China’s Media Coverage of Environmental Issues (III)
The Xiamen PX plant episode will, in my opinion, come to symbolize a turning point not only in China’s environmental history, but in its political history as well. The story itself has everything: shady Taiwanese businessmen, public protests, middle class angst over property values, beleaguered local officials caught between a rock and a hard place, public hearings, toxic chemicals, Hu Jintao, concerned scientists, thousands of SMS messages, local bloggers, and the irrepressible Pan Yue.
Since the point of this post is to direct your attention to a fairly accurate description of the whole affair in an article entitled “People vs. Chemical Plant“ published by the China Internet Information Center. Admittedly, this is an organization which seeks to put a sunny face on China for the outside world, and I have not checked to see if a Chinese version is available, but still the article is pretty straightforward, candid, and relatively complete account of the Xiamen PX affair. Read the rest of this entry »
We have read several more articles and have had a chance for additional reflection on the new energy offices that were rolled out at the latest NPC meetings. My prior post on these offices was factually accurate (except that Zhang Guobao was named head of the new National Energy Bureau, not the National Energy Commission).
Started by a group of industry professionals CCF is the first network for professionals and companies actively engaged in business related to the reduction of green house gas (GHG) emissions.
In our continuing look at the newly amended Energy Conservation Law, today we’ll look at those provisions of the law which apply to manufacturing operations. There are several provisions which apply to the construction of manufacturing facilities . From an operational standpoint, the Law imposes obligations upon manufacturers of products which require significant energy to produce , “energy consuming entities” , the “industrial sector”, and “key-energy-using entities” . Depending upon how much energy its uses, a facility may be subject to all of these obligations. 
Beijing — Bank of China Ltd., which has been the most heavily invested in U.S. subprime securities among Asia’s financial institutions, said it halved that exposure by the end of last year and posted better-than-expected profit for 2007.
A loyal reader just sent me an email asking me what I think of a China Daily article, entitled, “Courts see surge of foreign-related IPR cases.” I think the article is a good reflection of what is really going on in the world of China IP.
If you want to understand China’s potential impact on global industries, Several years ago, “The Innovator’s Dilemma,” Prof. Christiansen’s earlier book on the subject, and became intrigued with his theories about why even very well-established companies often lose to upstart companies with “disruptive technologies.” . A conversation with him recently at a conference in Madrid convinced me of its usefulness in explaining why China is potentially such a large change agent.
In almost every Chinese city with electricity and computers, there is at least one internet bar. In the states the equivalent might be called “LAN Cafes” and they are few and far between, a niche market that has little place in a world where every kid has his own super-fast computer and plenty of privacy in their own room. In China however, internet bars are all over the place and the patrons are generally at least 20 years old ranging all the way up to about 35 years of age.They are there for a handful of reasons: they want to chat on MSN and use the popular video chatting feature that is available for about 50 cents or less an hour, or perhaps they want to get out of their apartment and get some alone time away from the wife or their roommates, often times they just don’t have a computer at home as is so common in the U.S., etc. 
China Mobile SIM card for over half a year now. The device is without rival in the industry, so when I put it on my wish list of things to get when they come to China, (let’s put Lou Malnati’s Chicago style pizza in there) I was ecstatic to find that friendly hackers had engineered a method for me to get around the barriers that the failed Apple- China Mobile talks presented.
The most common conversation I’ve run into over the past week: What’s with the amazing weather?