Eileen Eats – Food Safety– Can’t let your guard down
“In July 2007, Zi Beijia, a reporter of the state-run BTV, produced a video report, made with a hidden camera, which alleged that a baozi stand in Beijing was substituting chemically-soaked cardboard for meat in his baozi. The story got extensive play around China and the world until police claimed the report was a hoax and put Mr. Zi away for a year in prison. Whether the story was true or false remains unclear, but a glance at comments on the Internet here shows that a lot of Chinese believe the story was true. And that should not be surprising. In recent years, there have been a bevy of similar incidents–consumers are rightfully worried.
This reminds me of my own previous experiences. We bought a box of counterfeit Ferraro chocolates that tasted like cardboard and some Colgate toothbrushes with bristles hard enough to remove rust from a car bumper, or enamel off ones’ teeth. In both cases the packaging was faulty, which was a dead give away. Unfortunately, pirates are now much better at packaging, making it more difficult to tell what’s real and what’s not.”
Click here to access full article, courtesy of China Law Blog
Dan, “Eileen Eats – Food Safety – Can’t let your guard down” China Law Blog November 16th, 2009.
In Beijing, bling is very in – Boutiques are finding rich pickings in a nation where many embrace joys of luxury living
“BEIJING–While Western consumers continue to tighten their belts, discerning buyers in China are shopping for swanky-looking, high-end ones – preferably those made of finely-tooled, Corinthian leather, and better yet if they carry a brand name like Gucci.
Here in the Middle Kingdom, sales of luxury goods are on a roll.
This year luxury sales are expected to slump 16 per cent in the United States – the world’s single, largest market for luxury goods – 10 per cent in Japan and 8 per cent in Europe, according to a study by the international consultancy Bain & Company. But sales in China are expected to climb 12 per cent – a boon for luxury goods manufacturers everywhere.”
Click here to access full article, courtesy of The Star – Toronto Edition.
Schiller, Bill. “In Beijing, bling is very in Boutiques are finding rich pickings in a nation where many embrace joys of luxury living.” The Star – Toronto Edition. November 10th, 2009.
For Now, Wal-Mart Is Still China’s Biggest
“HONG KONG — Wal-Mart and Carrefour may be able to hang on to their dominant positions as the largest hypermarket chains in China for a few more months. That’s because Taiwan-funded Rt-Mart and France’s Coupe Auchan are facing some hurdles on their announced merger, which would combine their respective supermarkets into China’s biggest chain.
The Taiwanese executives of Rt-Mart and French directors of Auchan failed to compromise on the terms of their merger plan in a recent dinner meeting in Shanghai, China Business News reported Monday, citing internal sources from two companies.
Little progress has been made since Ruentex Group, the parent company of Rt-Mart in Taiwan, announced last month that it was planning to form a new joint venture with Groupe Auchan to merge retail businesses in mainland China. Ruentex Group also reviewed its schedule to list the new company in Hong Kong in 2010.
Privately controlled by the Mulliez family in France, the Auchan retail empire seperately operates 32 Auchan hypermarkets in China. Combining Auchan and Rt-Mart would form the biggest retail chain by number of stores, with 148 hypermarkets across the nation. ”
Click here to access full article, courtest of Forbes.com.
Kwok, Vivian Wai-yin. “For Now, Wal-Mart Is Still China’s Biggest.” Forbes.com. November 9th, 2009.
