China is a nation of smokers, with an estimated 400 million Chinese lighting up 1,625 cigarettes a year. But while foreign brands still have a certain appeal for young urban Chinese, only three joint venture cigarette companies have been permitted to build factories in China, and 90 per cent of the smokers still buy domestically-produced cigarettes. We review China’s most successful industry.
Category: Business
Reading the market
In the first of a series of profiles of Chinese organisations, International Trade Research Institute (ITRI) outlines what it has to offer the international trader.
Taking stock
Nothing last year, apart from the booming consumer spending could have demonstrated China’s eagerness to wholeheartedly embrace capitalism better than the fledgling stock market. We give the full story on China’s boldest experiment with the market mechanism, which is proving to be both constructive and chaotic.
Focus for the north
Tianjin can boast both rising foreign investment figures and China’s largest container terminal, but still the city faces the threat of rising debt obligations and crippling power shortages. We survey this northern gateway.
Local talent
The Foreign Enterprise Service Corporation (FESCO) has been providing foreign companies with Chinese employees since the advent of the open door policy. China Economic Review asked Liu Yanling, of the Beijing office, to explain the procedures involved in employing local staff, and other services the corporation can offer.