Harvard Square Draws Deal-Seeking Drugmakers From Europe; “Here in Cambridge, everything is so condensed. It’s a very open community of innovative science.”

Harvard Square Draws Deal-Seeking Drugmakers From Europe

Martin Heidecker has traded the broad Rhine River for the banks of the Charles.

Heidecker is a venture-capital fund manager for Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, the latest major European pharmaceutical company to set up shop across the river from Boston in Cambridge, home of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Like its competitors, Boehringer wanted to get a piece of the local biotechnology boom that by last July had generated more than 11 percent of the U.S. drug-development pipeline. Read more of this post

Fonterra Reassures Consumers Amid Second Contamination Scare

Fonterra Reassures Consumers After N.Z. Fresh Cream Recall

Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd. (FCG), the world’s biggest dairy exporter, says its food safety standards are being maintained after a recall of a batch of fresh cream distributed within New Zealand. Read more of this post

Even Star Johansson Can’t Help SodaStream as Stock Sinks 26%; SodaStream benefits from the so-called razor-blade model of retailing where profits rely on customers repeatedly buying complementary products such as carbonation cannister

Even Star Johansson Can’t Help SodaStream as Stock Sinks 26%

A year ago, SodaStream International Ltd. (SODA) climbed to a six-month high in New York after unveiling plans for its debut Super Bowl commercial. No such luck this year. The home-soda machine maker plunged 26 percent in its first day of trading after saying it tapped Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson for a spot during the football game as investors focused on the company’s worse-than-forecast earnings. Read more of this post

Consumer testing bodies fight to stay influential; The digital age poses a challenge to the likes of Germany’s mighty Stiftung Warentest

January 13, 2014 4:35 pm

Consumer testing bodies fight to stay influential

By Rose Jacobs

In a country passionate about chocolate and proud of its domestic brands, the news for Ritter Sport last November was not good. The confectioner, whose square chocolate bars are familiar internationally, had received a grade of “defective” from Germany’s consumer-product testing agency, Stiftung Warentest. Read more of this post

Chains Infiltrate European Shopping Meccas; Influx of International Retailers Sparks Concern About Direction of the Continent’s Fashion Hot Spots

Chains Infiltrate European Shopping Meccas

Influx of International Retailers Sparks Concern About Direction of the Continent’s Fashion Hot Spots

ALESSIA PIROLO

Jan. 14, 2014 2:17 p.m. ET

With fashion weeks set to kick off from Milan to Berlin, fashionistas descending on stores across Europe might find an extraordinarily similar array of products, whether they are on London’s Oxford Street, Paris’s Champs-Élysées or Milan’s Via Montenapoleone. That is because more international retail chains, such as Zara, Tommy Hilfiger andStarbucks, SBUX +0.45% are opening outlets in these markets. Read more of this post

5 Things That Led To The Decline Of Lululemon

5 Things That Led To The Decline Of Lululemon

ASHLEY LUTZ

JAN. 13, 2014, 11:03 AM 29,318 17

Lululemon shares are tumbling after the company said revenue would be lower than expected. While the crash took some by surprise, insiders have seen a Lululemon implosion coming for a long time.  Last year, equity firm The Oxen Group called Lululemon’s shares “strongly overvalued.” Popular blogger LuluAddict wrote that former CEO Christine Day had ruined “everything special” about the retailer. There’s a lot going wrong at Lululemon, but here are a few major factors that led to the current predicament.  Read more of this post

Record surge in US aluminium premiums rattles end-users

Updated: Wednesday January 15, 2014 MYT 10:43:56 AM

Record surge in US aluminium premiums rattles end-users

FORT LAUDERDALE: The unprecedented surge in US aluminum premiums to record highs has renewed concerns about the dwindling supplies and rising costs of a key raw material for automotive and beverage can makers, even as the market struggles with big stockpiles. Read more of this post

Gold mining: Squandered opportunity; Investor demands for restructuring and an end to the old approach of sprawling expansion are growing

January 14, 2014 5:57 pm

Gold mining: Squandered opportunity

By James Wilson

Investor demands for restructuring and an end to the old approach of sprawling expansion are growing

In the vast open pit at Goldstrike, electric shovels 20 metres tall crunch easily through the rock of northern Nevada. Three scoops fill a truck that hauls off 300 tonnes of gold-bearing ore, while underground teams nearby bore richer deposits at 25 metres a day. Read more of this post

Lessons behind L’Oréal’s about-face; China redraws the line between luxury, premium, affordable and mass market weekly

January 13, 2014 1:07 pm

Lessons behind L’Oréal’s about-face

By Andrew Hill

China redraws the line between luxury, premium, affordable and mass market weekly

When L’Oréal said last week it would stop selling Garnier products in China, many outsiders assumed the French cosmetics group was joining a wholesale retreat by big western brands, led by Revlon of the US, which last month closed all its operations in mainland China, eliminating 1,100 jobs, including those of 940 beauty advisers. It all looked pretty ugly. Read more of this post

China’s shadow banking loans leap

January 15, 2014 5:55 am

China’s shadow banking loans leap

By Tom Mitchell in Beijing

The rise of China’s shadow banking sector has been thrown into sharp relief by data from the central bank showing that it now accounts for nearly one third of aggregate financing in the world’s second biggest economy. Read more of this post

Xi’s top challenge in 2014: Resolving an identity crisis?

Xi’s top challenge in 2014: Resolving an identity crisis?

At first glance, Chinese President Xi Jinping enters 2014 as the country’s most powerful and popular leader in recent memory.

BY –

4 HOURS 7 MIN AGO

At first glance, Chinese President Xi Jinping enters 2014 as the country’s most powerful and popular leader in recent memory. A year into his expected decade-long reign, he has amassed more titles than his two immediate predecessors. Besides heading the ruling Communist Party as well as the 1.5-million strong military and the state, Mr Xi also sits atop two newly created entities with ultimate authority on the most important issues facing the government: A national security council and a leadership group that decides on the course of the country’s “overall reform”. Read more of this post

The Chinese Have the Necessary Vision’; Twenty years ago, China exported six cars. Last year it exported a million. Marketing expert Nirmalya Kumar speaks about the impending global ascent of brands from emerging economies

01/08/2014 04:37 PM

Brand Expert Interview

‘The Chinese Have the Necessary Vision’

Twenty years ago, China exported six cars. Last year it exported a million. Marketing expert Nirmalya Kumar speaks to SPIEGEL about the impending global ascent of brands from emerging economies.

SPIEGEL: Professor Kumar, in your recent book, you predict the breakout of future world brands from emerging markets, particularly from China. Are you not a bit premature? Even in Asia, the newly rich prefer Western brand icons like Apple or Armani to cheap local labels. Read more of this post

Tech Upstarts Paying 17 Times Interest Upset China Banks

Tech Upstarts Paying 17 Times Interest Upset China Banks

Rebecca Ning, along with 43 million other Chinese, has found a way to make about 6 percent annually, or 17 times her usual interest rate, by tapping her phone and using technology that’s disrupting China’s banking status quo. Read more of this post

Stop the Chinese frauds, an additional auditor option

Stop the frauds, an additional auditor option

Dan joined FT Alphaville in September 2013 after stints on Lex and as the FT’s Investment Correspondent in New York. Send him ideas or call him up.

| Jan 14 13:50 | 2 comments | Share

How might Chinese fraudsters be stopped? SkyTides, an investment firm started by a former auditor, has a suggestion: Special Attestation Reports. The reason is that auditors live by two words: material and reasonable. So while they need to keep an eye out for fraudulent-type behavior, it is not their central preoccupation. Read more of this post

Regulators at Odds on Reining In China’s Shadow Lending; PBOC Sees the Banking Commission as Unwilling to Get Tough

Regulators at Odds on Reining In China’s Shadow Lending

PBOC Sees the Banking Commission as Unwilling to Get Tough

LINGLING WEI And BOB DAVIS

Jan. 14, 2014 12:48 p.m. ET

BEIJING—China’s effort to rein in runaway credit is being hampered by infighting between the central bank and the nation’s banking regulator, say officials at both institutions, with the two agencies sparring especially over how hard to press so-called shadow bankers. Read more of this post

No Quick Fix for China’s Air Quality

No Quick Fix for China’s Air Quality

ANDREW BROWNE

Jan. 14, 2014 5:02 a.m. ET

TANGSHAN, China—To control the pollution that’s choking Beijing, demolition squads recently swooped down on this industrial city located two hours away by car and crippled a batch of coal-burning steel works. Read more of this post

How Xi Can Help China Stop Smoking

How Xi Can Help China Stop Smoking

Skeptics are waiting for Chinese President Xi Jinping to prove he’s serious about economic reform — perhaps by shuttering one of the country’s big, loss-making state enterprises. In fact, if Xi really wants to transform China, the place to start is by reining in one of its most powerful and profitable firms. Read more of this post

Haier expanding brand presence in US market

Haier expanding brand presence in US market

Staff Reporter

2014-01-15

China’s leading electrical appliance maker Haier Group has been trying to deepen its penetration into the US market because its brand name is not as well-known as its global counterparts in the country, Tencent’s financial news portal finance.qq.com reports. Read more of this post

Gov’t-Backed Consolidation of Hebei Steel Industry Melts Away

01.15.2014 19:10

Gov’t-Backed Consolidation of Hebei Steel Industry Melts Away

Three years after Hebei Iron & Steel Group incorporated 12 smaller players, everyone involved wants to go their own way

By staff reporter Zhang Boling

(Beijing) – Hebei Iron & Steel Group and the companies it incorporated in a government-backed consolidation three years ago want to undo the arrangement. In 2010, the government of the central province of Hebei, which produces about one-quarter of the country’s steel, arranged a consolidation of Hebei Iron & Steel, the country’s largest steelmaker, and 12 private firms in the hopes of boosting competitiveness and better regulating the industry. Read more of this post

Robert Gates Says China’s Xi Has Firmer Grip on Army Than Hu Did

Gates Says China’s Xi Has Firmer Grip on Army Than Hu Did

Chinese President Xi Jinping has greater control of the military than his predecessor did, and that increases the need for a strong White House relationship with him, former U.S. defense secretary Robert Gates said.

Gates, 70, said in an interview yesterday that former president President Hu Jintao “did not have strong control” of the People’s Liberation Army. The “best example,” Gates said, was China’s rollout of its stealthy J-20 fighter jet during a visit he made in January 2010. The event seemed to catch Hu unaware, Gates said, recounting a story in his memoir “Duty,” which is scheduled to go on sale today. Read more of this post

Fighting corruption in China – the video game

Fighting corruption in China – the video game

January 8, 2014

Liz Carter

“Fight Corruption” online game in China. Photo: Supplied

Washington: Official corruption in China is a serious matter: In January 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping openly vowed to tackle it, and a 2013 Pew study found that 53 percent of Chinese consider it a “very big problem.” But fighting bribery, extortion and graft isn’t just a presidential directive in China; it’s now also online entertainment. Read more of this post

Despite Slowdown, Employers in China Gave Bigger Raises

Jan 14, 2014

Despite Slowdown, Employers in China Gave Bigger Raises

Employers in China gave bigger raises last year on average than those elsewhere in Asia, a fresh sign that the country’s job market remains resilient despite slowing economic growth.

According to a survey by recruitment firm Hays, two-thirds of employers in China said they gave their workers raises during the last round of reviews of 6% or more—more than any other country surveyed. A majority, or 54%, of said they gave raises of between 6% and 10%, while 12% said they gave raises of more than 10%. Only 5% of employers in China said they gave no raises at all.

Read more of this post

Chinese general takes Mao devotion too far

January 15, 2014 8:00 am

Chinese general takes Mao devotion too far

By Demetri Sevastopulo in Hong Kong

Celebrating Chairman Mao Zedong is not a crime in China, unless you happen to have done so with the help of a pure gold statue of the former Chinese leader. Chinese media reported on Wednesday that police raided the home of Lieutenant General Gu Junshan, former deputy head of the People’s Liberation Army general logistics department, in connection with one of the most serious military graft scandalsto come to light in years. Read more of this post