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China Design Economics Readings Trend Watching

Shanghai World Expo: SPAIN PAVILION

The Spain Pavilion, designed by architect Benedetta Tagliabue, cleverly mixes the concept of sustainability —represented by the 8,524 wicker panels, a traditional material and a handcraft technique used both in China and in Spain […]

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China Consumer Behavior Economics Trend Watching

China, Socialism & Consumer Behavior: 4 million Chinese families own million dollar assets

The more than 4 million Chinese families with million dollar assets in 2008 will reach 7.8 million in 2013, according to a new report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) published recently […]

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China Trend Watching

Education in China: Sharp drop in number seeking college degree

Many things shrink in an economic crisis – the number of jobs, the volume of exports, the confidence of investors – but few expected a sharp fall in the size of the prospective student population. This year, fewer students want to participate in the upcoming three-day annual college entrance exam, which has been seen as the make-or-break benchmark for millions of young people since 1977 […]

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China Economics

Living in China: Privileges attached to the “Hukou” should be eliminated

Cai Fang, a senior researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences recently criticized the current Hukou system as a main cause behind social inequality. He suggested the Chinese government scrap all privileges inherent in an urban Hukou as part its efforts to reform the Hukou system […]

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China Consumer Behavior

e-Commerce in China: online shopping totals over 14 billion US dollars in 2008

The annual trade volume of China’s online shopping market in 2008 surpassed the amount of 100 billion yuan (over 14 billion US dollars) for the first time, totaling 120 billion yuan, up by 128.5 percent year on year. Compared with the previous year, the growth rate rose by nearly 40 percentage points. The data come from the ‘2008 China Online Shopping Research Report‘ , jointly published by iResearch Consulting Group, a domestic polling organization, and taobao.com. The report also shows that, in 2008, the number of registered online shoppers in China increased by 185 percent from the previous year, reaching 120 million customers…

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China

China in World’s Eyes: Great Wall, Kungfu, Chinese food

The large-scale report of ‘China in World’s Eyes’ was issued in Beijing recently. Foreigners from more than 20 countries around the world were surveyed in the report. When asked which can represent China best, most foreigners chose the Great Wall, Kung fu and Chinese food; and 21% of them considered the Great Wall as the best thing representing China. Influenced by Hollywood films, foreigners were greatly impressed by Kung Fu; many of them even thought most Chinese could play Kung Fu…