Featured Articles

China Stands Up at Trade Talks

Richard Brubaker
July 29, 2008 12:56

There are reports coming out that China has thrown a huge wrench into recent discussions which would theoretically open the global trade markets on a different level. According to the WSJ report China Objection Threatens Trade Deal (subscription required), the three key commodities that were...

Recent Articles

Economic Activity on the Yangtze

Richard Brubaker
May 09, 2011 08:33

While relaxing on my recent trip up middle reaches of the Yangtze, I took an opportunity to capture some of the Yangtze’s economic activities. To be honest, while I have been to a number of the ports along the lower reaches, and I have seen plenty of economic booms in my time in China, what...

Yangtze River Hitting Bottom

Richard Brubaker
May 07, 2011 13:43

Least week, during the May holiday, I spent 4 days aboard the Yangtze Explorer going up the river from Yichang to Chongqing, and as you can see from the pictures above the river was far from full. Explained as “normal” by almost all the tour guides (who also told us that everyone was...

It’s Not of the China Price. It’s the End of Cheap Crap

Richard Brubaker
April 24, 2011 11:43

Back in 2008, before the global economy blew up, there was a lot of talk about the end of the “China price”. That, as the costs of China rose, firms would move themselves away from China …. to Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Mexico, etc… and at that time I found the arguments...

Managing a Good Team Takes Process. Requires Strategy. Not Luck.

Richard Brubaker
March 16, 2011 00:09

There are few things more difficult sometimes than managing people, and across cultures it can at times become an exercise in patience, futility, and/ or comedy as managers look for ways to attract, train, and retain staff. For one of my good friends, his theory was that a firm’s most...

In Defense of the China Consultant

Richard Brubaker
March 05, 2011 15:15

Over the last few weeks, I have seen a few posts that caught my eye.  Posts that were directed a particular “China consultant”, were meant to question the need for a “China Consultant”, or were meant to provide advice on how to pick a “China Consultant”…...

When You Get Sick in China

Richard Brubaker
November 16, 2010 06:38

Perhaps one of the scariest times to be in China is when you are sick, regardless of whether it is a bad case of food poisoning or it is something far more severe, and in my 9 years in China it is something that I continually run into.. Where to go to. Who to trust. [...]Perhaps one of the scariest...

Identifying, Measuring, and Taking Action on the Risks of China

Richard Brubaker
September 02, 2010 13:09

Risk.  Everyone in China is exposed to it.  Some recognize it, and act on it, better than others This was the topic of several conversations between myself and Neal Beatty (Regional Director, Global Client Services for Control Risks).  In some ways it was a followup to the interview I did of Dane...

When Systems Start to Fail

Richard Brubaker
August 30, 2010 08:30

Over time, there are few things more important (and perhaps less appreciated) than a good old fashioned system that operates well.  Systems are something that anyone in supply chain, economics, or general management can appreciate (when running well), and in China where everything is about large...

Why Coming in Second Isn’t Always a Bad Thing for China.

Richard Brubaker
August 24, 2010 03:35

Over the years, there have been more than a few articles on China’s interest, or lacking interest, in developing domestic innovation and IP in the commercial sector, and China’s use of soft power, or failing to use its soft power, to promote the best interests of the state. And while...