Nervous investors fuel gold fever

Speculative demands and inflation are driving a new gold rush in China after local investors pushed the prices of copper and garlic to a historic high last year.

Affordable luxury – Gov considers revising tariffs on luxury goods

Whether it’s Louis Vuitton, Hermes or Rolls-Royce, most Chinese shoppers dream of owning luxury goods from a world-famous label. But that Gucci Jungle Large Tote handbag that costs 20,600 yuan ($3,140) at a mainland outlet costs as little as $980 abroad.

Vancl tries out e-commerce 2.0

Vancl, the country’s biggest online garment retailer, announced last Friday it has launched an e-commerce 2.0 campaign to battle a looming Web bubble and increasingly competitive online market.

Failing in China – From Barbie to Best Buy, foreign retailers fold

No one would doubt that China is the future, the place to make a fortune. The economy boom here is real: the country has seen a double-digit annual growth for the past decade and better-off Chinese people are more willing to buy under the government’s priority efforts to boost domestic consumption.

Groupon starts China venture – Who will be the winner in the war of ‘tuangou’

When Gaopeng.com, Groupon’s Chinese version, finally and officially goes live again this month, it will have some 1,700 local “tuangou” sites to compete with. But, if anything could sum up the difficulties Groupon may face, it is that the language of the country it’s trying to take by storm already has a single, specific word to describe its business model.

Huawwei to tap EU market

Huawei, the nation’s largest telecommunication-equipment manufacturer, is close to winning a contract to supply the mobile network for London’s subway system, the UK-based Financial Times reported.

Best Buy’s lesson from China: Cluttered beats curated

Late last month, the world’s largest consumer-electronics retailer Best Buy decided to close all its stores in China. A review of the conpany’s five-year venture in the world’s biggest consuming market reveals many hard lessons.

State multinationals start global recuitment

Following Spring Festival, many Chinese multinationals began recruiting. Among them, China Development Bank’s (CDB) plans to recruit overseas interns from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University has angered many in the already tight labor market.

Sky train may relieve nation’s gridlock

Increasing traffic jams may cause headaches for some sitting behind the wheel, but for others they are a business opportunity.

Dark future for online games? – shrinking youth population strains gaming industry

The online game business is anything but child’s play. Since taking off in 2000, the industry has grown to the point where it generated 32.4 billion yuan in sales revenue last year. The figure is expected to surpass 50 billion yuan by 2014.