Full Contents - December 2006

Opening the doors
China is poised to liberalize entry into its banking market. A new world of opportunities and irritations awaits lenders both foreign and domestic

Teetering on the edge of a cliff
China is likely to feel the protectionist heat from a Democrat-controlled US Congress, but the economic imbalance at the heart of US-China ties is not so easy to correct
Iron wills and irony
Shaped by historical tensions and economic pragmatism, relations between Beijing and Tokyo remain unpredictable. Could the environment provide a solution?
All is in chaos
As internet-driven media goes mainstream, operators may find themselves subject to the same regulatory controls that are used to keep the mass media in check

Redressing the imbalance
The EU's new policy on China is intended to equalize gains from the trade relationship. Both Beijing and European governments must act to make this happen

Thrifty resilience
A focus on low-end products may give Chinese exporters an edge to survive a slowdown in the US
Sunny for some
A dozen solar energy companies from China are looking to list across the Pacific. A new report on global warming may have set the wind at their backs
Stuck on the ground
Travel between China and the Spanish-speaking world is much harder than it should be
Emerging money
Developing economies are now emerging as significant sources of cash and altering the flow of investment around the world
Courting sponsors
Big names are building China brands through sports sponsorship. Opportunities abound for the rest - it's just a matter of finding them
Growing old
China's working-age population is dwindling. Can the country sustain its economic development as people age?
Soft skills
China's software outsourcing industry is growing in quantity but not quality. The country can learn a lot from India but, for the time being, Hyderabad's hegemony is safe

Tsingtao Brewery 600600.SH
Arguably China's most well known brand, Tsingtao Brewery faces a rough couple of years as competition intensifies in the rapidly consolidating domestic beer industry, which has now outgrown the US to become the world's largest by volume.

Deceptive safety
When it comes to physical security, China has a reputation for safety. Unfortunately this isn't the case when it comes to keeping intellectual property under lock and key

Old angst, new agenda
A double victory for the Democrats in the House and Senate midterm elections appears to have laid the ground for a tougher stance on China
China and Africa: Building, and buying, consensus
If nothing else, the long line of African leaders at the Great Hall of the People in early November showed China's approach to the continent is generating interest where it was meant to
An inconvenient solution
China's environmental record is back in the spotlight. But China shouldn't have to meet the challenge alone

Homeward bound
Talk of a bubble is growing, but there is plenty of uncharted water to explore before a bust appears on China's private investment horizon
What's in a name?
Chinese private equity is starting to catch up with the foreign variety

Leader of the pack
With about US$4 billion raised by China-dedicated funds in the last year alone, it is sink or swim time in the country's venture capital market

River town
Industry, brains and a plum location compel foreign investors to give Nanjing a hard look

The new voice of narcissism
In the village of Zhangjiashu, in Ningxia province, a young girl called Ma Yan once went without food for two weeks to save money for a ballpoint pen.

The man who lost his life
Graham Earnshaw is walking from Shanghai to Tibet when he has the time, starting always from the last place he stopped. This month we find him near Zaoshi in eastern Hubei

An evolving market for takeovers
China's new takeovers code could represent the advent of self-regulation in the market but inconsistent enforcement may remain an issue

Heading for the overvaluation vortex
China's investors continued to reach for it, driving A-share indices up more than 10% since our last writing. This continued surge factors in many investors' expectations of higher earnings growth for the remainder of 2006 and all of 2007. Moreover, the effect of both international and domestic funds flows cannot be discounted.

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