Diplomatic and trade relations of China and Central European countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia; or the so called Visegrad Group) back back 65 years, when China’s choices of trade partners were very limited and Germany was far from being the most important EU trade partner of China.
A common concern among foreigners manufacturing in China is quality control. More than often, investors will be introduced to a flawless sample which will ensure the contract.
Earlier this year, police from the southern province of Guangxi confiscated over 5,000 bottles of baijiu(the most popular hard liquor in China) from one of the local producers on the suspicion of containing Viagra.
Less than three weeks since catastrophic explosions in Tianjin claimed the lives of 158 people, shortcomings in China’s safety standards and regulations have been horribly exposed once again, this time 300Km from the original blast site. The new incident comes shortly after explosions rocked a fireworks plant in the northwestern province of Gansu.
Chinese authorities have been busy planning and implanting important measures to avoid a new tragedy. The Tianjin explosions killed over 150 people, and several remain missing.
Global media feeds have been saturated with the speedy annihilation of share prices as a result of a lofty correction to Chinese stocks. Market nerves wiped $1.5 trillion off the value of Chinese shares in just two days; beginning with what has been labeled as ‘black Monday’.
At least 10 estates in Hong Kong have now been confirmed to be affected by heavy metal water contamination. Particularly worrying are the excessive levels of lead. The most severe case reported thus far has been that at Un Chau Estate where levels read 14.3 times World Health Organisation standards (10 micrograms/L).
Last Wednesday, people around the world turned their attention to the massive explosion in the Binhai New Area of Tianjin, China. Although neither the precise cause of the explosion nor the volume of damages has been identified and made public, some of the developments taking place in the past seven day (including government announcement by government officials) outline several important implications of the incident on the owners’ accountability, quality control and standards as well as on business in China (especially business with unusual and dangerous goods).
In less than 30 seconds two explosions shook Tianjin on 12 August. The massive blasts came from Binhai District, right by the port, where hills of containers are lined up with all kinds of products. There is not yet a clear statement about what provoked the initial fire, but initial reports have been talking about an industrial accident. The flames have been difficult to control. Moreover, several new explosions have been registered until today.
More than three years into the national corruption campaign, Xi Jinping’s hunt for ‘tigers and flies’ has made its first major foray into the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP). The anti-graft crusade shows no signs of slowing its permeation deeper into scattered sectors of the Chinese political sphere, with Zhang Lijun, the 63-year-old former Vice Minister, the latest target for enquiry.
