Bamboo Innovator

Bitcoin Scandal Reflects Popularity of Virtual Currency in China

NOVEMBER 17, 2013, 5:05 PM

Bitcoin Scandal Reflects Popularity of Virtual Currency in China

By ADAM CENTURY

On Oct. 26, the website of Global Bond Limited, a Chinese exchange platform for bitcoins, the booming digital currency, suddenly went dead. Then, without warning, GBL’s roughly 500 remaining investors were kicked out of the company’s official QQ group, a social media platform that the company was using for investor relations. By nightfall, the scale of the swindle was made public – 25 million renminbi, or $4.1 million – making it one of the largest bitcoin fraud cases since the currency’s inception four years ago. Read more of this post

Beijing’s parking woes: Is there any end in sight?

Beijing’s parking woes: Is there any end in sight?

By Lulu Xue    November 13, 2013    0 Comments

Beijing’s motor vehicle ownership has reached 5.4 million, ranking it first out of all Chinese cities in motorization. To combat parking shortages, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport recently announced the addition of over 13,000 parking spaces to the city’s center – but that might not be an optimal solution. Photo by Leo Fung.

What do the time-honored hutong – quintessential narrow alleys of Beijing that date back to the Qing dynasty – and danwei – organized work and housing complexes from the pre-1979 era –have in common? Apart from the fact that neither has been replaced by modern buildings, one of their major similarities is that they were designed to serve pedestrians, not cars. However, as Beijing’s rate of motor vehicle ownership escalates, even hutong and danwei residents are opting for cars. Because the densely-populated central city, an area with over 23,000 people per square kilometer, is inherently at odds with intensive car usage and massive parking lots, continued motorization is exacerbating the challenges to sustainable urban mobility in Beijing. Read more of this post

China’s A shares poised to go global

November 15, 2013 6:26 pm

China’s A shares poised to go global

By Kylie Wong

China has made significant strides in opening up its capital markets to foreign investors, but several key challenges need to be addressed before the mainland equity market can feature in broader equity benchmark indices. Mainland-listed equities traded in the renminbi, also known as A shares, are currently excluded from global indices as they are not freely accessible by the global investing public. The existing China representation within those indices is largely via H shares, which are Chinese securities listed in Hong Kong. Read more of this post

Chinese Balk at Child-Rearing Costs

Nov 16, 2013

Chinese Balk at Child-Rearing Costs

An easing of the one-child policy might help China address a coming slump in its work force. But the country’s citizens are concerned with another reality: how expensive it has become to raise even one kid. In a country where the cost of living has soared alongside breakneck economic growth, some Chinese are saying that due to economic pressures, they don’t want a second child even if the government allows them to. Read more of this post

Future for Egg Derivatives Is Fragile in China

Nov 18, 2013

Future for Egg Derivatives Is Fragile in China

If we were to dream up the perfect commodity to trade as a futures contract, it would probably be durable, non-perishable and subject to regular swings in supply and demand. Being notoriously fragile and perishable, eggs clearly don’t fit the bill on the first two counts, and investors may need some convincing on the third. Eggs aren’t just for breakfast. The Dalian Commodity Exchange on Nov. 8 launched futures contracts, with each lot weighing in at 5,000 tons and each egg weighing 53-60 grams, deliverable to warehouses around China that are cooled to 5° Celsius. Read more of this post

Graduates from Yiwu’s “Taobao University” earn over 10,000 yuan a month

Graduates from Yiwu’s “Taobao University” earn over 10,000 yuan a month

Staff Reporter

2013-11-17

To enroll in the Entrepreneurship Academy — dubbed “Taobao University” — at Yiwu Industrial & Commercial College, students must first open Taobao shops and earn a monthly income of more than 8,000 yuan (US$1300) or a Taobao credit rating of four diamonds — credit rating on Taobao, China’s equivalent of eBay and Amazon, is divided into four grades, starting from hearts, then diamonds then blue crowns then yellow crowns, with each grade divided again into five — the Shanghai Evening Post reports. Read more of this post

Incredible bitcoin rally in China to meet ‘inevitable crash’: investor

Incredible bitcoin rally in China to meet ‘inevitable crash’: investor

Staff Reporter

2013-11-17

Bitcoin, a decentralized online currency, began the second round of revaluation this year in early July after its price has jumped to over US$460 from the original US$200 for every BTC. Exchange rates against the renminbi topped 2,700 yuan (US$443) at its peak, according to huobi.com, a site dedicated to bitcoin trading news. Chinese women have played a critical role in the rally, accounting for 40% of VIP customers. VIPs are defined as traders with over 10 million yuan (US$1.6 million) in total transaction volume using the online currency, according to the report. Read more of this post

Legs fall off China’s hairy crab industry

November 17, 2013 4:18 pm

Legs fall off China’s hairy crab industry

By Patti Waldmeir at Yangcheng lake

Free “hairy crabs” used to be one of the perks of government service in eastern China at this time of year – peak season for these hairy-limbed delicacies, one of China’s many currencies of corruption. But, according to crab sellers around Yangcheng lake near Shanghai, home to some of China’s most famous crustacean restaurants, no government departments are staging hairy crab banquets this year. Big companies are struggling to get government officials even to accept crab gift packs, a common way of greasing the wheels of commerce in this crab-hungry part of the country. Read more of this post

New Era of Higher Costs Spurs Record 50-Year Yield: China Credit

New Era of Higher Costs Spurs Record 50-Year Yield: China Credit

China sold 50-year bonds at a record high yield as banks prepare for what they describe as a new era of higher borrowing costs after a government policy overhaul. The finance ministry auctioned 20 billion yuan ($3.3 billion) of debt due November 2063 on Nov. 15 at a yield of 5.31 percent, the highest since sales of the tenor began in 2009. That compares with a 4.24 percent rate offered in the previous sale and the 5.05 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. The sale drew bids for 1.51 times the amount offered, less than the 2.13 times in May. Read more of this post

Reality Check: Chinese Developers Unconvinced By Housing Curbs

Reality Check: Chinese Developers Unconvinced By Housing Curbs

Created on Thursday, November 14, 2013 – 19:35 EST

BEIJING (MNI) – Signs that big city governments are finally ready to act to cool demand for housing in China haven’t fazed real estate developers, who still don’t believe the government has what it takes to bring order to the runaway property market. Some hope lies in signs the new Chinese leadership may be willing to institute fundamental reform of the country’s land use system to put the housing market on a more solid, sustainable footing. But the statement released following a key Communist Party meeting here shed little light on how much reform the government is willing or able to implement. Read more of this post

Success of Chinese Leader’s Ambitious Economic Plan May Rest on Rural Regions

November 16, 2013

Success of Chinese Leader’s Ambitious Economic Plan May Rest on Rural Regions

By CHRIS BUCKLEY

HONG KONG — China’s Communist Party has burnished President Xi Jinping’s plans for an economic overhaul with exultant propaganda about a historic turning point. But the success of his proposals, and the long-term health of the Chinese economy, could rest on policy battles reaching down into thousands of towns and villages over land, money and a misshapen fiscal system that has bred public discontent and financial hazards. Read more of this post

Xi, in ‘Godfather’ Mold, Looks Assertive and Even Imperial; “Xi Jinping personally has a sense of crisis. He doesn’t want to become like the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Puyi.”

NOVEMBER 15, 2013, 12:40 AM

Xi, in ‘Godfather’ Mold, Looks Assertive and Even Imperial

By CHRIS BUCKLEY

The president of China, Xi Jinping, has admitted to watching “The Godfather,” and this week he proved he could be a shrewd student of one of that film’s themes: the art of amassing and applying power in a small, secretive circle of men. Mr. Xi emerged from a four-day meeting of the Communist Party Central Committee stronger. He won endorsement for a new national security commission that is likely to enhance his influence, as well as for a leadership group on reform that could give him a more direct say in economic policy, which has tended to be the prime minister’s domain. Read more of this post

Xi’s China Reform Plan Sets Scene for Local Clampdown

Xi’s China Reform Plan Sets Scene for Local Clampdown

China’s Communist Party signaled a bigger focus on fiscal concerns during President Xi Jinping’s tenure, setting the scene for a clampdown to control the finances of indebted regional authorities. Local governments will be able to sell bonds to fund construction and officials will be rated on measures including borrowing levels, the party said Nov. 15. An easing of the one-child policy and extra land rights for farmers also featured in the biggest package of reforms since at least the 1990s. Read more of this post

You Think There’s Bubble in Chinese Real Estate Market? Nothing Compared With Animation Industry in China

BEIJING – NOV 17TH, 1:50 | TAGS: ANIMATION CHINA

You Think There’s Bubble in Chinese Real Estate Market? Nothing Compared With Animation Industry in China

In 2005, the State Administration of Radio Film and Television required that no less than 60% of Chinese animation be screened on TV channels during the prime time. Then more policies that favors the Chinese-made animations are introduced, including subsidies… In terms of the output, China had became the top animation provider in the world. In 2011, China produced more than 260,000-minutes-long tv episodes of animation, which is 180,000 minutes more than Japan, the second biggest animation-output country of the world. In 2012, a total of 117-thousand-hours-long animation was aired in China. According to the State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT, 国家广电总局), approximately 60% of the Chinese animation companys’ revenue came from TV stations. Yet the TV stations’ total budget for procurement transactions was not more than 50 million yuan. The average cost of the purchases for TV stations was less than 10 yuan per minute. Read more of this post

Getting Power From Airborne Energy Waves; cheap parts to create a device that can capture energy waves wirelessly and turn them into power at roughly the same efficiency—37%—as solar panels achieve in converting sunlight

Getting Power From Airborne Energy Waves

A new device has been developed by Duke University researchers

DANIEL AKST

Nov. 15, 2013 8:19 p.m. ET

Imagine motion sensors in a home-security system that power themselves from the energy waves permeating your home. Or earthquake sensors that could derive enough power to work from nearby cellular towers. Duke University researchers have taken a step in that direction by using cheap parts to create a device that can capture energy waves wirelessly and turn them into power at roughly the same efficiency—37%—as solar panels achieve in converting sunlight. Read more of this post

Most of the world’s solar panels are facing the wrong direction

Most of the world’s solar panels are facing the wrong direction

By Christopher Mims @mims November 15, 2013

You’d think it would be easy: the sun is “up,” and, like leaves and basking reptiles, solar panels should face in that general direction. But most installers of solar panels, especially the ones for homes, follow conventional wisdom handed down from architects, which holds that in the northern hemisphere, windows and solar panels should face south. Read more of this post

US garment makers tailor an industry around staying at home

November 17, 2013 12:41 pm

US garment makers tailor an industry around staying at home

By Barney Jopson in Los Angeles

In a corner of sun-kissed Los Angeles, women with superstar looks and skimpy outfits catch the eyes of passersby. The glitz and glamour of Hollywood, however, are far away. Clad in plain tops and hot pants, they are posing in posters on the wall of a drab factory, the very place where their clothes were made. Welcome to American Apparel, a holdout against the forces of globalisation. Its thrumming sewing machines and quick-fingered workers are producing the kind of $20 T-shirts that its rivals have long since bought from low-cost factories in Asia. Read more of this post

Three Reasons Why Costco Is Beating Wal-Mart And Target

Three Reasons Why Costco Is Beating Wal-Mart And Target

ASHLEY LUTZ NOV. 15, 2013, 2:23 PM 12,274 53

Business at Costco is thriving.

The retailer is posting gains even as competitors like Wal-Mart and Target have struggled to attract cash-strapped consumers.  Analysts at Trefis have pinpointed a few reasons for Costco’s incredible success.

1. Customers want deals. It’s estimated that shoppers can save up to 55% on groceries from buying in bulk at warehouse chains, write the analysts at Trefis. Costco also keeps prices low by keeping store displays at a minimum and offering fewer items. The retailer only marks up merchandise 15%, compared with a 25% average for most grocery chains. “Due to these bargains, the warehouse club industry sales have grown at a higher rate than general merchandise store sales over the last decade,” the analysts write.

2. Costco is hyper-focused on local markets. The brand “grants its local store managers some discretion over the products that are kept in stores,” the analysts at Trefis write. Demand for salsa is highest in the Southwest region of the U.S., so stores there are sure to stay stocked up, for example.

3. Costco changes its brands often.  “Customers always find something new at its stores and get a ‘treasure hunt’ experience,” say the Trefis analysts. The retailer occasionally offers some high-end items like Coach purses and Dom Perignon champagne to further intrigue shoppers.

Store Stalin Hated Extending Luxury Brands Across Russia

Store Stalin Hated Extending Luxury Brands Across Russia

On rainy days, the GUM mall on Moscow’s Red Square swarms with tourists. Unfortunately for GUM, the hordes seeking shelter tend to do more looking than buying, in large part because the big-brand fashions there cost about 50 percent more than they do in Paris or London. That’s a problem for GUM’s owner, a closely held Russian retailer called Bosco di Ciliegi. Without the reliable cash from tourists that fuels profits at department stores like Galeries Lafayette in Paris or London’s Harrods, Bosco has started to look beyond its flagship to new outlets across Russia, where it can win over local shoppers rather than visitors. Read more of this post

Starbucks loses ‘Charbucks’ appeal

Starbucks loses ‘Charbucks’ appeal

Fri, Nov 15 2013

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Starbucks Corp has failed to persuade a federal appeals court to stop a small, family-owned New Hampshire roaster from selling coffee known as “Charbucks.” Ruling in a case that began in 2001, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Black Bear Micro Roastery and its owner, Wolfe’s Borough Coffee Inc, may keep selling “Charbucks Blend,” “Mister Charbucks” and “Mr. Charbucks” coffee. Read more of this post

In a North Face Jacket, a Reversible Appeal; The successful maker of jackets and other outdoor gear keeps walking the tightrope between exclusivity and the mass market

November 16, 2013

In a North Face Jacket, a Reversible Appeal

By ALINA TUGEND

Todd Spaletto, the president of the North Face, says it doesn’t know who its typical consumer is. “We don’t measure,” he said. “We don’t look at average age or where they live.”

It started when I bought a North Face jacket. Of course, I was aware of the brand’s popularity. But it wasn’t until I got my own that I realized how omnipresent it was. That particularly struck home one day when I, a middle-aged woman, was getting out of my car. I glanced up at the young man walking nearby. He was wearing the same jacket. Usually when a brand moves from urban chic to suburban moms, or from elite athletes to everyday wear, it loses some luster. But the North Face seems to have escaped that fate, and is embraced by the city student, the rural rancher and just about everyone in between. Read more of this post

15 Awesome Yoga Brands Besides Lululemon

15 Awesome Yoga Brands Besides Lululemon

ASHLEY LUTZ NOV. 15, 2013, 11:43 AM 26,138 1

Lululemon customers are furious since founder Chip Wilson commented last week that his pants don’t work for everyone. The firestorm from the comments, and Wilson’s controversial apology, have blown the door wide open for Lululemon’s competition, according to a report by Sterne Agee.  “Based on our checks and retail experience, we believe that the core customer has been alienated and will begin to look for yoga and active-wear pants … from numerous other brands,” the analysts write.  Fortunately, spurned Lululemon customers have no shortage of options for new yoga-wear brands.  Some, like Gap’s Athleta, are huge. Others are more niche brands that can be ordered online.  Read more of this post

Salim’s First Pacific Reveals a Sweet Tooth for Philippine Sugar Producer; acquires 34% stake in Roxas Holdings (RHI), the Philippines’ third-largest sugar producer, for $57m

Salim’s First Pacific Reveals a Sweet Tooth for Philippine Sugar Producer

By Johan Mulyadi on 12:30 pm November 16, 2013.
First Pacific, a Hong Kong-based investment company owned by Indonesia’s Salim family, has announced it is spending $57 million for a slice of the Philippines’ growing agriculture sector. The expansion will come through the planned acquisition of a 34 percent stake in Roxas Holdings (RHI), the Philippines’ third-largest sugar producer. First Pacific teamed up with Indofood Agri Resources, an agriculture division of the Salim family’s noodle maker Indofood Sukses Makmur, to form a joint venture named First Pacific Natural Resources to carry out the acquisition. Read more of this post

Beware the Cotton Glut; China has been building cotton stockpiles for more than two years. When it begins to release that inventory, look out below.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2013

Beware the Cotton Glut

By ALEXANDRA WEXLER | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR

China has been building cotton stockpiles for more than two years. When it begins to release that inventory, look out below.

Cotton futures are set to unravel. China possesses nearly 60% of the world’s cotton, after purchasing the fiber from its own farmers and abroad since late 2011. That was the year prices spiked to a post-Civil War high of $2.27 a pound, and China, the world’s largest cotton consumer, had to scramble to find enough fiber to fulfill its needs.

Read more of this post