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News » Society » Luxury sales rise in bag thanks to mall males

Luxury sales rise in bag thanks to mall males

Posted: 21 Jan 2013 12:10 PM PST

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Let's hear it for the boys. China's fashion-forward men are snapping up Gucci and Burberry bags, driving a rebound in the luxury market months after a slowdown in spending by the world's biggest high-end goods buyers spooked global investors.

Posted: 21 Jan 2013 12:10 PM PST

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Snow havoc hits road, air travel

Posted: 21 Jan 2013 12:10 PM PST

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Verizon worker outsources own job to China

Posted: 21 Jan 2013 08:15 AM PST

outsource Verizon worker outsources own job to ChinaBORED in your job? Don't worry. Someone in China will do it for less. This man outsourced his own job:

It's a worst-case scenario for most employees: There's someone in China who can do your job quickly, efficiently and for about one-fifth of your salary, and your boss absolutely loves his work.

But one U.S. software developer turned this nightmare on its head and actually benefited from outsourcing, a report says. That's because, unbeknownst to his bosses, he hired a Chinese developer to do his job, allowing him to take home impeccable performance reviews while actually spending the day watching cat videos and shopping on EBay.

According to Andrew Valentine, who works on the Verizon Risk Team investigating data breaches, the employee, who Valentine calls Bob, had pulled off the stunt for some time, allowing him to relax and earn a good salary while someone in China did his job for him. . . . Suffice it to say, Bob is no longer working for the company. It's possible that he is missed, though. His performance reviews were impeccable, and his company considered him the best developer in the building.

Dear, Wang, the position of Daily Mail Reporter is fluid…

Wanda readies AMC cinemas for close-up

Posted: 21 Jan 2013 08:52 AM PST

Source: China Daily

Moviegoers in the United States might be unaware of last year's ownership change at AMC theaters, but an impending chain-wide upgrade featuring 3-D movies and snazzier food options could grab their attention.

As part of its $2.6 billion acquisition of AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc, completed in September, China-based Dalian Wanda Group Co has promised to spend $500 million to refurbish AMC cinemas over the next four years and reduce debt in the US company.

"AMC is in the process of updating its circuit from coast to coast through this acquisition, as well as enhancements such as our AMC Dine-In Theatres, improved sight and sound, new concession areas and options, and better seating," company spokesman Ryan Noonan says.

"All these enhancements are designed to deliver an amazing experience and get our movie-loving guests excited about coming to the theater to see their favorite films on the big screen."

Wang Jianlin, the real estate mogul who is Wanda's founder and chairman, shared his view of the spending around the time of the deal's completion.

"My vision is that in three or four years, the reinvestment will give AMC an edge over competitors," Wang says.

The acquisition, which required the approval of regulators in China and the US, makes Wanda the world's biggest operator of movie theaters. AMC had been owned since 2004 by a group of US private-equity firms, including Apollo Global Management LLC, Bain Capital LLC and Carlyle Group LP.

The cinema chain, with more than 5,000 screens, remains the largest in the US by revenue. (AMC Entertainment isn't connected to US cable television producer AMC Networks Inc.)

Unlike some other Chinese enterprises that have invested in the US, Wanda learned early on how to get the most out of an acquisition.

When Wang visited AMC's home base of Kansas City, Missouri, four months ago, he promised to donate $1.3 million to the community.

Wanda and AMC are providing 13 Kansas City-area high schools with art and educational supplies, as well as movie screenings that educators can use to supplement classroom education.

As an incentive for faculty and student achievement, the companies are also supplying many families of the 13 schools' students with free movie passes, popcorn and drinks, including for all of this year's graduates, according to Noonan. He says the giveaways are worth $1.3 million.

Columbia University professor Karl Sauvant says efforts at good corporate citizenship undertaken by Japanese companies in the US has helped improve Americans' view of investment from Japan since an initially negative reception in the 1980s.

Viking Weiqiong Tao, of the Dallas-based law firm Kane Russell Coleman & Logan, believes Chinese companies are paying more attention to the principle of corporate social responsibility.

For Wanda's Wang, the largesse isn't a first. The businessman ranks No 1 on Forbes China's 2011 list of the country's leading philanthropists and is honorary chairman of the China Charity Federation. He has pledged to donate most of his fortune to society, like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.

Wanda issued a report on corporate social responsibility that showed the company in 2012 donated 390 million yuan ($62 million) to charity and public causes, and sponsored 761 volunteer activities with the participation of nearly 61,000 people.

Wang called the AMC deal – one of the biggest Chinese investments in the US last year – the first step in Wanda's global expansion.

He believes private companies, such as Wanda, can outperform State-owned enterprises, which have dominated Chinese direct investment abroad.

During his visit to Los Angeles, the chairman said Wanda plans to invest $30 billion in cinemas, hotels and department stores outside China, with a third of that to be allocated to US companies in the coming decade.

"We have the will and capability to go global," Wang says.

Unusual Roots for Firm in Caterpillar Scandal

Posted: 21 Jan 2013 08:57 AM PST

Source: Wall Street Journal by James T. Areddy

SHANGHAI—As Caterpillar Inc. grapples with an accounting scandal at a Chinese company it bought last year to drive growth in its mining business, the Chinese business's unusual pedigree is coming into focus.

The U.S. equipment maker said last week that it would write off $580 million of the about $700 million it paid in June to buy ERA Mining Machinery Ltd., a Chinese maker of mine-safety equipment. Caterpillar alleged "accounting misconduct" at ERA, including overstatements of its profit in the years before the acquisition. It didn't name anyone it suspected of the alleged misconduct.

The scandal contributed to the departure of a senior Caterpillar executive, according to a person familiar with the matter. Luis de Leon, a vice president responsible for the mining-products division, was "leaving the company to pursue other opportunities," Caterpillar said in a statement Friday.

His exit, this person said, was partly related to Caterpillar's displeasure over the problems at ERA Mining, though Mr. de Leon wasn't being accused of any misdeeds.

Mr. de Leon, who joined Caterpillar in 2011 from another U.S. company, declined to comment.

Caterpillar said it believed the accounting misdeeds had been "perpetrated without the knowledge of any Caterpillar employee who did not come over to Caterpillar as part of the…[ERA] acquisition."

For years Caterpillar has emphasized China as vital to its long-run success, but the country accounts for only about 3% of the company's total sales, a Caterpillar official said last April.

"We're going to play offense [in China], and we're going to win," Chief Executive Officer Doug Oberhelman told investors in 2010, the year he became Caterpillar's CEO.

Caterpillar raced to open new capacity in China in 2011, in an effort to hold on to market share and catch up with demand, just in time for a slump in that market that has left the company and many of its competitors awash with inventory.

Several executives with responsibility in China have left the company or have been reassigned amid a slump in some of Caterpillar's markets, according to company announcements and former employees.

ERA Mining, the Chinese company at the heart of the accounting scandal, owes its prominence to influences as varied as coal mining, Hollywood movies and a family connection to the U.S. retailer Sears.

Under the trade name Siwei, the company makes heavy hydraulic lifts used inside mine shafts to reduce the chance of collapse. China's appetite for coal is the world's largest representing 69% of growth in global consumption in 2011, according to BP Statistical Review, but its mines are among the world's deadliest, with thousands of workers killed annually in accidents.

In a statement last year, Caterpillar described its acquisition of ERA Mining as an opportunity to "help our mining customers become more efficient and safer."

The company had been a relic of China's planned economy, but a U.S.-trained mining engineer and coal tycoon, Li Rubo, and Emory Williams, a Beijing-based American entrepreneur, transformed it over the past decade, seeking to tap growing demand for industrial equipment. They got it publicly listed as a non-Chinese company, with prominent international shareholders.

The company obtained its Hong Kong listing in 2010, using a maneuver called a reverse takeover, according to ERA Mining's regulatory filings. It bought out a nearly defunct distributor of Hollywood DVDs called Era Information & Entertainment Ltd. and used its Hong Kong listing to bypass regulatory hurdles involved in an initial public offering.

Well-known in China's expatriate community, Mr. Williams made money selling construction supplies, including colorful bricks used in Beijing sidewalks. Mr. Williams, the son of a legendary former Sears executive, has served as chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China.

Mr. Williams and Mr. Li met in 1997 through mutual involvement in concrete-products industry in China, "which was the start of a long-term personal friendship and business relationship of over 12 years," according to an ERA Mining regulatory filing.

Mr. Li, who had mining interests in China and Russia, became involved in Siwei starting in 2002 and later bought a quarter of the group for around $160,000 with other investors, according to a regulatory filing. Mr. Williams was brought in as an investor to run and then essentially control the company in 2007, lending the business about $3.5 million.

For 2009, the company boasted a profit of 124.9 million yuan ($18.3 million), more than six times its profit in 2007, while revenue about doubled in that period to 1.236 billion yuan ($181 million).

Around the time of the listing, the partners transferred control of the company to Mr. Li's son-in-law, James E. Thompson III, another well-known expatriate living in Asia, for $38.5 million.

Mr. Thompson, based in Beijing, is heir apparent to a large moving company called Crown Worldwide Group launched in Asia in the 1970s by his father. He didn't respond to an email seeking comment.

The deal valued ERA Mining at $150 million, filings show, and was structured to reflect Mr. Li's estate planning and other considerations, including that his partners preferred not to own a publicly traded entity in Hong Kong.

ERA Mining identified its auditor in recent years as RSM Nelson Wheeler. Partners of the Hong Kong-based accounting firm didn't respond Sunday to requests for comment.

Caterpillar described the acquisition, which closed late last year, as significant in a statement celebrating the deal. "We intend to maintain the fundamental aspects of Siwei that have made the company so successful and continue with the rapid growth that Siwei has delivered," said Steve Wunning, group president of the division that sells mining equipment.

ZTE Girds for Loss, While Huawei Forecasts 33% Rise in Net

Posted: 21 Jan 2013 09:02 AM PST

Source: Wall Street Journal By Juro Osawa and Paul Mozur

The fortunes of China's two biggest—and most controversial—telecommunications-equipment suppliers are diverging, with Huawei Technologies Co. expecting a hefty profit for last year, and ZTE Corp. warning of a sizable loss.

Analysts expect a tough environment this year: telecom operators remain unwilling to boost their investment on network equipment, while the Chinese companies' mobile-handset businesses are locked in price competition.

The earnings projections from Huawei and ZTE followed a setback for their U.S. business in October, when a U.S. congressional report said the companies posed a potential national-security threat, citing concerns that their equipment could be used to spy on Americans. Huawei and ZTE denied the allegations.

Huawei, the world's second-largest telecom-equipment supplier, after Sweden's Ericsson, on Monday forecast that 2012 net would rise 33% to 15.4 billion yuan ($2.48 billion) and that revenue would climb 8% to 220.2 billion yuan. The revenue growth forecast was well below the 15% to 20% target the company had set.

"Things change, when we made the prediction we didn't know where the global economy would go for the rest of the year," a company spokesman said.

ZTE said Sunday that it likely would post a net loss of between 2.5 billion yuan and 2.9 billion yuan for last year, citing delays in network projects and a decline in revenue from handsets. ZTE's stock dropped 1.4% on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Monday.

One factor behind Huawei's better performance was its size, which gives the company an edge over smaller competitors like ZTE as they compete on price to win contracts with carriers around the world. Huawei forecast revenue would grow between 10% and 12% this year, outpacing its growth last year.

Huawei Chief Financial Officer Cathy Meng told reporters Monday that carriers world-wide are expected to increase spending on networks by about 5% this year but that Huawei expected sales from its network business to increase 10%, signaling that the company is growing more quickly than the overall industry.

It was unclear what part of Huawei's operations contributed the most to its profit growth last year as the company doesn't disclose earnings for each business unit.

Huawei's profit has declined since 2010 despite rising revenue. The 15.4 billion yuan net profit projected for last year would be considerably less than the 24.7 billion profit posted in 2010, even though revenue has increased to 220.2 billion from 182.5 billion yuan.

"Margins remain under pressure because price competition is intense in both network-equipment and handset businesses," and there is very little that Huawei and ZTE can do to change that environment, said Barclays analyst Jones Ku, who covers ZTE but not closely held Huawei. ZTE's "disappointing results" are less because of company-specific issues than the overall market, he said.

Analysts were also disappointed with the growth of Huawei's new enterprise operation, which provides teleconferencing and other networking equipment to businesses.

Revenue for the segment rose 25%, against a target of more than 57% growth laid out by an executive with the company's enterprise group last year.

"This is significantly lower than we expected," said Forrester analyst Bryan Wang. Given spending on a large number of employees, plus sales and marketing for the enterprise group, Mr. Wang said he estimated the group likely had a "significant loss" last year.

The U.S. congressional report on Huawei and ZTE last year may have had little impact on the two companies' earnings, given that the U.S. market takes up only a fraction of their sales, Mr. Ku said. Still, the report, which eliminated the Chinese companies' hopes for any significant growth in the U.S. soon, added to concerns over their growth potential when the business environment remains harsh, he said.

Equipment suppliers such as Huawei and ZTE have to accept lower prices to win business from carriers that have been slowing their outlays for new networks amid a weak global economy, even as demand for faster fourth-generation technology builds.

While Huawei and ZTE have become major smartphone vendors in China by tapping robust demand for affordable handsets, declining prices have made it difficult for most domestic players to remain consistently profitable.

China Criticizes Clinton’s Remarks About Dispute With Japan Over Islands

Posted: 21 Jan 2013 09:05 AM PST

Source: New York Times By Jane Perlez

BEIJING — In a harsh statement, China on Sunday accused Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton of presenting a distorted picture about its dispute with Japan over islands in the East China Sea, and it expressed "resolute opposition" to her position.

The Foreign Ministry said Mrs. Clinton "ignores the facts and confuses right and wrong" in a short description she gave of the situation at a news conference in Washington on Friday.

The unusual objection, released as Mrs. Clinton prepares to step down as secretary of state, appears to have been prompted by a new phrase used by Mrs. Clinton in what was an otherwise standard reference to the escalating feud between China and Japan.

With Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan standing beside her, Mrs. Clinton said that the Obama administration opposed "any unilateral actions that would seek to undermine Japanese administration" of the islands, known as Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan.

The reference to unilateral actions was interpreted in the Japanese news media as meaning that the United States was unhappy with China's recent actions in the East China Sea, where the islands are located.

In the past several months, both China and Japan have sent civilian maritime vessels to the waters around the uninhabited islands. On Jan. 10, China ordered a surveillance aircraft to fly near the area. In response, Japan scrambled F-15 fighter jets to take a look, and in response to the Japanese, the Chinese dispatched J-10 fighter jets.

The tit-for-tat moves have raised concerns that an accident could occur and lead to a dangerous cycle of retaliation.

Under a longstanding security treaty with Japan, the United States is obliged to defend the country, including the uninhabited islands, a position that Mrs. Clinton referred to at the news conference. She also repeated that Washington recognized that the islands were administered by Japan.

For its part, China insists that the islands belong to China, a claim that it says is supported by historical documents.

The statement on Sunday by the Foreign Ministry's chief spokesman, Qin Gang, said that Japan had "constantly adopted escalatory and provocative actions" and that the "United States has a historical responsibility over the Diaoyu Islands that cannot be shirked." The Foreign Ministry did not elaborate on the meaning of the American responsibility, but it appeared to be a reference to the return of the islands to Japan by the United States in 1972 at the same time that Okinawa was handed back to Japan.

In addition to the Foreign Ministry statement, the Chinese military unleashed strong warnings in its news media outlets about the need for the army to be ready for war.

The reports did not refer directly to Japan, but more broadly echoed a recent declaration by the new Communist Party leader, Xi Jinping, that the Chinese military could not rest on its laurels after a long period of peace.

The People's Liberation Army Daily, a military newspaper, said Sunday in a front-page article that a "long period without battle has encouraged the fixed habits of peace in some of the military so that their preparedness for battle is dulled."

The newspaper said that some troops had recently conducted exercises in the Beijing military region.

As the tone of remarks toughens in China, the leader of the New Komeito Party, a coalition partner in the new Japanese government led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is expected in Beijing this week.

The party leader, Natsuo Yamaguchi, said he would travel to China in an effort to relieve tensions and take a step toward managing the dispute, if not solving it.

The New Komeito Party has been involved in previous reconciliation efforts with China, most notably in 1972 when China and Japan resumed normal diplomatic relations with each other.

China anger at US islands remarks

Posted: 21 Jan 2013 05:07 AM PST

China's foreign ministry strongly criticises the US for backing Japan's control of a disputed group of islands in the East China Sea.

Censored Skyfall opens in China

Posted: 21 Jan 2013 04:27 AM PST

The latest James Bond film, Skyfall, opens in China after a two-month delay, with key scenes removed by Chinese censors.

TV celebrity under fire for insulting Chinese soccer

Posted: 21 Jan 2013 01:16 AM PST

SHANGHAI'S stand-up comedian Zhou Libo has been under fire after he allegedly ridiculed a student's soccer dream and poured scorn on China's scandal-ridden soccer league in a popular reality show.

Yuan Jun, a college student from Hubei Province, disclosed her embarrassing experience at the Chinese Dream Show – a Chinese version of BBC's Tonight's the Night -- and much of her blame was directed to the show's "dream mentor" Zhou Libo.

Yuan wrote on Weibo.com that she was invited by Zhejiang TV Station last April to tell stories about how she learn to play the soccer and has pursued her dream despite her parents' objection.

However, Zhou was so impolite and cut her off to start taunting the Chinese soccer teams, Yuan said.

"Chinese soccer is so corrupt. Why do you still like it?" Zhou said. "Why so many referees were caught? Which of them do you like most?" He went on to say: "Your parents are right (to prevent you playing soccer). Girls shouldn't play soccer! You will have a bleak future."

Even when another show host came to her rescue and reminded her to say how she wished to play soccer with Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, Zhou didn't stop his attack. "You can go there by yourself," he said and rejected her dream.

Though Zhejiang TV deleted her interview from the show and never aired it, Yuan's post still triggered an outcry from netizens, including some eminent football players.

Hao Haidong, once a top player in the Chinese national team, said: "All the football athletes despise him!"

Wang Song, captain of Hangzhou Greentown Football Team, rapped Zhou for insulting every Chinese football player. "Though Chinese football teams had poor performances, many have devoted their lives to the sport," Wang said.

Zhang Xiaofei, a member of Changchun Yatai Football Team, shared Wang's view and said Zhou shouldn't abuse his power. A celebrity should spread positive messages.

Train ticket buying tools fuel online debate

Posted: 21 Jan 2013 12:46 AM PST

IT sparked a heated debate after Chinese regulators asked Internet firms to withdraw their third-party train ticket buying tools, which allow users to act faster than others to book tickets online as hundreds of millions in China prepare to rush home for the Spring Festival.

The tools are affecting the operation of the official ticket-buying site www.12306.com developed and operated by the Ministry of railways, ministry officials said.

A surge of online bookers has caused the official website to crash several times and travelers need a bit of good luck to log on to the website.

The Spring Festival, which falls on February 9 this year, marks the world's biggest human migration as hordes of Chinese rush home for family reunions during the most important holiday of the year.

Since early this month, Internet firms including Qihoo 360, Kingsoft and Sougou all launched browser add-ons to help users purchase tickets through third-party tools that make using the 12306 website more convenient and user-friendly.

But the ministry asked them to shut down the plug-ins which added pressure to the already busy 12306 server and made it unfair for people who don't know how to use them. The decision fueled a heated debate on the Internet.

"If it is unfair, then everything is unfair. People can't buy air tickets through Qunar (a Chinese version of Expedia), learn English through software or drive with a navigation device," Kaifu Lee, Innovation Works founder and former Google China president, said on his Weibo microblog.

Lee has 26 million followers on Twitter-like Weibo and his post has been forwarded more than 20,000 times yesterday.

The ministry should improve its website and balance online and offline ticket resources to keep it fair, Lee added.

More than 1 million users have succeeded purchasing tickets with Qihoo 360's tool, which has a user-friendly interface and has been tested causing little pressure on the 12306 website because people would visit 12306 if not using these tools, according to Qihoo 360.

Despite the notice from the railway ministry, Internet firms continued providing these tools they claimed "100 percent legal."

Others, however, didn't like the tools.

"The 12306 represents a national rule and order. The tools just bring disorder," said Mi Wu Xuan Qing Liu on Weibo.

Meanwhile, most migrant workers who desperately need train tickets for home after a year of hard work don't know how to book tickets online. They just go to railway stations to try their luck, Shanghai Daily learned.

The railway ministry made no comments on the debate, but it posted ticket information every day on its website to tell people what tickets are available and what are in "limited supply."

Knock-off China – adaptations of top brands

Posted: 21 Jan 2013 12:27 AM PST

IN China, brands aren't so much faked, as they are adapted. Like the Western dudes who get Chinese tattoos, the concept overrides the actual. That tattoo for "Peace and love" spells "Paedophiles are people too"; the  Star Wars toy isn't. Her;s gallery of soem cracking adaptations,. China style…

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china 1 Knock off China adaptations of top brands
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Huawei sees 33% jump in profit

Posted: 20 Jan 2013 10:43 PM PST

Chinese phone equipment maker Huawei forecasts a 33% jump in profit boosted by strong performance in markets such as Europe and Japan.

Chinese fleet monitors Japanese ships around Diaoyu Islands

Posted: 20 Jan 2013 11:35 PM PST

A Chinese marine surveillance fleet continued patrolling China's territorial waters around the Diaoyu Islands today and monitored Japanese ships that violated China's territorial waters.

The vessels -- Haijian 137, Haijian 23 and Haijian 46 -- followed and engaged in surveillance of the Japanese ships, solemnly declared China's sovereignty over the islands and demanded the Japanese ships' immediate departure from Chinese waters, according to a statement issued by the State Oceanic Administration.

Chinese fleet monitors Japanese ships around Diaoyu Islands

Posted: 20 Jan 2013 11:35 PM PST

A Chinese marine surveillance fleet continued patrolling China's territorial waters around the Diaoyu Islands today and monitored Japanese ships that violated China's territorial waters.

The vessels -- Haijian 137, Haijian 23 and Haijian 46 -- followed and engaged in surveillance of the Japanese ships, solemnly declared China's sovereignty over the islands and demanded the Japanese ships' immediate departure from Chinese waters, according to a statement issued by the State Oceanic Administration.

VIDEO: Skyfall censored for Chinese audience

Posted: 20 Jan 2013 10:22 PM PST

The latest James Bond film, Skyfall, is released in China on Monday but like other films before it, parts have been cut at the request of the Chinese censors.

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