China Speakers Bureau: November 2008

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Consumer behavior "impossible to predict" - Paul French

Paul French
by Fons1 via FlickrMarket watchers cannot gauge at this stage what China's consumers are going to do, says Paul French, China analyst of the Access Asia research firm in the China Daily.

"The problem is that we have never been in this situation before. We really are off the map," he says.

They might be keeping their wallets closed or rally and start spending more than they do, he added.
While the governments are trying to beef up its spending in infrastructure and tax rebates, the effects on the consumers still go into different directions. Consumer spending has remained strong, but in key markets like real estate and the automotive industry, purchase decisions are at least delayed.

Commercial
Are you trying to make sense out of the market developments in China? Perhaps you can find the help you need at the China Speakers Bureau. Do let us know if you need our advice.

China's internet users are having more fun

Sam Flemming
by Fons1 via FlickrCatching up with some interesting pieces of information left over from last week. The Wall Street Journal quoted research suggesting that compared to other countries, China's internet users have more fun.

“Web 2.0 is far more advanced in Asia, and in China, than in the U.S. and Europe,” says Bernice Klaassen, head of interactive research at TNS Singapore. In Western countries, about 1% of users create online content, about 10% participate through methods like comments or discussions and the rest are lurkers,” he says. Meanwhile, in China, Mr. Klaassen says the proportion of active participants is closer to 50%, with a significantly greater share of Web users blogging regularly, participating in online forums, and sharing video and music.
Perhaps not surprisingly, being so active takes more time. On average, respondents from China said they spend 44% of their free time online. Americans only spent an average of 30% of their leisure time using the Internet.

That tails very well with research done by Sam Flemming's CIC, also last week, here in the China Web2.0 Review, He described the internet in China, compared to the internet in the US, as "more active, more vibrant".
More Chinese use the internet to express their personal opinions, and they do it differently compared to what they would do in their offline life. Many more Chinese users go to the internet to discuss their purchases and many more contribute content to the internet.

Commercial
Sam Flemming is one of the leading voices on China's internet and part of the China Speakers Bureau. When you are interested in having him as a speaker, do get in touch.

Healthy growth for online marketing - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean
by Fons1 via FlickrOnline media and media strategies will see an healthy growth in 2009, predicts (amongst others) William Bao Bean in this clip of CCTV on the AdTech conference in Shanghai last week.
He and other marketing experts see in the online media for the first time a way to target emerging consumers among the now 300 million Chinese internet users.

Commercial
William Bao Bean is one of the leading voices on the future of the online media in China at the China Speakers Bureau. If you want him at your conference, panel discussion or as a moderator, do get in touch.

Friday, November 28, 2008

New China Speakers Bureau logo

Zhang Lijia made it into Wikipedia

Zhang Lijia
by Fons1 via FlickrMaking it into the famous online encyclopedia Wikipedia is a benchmark for our writers. A few have crossed the line into fame and we are happy to report that Zhang Lijia has now her own entry.
Zhang Lijia is anyway on a fast track as a celebrity speaker. The BBC is making a profile of her for April 2009, together with other big names like Robert de Niro. We will keep you updated on her career.

Commercial
Zhang Lijia is a Beijing-based author and a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. If you are interested in having her as a speaker, do get in touch.

Our speakers on the economic crisis and China

Shaun Rein, most-sought speaker

Today we launched the first edition of our China Speakers Bureau newsletter. You can look at it here. Theme of this month: what are our leading voices saying about the position of China in the ongoing economic crisis. As you might imagine: they have very diverse opinions.
We will issue a new edition at least once a month, with the most-sought speakers of the month, our speakers in the media and from next month we will also profile one of our speakers that deserve extra attention. Also, we will start providing tips on how to pick a great speaker.
If you want to have this China Speakers Bureau newsletter delivered to your mailbox right away, please register here.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Huang Guangyu, a low-key person - Rupert Hoogewerf

CHONGQING, CHINA - JUNE 16: Rupert Hoogewerf ...

Rupert Hoogewerf
by Getty Images via DaylifeHuang Guangyu, China's richest person and chairman of the Gome Holdings, has never been a public figure, says China-rich list compiler Rupert Hoogewerf to Bloomberg after his arrest. Huang has topped his list of richest Chinese three times in a row. Hoogewerf:

"He rarely comes out into public but he's never been a secretive person."

Huang has been arrested by the Beijing police is under investigation for economic crimes and is in police custody. Details are still lacking, but in the past a larger number of China's rich got themselves in problems with the authorities for economic delicts and becoming part of the rich-list was for a while not seen as an asset. That tradition was broken over the past years, but with the arrest of Huang, might show a return.

Commercial
Rupert Hoogewerf or Hurun is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you are interested in having him at your conference, board meeting or panel, do let us know.

Less big ticket speakers, more on serious subjects

Al Gore: too expensive?
via WikipediaThe New York Times has a nice analysis on how the speakers' business is faring under the now-expected economic recession. While big ticket speakers like Al Gore are hit severely by a reduction of available funding, demand remains strong in the cheaper sections.

“They all say, ‘Can you get us Al Gore?’ ” said Robert Walker, founder and chief executive. His agency doesn’t represent the former vice president, but Mr. Walker said that when his agents pointed out what kind of fees Mr. Gore tends to receive, none of the organizations could afford such sums in this economic climate.
So the agents recommended others on their client roster, including John Passacantando, executive director of Greenpeace USA, and Summer Rayne Oakes, a board member and occasional correspondent on the Planet Green network. “She’s not even a quarter of the price of someone like Gore, but she has a lot to say,” Mr. Walker said.

Since the China Speakers Bureau only took off last summer, getting a sense of what the economic crisis is going to mean. But the tendency the New York Times signals, more serious and more affordable ones, might be in our advantage.

“Instead of having eyes bigger than your stomach, you should look at this range rather than this range,” [Steven Barclay, a lecture agent in Petaluma, Calif., who represents literary figures like Billy Collins, Michael Chabon and Adrienne Rich] said. “So you gently lead them to suggestions that may fit and cost them less money.” He said fees could range from $5,000 to $50,000.

A few of the request we got in the past month, came directly as a result from the financial crisis, as some companies see new business opportunities in China.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

The internet is the community - Sam Flemming

Sam Flemming
by Fons1 via FlickrWhen you say internet, you say community, argues CIC's Sam Flemming in his latest white paper on the Internet Word On Mouth (IWOM), depicting the fast changing way how China's internet users are communicating. Participation is the key word, and China's 253 million internet users mainly use domestic tools for their conversation.
Almost all conversational tools, China's BBS's, weblogs and IM show a fast growth, without exception. Sam Flemming: "The internet in China is more active, more vibrant than in the West." Compared to US internet users the Chinese find the internet more important for their personal expression.
More in the white paper.

Commercial
Sam Flemming is one of the leading voices on the internet in China and a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. If you are interested in having him as a speaker, do get in touch.

Foxconn tries to sneak out of China

Xu Ping

We already heard the stories about Taiwanese factory owners in Guangdong who left their close-to bankrupt enterprises over the wall that was designed to keep people out. But for larger companies like Foxconn such a fast departure is not that easy.
Foxconn has been in the middle of quite some brawls, mostly not very positive for the producer of Apple's iPods and many other electronic devices.
Now the Chinese media report, here summarized by CSR-news, that Foxconn is trying to phase itself out by covert cuts of its staff.

In late October, Foxconn denied a rumor that it would cut 100,000 staff on the Chinese mainland and said that each of its factories was running normally. Later, a representative of Foxconn's media office also told the local media that the company did not have any plans for of cutting staff. However, many of Foxconn's employees said that the company had begun reducing staff in a disguised way by limiting employees' overtime and putting forward a plan of stopping paying salary but keeping the position open for some of the employees.

Foxconn is expected to cut its staff with up to 20 percent by the end of the year. And still, it does seem to think it can get away with ignoring legal realities in China, as it did in the past.

Commercial
Are you having trouble in finding out what you can or cannot do in China? At the China Speakers Bureau we have eminent speakers, like Xu Ping and Mark Schaub of China's largest law firm King&Wood, who can help you to find your way into China.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Just pumping capital in the stock market does not help - Arthur Kroeber

Arthur Kroeber
by Fons1 via FlickrChina's planning authorities intend to push up to 400 billion Renminbi into the stock market, but analysts like Arthur Kroeber do not necessarily think that is a good idea. In the China Daily, Kroeber explains why the move, expected early December, might not be a smart idea.

"I don't think it is useful if the fund is created specifically to support stock prices, as it does not address the structural reasons why the Shanghai market performs poorly," said Arthur Kroeber, managing director of Beijing-based consultancy Dragonomics...
Kroeber, however, said that if the proposal was to create a long-term fund with an independent investment objective, such as funding pensions, then it could play a role in creating a healthier market.

Earlier, also Victor Shih raised his voiced against the planned investment.

it would of course reverse decades of reform, which aimed at making firms more responsible for their own well-being. If the state buys up shares, large firms will simply revert back to state owned enterprises (well of course the US now has plenty of those as well....).

Commercial
Both Arthur Kroeber and Victor Shih are speakers at the China Speakers Bureau. If you need them at your conference, board meeting or panel, do let us know.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Economic fundamentals are still in place - Arthur Kroeber

Arthur Kroeber
by Fons1 via FlickrWhile China's growth might take a hit, its fundamentals are still in place, says economic analyst Arthur Kroeber in Time.

"People who don't follow China on a regular basis can miss some of the underlying drivers," says Kroeber, who runs the consulting firm Dragonomics.

Kroeber spells out three of those fundamentals.

Because of China's one-child policy, famlies have more to spend than families elsewhere who have to raise more children.
New technology is offering a huge boom.
Urbanization, 15 million people moving to cities each year, is an enormous boom for investments in infrastructure as roads, bridges and hospitals.

More in Time.

Commercial
Arthur Kroeber is one of the eminent economists represented by the China Speakers Bureau. If you are interested in having him as a speaker, let us know.

CSB newsletter

At the China Speakers Bureau we are setting up a newsletter, that will keep you updated about what is happening with our speakers and their contributions to the China debate. Expect the first issue soon and you can sign nu now, so you won't miss that. In the first edition:

- tips for selecting good speakers
- most-sought speakers for November
- our speakers in the media
- The debate on China's position in the global economic crisis

Zhang Lijia
by Fons1 via FlickrAt the China Speakers Bureau we are setting up a newsletter, that will keep you updated about what is happening with our speakers and their contributions to the China debate. Expect the first issue soon and you can sign nu now, so you won't miss that. In the first edition:

- tips for selecting good speakers
- most-sought speakers for November
- our speakers in the media
- The debate on China's position in the global economic crisis

Sunday, November 23, 2008

China's consumers reduce spending - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff
by Fons1 via FlickrChina's consumers will reduce spending and certainly not offer a way out for US and European companies, says marketing guru Tom Doctoroff in the Shanghai Daily. But he is at loggerheads with other leading voices on the China market, like Shaun Rein, who sees problems for big ticket items like cars and real estate, but sees that 70 of the consumers keep on spending.
Doctoroff has a set or arguments for his dissenting view. China's middle class has always had relatively smaller amounts of money combined with high saving rates. "The urban middle class has always spend with great discretion," he writes. "They will continue to spend but only on essential or very cheap non-essential items," he argues.

Commercial
The jury is still out on what the Chinese consumers are going to do, whether they will be influenced by a global downturn or domestic factors. Both Tom Doctoroff and Shaun Rein are some of the leading voices on China's development and both belong to the China Speakers Bureau. Are you interested in having them as a speaker, let us know.

Shaun Rein
by Fons1 via Flickr

Saturday, November 22, 2008

China needs its seat in global institutions - William Overholt

William Overholt
by Fons1 via FlickrWhile India and Brazil display often ideological undertones in the message, China is "open to compromises and trade-offs", says Dr. William Overholt, senior research fellow at the Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University in DNA-India.
If China now claims a place at the table of the global financial institutions, it is because the country belongs there, Overholt argues.

“Apart from the fact of it’s size, China has also been conducting itself responsibly, and there’s something wrong when major global institutions don’t give China an important seat.”

China’s ascent, reasons Overhold, won’t lead to conflict with the West, which now wields the levers of financial power. “That’s because China presents its interests in a way that the US and Europeans understand, and is open to compromises and trade-offs.” He contrasts this with India and Brazil, “who have often been rather more ideological and not always constructive during international negotiation”. India, he says, “is one of the most geopolitically ambitious countries on earth. It wants to see its navy dominate everything from the Red Sea to the east coast of Africa to the South China Sea, but its eyes have always been a little bigger than its stomach.”

Commercial
William Overholt is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau focusing on international relationships. When you are interested in having him as a speaker, do let us know.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Getting the innovation from Asia - Bill Fischer

Bill Fischer
by Fons1 via FlickrFour out of ten innovative companies are coming from Asia, says IMD-professor Bill Fischer and program director about a ground-breaking program on "driving strategic innovation". Fischer is expanding the program from Europe and North-America to Singapore, he tells.

In Business Week's list of the "ten most innovative companies" for 2008, four come from Asia: Toyota, Sony, Samsung and Nintendo, while the Indian firms Reliance Industries and Tata are also among the magazine’s fifty most innovative firms. There is little doubt that with the vastness of their economies, the growth of a demanding middle-class, and the evolution of local champions into global competitors, more will follow soon. What is equally interesting is that recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) data shows that the corporate funding of R&D within the Chinese economy is reaching the levels found in the West, a sure sign that market-driven innovation is replacing command-push innovation in the Chinese economy. One result of all of this is that while Asian companies have traditionally, in most cases, been market leaders based on cost, clearly times are changing. China’s Haier and Huawei, have always been recognized in this regard, but there are increasingly many more appearing, including such innovative powerhouses as: ZTE, Alibaba, and Shanghai-based Focus Media.

Commercial
Bill Fischer is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau, together with other

Rowan Gibson
by Fons1 via Flickrleading voices on innovation. If you are interested in having him as a speaker, do get in touch.

How to work with speakers' bureaus

James Farrer
by Fons1 via FlickrI just walked into this weblog, the Speaker Launcher blog, meant for speakers and giving them advice. Great stuff if you are not sure how to deal with your career as a speaker. A few years ago they gave great tips on how to deal with speakers' bureaus (like ours) and I could not have put it better. A few selection criteria they list:

To see if you are ready to work with bureaus, ask yourself the following questions:a) Have I given 30 or more paid speeches per year for at least two years?
b) Is my fee high enough? ($3K is an average minimum).
c) Are my materials ready (demo video, one sheets, etc) and do they sell me?
d) Am I really good? Let’s face it - every speaker has been told that they are great. But the truly great speaker gets an average of 2-3 “spin off” engagements after each speech.

More great tips at the Speakers launcher blog.

Bailout focuses on state-owned companies - Victor Shih

Victor Shih

China's state-owned enterprises are struggling to get their piece of the rescue capital the central government is pumping into the economy, writes financial expert Victor Shih in his analysis of China's bailout.
Details on who gets what money are still scarce but state-owned companies - good for 30 percent of China's economy and employment - are in urgent need of recapitalization, writes Shih, using the city of Chongqing as an example.

Basically, Chongqing SOEs, which focus on land holding, real estate, electricity, and financial services, are in deep trouble. Land prices in Chongqing have fallen by over 70%. The electricity group is in the red by about 250 million RMB. The debt asset ratio for the 8 major SOE groups in Chongqing has risen to 72%. No details are given about the financial holding companies, but considering that their main role is to inject capital in the other SOEs, they can't be doing too well either. Things are not pretty, and the well off SOEs have to inject capital in the problematic ones.

Just like the US bailout, China's bailout is only buying time, not addressing the equally urgent need for structural change, writes Shih.

In the near future at least, the Chinese budget can handle these costly, but necessary bailouts.

Commercial
Victor Shih is one of the leading voices at the China Speakers Bureau, trying to make sense out of China's way to deal with the global economic crisis. When you need him as a speaker, do get in touch.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Most-sought speakers in November 2008

Victor Shih, the highest newcomer

In the third monthly overview of the top-10 most-sought speaker for the China Speakers Bureau we see that the top is remarkable stable, compared to our listing in October. The other half has been replaced by other speakers, with newcomer Victor Shih - we enlisted him during this month - shows already up at the tenth position. A rather good achievement and shows that the interest in China's financial industry and its role in the global financial crisis is on the rise.
Also, the requests for speakers we get - as far as we are able to discover a red line - we see that demand is certainly not down and there is more interest in speakers who can explain how China is keeping up during the global recession.
Over the past month we were not really able to keep up with our podcast and that might explain why some of the speakers dropped off the list. We only did one podcast with Amy Sommers, and she managed to hang on to her position on the list.

Amy Sommers
by Fons1 via Flickr
Our listing for Novemberm between brackets the rank for October:

1. Shaun Rein (1)
2. William Bao Bean (2)
3. Arthur Kroeber (7)
4. Kaiser Kuo (5)
5. Howard French (-)
6. Paul French (-)
7. Amy Sommers (8)
8. Zhang Lijia (-)
9. Jeremy Goldkorn (-)
10. Victor Shih (-)