Showing posts with label Chinese. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chinese. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 4

Chinese purchase of Smithfield unlikely to Bacon surge buyer

Chinese purchase of Smithfield unlikely to Bacon surge buyer
A customer selects the pieces of the pork, the Shuanghui, which this week controls China's largest meat processing company in a supermarket in Yichang, Central Hubei province.

Care of Americans, the their Bacon makin' ' is?

The proposed $4.7 billion-takeover of US pork producer of Smithfield Foods of China Shuanghui International can elicit an emotional response from Americans, but the history shows that they are to change their eating habits, food experts said.

"The general public can latch on and say they're going to boycott, Lind, or otherwise" TERI said Gault, Chief Executive of TheGroceryGame.com, a membership site, the grocery store sales and coupons tracked.

But American consumers are likely to actually have to do. "People say much more than they actually do," she said.

The same questions were asked in 2007 as JBS Brazil the Chicagoer Swift & company, JBS Swift bought group of the largest animal protein processor in the world. The consumer then don't worry, because after all US food laws remained in place, said Gary Karp, executive Vice President at Technomic, a food industry research and consulting firm.

"From a consumer standpoint, it is a huge uneventful" KARP said the Smithfield deal. "It is probably not much of an impact."

When consumers go into a market, they are likely to focus on what to sell, what pieces of the meat look good, and then perhaps narrow except for a few, it said their favorite brands, Karp. "But you may or may not even be what Smithfield brands are, as they also are farmland, armour and eckrich meat plant and Carando, and they know have Gwaltney," KARP said, listing of just a few of the Smithfield subsidiaries.

In Smithfield, VA., founded in 1936 as Smithfield packing company, the company now dominates the $100 billion U.S. pork industry according to the estimate of pork producers Council.

Company representatives said that the quality of U.S. pork will not go back.

"We have established as the world's leading and most reliable vertically integrated pork processor and hog producer Smithfield and are excited that Shuanghui recognizes our best-in-class operations, our excellent safety of dietary habits and 46,000 diligent and dedicated employees," Larry Pope, President and Chief Executive Officer of Smithfield said in a statement, the announcement of the deal. "It will be business as usual - only better - at Smithfield. We do not assume that any changes in how we do business operating in the United States and around the world. "We are part of a company that shared our faith in global opportunities and our commitment to product safety and quality become."

What the Chinese consumers that contamination had to endure several at the high-profile food scares in recent years, get the quality, the Americans already, Shuanghui Chairman Wan Long said in a statement. "Smithfield is a leading company in our industry and we are able to satisfy the growing demand in China for pork by importing high-quality meat products from the United States, while serve markets in the United States and around the world," he said.

Americans have had one final reason to know, is it difficult to change their shopping habits, even if they are terrified about a similar event halfway around the world. The recent deadly clothing factory collapses in Bangladesh has also the most dedicated no shift of U.S. purchases, and weak labelling rules make it difficult to redeem. The food is simple, because there are US labelling rules for organic food, fair trade coffee, and many imported food.

Perceived concerns about quality people to change habits, but the bigger problem is that some consumers are aware of where their food comes from, Alina Halloran, Vice President of global online brand protection for OpSec security, said an anti-counterfeiting technologies consulting firm.

About 50 percent Apple juice and 16 per cent of frozen spinach comes from China, she said. "I don't think if suspended consumer on the street and asked where their Apple juice comes from, that she would appreciate China", Halloran said.

Preventing a trade mark does not necessarily mean that you change something safer. Many popular foods such as olive oil, milk, fish and fruit juice were the subject of the misrepresentation, shopper, (a problem known fraud in the industry as food.) "To look at the label at this point cannot always be the real figure to give", said Halloran. "Is to do a little extra work to the consumer."

Jennifer Kingsley of the East Smithfield, Penn, is a lot of extra work to make sure that she know where their food comes from among those who are willing. Reporter for the star-Gazette in Elmira, New York, Kingsley and her family began raising own pigs about ten years ago.

"They just don't know what you get at the grocery store," she said. "It was easier for us to our own, grow because we know what was happening."

Cases of food-borne E. coli and salmonella infections in the news were a great inspiration for Kingsley's family to increase now also cows and chickens and have a large vegetable garden on their 125 acres of grounds.

Buys still heads to the grocery store for milk and other staples, but especially about the brands she, to avoid additional hormones. If they can, buying local eggs, milk and other products. "I'm constantly reading labels and watching the news." They learn the brands that have in the news time after time for these small problems, and are to avoid them,"said Kingsley.

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Sunday, June 2

Buy Chinese company of Smithfield Foods for almost $5b

Agreed in a hog heaven marriage Smithfield Foods of Chinese meat producer Shuanghui group bought between $4.72 billion for be. The deal will take the world's largest pork manufacturers with brands such as armor, farmland and its namesake, private.

Hong Kong-based Shuanghui has a large number of global companies, which include food, logistics and flavouring products and is company China's largest meat processing.

Smithfield's shareholders will receive $34 per share under terms of the transaction announced Wednesday - a 31 percent premium to the company of Smithfield, VA., the stock price of $25,97 on Tuesday closed.

Boards of Directors of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction, which still needs approval from shareholders of Smithfields. The transaction may also be subject to review by the U.S. Committee on foreign investment.

The companies make the deal worth about $7.1 billion of debt including. Smithfield Foods has about 138.8 million outstanding shares according to FactSet. Smithfield shares are no longer publicly traded when the deal closes.

Its shares $7,23 or 27.8 per cent rose to $33.20 in premarket trading Wednesday.

Shuanghui has 13 facilities that produce more than 2.7 million tons of meat per year. Under the terms of the agreement, no closures of Smithfield are facilities and locations - including headquarters in Smithfield, VA., the company said.

Shuanghui be workers honor also the collective bargaining agreements in place with Smithfield and Smithfield of the existing management team will remain in place. The company employs about 46,000 people.

In a press release on Wednesday Smithfield CEO Larry Pope called movement a "great transaction for everyone involved in Smithfield, as well as for American farmers and U.S. agriculture."

In recent months, Smithfields has second-largest shareholder, Continental Grain Co., since then Smithfield to consider whether to split itself, saying it was time for the company "Ernst shareholder value building preserved." In the wake of a March letter from continental grain Smithfield said it would review the proposals "at the appropriate time." Representatives of continental grain has no immediate comment Wednesday News offer.

In its most recent quarter, its net income rose in March reported more than 3 percent gains in swine production, its international business and its packaged meats such as deli meats, bacon, sausage and hot dogs - a great growth market for the company.

Still, with consumers caught pork producers like Smithfield in a tug of war. The company must cost namely, to compensate for the grain, which used it to feed the increase of in prices, rising commodity prices. But consumers are still extremely sensitive to price changes in the current economy. By raising prices, chicken cut in the revenue should consumers cut or buy cheaper meats like Smithfield risks.

Sunday, January 6

Chinese investors still does not turn sour on us

Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, CNBC.com
Investors around the world can be cooled in the United States, but not China.

Chinese investment in the United States will probably break another record in 2013, according to market research firm rhodium group. This is after a record year in 2012 with deals worth more than 6.5 billion $, 12 percent from the previous record of $5.8 billion in the year 2010.

"Since we have already lined up $5 billion value of the deals it is very likely that 2013 will be another record year." Policies in China, which demonstrates commitment to structural reforms expand the dynamics could find access to technology and know-how to prepare for a new era of Chinese growth, as Chinese companies,"said Thilo Hanemann, author of a new report rhodium Chinese direct investment in the United States.

The Chinese seem, in fact, be some of the few who are willing to invest in the United States since the financial crisis. Analysis is Middle Eastern investment in the United States by 86 percent, Canada by 75 percent and Europe to 49 per cent from the first three quarters 2007 at the first three quarters of the year 2012, according to the Bureau of economic.

Hanemann thinks that the household data number, because it flows through offshore financial centres not included undercounts. Rhodium estimates the increase in Chinese investment in the United States is actually a whopping 1300 percent.

Of course, China is still small compared to other parts of the world; less than 1 percent of the total foreign investment in the United States. However, that only the number is expected to be as a country grow and his growing companies continue to invest outside their home country, they search for raw materials and value added expertise. (Read more: No. 2 of the world economy is solid 2013 set up.)

Biggest deals in the year 2012 the Sinopec were $2.5 billion to Devon Energy and Dalian Wanda's cinema chain AMC $2.6 billion purchase. In addition, Wanxiang took $420 million at great point energy.

Still waiting for regulatory approval: a Chinese Consortium has decided a 80 percent stake in AIG aviation leasing unit lease Finance Corp to buy for $4.2 billion. Auto-parts maker Wanxiang has the business not defense of the battery manufacturer of A123 systems in a bankruptcy auction won. BGI Shenzhen waiting for regulatory approvals California biotech buy company of complete Genomics for $118 million.

"In short, we are in the middle of a structural growth story, the China United States investment relationship form converts a one-way street into a two-way street", Thilo Hanemann, author of the report wrote.

Also Chinese investment in U.S. companies was disputed in the year 2012. A report by two members of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee attacked Chinese telecom companies that wanted to invest in the United States, Huawei and ZTE, which suggests that their technology could be used for spying.

Moreover, members of the community are motifs intelligence suspicious compared to Chinese companies, especially because many of the corporate State-owned enterprises; in other words, in possession of, and ultimately by the Chinese Government controls.

Friday, January 4

What wealthy Chinese Christmas wish: a bicycle

What wealthy Chinese Christmas wish: a bicycle

Donny Kwok, Reuters
Bicycles, which cost more than the average citizen in three years of nostalgia for the days when the most important means of transport were two wheels, motivated to buy are Hong Kong - Chinese rich.

China is now the world's largest auto market, but expected to grow high-end bicycle sales by 10 percent per year once they are a status symbol for wealthy executives.

Yu Yiqun, the creative director at an advertising agency in the Chinese capital, cycles to work on his favorite bike - a hand made 100,000 yuan ($16,000) Alex Moulton.

"It would be the only Beijing. It is like the Rolls Royce of bicycles. Purely handmade, '' the 40-year-old Yu said very classic, has about 35 high end wheels.

"I remember my dad to drive me to the city in winter - 40 km and minus 30 degrees Celsius. It was a means of transport, distance, which was relatively cheap, but required brawn fulfilled your dream of travelling."

Yu symbolizes a new bicycle culture in China, where affluent, health-conscious executives update their lifestyle in some cases abandonment of flashy cars and take the road on high bicycles, which can more than a car costs.

"The demand for established luxury goods such as premium vehicles, watches has come to a point of saturation. High-income groups to high end bikes to show the unique in taste and healthy lifestyle now,"said Zhou Jiannong, general manager of Rbike networks Ltd in China.

Analysts estimate about 10 percent annual growth in the Chinese bicycle market in the next few years with the high-end segment is expected to grow by more than 15 percent per year.

Companies are also on the Act, with a Hong Kong financial company as a bonus-based suppliers an order for 1,000 expensive bikes from a Chinese to the end of the year for employees whenever.

"People are sick of traditional gifts such as wine and tobacco. For mainlanders, a bike is"a great gift that shows your unique lifestyle, said Adam Wong, Managing Director of Hong Kongs Komda bicycles.

Wong went to name the Bank, which had ordered the bikes, but he said, they had an average price of 3,000 yuan ($480).

Fashion statement
Fashion label Shanghai Tang, eager for a piece of this growing pie, along with Dutch bicycle manufacturer Colossi cycling make bicycles to China, where bicycle demand is estimated at about 28 million units per year


"High end range will be the most important source of growth in the Chinese market. In China, there are more than just a means of transport. It has become a fashion,"said Terry Liu, analyst at Fubon research in Taiwan.

It can cost up to HK$ 300,000 ($38700) for an imported it limited edition from expensive brands like Colnago Italy or France views, nearly 100 times the price of a flying Dove, China's official bicycle since 1950 was born.

But the costs, such as for many high-income Chinese no object in search of the best motorcycle.

"Looking for business people, not to the price. You look at the quality. Your bike with import components in line, their taste and needs make together", said Zhang Lei, Director of the Zhuhai paper products supplier, planning 10,000 yuan to upgrade his current bike to spend.

Yu, that advertising Executive in Beijing, more orders for four handmade bicycles, expanded his extensive collection includes brands such as Trek, Bianchi, Colnago.

He and his wife have two cars, but he says that he does not drive.

"I always have my bike bring when I go on a business trip," said Yu. "When I go to Harbin, I bring a small, folding bicycle, because it's easier for me to get the city. When I go to Dalian, I bring a larger bike because it is a mountainous city."

Monday, April 16

Chinese factories expand Ford

Ford says that they to expand, as it tries to play catch-up with competitors $ 600 million will spend its factory capacity in China.


The company says that its factories in Chongqing, growing demand treat it adds. The accessories allow Ford to make more 350,000 vehicles a year by 2014. His total 950,000 will increase.


Ford Motor Co. says that it plans to triple the cars in its Chinese lineup up to 15 in the next three years. It will add 20 new engines and transmissions.


The company builds a new production line, body shop and paint shop on the site of Chongqing in southwestern China. The investment will be with the company joint venture partner, Changan Ford Mazda automobile limited.


Associated press contributed to this report.

Friday, October 28

Chinese company interested in buying Yahoo

NEW YORK — The CEO of the Chinese Internet company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. says he would be "very interested" in buying Yahoo Inc.


Jack Ma made the statement in response to a question during a speaking engagement at Stanford University on Friday, said John Spelich, a spokesman for Alibaba. Ma also told the audience that prospective buyers had approached Alibaba to discuss a possible purchase for Yahoo, Spelich said late Saturday. The spokesman did not identify the prospective buyers.


Yahoo is trying to decide whether to sell part or all of itself following the firing last month of Carol Bartz as CEO. Employees were told in an e-mail in late September that the process could take several months. In the meantime, there will be much speculation about who might be interested in the company.


Dana Lengkeek, a Yahoo spokeswoman, said the company had no comment on Ma's remarks.


Yahoo owns about 40 percent of Alibaba.


Bartz was fired because she was unable to boost Yahoo's advertising revenue and make the company more competitive with Google Inc. and Facebook. Yahoo's net revenue — the amount the company keeps after paying advertising commissions— fell 5 percent in the second quarter. Google's revenue soared 36 percent.


The company is also searching for a new CEO while also considering whether to sell itself. Chief Financial Officer Tim Morse is serving as interim CEO while the search for a successor to Bartz continues.


Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Wednesday, September 21

Top wish rich Chinese? Leave China

BEIJING — Chinese millionaire Su builds skyscrapers in Beijing and is one of the people powering China's economy on its path to becoming the world's biggest.


He sits at the top of a country — economy booming, influence spreading, military swelling — widely expected to dominate the 21st century.


Yet the property developer shares something surprising with many newly rich in China: he's looking forward to the day he can leave.

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Su's reasons: He wants to protect his assets, he has to watch what he says in China and wants a second child, something against the law for many Chinese.


The millionaire spoke to The Associated Press on condition that only his surname was used because of fears of government reprisals that could damage his business.


China's richest are increasingly investing abroad to get a foreign passport, to make international business and travel easier but also to give them a way out of China.


The United States is the most popular destination for Chinese emigrants, with rich Chinese praising its education and healthcare systems. Last year, nearly 68,000 Chinese-born people became legal permanent residents of the U.S., seven percent of the total and second only to those born in Mexico. Canada and Australia are also popular.


It is a bothersome trend for China's communist leaders who've pinned the legitimacy of one-party rule on delivering rapid economic growth and a rising standard of living. They've succeeded in lifting tens of millions of ordinary Chinese out of poverty while also creating a new class of super rich. Yet affluence alone seems a poor bargain to those with the means to live elsewhere.


Despite more economic freedom, the communist government has kept its tight grip on many other aspects of daily life. China's leaders punish, sometimes harshly, public dissent and any perceived challenges to their power, and censor what can be read online and in print. Authoritarian rule, meanwhile, has proved ineffective in addressing long standing problems of pollution, contaminated food and a creaking health care system.


"In China, nothing belongs to you. Like buying a house. You buy it but it will belong to the country 70 years later," said Su, lamenting the government's land leasing system.


"But abroad, if you buy a house, it belongs to you forever," he said. "Both businessmen and government officials are like this. They worry about the security of their assets."


Leo Liu, marketing manager at Beijing emigration consultants Goldlink, said the company has noticed an increasing trend of rich Chinese wanting to emigrate, particularly to Canada, in the 15 years since it was founded.


Education, better healthcare
The main reasons people want to move abroad, he said, are their children's education and for better healthcare. Some want to leave because they got their money illegally, such as corrupt government officials and businesspeople, while others are inspired by friends who have already emigrated to the U.S.


"They want to get a green card even though they may still do business here in China," Liu said. "They might have sent their wife and children abroad.


"And some of them just love life in a foreign country, the Western style," he said.


There is also a yawning gap between rich and poor in China, which feeds a resentment that makes some of the wealthy uncomfortable. The country's uneven jump to capitalism over the last three decades has created dozens of billionaires, but China barely ranks in the top 100 on a World Bank list of countries by income per person.


Getting a foreign passport is like "taking out an insurance policy," said Rupert Hoogewerf, who compiles the Hurun Rich List, China's version of the Forbes list.


"If there is political unrest or suddenly things change in China — because it's a big country, something could go wrong — they already have a passport to go overseas. It's an additional safety net."


Among the 20,000 Chinese with at least 100 million yuan ($15 million) in individual investment assets, 27 percent have already emigrated and 47 percent are considering it, according to a report by China Merchants Bank and U.S. consultants Bain & Co. published in April.


Nearly 60 percent of the people surveyed said worries over their children's education are a reason for wanting to leave.


A millionaire who works in the coal industry, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said the main push behind his plans to emigrate is China's test-centric school system, often criticized for producing students who can pass exams but who lack skills for the world of work.


He will take his 7-year-old to the U.S. as soon as the child graduates from junior high at an international school in Beijing where pupils are instructed in English.


"The U.S. has a good educational system and excellent health care," said the 39-year-old, who has three homes in China and assets worth $5 million. "That's why we look forward to going there."


Retiring abroad?
Other top motivations cited in the Merchants Bank study are to protect assets and to prepare for retirement. Also cited as reasons for leaving: having more children and making it easier to develop an overseas business.


Alongside increased emigration there has also been a massive outflow of private money from China despite its strict currency controls. The report estimates that rich Chinese — those with assets of more than 10 million yuan — have about 3.6 trillion yuan ($564 billion) invested overseas.


"The Chinese economy now looks like a massive funnel," said Zhong Dajun, director of the non-governmental Dajun Center for Economic Observation & Studies in Beijing.


Zhong said it is mostly corrupt government officials who transfer entire fortunes overseas because they have been illegally acquired and "they have fears and feel guilty."


Wealthy Russians have also been establishing footholds abroad for the past decade, seeking a safe haven both for their money and their children. In recent years, the trend has extended to Russia's emerging middle class. They cannot afford to invest in London, a favorite destination for Russia's billionaires and millionaires, so have been setting up second homes in less expensive European countries, including those like the Czech Republic that were once part of the Soviet bloc.


Su, the property developer, intends to stay in China and continue building residential high-rises and office buildings for another 10 years because he fears it would be too difficult for him to replicate his mainland business success abroad.


His wife is already in the U.S., expecting their second child. Under China's one-child policy in place for the last three decades to control population growth, couples can be penalized for having more than one child. In Beijing, the penalty is a one-off fee 3-10 times the city's average income, a maximum of 250,000 yuan ($40,000).


"The living conditions abroad are better, like residential conditions, food safety and education," said the millionaire as he dined in the VIP room of a Beijing restaurant. Lowering his voice, he said for many rich there are worries about the authoritarian government. "This is a very sensitive topic. Everyone knows this. It's freer and more just abroad," he said.


Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Saturday, August 20

Chinese retailers kidnap the IKEA experience

KUNMING, China — Nestled in a sleepy southern district of Kunming city in southwest China, is a 10,000 square meter, four-story building that could make Swedish furniture giant Ikea uneasy.


11 Furniture, as the store is known, copies Ikea's blue and yellow color scheme, mock-up rooms, miniature pencils, signage and even its rocking chair designs. Its cafeteria-style restaurant, complete with minimalist wooden tables, has a familiar look, although the menu features Chinese-style braised minced pork and eggs instead of Ikea's Swedish meatballs and salmon.


This knock-off Ikea store is emblematic of a new wave of piracy sweeping through China. Increasingly sophisticated counterfeiters no longer just pump out fake luxury handbags, DVDs and sports shoes but replicate the look, feel and service of successful Western retail concepts -- in essence, pirating the entire brand experience.

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"This is a new phenomenon," said Adam Xu, retail analyst with Booz&Co. "Typically there are a lot of fake products, now we see more fakes in the service aspect in terms of (faking) the retail formats."


Brands are much more than a logo on a handbag or some half-eaten pipfruit on a computer.


Many of the most successful consumer companies have invested millions in promoting and building brands which encapsulate ideals, values and aspirations, creating valuable and loyal customer bases that sometimes border on cults.


Last month, an American blogger set off a media storm after she posted pictures of an elaborate fake Apple Store in Kunming, selling genuine if unauthorized iPhones, Macbooks and other widely popular Apple products.


Desirable brands
The presence of the fake stores in Kunming highlights China's seemingly insatiable appetite for western brands in some consumer segments that have not been tapped, particularly in smaller cities far from the affluent eastern seaboard.


"What these fake stores indicate is that there is demand for the types of products and concepts that these brands sell," said Hong Kong-based Torsten Stocker, a China retail analyst with Monitor Group.


The problem for companies that have been faked is that even if the fake stores sell genuine products, the brands have no control over how customers experience their brands.


Zhang Yunping, 22, a customer service representative at 11 Furniture, is used to the questions about Ikea.


"If two people are wearing the same clothes, you are bound to say that one copied the other," Zhang said, shrugging her shoulders.


"Customers have told me we look like Ikea. But for me that's not my problem. I just look after customers' welfare. Things like copyrights, that is for the big bosses to manage," she said.


11 Furniture's owner could not be reached for comment.


Ikea said it has teams working at both the country and global level to handle intellectual property protection issues.


"Ikea as one of the biggest home furnishing companies in the world, protecting Ikea's intellectual property rights is crucial," Ikea China said in a statement to Reuters.


At 11 Furniture -- its Chinese name "Shi Yi Jia Ju" sounds very much like Ikea's Chinese name "Yi Jia Jia Ju" -- furniture is made to order, not flat-packed as it is at Ikea.


Customers also notice other differences.


Ikea has nine stores in China, most of them in the wealthier coastal and southern cities. Xiao Lee, a Kunming resident who was shopping at 11 Furniture for a bedroom wardrobe with her husband, had visited Ikea stores in Beijing and Shanghai.


"I thought of shipping their products from the real Ikea store by cargo, but I thought that would be too troublesome so I came here," Lee said.


"At the real Ikea, the layout is much neater and the decorations are laid out properly, you really can't compare them," she said.


Loving Mickey, courting Nike
Sometimes telling the difference between fake and real is not so easy.


"My favorite character is Mickey Mouse," said Ling Xiao, a six year-old girl walking out of a Disney Store along Kunming's popular pedestrian-only shopping street Zhengyi Road.


Ling Xiao and her mother shop at the Disney store about once a month and they have been going there for the past few years to browse for Mickey Mouse handbags and accessories.


"It should be real; it has been here a long time. I prefer coming to this store because it sells a big variety of toys," said Ling Xiao's mother, who declined to be named. Apart from Disney products, the store sells poorly made Angry Bird soft toys of dubious origin.


A Walt Disney spokeswoman said there are over 6,000 points of sale for Disney branded goods in China. Disney confirmed the store is legitimate, declining to elaborate further.


Outside a Nike store on the same retail strip, Han Zhimei, a 17 year-old student, looks longingly at a "Help Wanted" sign posted in the store's window.


"I feel their stores have a spirit of teamwork and I really like the Nike brand," said Han, who sports a trendy asymmetrical haircut. Han stopped by to apply for a job at Nike.


When asked how she knows the store is a legitimate reseller and that the goods are real, she pauses before answering.


"Well, it's a Nike store, so the things in there should be real. I think people will be honest about these things and we should have brand loyalty," Han said.


On Zhengyi Road alone, there are four Nike stores, all claiming to be legitimate. A check with Nike's store locator brought up three stores in that street, meaning at least one is fake.


A Nike spokesman said the issue of unlicensed stores was part of the broader challenge of combating counterfeiting in China.


"We take the protection of our brand very seriously and have a variety of protocols in place," a Nike spokesman said.


The jumble of real and fake stores in lower tier cities across China makes it hard for companies such as Apple, Disney, Nike and more so Ikea, which are closely identified with their outlets, to exert control over their brand image.


Companies such as Starbucks Corp have long battled copycats in China, but the shift to imitations of the likes of Ikea presents a new set of challenges.


"The store is a key element of the brand, so faking it, in particular in a way that consumers don't recognize as a fake, is impacting the brand image and reputation," said Stocker.


Apple, which had its brand valued at more than $150 billion earlier this year, declined to comment.


Who protects your IPR?
For those setting up the fake, unauthorized or pirated goods stores, the attraction is obvious.


"We don't need to advertise, everyone has heard of Disney," said Dong, a 23-year-old store supervisor at a Walt Disney retail store a stone's throw from where Ling Xiao and her mother were shopping.


That brand recognition has far outstripped the ability of companies to expand fast enough to tap demand exploding in inland China.


Sportswear brands such as Nike, Adidas and Li Ning, which have been in China for many years, are the leading fashion choice for those residing in less wealthy cities like Kunming, said a Boston Consulting Group report last month.


As the world's second-largest economy races forward, the number of middle-class affluent households is expected to hit 130 million by 2020 from 50 million in 2010, BCG said.


These factors are fueling the race for brands like Nike and Adidas to open stores in less wealthy Chinese cities. Ikea has said it will open an average of one to two stores a year in China.


"Many foreign brands are already aware of the importance of lower tier cities but they are trying to figure out a way to go to market in these cities," said Xu of Booz&Co.


In some cases, beating them to the punch are the Chinese pirates who, once established, may be hard for foreign companies to get shut.


Chinese law prohibits firms from copying the "look and feel" of other companies' stores, but foreign companies must register their trademarks with China and enforcement is often spotty.


The United States and other Western countries have often complained China is woefully behind in its effort to stamp out intellectual property (IP) theft.


"Foreign companies often expect the Chinese government to handle their enforcement for them and though they sometimes will, they also sometimes will not," said Dan Harris, a lawyer with Harris & Moure and co-author of China Law Blog.


"The problems often arise from the fact that the damages are often quite low and the Chinese courts do not have a lot of power to make sure their own judgments are enforced," Harris said.


Back at 11 Furniture, it is apparent that copying Ikea's ideas may not be enough to win over all consumers.


Examining cushion covers at 11 Furniture, Ms. Zhang, a woman in her fifties, sniffs derisively.


"The designs don't look like typical Chinese designs. It's not what everyday Chinese people would use," Zhang said, pointing to a checkered cushion cover.


"It looks too fancy."


Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters.

Saturday, August 13

Ordered Apple stores' fake' close Chinese city

KUNMING, China-Chinese officials in Kunming have ordered to close two fake Apple stores, not because of the piracy or copyright concerns, but because no official business to business in the southwestern city.

Five self-branded "Apple stores" have been found, Apple products without permission California based company sold the will, but only two said the mouth too, officials said.


An investigation into the shops was apparently discovered by an American blogger by a storm of media attention about a elaborate hoax Apple shop solved. The order not apply to that store of the application for a reseller license with Apple, a local government spokesman said.


"Media should not misunderstand the situation and jump to conclusions." Some overseas media has made it look that the shops sold fake Apple products, "said Chang Puyun, Kunming of spokesman for Government Business Bureau."


"China has great strides for the enforcement of intellectual property rights and the stores were not counterfeit products sell."

All fake Apple shop found in China

Officials investigate whether Apple have with the Chinese Government their store design and layout by law protected had applied, added Chang.


Carried out inspections of some 300 shops in Kunming, after a blog post by American life in the city a in the close to perfect fake Apple store made where also the staff were convinced, that for the iPhone and iPad maker worked.


'Look And Feel'
In addition to the protection of brands, Chinese law forbids companies copy shops "Look And Feel" of other companies, but enforcement is often spotty.


The United States and other Western countries have often complained that China is alarmingly behind in his effort to eradicate intellectual property (IP)-Diebstahl.


"We hope that they are continuing against other violations of rights in intellectual property approach," said Ioana force, general manager of Shanghai chapter of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, in via e-Mail comment to Reuters.


In may, China was performed for the seventh time by the Office of the U.S. trade representative as a country with one of the worst records to prevent copyright theft.


Piracy and counterfeiting of U.S. software and a variety of other intellectual property in China U.S. businesses alone an estimated 48 billion and 2.1 million jobs in 2009 costs, said the US International Trade Commission.


Countless non-authorised Apple resellers and other brands sell electronic products throughout China the real thing but their purchase were abroad and smuggling them to skip taxes in the country.


Staff and demanded refunds on one of the fake late last week, uncertain legitimacy of products on offer called angry customers.


Huang Yinghui, an official at the City Business Bureau, bought all five unauthorized Apple stores in Kunming genuine Apple products, other authorized resellers in China were sold out, told of Reuters.


Apple has only four real Apple stores in China, in Beijing and Shanghai, and none in Kunming in Yunnan province, China. The company, which has 13 authorized resellers in Kunming, reached for comment.


Apple brand is the world's most valuable, worth $ 153 billion, according to a study this year.


Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters.

Wednesday, April 6

Life Inc.: Hate your work? You can his Chinese

By Allison Linn, senior business writer


If you love for your work for the secret, perhaps is a journey in order to Northern Europe.


A new quarterly survey of employees in 29 countries, led by staffing company Randstad, found that Denmark and Norway had the highest proportion of employees, the creatures reported "very pleased" with work for their current employer.


35 Percent of Danish and Norwegian workers respondents were "very satisfied" with their jobs, according to the survey. In addition, the Danish workers and 44 percent of Norwegian workers with their work reported 45 percent satisfied.


Americans were not really too far behind the Danes and the Norwegians, with 29 percent of the US reports that we are very satisfied with our work. However, Canada, Mexico and Luxembourg had a higher percentage of workers very satisfied.


The least happy workers appear in China and Japan. Only 5 percent of those surveyed Japanese workers reported very satisfied with their jobs, while 9 percent said that they were very dissatisfied.


Only 7 percent of Chinese workers reported very satisfied, while 3 percent said they were dissatisfied.


The survey was conducted in Feburary and contain workers age 18 to 65, in each country at least 400 workers.

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