. Somehow the PCAOB was able to pursue this action; possibly it was done under the 2013 Enforcement Cooperation Agreement. If Trump wants to get tough on China, he might start by demanding the Chinese comply with US laws or else delist their companies from US markets.

More at the ChinaAccountingBlog.

Paul Gillis 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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Tencent's Pony Ma: the consistent growth factor - Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf

In the dramatic battle between the two major Chinese IT giants, Alibaba and Tencent, Alibaba's Jack Ma often grabs the attention, outspoken and in excellent English. Tencent's CEO Pony Ma is a dark horse, but now Time dives into his background. For Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of the Hurun China Rich List, Pony Ma has been a factor of constant growth, he tells the magazine.

Time:

This year has been an exceptional one for (Pony) Ma, thanks to surging stock prices in China. Prior to 2017, Ma was worth $20.8 billion, according to Bloomberg’s billionaire index. In 2017 alone, Ma has made $21.5 billion according to the index — 5th-most on the index and second in China only to industrialist Hui Ka Yan, whom MONEY profiled earlier this year. Five of the top-10 wealth gainers in 2017 have been Chinese, according to Bloomberg. But it is Ma — no relation to Yahoo owner Jack Ma — who is set to have an increasing presence on the world stage. 

“Pony is unique in that he has been one of the most consistent players on the Hurun China Rich List,” Rupert Hoogewerf, publisher of the Hurun rich list, which tracks Chinese wealth, told MONEY in an email. “I can’t think of anyone else that has grown so consistently.”

Pony Ma

More about Pony Ma in Time.

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How China becomes a global leader in AI and driverless cars - Mark Greeven

Add caption

China's high-tech companies like Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi and Baidu are pushing the country to become a global leader by developing new business models, says Zhejiang University professor Mark Greeven, author of Business Ecosystems in China: Alibaba and Competing Baidu, Tencent, Xiaomi and LeEco to the South China Morning Post.

The South China Morning Post:

Greeven, who co-wrote Business Ecosystem in China: Alibaba and Competing Baidu, Tencent, Xiaomi and LeEco with Wei Wei, said Chinese companies have found a new method of organisation that will help it become a global innovation leader. 

The business ecosystems of Chinese companies differ sharply from those of US juggernauts such as Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple, according to Greeven, whose book came out in September. 

In the US, one company usually creates a platform which outside companies either plug into or use. In China, an outside company does not plug in, but becomes part of the business as one of hundreds of players in an ecosystem, Greeven argues. 

A distinct trait of a Chinese innovation ecosystem is the “glue” that exists between all the participants. For example, in the case of Alibaba – the owner of the South China Morning Post – the payment function is shared in its ecosystem. 

The five companies in the book’s title are all digital driven, but they mix hardware and software, online and offline and old and new industries. They include relatively old companies such as Tencent, which was set up in the 1990s, and younger companies. 

What they have in common is an aversion to adopting the standard metrics structures used by most multinationals. Greeven found. Their unique ecosystem, under which suppliers, distributors or customers become partners, helps them achieve early success in a highly uncertain business environment.

More in the South China Morning Post.

Mark Greeven 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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Dilemma's for brands when coming to China - Ben Cavender

Ben Cavender

Victoria Secret's high-profile problems with authorities in Shanghai were not the first when big brands try to organize events in China, nor will they be the last. Brands are simply not aware enough of politically or morally sensitive issues, different from their home market, says branding experts Ben Cavender to Reuters.

Reuters:

The issue has underscored a dilemma for global brands, sports franchises, moviemakers and performers looking to tap China’s big-spending consumers while keeping on the right side of often stringent rules about content and behaviour. 

“Brands have to be much more aware of politically or morally sensitive topics here,” said Ben Cavender, Shanghai-based principal at China Market Research Group, adding the lure of the market meant most people would nevertheless take risks. 

“It’s a very different political environment than their home markets and we’re at a time when China is on a drive to clean up behaviour and push a sort of moral code.” 

China has long kept tight control of performers it allows into the country. Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Bjork and Bon Jovi are all banned over perceived bad behaviour or for broaching sensitive topics like Tibet or Taiwan.

More in Reuters.

Ben Cavender 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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Why it is good to be an author in China - Zhang Lijia

Zhang Lijia

While most of the media stress government control on journalists and authors, Zhang Lijia, author of Lotus: A Novel on prostitution in China, sees huge advantages too, she tells the blog Women and Gender in China (WAGIC). "Internationally Chinese women writers are almost invisible. This is another reason that I want to keep writing."

WAGIC:

S: What would you say are the opportunities and challenges of being a (female) writer in China today? 

China is the seventh heaven for writers and journalists. Like any society that is going through such rapid social transformation, there’s always tension and drama – these are exactly what writers and journalists seek after.

It is difficult to be a writer anywhere in the world. In China, most writers have to deal with the extra challenge of facing censorship. Right now, the publishing and writing fields are still male-dominated. Internationally Chinese women writers are almost invisible. This is another reason that I want to keep writing. 

S: One of the areas that you talk about in your public speaking is the changing role of women in Chinese society. What would you say are the main challenges facing women today? 

LJ: The main challenges facing women today is the deeply rooted male chauvinism and the growing gender inequality. Market economy has placed women in an unfavourable position. But I am optimistic because women have taken the matter into their own hands, as reflected in the growing activism since 2012. It would have been much better if such activism is tolerated by the authorities.  

S: What do you have planned next? 

LJ: I am writing a literary non-fiction on China’s left behind children. Coming from a journalist background, I found fiction writing extremely challenging. In this non-fiction book, I plan to apply some fictional techniques I’ve learnt, such as setting the scene, good dialogue, sense of suspense and character development, which, hopefully, will make the book more engaging and literary.

More in WAGIC.

Zhang Lijia is a speaker on the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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More control and more openness: China conundrum - Victor Shih

Victor Shih

China's economy is more and more controlled by the state, but the country is also pledging more openness. Political analyst Victor Shih looks at CNBC whether China can deal with this conundrum, or not. China's agenda and ambitions are clear, but now how they might work out, he says.

Victor Shih 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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More at CNBC.
Leveraging is expanding too rapidly in China, academic says from CNBC.

Is Alibaba cooking the Single's Day books? - Paul Gillis

Paul Gillis

China's e-commerce giant booked another record during its Single's Day in 2017. But what figures is the company actually reporting? Beida accounting professor Paul Gillis dives into the figures at his Chinaaccountingblog.

Paul Gillis:

Alibaba had another spectacular singles day, reporting US$25.3 billion of gross merchandise volume settled through Alipay. Business Insider reports that this nearly doubled the $12.8 billion that US retailers sold between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday last year. 

"More than US$25 billion of GMV in one day is not just a sales figure," said Daniel Zhang, Chief Executive Officer of Alibaba Group. "It represents the aspiration for quality consumption of the Chinese consumer, and it reflects how merchants and consumers alike have now fully embraced the integration of online and offline retail." 

Actually, Zhang is wrong. GMV is not at all a sales figure (although it may well represent the aspirations of the Chinese consumer).  Alibaba does not report GMV as revenue (or sales), Instead Alibaba reports the transaction fees it charges to sellers.  In its fiscal year 2017, Alibaba reported 114 billion RMB of revenue on GMV of 3.8 trillion RMB. 

Analysts love GMV, which they believe gives a more meaningful view as to the volume of business going through the platform. A major problem is that GMV is not a defined accounting term, and the numbers are unaudited.

More at the Chinaaccountingblog.

Paul Gillis 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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Is the China-US tension inevitable? - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein

That is one of the key questions Shaun Rein asks in his upcoming book The War for China's Wallet: Profiting from the New World Order. On his LinkedIn page he invites you to discuss that important questions. Some of the participants might win a digital copy of the book.

Shaun Rein:

WCW looks at how China is cementing its power through economic carrots/ initiatives like One Belt One Road and by punishing countries like South Korea & Norway and companies like Lotte that do not follow its wants politically. The book looks at how China is dealing with Southeast Asia, the Korean Peninsula, the Middle East, and how the US needs to respond. 

These are turbulent times politically, and I wrote this book to help governments and companies understand how to navigate China's rising political ambitions. Many argue a war between the US and China is inevitable -- I disagree with this notion but better understanding is key as are building economic ties.

More at Shaun Rein's LinkedIn page.



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Why works the sharing economy in China? - Jeffrey Towson

Jeffrey Towson

Huge usage of mobile phones, popular internet payment systems and 1.4 billion users are some of the elements that explain why the sharing economy in China is doing so well, says Jeffrey Towson, investment professor at the Peking University at the TV program China Matters.

Jeffrey Towson 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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Multinationals: losing to local brands - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein

Multinationals are increasingly losing markets to local competitors, says business analyst Shaun Rein, author of The War for China's Wallet: Profiting from the New World Order to Bloomberg, and founder of the China Market Research Group. “Multinationals underestimated local competition,” said Shaun Rein.

Bloomberg:

Asia traditionally was considered easy money for Western multinationals, with beverage makers, cigarette brands and fast-food giants capitalizing on rising incomes and weak local competitors. A survey by China Market Research Group in 2011 showed 85 percent of Chinese consumers preferring foreign brands. 

Those days are over. That preference dropped by half last year, and it goes beyond China: brands of Indian toothpaste, Vietnamese laundry detergent and Japanese flavored water are picking up market share with lower prices and by catering to local tastes. Rising stars such as Indonesia’s Luwak instant coffee and China’s Pechoin moisturizers spell trouble for global titans at a time when Asia-Pacific’s economic growth is projected to outpace the world’s through 2019. 

“Multinationals underestimated local competition,” said Shaun Rein, managing director for China Market Research Group. “Local players have moved very fast on emerging trends that multinationals have missed, like healthy and e-commerce.”

More in Bloomberg.

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.

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The real force behind the sharing economy - Jeffrey Towson

Jeffrey Towson

The winner among the sharing companies is not the one who sells most rides, but the one who is best in collecting smart data, says Peking University professor Jeffrey Towson to the New York Times. “The fight is no longer over who has the biggest fleet,” Towson says, “but who has the smartest fleet.”

The New York Times:

Cities around the world have embraced the sharing economy — Seoul, Amsterdam, Milan — but China is the first country to frame it as a “national priority.” While innovation can’t be conjured on demand, Beijing has financed start-up incubators, offered tax incentives, formed think tanks and kept foreign competitors away. “This is state capitalism,” says Jeffrey Towson, a private-equity investor and a professor of investment at Peking University. “When the government gives the green light, everybody follows.” That includes investors. Mobike and Ofo, which are financed by China’s biggest tech giants, Tencent and Alibaba, respectively, have raised roughly a billion dollars each in venture capital. (Didi Chuxing, the ride-sharing company that bought out Uber’s China operation last year, is even bigger — with $5.5 billion in financing and 450 million users across China.)... 

Every time consumers scan the QR code on a bicycle — or basketball, handbag, umbrella — they provide information about habits, locations, behaviors and payment histories. That’s invaluable not just to Tencent and Alibaba but also to city planners seeking precise information about where to build roads, bridges and subways. “The fight is no longer over who has the biggest fleet,” Towson says, “but who has the smartest fleet.”

More in the New York Times.

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The golden rules of marketing in China - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

Brand expert, Prophet senior partner and ex-JWT veteran Tom Doctoroff unveiled "three golden rules for marketing in China" at Mumbrella360 Asia.  Doctorff said brands need to understand the Confucian “tension” between climbing social hierarchy and protecting oneself from social or economic failure.

Tom Doctoroff 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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Why online education booms in China - Andy Mok

Andy Mok

Online education is doing extremely well in China. E-commerce expert Andy Mok gives three main reasons why online education is a winner. "The Chinese people have valued education for thousands of years," he says at WomenofChina.

WomenofChina:

Analysts believe China could become one of the world's most vibrant online education markets, given its growing spending power and under-supply of educational resources, as well as the introduction of the two-child policy. 

"Well, there is clearly a tremendous demand for online education. I think there are three reasons for that. First one is cultural. The Chinese people have valued education for thousands of years. The second reason is technological. Especially now, more and more Chinese have access to the interview through their mobile phones, faster bandwidth and more powerful processors. And finally, it's political. In the recent concluded 19th Party Congress, Xi Jinping emphasized one of the challenges facing China today is unequal and unbalanced development, so online education is potentially a very powerful tool for addressing this unequal and unbalanced development," said Andy Mok, the managing director of Red Pagoda Resources.

More in WomenofChina.

Andy Mok 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 e-commerce experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.  

The debate on One Belt, One Road - Zhang Ying

Zhang Ying

The new Marshall Plan or a sneaky way China wants to conquer the world? The opinions on China's massive One Belt, One Road program go into both directions. RSM professor Zhang Ying summarizes both views on China's investment program that is changing the world, for Friends of Europe.

Zhang Ying:

The Eurasian Silk Road was developed over a thousand years ago, and then revived by China’s President Xi Jinping in 2013 as a part of the country’s economic transition. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), also called the New Silk Road and the One-Belt-One-Road, seems to have been widely accepted as an initiative to facilitate trade across the Eurasian continent, as well as geo-economic integration and global prosperity. 

However, it has been interpreted in various other ways. Two points of view stand out: There are those who view it as China’s latest strategy for boosting its slowing domestic economic growth. The others see it as a means to project China’s growing influence and an alternative to existing international geo-economic relationships. As such, the initiative has elicited respect, awe and enthusiasm among those who believe that it illustrates China’s visionary view of the future. But it has also raised questions over whether it is an altruistic contribution to the world, or just another plot by an egotistical “great power” to further its own self-interest. 

There are reasons for the concerns, just as there have been over the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) promoted by the other “great power”, the United States. Some thought of the TPP as a beacon for global free trade, giving the economies of the Pacific Rim their own, well-deserved trading club. Others saw it as just another instrument for the US to align its Pacific Rim allies in an exclusive economic club. With the Trump administration’s unexpected withdrawal of the US from TPP, attention has shifted to the other forward-looking initiative Asian initiative, namely the BRI. As a result, China has been catapulted into the position of “thought leader” for a new world order. 

Those who criticise the BRI are opposed to change or motivated by populism rather than a vision of collective prosperity. However, over three years’ of BRI-related framework projects across the Eurasian continent, reality is beginning to sink in. Many countries have started to support BRI, because they see its tangible advantages, both in the short term and in the long run. Others continue to beat the drum against change. Another group is torn between believing in the benefits of the new vision but still fearing ramifications that they cannot fully grasp.

More in Friends of Europe.

Zhang Ying is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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Brands should stress individuality - Ben Cavender

Ben Cavender

Gone are the days when China's consumers formed herds for their purchases. Whether is is for jewelry or trips abroad stressing individuality of consumers if key to be successful as a brand, says branding expert Ben Cavender to the China Daily.

The China Daily:

"People are now trying to express their individuality, so brands should think how to make a product fit their lifestyle with high product quality and attention to detail," said Ben Cavender, principal at China Market Research Group, a data information company. 

"This is creating opportunities for niche brands and accessory makers to stand out. Major brands are not going anywhere, but they do have to rationalize product designs and categories more to ensure they are getting the right products to consumers quickly," he added.

More in the China Daily.

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The War for China's Wallets - Shaun Rein

The long-awaited third book by Shaun Rein The War for China's Wallet: Profiting from the New World Order is now available on Amazon. After two earlier bestsellers, Shaun Rein now focuses on the fast-changing playing field for foreign companies to make their operation work in China.

From Amazon:

With Chinese-led initiatives such as One Belt One Road (OBOR) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) combined with uncertainty due to US shifts in policy and apparent commitments over the past decade, the stakes are high for companies looking to profit from the world's newest superpower. Post-financial crisis, China has emerged as the largest or second largest trading partner for most countries. It has become the second largest market for Fortune 500 companies like Starbucks, Apple, and Nike and drives growth for Hollywood and commodity products. Yet the profits come at a price for countries and companies alike, they must adhere to the political goals of Beijing or else face economic punishment or outright banishment. Using primary research from interviews with hundreds of business executives and government officials, The War for China's Wallet will help companies understand how to profit from China's outbound economic plans as well as a shifting consumer base that is increasingly nationalistic. The countries and companies that get it right will benefit from China's wallet but those that do not will lose out on the world's largest growth engine for the next two decades.

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.

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Lessons for crossing borders - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

Try to solve a problem, even when that means you have to throw your ideas in the bin, tells William Bao Bean an Australian audience. When people in India or China do not have the problem you try to solve, going there does not make sense. The managing director of Chinaccelerator helps preparing for the next four billion of customers.

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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list.