Asian Business Futurist
After many years of following the fortunes and failures of foreign companies in Asia, there is one region of the world that stands out to me for their consistent success: Skandinavia. It’s hard to argue that the likes of Ikea, Nokia, Maersk, Kone, Lego, Bang & Olufsen, Volvo and Equinor are over-achievers throughout the ...
I hope you’ve had a good break over the holiday period and, assuming that you’re now back into work mode, I’m sure you’re ready for me to resume China Bites in 2021. I will be keeping at least one eye on China while the rest of the world is transfixed by the daily news and gossip from Washington as we brace ourselves for a new ...
Australia enjoys a reputation for high-quality FMCG products as a result of our “clean and green” environment, our high regulatory standards and a strong commitment to quality control. However, it’s clear from recent research that “clean and green” is no longer a competitive advantage in China, and in fact it’s become a baseline ...
By all accounts, without gaining much media attention, large amounts of money are flowing into China and Hong Kong right now, particularly from large institutional investors in the US and Europe. I’ve heard this from friends in Hong Kong who are finding it hard to make sense of the contrast between the negative media reports ...
Australia needs a plan to recover from the current economic crisis. ACSME believes that our largest trading partner, China, offers enormous potential for the import, export and commercialisation of Australian products, services and capabilities in the world’s fastest growing economy.China has the MONEY and the ...
Being a few months ahead of us throughout this COVID period, China is a good source of clues, indicators and pointers that, in theory, should help us all plan our way out. This is taxing politicians in Australia and around the world who have recognised that, arguably, the way down the mountain is harder than the way up. We ...
Since moving to Sydney from Hong Kong in the mid 1990s I, like many migrants, now call Australia “home”. I am excited about the possibilities of living in our young country as we progress further through the “Asian Century” and, whilst I’ve witnessed some resistance to the inevitable changes taking place within our society, I ...
For the last 30 years or so, I have regularly travelled to China to work with Chinese investors, entrepreneurs and business leaders who have various interests around the world. Doing business with them is never easy and throws up some unique obstacles and, whilst I think I've learnt a lot from being on the ground, I still feel ...
As I travel around China, whether on a business trip with one of our clients or to speak at large scale conferences, events and expos, I can’t help but notice the rapid development in the two areas which keep China buzzing: World Class Innovation and Domestic Consumption. During my travels, I’ve met with ...
Perhaps you’ve already noticed, and if not I’d like to bring this to your attention, that China is making various announcements to introduce new laws and regulations designed to make it easier for foreigners to visit, invest and do business in China. Of course there are reasons for the timing of this (eg the US China Trade ...
Education represents Australia’s third largest export sector, after iron ore and coal, and according to Australia’s Department of Education and Workplace Relations, ‘Australia’s world-class international education sector contributed $34 billion to the local economy last year, an increase of 15.3%’. There is also strong evidence ...
Of all the billionaires in the world today, it would be hard to find anyone as universally popular and widely respected as Jack Ma, who stepped down as Chairman of Alibaba this week after amassing a US$41.8 billion fortune whilst creating Alibaba, the largest e-commerce firm in the world and the brand which most business people ...
1. Follow the moneyThere is an addressable market of well over 300 million Chinese middle-class consumers with money in their pockets, aspiration in their hearts, and a willingness to spend their money on high quality premium food and beverages.In addition, China's “millennials” (those born between 1981 and 1996) are one of ...
This month I was a speaker at the annual conference of Educate Plus, an organisation focused on promoting and operating the business of private education, and I told a story of when I organised for a Chinese billionaire and his family to meet the Headmaster of one of Sydney’s most prestigious private schools. Honoured to have ...
I spent last week in China as a member of the inaugural CKGSB CEO Study Tour Program where I travelled to 4 cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Shenzhen) in only 6 days. During this week, we visited three of China’s biggest and best known companies, Alibaba, Tencent and Fosun, attended lectures from many of China’s leading ...
