Mike.Shaw

  When this blogger moved to China way back in 2008, online shopping was not only in its infancy, but it didn’t seem to be something that would catch on anytime soon. In a country where relationships are everything, buying things from strangers behind an electronic screen sounded like something that would be incompatible with the culture and that e-commerce would not be as fully embraced as it had been in the West. What’s more, the Chinese tend to prefer cash transactions over credit or debit cards, so the odds…

  Foreign brands are taking off in China. It seems that anybody who has money in this growing market is clamoring to buy imported goods. This makes China a very enticing market for Western companies to enter, and success stories abound of corporations who have brought their brands to China and have achieved great success. But there are even more stories of disastrous, and even comical failures. A recent posting on our sister site talked about the importance of translating your marketing materials and even your brand name into Chinese…

  Last night, CBS’s 60 Minutes did a great two-part report on the real estate industry in China and the growing sense that there is a huge bubble that is about to burst here. Part 2 is an especially good eye-opener to anyone who hasn’t heard of the “Ghost Cities” being built all around the country: (Part 1 was a fabulous profile of one of China’s most famous real estate moguls, Zhang Xin. You can see it here.) Given the time difference, the report aired at what amounts to the…

  China may not be projected to be the world’s number 1 economy for another 15-20 years, but this month, as Flurry points out, China has officially surpassed the US as the world’s biggest tablet and smartphone market: Just days into the Chinese New Year (Year of the “Snake” for anyone keeping track), China has passed the U.S. to become the world’s top country for active Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. This historic milestone takes place a year after Flurry first reported that China had become the world’s fastest…