In The Media
Professors Blog
Supreme Court decision little help to investors
Apr. 24, 2017
Chinese bike-sharing start-up says it’s now worth more than US$2 billion
CNBC / Chinese bike-sharing startup Ofo now says it is worth more than US$2 billion. CEO Dai Wei, a 26-year-old entrepreneur who named his firm Ofo as the letters look like a bike, revealed that figure in a conversation with CNBC. It’s about double the last reports of the company’s value — which came out less than two months ago. Such a valuation isn’t too shabby for a company that started about two years ago with its founders pooling private savings of 150,000 yuan (US$21,800) to kick things off.
Apr. 28, 2017
Crucial player
China Daily / With huge financial firepower at its disposal, AIIB could prove vital to sustaining global growth. Investment in Asian infrastructure might seem to many in the West like a mere regional concern - yet it could hold the key to sustaining global growth and providing jobs both in Europe and even in Donald Trump's Rust Belt. Asia - which has been the engine of global growth for a decade or more - needs to spend $1.7 trillion a year on infrastructure up to 2030 just to maintain its current growth levels, according to the Asian Development Bank. It is currently spending just around half of that, $881 billion.
Apr. 25, 2017
Chinese Takeover Bid for US-based MoneyGram Scrutinized
VOA / BEIJING - The financial industry is closely watching Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial's attempt to acquire Dallas-based MoneyGram International, the world's second biggest money transfer company after Western Union. Ant is offering $1.2 billion, more than U.S.-based competitor Euronet Worldwide. If successful, the deal would turn Ant Financial into a financial behemoth with access to MoneyGram's vast network of 350,000 outlets of retail shops, post offices and banks across 200 countries. At present, Ant's business is largely based on the Chinese yuan. The acquisition would also give it access to U.S. dollar funds and escrow accounts for managing the funds.
Apr. 24, 2017
Chinese bike-sharing start-up says it’s now worth more than US$2 billion
CNBC / Chinese bike-sharing startup Ofo now says it is worth more than US$2 billion. CEO Dai Wei, a 26-year-old entrepreneur who named his firm Ofo as the letters look like a bike, revealed that figure in a conversation with CNBC. It’s about double the last reports of the company’s value — which came out less than two months ago. Such a valuation isn’t too shabby for a company that started about two years ago with its founders pooling private savings of 150,000 yuan (US$21,800) to kick things off.
Apr. 24, 2017
5 More Life Lessons from Lunch with Warren Buffett
LinkedIn / I have written a lot about my trip with 20 Peking University students to meet Warren Buffett. A couple of Buffett’s comments from that Omaha meeting have really stuck with me. They have been rattling around in my head and have made me question how I am living. In this article, I detail the five more of these Buffett “life lessons”. Part 1 can be found here.
Apr. 18, 2017
No, First Quarter Numbers Don’t Mean Growth Has Bottomed Out
Carnegie Endowment / Anyone reading news reports about the Chinese economy a year ago might have thought the country was on the verge of financial collapse. There seemed at the time plenty of evidence supporting those who expected an economic breakdown: debt was surging at unprecedented rates, regulators were in disarray following a stock market collapse the previous summer, and liquidity panics periodically swept through the banking system. In addition, so much capital was fleeing the country that even a huge current account surplus couldn’t prevent central bank reserves from eventually declining by nearly a quarter from their June 2014 peak.
Apr. 17, 2017
Chinese bike-sharing start-up Ofo says it's now worth more than $2 billion
CNBC / Chinese bike-sharing startup Ofo now says it is worth more than $2 billion. CEO Dai Wei, a 26-year-old entrepreneur who named his firm Ofo as the letters look like a bike, revealed that figure in a conversation with CNBC. It's about double the last reports of the company's value — which came out less than two months ago. Such a valuation isn't too shabby for a company that started about two years ago with its founders pooling private savings of 150,000 yuan ($21,800) to kick things off.
Apr. 13, 2017
Jeffrey Towson: China embraces bike-sharing like nowhere else
Nikkei Asian Review / Bike-sharing has taken off in China far faster than in any other market where it has been offered. The unexpected popularity of the services has attracted lots of investment capital and media coverage. However, it is also raising questions about profitability, widespread bike vandalism and theft, and growing government regulation. Hype, scrutiny and liquidity have overwhelmed a nice, convenient and surprisingly popular service. Why did bike-sharing take off so rapidly in China versus other countries, especially when bikes could already be purchased here for as little as $7? Chinese services like Mobike and Ofo are entering markets overseas like Singapore, London and Silicon Valley, but will they catch on more than previous attempts there? Could these services all be a fad?
Apr. 12, 2017
United Airlines Just Got Dragged Down the Aisle by Chinese Consumers
LinkedIn / The video of bloodied David Dao being dragged down the aisle of a United Airlines flight went global on late Sunday. It became news everywhere but it was the reaction in China that was probably the most surprising for United Airlines. There are lots of opinions as to why the Chinese reaction was so strong - but the simplest explanation is that it just looked like an Asian man (of then still-unidentified origin) being abused. Chinese netizens jumped into action almost immediately.
Apr. 11, 2017
Will Alibaba, Tencent, or Wanda Win in Chinese Entertainment? (Pt 1 of 2)
LinkedIn / Alibaba Pictures and Tencent Pictures are two companies I keep a close eye on. They appear very well positioned to win big in Chinese entertainment. And they are making unconventional moves in an industry that is both emerging and being disrupted at the same time. I recently spoke with a colleague at Alibaba Pictures. It was a fascinating talk and, honestly, I had a slight pang of envy. Entertainment is just a cool field. Much sexier than my focus on mostly healthcare. And to be at the center of this industry as it emerges in China must be fascinating. Plus the parties are probably awesome.
Apr. 3, 2017
Mexico’s Positive Impact on the U.S. Trade Balance
Carnegie Endowment / While some countries still enact mercantilist policies that directly affect the relative prices of traded goods in ways that David Ricardo would have understood two hundred years ago, in today’s global trading environment, persistent trade surpluses are usually caused by distortions in income distribution that force up savings rates. These high savings rates, which are almost always mistakenly attributed to a country’s thrifty habits— just as low U.S. savings rate are foolishly attributed to spendthrift American habits— create demand deficiencies that must be resolved with trade surpluses.
Apr. 2, 2017
Can China's bike-sharing boom last?
Nikkei Asian Review / Bike-sharing has taken off in China far faster than in any other market where it's been offered. The unexpected popularity of the services has attracted lots of investment capital and media coverage. However, it is also raising questions about profitability, wide-spread bike vandalism and theft, and growing government regulation. Hype, scrutiny and liquidity have overwhelmed a nice, convenient and surprisingly popular service.
Mar. 31, 2017
Can China and US build a better world?
China Daily / Information age fosters deep mutual understanding between countries that must cooperate to survive and thrive. The most important relationship in the world? It's China and the United States, both economic superpowers towering above the rest, and whose interdependence led the historian Niall Ferguson to coin the expression "Chimerica".
China's rise to global greatness has been swift enough to surprise the rest of the world, especially the US. However, such a swift rise is not unique. Along with other sudden large-scale disruptions, like France under Napoleon from 1799, or Germany after unification in 1871, these events have created precedents for today's predictions of doom.
Mar. 29, 2017
Guanghua-Kellogg EMBA program leverages mutual strength
China Daily / Three years ago, the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University partnered with Peking University's Guanghua School of Management, setting up China's first English-language Executive MBA program. Since then, three cohorts, 101 students have enrolled in the 22-month Guanghua-Kellogg Executive Master of Business Administration program. On March 21, Greg Hanifee, the associate dean of Kellogg's Executive MBA Global Network visited the Guanghua School of Management.
Mar. 29, 2017
Guanghua-Kellogg EMBA program leverages mutual strength
Ecns.cn / Three years ago, the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University partnered with Peking University's Guanghua School of Management, setting up China's first English-language Executive MBA program.
Since then, three cohorts, 101 students have enrolled in the 22-month Guanghua-Kellogg Executive Master of Business Administration program. On March 21, Greg Hanifee, the associate dean of Kellogg's Executive MBA Global Network visited the Guanghua School of Management.
Mar. 27, 2017
3 Ways President Xi and King Salman Can Move China and Saudi Arabia Beyond Oil
LinkedIn / Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Saudi Arabia is now aggressively seeking foreign investment to diversify its economy away from oil. So this meeting in China was arguably the most important of the King’s month long Asia trip.
Mar. 23, 2017
Disney chooses its battles in Malaysia and China
Mar. 22, 2017
Disney's Beauty & the Beast Saga is About China & Malaysia - But Also About Emerging LGBT Asia
Mar. 11, 2017
Supreme Court decision little help to investors
China Accounting Blog / A recent China Supreme Court decision related to Ambow Education’s VIE appears to provide little comfort to investors in VIE structures. I have had a chance to discuss this ruling with some Chinese experts, and provide here a layman’s interpretation while we await a good legal analysis in English. The case was a suit brought by Hunan Changsha Yaxing Company (Yaxing) against Ambpw’s VIE.
Mar. 10, 2017
2016 was turning point for economy
China Daily / Prospects brighter this year because of wide-ranging changes through which China has shown its resilience. The sense of satisfaction with which the Chinese government delivered its annual work report to the joint meeting in Beijing of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and 12th National People's Congress is understandable.The US financial crash of 2008 and the economic depression that followed it seriously unbalanced the global economic equilibrium. Globally interdependent China, which was deeply affected by the crisis, responded quickly by opening the taps of fiscal stimulus.
Mar. 10, 2017
New China Supreme Court decision on VIEs
China Accounting Blog / There has been an important decision in China with respect to the enforceability of VIE contracts. The attached article (in Chinese) explains a decision of China’s Supreme Court upholding the enforceability of Ambow Education’s VIE contracts. I am going to wait for some Chinese lawyers to better explain the rationale of the case, but it seems to rest on the conclusion that the arrangements do not result in impermissible foreign control of restricted industries. That would seem to be contrary to earlier decisions.
Mar. 9, 2017
Alibaba Pictures is the company to watch in Chinese entertainment
Nikkei Asia / Two years into Alibaba Group Holding's push into entertainment, its movie arm has a growing pipeline of produced and acquired content. Alibaba Pictures is regularly doing domestic and Hollywood deals for film production, financing and distribution. And it is making unconventional moves in cinema software, online videos, ticketing apps and film crowdfunding.
Mar. 8, 2017
I Took 20 Chinese Students to Meet Warren Buffett. Here’s What Happened (Pt. 3 of 4))
LinkedIn / In February 2017, I chaperoned 20 business students from Peking University to meet Warren Buffett in Omaha. It turned out to be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, an investment pilgrimage of sorts.In 4 articles, I document what happened and what we learned. I have included a lot of detail, especially on the Berkshire companies we visited and on Warren’s comments. So this is a pretty long account. This article is Part 3 (Part 1 is here and Part 2 is here)
Mar. 7, 2017
I Took 20 Chinese Students to Meet Warren Buffett. Here’s What Happened (Pt. 2 of 4)
LinkedIn / In February 2017, I chaperoned 20 business students from Peking University to meet Warren Buffett in Omaha. It turned out to be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, an investment pilgrimage of sorts. In 4 articles, I document what happened and what we learned. I have included a lot of detail, especially on the Berkshire companies we visited and on Warren’s comments. So this is a pretty long account. This article is Part 2 (Part 1 is here).
Mar. 6, 2017
I Took 20 Chinese Students to Meet Warren Buffett. Here’s What Happened. (Pt. 1 of 4)
LinkedIn / In February 2017, I chaperoned 20 business students from Peking University to meet Warren Buffett in Omaha. This was the first group from Peking University to ever meet with Mr. Buffett - and only the second school ever from China. It turned out to be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, an investment pilgrimage of sorts.
Mar. 3, 2017
China Taking Political Risks for Economic Reforms, Foreign Investments
VOA / China is responding to international criticism that it gives favorable treatment to state-owned enterprises (SOEs) while neglecting of the needs of foreign companies, and even foreign markets that buy Chinese goods.Releasing the annual work report, or budgetary proposals, in the National People's Congress (NPC), Chinese Premier Li Keqiang signaled a crackdown on loss-posting "zombie enterprises" among the SOEs, and promised to make life easier for foreign investors.
Mar. 1, 2017
Trump Infrastructure Plan Seen as Key to Dodging China Trade War
Bloomberg / Donald Trump’s plan to spend big on infrastructure may determine whether the U.S. and China end up slugging it out in a trade war. The link between those seemingly independent variables all comes down to jobs. If a splurge on airports and rail networks boosts employment and growth in the U.S., there’ll be less need to deliver on promises to deal with the China trade issue, said Michael Pettis, professor of finance at the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University in Beijing.
Feb. 28, 2017
China and the History of U.S. Growth Models
Carnegie Endowment / As regular readers know, I have often argued that the Chinese development model is an old one and can trace its roots at least as far back as the American System of the 1820s and 1830s. This system was itself based primarily on the works of the astonishing first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. (See especially his three main reports to Congress: his “First Report on The Public Credit” of January 14, 1790; his “Second Report on The Public Credit” of December 13, 1790, and most importantly his brilliant “Report on Manufactures” of December 5, 1791. The “Second Report on The Public Credit” is sometimes also known as the “Report on a National Bank.”)
Feb. 28, 2017
Building Binge: ADB Calls for More Infrastructure Across Asia
The Wall Street Journal / Asia needs at least $1.5 trillion of roads, bridges and other infrastructure annually between now and 2030 to maintain its growth momentum, a doubling of earlier projections, according to the Asian Development Bank. In a report released Tuesday, the Manila-based development bank said the tab would run even higher if climate change is factored in: Upgrading power plants, transport systems and other facilities would boost regional investment by another $241 billion annually among some 45 Asia and Pacific countries.
Feb. 28, 2017
Growth In China's Private Education Spending Fuels IPO, Fortune
Forbes / China Yuhua Education, which educates nearly 50,000 students at its network of private schools in China, has become the latest business to benefit from the country's growth in education spending.The company's shares rose by as much as 10.7% from their listing price of HK$2.05 on debut at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange today.
Feb. 26, 2017
Warren Buffett's Q&A with Peking University on February 17, 2017
LinkedIn / On February 17, 2017, I took 20 Peking University students to Omaha to spend a day at Berkshire Hathaway. The trip included 3 company visits, a 2.5 hour Q&A with Warren Buffett, and then a steak lunch with him. I’m writing up the whole experience and will post it shortly. This was his first meeting with Peking University and his second with a student group from China.
Feb. 24, 2017
How much is enough? 'We can't really say'
China Daily / Too much in foreign exchange reserves may actually be harmful, academic says. Michael Pettis believes China has probably double the minimum foreign exchange reserves it needs. The professor of finance at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management also insists that January's fall in the level to below $3 trillion is a non-event."What is the right amount of reserves for China? You know, there is no real science to it so we can't really say but I doubt it is much above $1.2, $1.3 or $1.4 trillion, so they now probably already have twice as much as the minimum amount they need."
Feb. 24, 2017
China Accounting Blog / Reuters has an interesting report that says Chinese regulators plan to allow some of China’s largest tech firms to jump the queue to list in China.
Feb. 20, 2017
7 Things I Learned from Lunch with Warren Buffett
LinkedIn / Last week I took twenty Peking University students to Omaha to spend a day at Berkshire Hathaway. The trip included 3 company visits, a 2.5 hour Q&A with Warren Buffett, and then a steak lunch with him. I’m writing up the whole experience and will post it shortly (including the Q&A).
Feb. 13, 2017
My Visit to Oriental DreamWorks - And Why Animation is Booming in China
LinkedIn / Of the 19 million students in Chinese universities in 2009, over 1 million were studying art and design. Think about that number for a moment. One million students studying painting, design and other creative arts. That is larger than the student populations studying chemistry, law, or economics.
Feb. 10, 2017
China Daily / As Trump calls on manufacturers to return to the US, what are the prospects for China's industrial strategy?Where next for manufacturing? The geographic location of factories and production has become one of the more hotly debated issues in recent months.At an executive meeting of the Chinese State Council, chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on Dec 28, a guideline was issued to encourage more foreign investment in high-end manufacturing in China.
Feb. 6, 2017
My 5 Predictions for Chinese Consumers in 2017
LinkedIn / In the past 2 years, Chinese consumers have arrived as a global economic force. And this is really just the beginning. We are going to see an increasing impact by these consumers on business going-forward. So here are 5 predictions for Chinese consumers for the coming year.
Feb. 2, 2017
Is Peter Navarro Wrong on Trade?
Carnegie Endowment / Whether the U.S. current account deficit is harmful or not to the U.S. economy depends on the assumptions we make about capital scarcity. In a world awash with excess capital and insufficient demand, the U.S. current account deficit is a drag on growth.
Jan. 30, 2017
How Trump's Fight with Mexico and NAFTA Could Help China
LinkedIn / When it comes to the USA, Chinese and Mexican manufacturers have long been rivals. Both groups export fairly similar types of goods. Both have advantages in lower cost labor. And they are now the No 1 and No 2 exporters to the US. But while Chinese manufacturers have become dominant in most product categories, Mexican manufacturers have been more successful in a few key sectors, especially in cars and autoparts. And this has a lot to do with NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement).
Jan. 27, 2017
Mexico's losses could be China's gains
China Daily / Trump's recent pronouncements about auto imports and NAFTA may knock out nation's biggest competition. When it comes to the United States market, Chinese and Mexican manufacturers have long been rivals. Both groups export fairly similar types of goods. Both have advantages in lower labor costs. And they are now the No 1 and No 2 exporters to the US. In most sectors, whether it is toys or laptops, Chinese manufacturers have become dominant.
Jan. 24, 2017
My Favorite China Articles for January 2017
LinkedIn / I send out a monthly reading list with the best China articles (and books) I have come across. If you would like to be on this list, you can sign up at www.jeffreytowson.com. Also, if you come across any really great articles, please send them to me. Here's my list for January 2017.
Jan. 19, 2017
Debate: Can China survive Trump?
The Korea Herald / This week, President Xi Jinping attends the Davos forum for the first time -- a sign of how concerned China is about a possible retreat from globalization. Till now, easy access to world markets has underpinned the country’s remarkable expansion. How badly Chinese growth could be hurt by new trade barriers may be the most pressing question facing the world economy.
Jan. 19, 2017
3 Options for Bringing Private Health Insurance to China (Part 2 of 2)
LinkedIn / In Part 1 (located here), I argued that there is a growing supply-demand gap at the center of Chinese healthcare. And that private health insurance in the likely the lynchpin in solving this problem.In this article, I lay out three models for launching real private health insurance in China. All three have worked in other locations and require only incremental regulatory changes.
Jan. 17, 2017
The Growing Supply-Demand Gap at the Center of Chinese Healthcare (Part 1 of 2)
LinkedIn / Private health insurance is arguably both the biggest and the most vexing opportunity in China today. The need is clear. Increasingly wealthy Chinese consumers are growing increasingly frustrated with the public healthcare system. And still nascent private hospitals are struggling to find larger and more stable revenue flows.
Jan. 16, 2017
How to bring private healthcare insurance to China
Nikkei Asia / Private health insurance is arguably both the biggest and the most vexing opportunity in China today. The need is clear: Wealthy Chinese consumers are growing increasingly frustrated with the public healthcare system, and upstart private hospitals are struggling to find larger and more stable revenue flows.
Jan. 11, 2017
Après Uber, McDonald's cède à son tour ses activités en Chine
Libération / Le géant du burger a annoncé qu’il comptait céder 80% de son business dans le pays à un trio d’investisseurs dominé par un énorme conglomérat chinois.
Jan. 11, 2017
Chinese focus turns abroad as domestic market stalls
The National / China is rewiring its business relations with the West in an attempt to boost growth in the midst of a sluggish economy at home. On Tuesday, the Chinese private equity firm, Fosun International, announced it will nearly double its stake in a leading Portuguese bank, Banco Comercial Portuges (BCP), to as much as 30 per cent.
Jan. 9, 2017
The Sale of McDonalds China Should Scare KFC (i.e., Yum! China)
LinkedIn / So McDonalds China is being 80% sold (franchised really) to the Carlyle Group, Citic Capital and Citic Group. This sale is being compared with the recent spin-off of Yum! China (i.e., KFC and Pizza Hut).
Jan. 9, 2017
China Lets Yuan Drop Before Uncertainties of Trump Era
VOA / The Chinese yuan fell against the dollar Monday, following losses Friday. The decline underlines the foreign exchange management challenges for Beijing, which is worried about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's threat to declare China a currency manipulator. The slide came after the the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, reset the trading range lower to save the yuan from a market thrashing and a possible currency crisis, analysts said.
Jan. 6, 2017
My Reading of the FT’s “. . . Glimpse of China’s Economic Future”
Carnegie Endowment / The three scenarios listed in a recent Financial Times article set out the range of plausible economic outcomes available to China. The most likely is that China experiences a long, but orderly, growth deceleration as it grinds away at its debt burden, but under easily specified conditions each of the three is possible.
Jan. 4, 2017
Welcome to the US-China Platform Wars (Part 1)
LinkedIn / In the past year, we have seen increasing collisions between leading Chinese and Western platform businesses.
Dec. 31, 2016
What Airbnb Should Do Differently Than Uber in China
LinkedIn / This is really Part 2 in a series of articles of how Chinese and Western platform businesses are increasingly competing. In Part 1, I laid out some basic theory for this (you can read here). Based on this thinking, I think Airbnb should do 6 things differently than Uber in China, says Towson.
Dec. 31, 2016
China Accounting Blog / On December 30, 2016, The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) issued Staff Questions and Answers (Q&A) about the audits of mainland China issuers by registered firms outside of mainland China. The Q&A is not an official PCAOB position, but is intended to guide PCAOB staff when dealing with the relevant issues.
Dec. 30, 2016
China Sells Off Stock of US Treasury Securities to Protect Yuan
VOA / China recently lost its position as the biggest holder of U.S. Treasury securities to Japan. Chinese authorities sacrificed the coveted position, which has significant financial and diplomatic value, because they are engaged in the bigger battle of protecting the value of the yuan from falling rapidly.
Dec. 21, 2016
How I Failed as a Writer for 5 Years Before Becoming a LinkedIn Top Voice
LinkedIn / Last week, I got the welcome news that I am one of LinkedIn's Top Voices for 2016. And it was for Finance and Economy, which was especially gratifying because I have been struggling in that writing genre for over 5 years, says Prof. Towson.
Dec. 19, 2016
Why Airbnb Thinks It's The Silicon Valley Firm That Will Finally Crack China
Forbes / Airbnb, the online alternative to hotels, has moved to scale up its presence in China, just months after another of Silicon Valley’s most rapacious startups, Uber, sold up and reversed in the opposite direction.
Dec. 16, 2016
A U.S. Retreat on Global Trade Will Not Lead to a Shift in Power
Carnegie Endowment / Rejecting the Trans-Pacific Partnership should not mean the rejection altogether by Washington of the very idea of a stable, rules-based trading system. The world is better off with such a regime. The very first on the list of executive actions that his administration would implement from “day one,” according to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in his November 21, 2016, video clip, involved a U.S. retreat on trade: “I am going to issue a notification of intent to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a potential disaster for our country. Instead, we will negotiate fair, bilateral trade deals that bring jobs and industry back onto American shores.”
Dec. 7, 2016
How I Got 300,000 LinkedIn Followers in 18 Months
LinkedIn / I posted my first article on LinkedIn on May 22, 2015. I labored over it for about a week and then finally hit "Publish". And basically nothing happened.
Dec. 7, 2016
How I Got 300,000 LinkedIn Followers in 18 Months
LinkedIn / I posted my first article on LinkedIn on May 22, 2015. I labored over it for about a week and then finally hit "Publish". And basically nothing happened.
Dec. 2, 2016
Big Data Reveals the Real Picture of China’s Economy, but Can It Survive?
Bloomberg / Wu Haishan was at Princeton studying how schools of fish swim together when the crowd behavior of a much bigger group grabbed his attention: his 1.35 billion fellow Chinese.
Dec. 1, 2016
How Oriental DreamWorks Caught the China Wave
AmCham China / Of the 19 million students in Chinese universities in 2009, over 1 million were studying art and design. That was more than were studying chemistry, law, or economics. As these students have continued to enter the workforce, we are seeing a huge creative class emerge. There are now literally millions of designers, animators, and other creative professionals in Mainland China. They are the vanguard of something fundamentally new: A “Creative China.”
Dec. 1, 2016
Chinese Business Schools: Where Managers Are Developed
Les Echos / Chinese business schools are part of China's transition towards a new business model. Very well equipped, they strive for world-class status and attract high quality professors-compensating them past European standards.
Nov. 30, 2016
China’s Global Shopping Spree Sparks Opposition at Home, Too
Bloomberg / After facing opposition around the world to its recent dealmaking spree, even China itself is turning against it.Concerns are mounting in Beijing over a surge in outflows that’s causing further devaluation pressure on the yuan and fears that overeager companies may risk biting off more than they can chew.
Nov. 30, 2016
Didi's Cheng Wei Is Forbes Asia's 2016 Businessman Of The Year
Forbes / At first Cheng Wei seems the antithesis of Travis Kalanick, who is known for his forward manner as the CEO of Uber Technologies. Cheng, the founder of Chinese ride-service Didi Chuxing, Uber's counterpart, is bespectacled and cherubic. With his humble demeanor, the 33-year-old can easily pass as a fresh college graduate.
November 27, 2016
Hollywood's Golden Age In China Is Coming To An End
LinkedIn / Hollywood studios have been coming to grips with the fact that China will soon be the world’s largest market for entertainment. Movies increasingly are co-produced by cash-rich Chinese moguls. Chinese stars are cast in supporting roles. Praise for Chinese culture is being randomly stuck into scripts. In some cases, such ploys have paid off: 2015’s “Furious 7” grossed even more in China ($390 million) than in the United States ($353 million), says Prof. Towson.
November 25, 2016
China Daily / Debt levels in China have become a major focus for policymakers, but experts don't always agree. Is China facing a debt bubble? Housing prices have soared by more than 30 percent in many of the country's tier-one cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai this year alone. Research by the National Institution for Finance & Development, one of China's national-level think tanks and part of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, put China's debt at 249 percent of GDP in 2015.
November 23, 2016
Why Doesn’t Starbucks Have A Serious Competitor in China?
LinkedIn / Chinese Wanda is openly challenging Disney. Uber spent $2B fighting with Didi Chuxing. Adidas has been fighting Li-Ning and Anda for decades. And Apple is now struggling against multiple rising Chinese competitors,(Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo, etc.). One thing you can almost always count on in China: A successful international company will inspire serious domestic competition.
November 17, 2016
Ctrip Appoints Jane Jie Sun As CEO, James Liang Remains Executive Chairman
China Money Network / Ctrip.com International, Ltd. has appointed Jane Jie Sun (pictured) as chief executive officer, as James Jianzhang Liang resigns his CEO post and remains as executive chairman of the board, the firm announced today. Sun will also become a member of the board of directors. The appointments are effective immediately.
November 14, 2016
Should You Do Part (or All) of an MBA in China? A Peking Univ Professor's Opinion
LinkedIn / I've just finished up my fifth year of teaching at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management in Beijing. I've now seen thousands of MBAs come and go. Some do a semester or a year. Some do their entire MBA in China.
November 11, 2016
China's household debt a growing risk to economy
Thomson Reuters / Single-mother Li Ying helps explain why household debt in China may be a bigger risk to the giant economy than previously thought. Faced with expensive medical bills to treat breast cancer, the 38-year-old nurse from Heilongjiang in northern China is struggling to repay her mortgage and relies on financial support from her wider family to pay for her healthcare.
November 11, 2016
China’s accounting market update
China Accounting Blog / For the past four years (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014) I have reported on changes in the rankings of China’s largest accounting firms based on the CICPA’s annual rankings, says Prof. Gillis.
November 10, 2016
China Accounting Blog / The struggle between local Chinese and the Big Four accounting firms has been going on since the return of public accounting to China in the early 1980s. China let the Big Eight firms set up representative offices beginning in 1980, and in 1992 allowed the Big Six to enter joint ventures with state controlled firms.
November 8, 2016
How Oriental DreamWorks and "Creative China" Are Disrupting Hollywood
LinkedIn / China is inching closer to becoming the world's largest entertainment market and Hollywood studios are struggling to adapt. Cameos by Chinese film stars are jammed, often nonsensically, into Western movies. Studio executives are flying in to meet with cash-rich Chinese moguls. And praise for China in Hollywood films has become commonplace. This is often described as self-censorship. I tend to use the word "slobbering", says Prof. Towson.
Oct. 28, 2016
Yes, There Is Still Real Growth In China
Forbes / / Earlier this week, China released statistics showing the economy grew by 6.7% in the third quarter of this year. Analysts have expressed doubt that the growth has naturally arisen from productive sources, and some believe the figures would not be possible without government stimulus. As a result, we have to ask whether there really is still profit to be had in China, or whether its downturn signals the end of an era.
October 26, 2016
Why Bike-Sharing (Ofo, MoBike) Is Nothing Like Didi and Uber (i.e., Ride-Sharing)
LinkedIn / Prof. Towson: There has been a lot of talk about Chinese bicycle-sharing recently. Tencent, Warburg Pincus and Sequoia participated in a $100M round for Shanghai-based Mobike. Xiaomi, Citic PE and Coatue participated in a $130M round for Beijing-based Ofo. And Didi Chuxing is reported to have invested in Ofo as well.
October 3, 2016
Baseball Is Copying the NBA's Strategy in China. It's Smart and Could Work
LinkedIn / These are boom times for sports in China. An increased national focus on health and fitness is coinciding with a big increase in entertainment consumption, says Prof. Towson.
September 30, 2016
The impact in China and abroad of slowing growth
China Financial Markets / What does a rebalancing China mean for the world? While the chances of a disruptive adjustment – including a financial crisis – are clearly rising, for now Pettis assumes that China is able to pull off a non-disruptive rebalancing.
September 28, 2016
2016: The Year Chinese Consumers Went Crazy for Sports (Great for Adidas. KFC Not So Much.)
LinkedIn / 2016 is the year that Chinese consumers went sports-crazy. You can see it everywhere. In a city with few gyms and tons of smokers, there is apparently an enormous amount of secret exercising going on, says Prof. Towson.
September 21, 2016
What To Do When You Fail in China (Pt 3): Morgan Stanley and Expedia
LinkedIn / This is the third in a series of articles on companies that have failed in China, often spectacularly. However, in many cases, they later came back and won, also often spectacularly, says Prof. Towson.
September 20, 2016
Sputnik / Mobike offers bike rentals, something I can use to avoid Beijing’s heavy traffic. Mobike’s app opens to a map that shows me the nearest bikes to me, usually only hundred meters or so away, says Prof. Gillis.
September 19, 2016
Reason Why China Benefits From Global Hegemony of Dollar
Sputnik / Many analysts believe that dollar hegemony in the global financial system serves the interests of the United States and China will soon change the situation. In fact, Beijing will continue to maintain the system because of significant benefits, economist Michael Pettis wrote.
September 9, 2016
Hangzhou confirms G20's global role
China Daily / The issues addressed by the final G20 communique underlines its growing importance. They include green finance, corruption, infrastructure, refugees, trade, climate change, etc., said Prof. Chance.
August 27, 2016
Regulatory reform in Hong Kong
China Accounting Blog / There is a turf battle between the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in Hong Kong and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) over who should regulate new listings in Hong Kong, said Prof. Gillis.
August 18, 2016
U.S. May Finally Get a Peek at the Books of Alibaba, Baidu
Wall Street Journal / A long-running dispute between the U.S. and China over the ability to vet auditors of Chinese companies listed on American exchanges is edging toward a possible breakthrough.
August 9, 2016
Jeffrey Towson -- Uber shows how to win in China
Nikkei Asia Review / Uber invested 18 months and about $2 billion in China. They walked away with 17% of Didi, and therefore 17% of the world's largest on-demand transportation market.
August 8, 2016
Alibaba, Baidu to Be Audited by US’s Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
Yibada / The two companies are currently preparing for the audit and aim to respond to concerns on China's accounting standards and auditing practices.
August 4, 2016
Z-Park reports growth with two-billion-yuan revenue
ChinaDaily / The Zhongguancun (Z-Park) listed companies association held a press conference on August 3 to publish the 2016 Z-Park listed companies competitiveness report.
July 29, 2016
Protecting peace as a nation rises
ChinaDaily / The South China Sea dispute is about defining terms on which China reemerges into the global community as a major power, says Prof. Giles Chance.
July 27, 2016
What Can Yahoo Do With Its Alibaba Stake?
Forbes / Yahoo can either “bite the bullet and pay the taxes” or continue to trade like a closed-end mutual fund representing both Alibaba and Yahoo Japan, says Paul Gillis, a professor of accounting at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management.
July 27, 2016
Jeffrey Towson - Why Chinese healthcare apps are struggling
Nikkei Asian Review / More than a thousand Chinese healthcare apps have been launched over the past five years. These startups, targeting the intersecting trends of the smartphone boom and healthcare modernization, were supposed to be the next big thing.
July 22, 2016
Global logistics firms battle for air superiority
ChinaDaily / Global logistics companies are battling in China's skies alongside the booming air express industries. And, the growing demand for speedier delivery is driving logistics development across China, including its smaller and more far-flung towns and cities.
June 14, 2016
Jeffrey Towson -- Apple's Achilles' heel in China is services
Nikkei Asian Review / Apple's success in China has been spectacular. But while the "Apple in China" story is usually told in terms of the rise and now leveling off of iPhone sales, it has been just as big a success in terms of building a brand and capturing customers.
July 12, 2016
China Wants To Rate People's Credit With Online Data, But Misuse By Companies Is Rampant
Forbes / “The whole thing is strange,” says Jeffrey Towson, a professor of investment at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management.
July 4, 2016
Apple's Lawsuit With Media Regulator Points To Broader China Woes
Forbes / “The whole thing is strange,” says Jeffrey Towson, a professor of investment at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management.
July 8, 2016
Brexit effect yet to be determined
ChinaDaily / Damage may be limited or aggravated by the terms of the exit, and Britain's success in trade ties with countries such as China, says Prof. Chance.
June 23, 2016
Jeffrey Towson: Why time isn't on Disney's side
Nikkei Asian Review / The opening of Shanghai Disneyland raises the question of whether Disney can actually win in China. Can it match its U.S. success as an entertainment company that combines beloved children's movies and real estate?
June 17, 2016
Didi In 'Valuation Fantasy Land' With New $7 Bln Funding
Forbes / “To get 50% of their revenue internationally they are going to do what they did in China in the rest of the world. But where do you find opportunities that big?” says Jeffrey Towson, a professor of investment at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management.
April 26, 2016
Selfie Absorbed: How China's Beauty Obsession Made Meitu Into A Billion-Dollar Photo-Editing App
Forbes / Founded in 2008 by serial entrepreneur Cai Wensheng, Meitu rules selfie-editing apps in China. Its photo and video touch-up functions can make one look fairer, taller and slimmer with a few clicks.
April 14, 2016
Alibaba's International Ambition Circles Back To Chinese Consumers
Forbes / “To get 50% of their revenue internationally they are going to do what they did in China in the rest of the world. But where do you find opportunities that big?” says Jeffrey Towson, a professor of investment at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management.
