Tag Archives: China

Face to Face – China: Alex Worker

Face-to-Face is a new feature from newzealandinc.com where we sit down for a chat with young business leaders from around the globe. We’ll be running a special series of these from China where we talk to young New Zealanders doing big things on the ground here. The first in newzealandinc.com’s Face to Face China series is with the director of …

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Day 11: A trip to the dairy

It’s Wednesday evening in Shanghai and the theme for the day was undoubtedly the dairy industry. First up was Howard Moore, Managing Director of Taranaki Dairy Technologies, who met with Fran and I for an extended coffee break in the morning. Howard and his business has gained a unique foothold in the market by doing just what Dr. Li talked …

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Day 10: Smarts, not scale.

A recurring theme in two meetings today was the need for New Zealand businesses in China to not try and compete on a capacity basis,  with the advantages gained by economies of scale – it’s just not possible. Instead, the need for highly differentiated products and services which target a niche within the market was seen as the only tangible …

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Day 9: Shanghai

Just a short entry for the blog today. We left the hotel in Beijing at 5:30 this morning enroute to the airport. After a few far-too-close calls, Fran and I successfully boarded and were on our way to Shanghai. Pudong airport is quite a distance from central Shanghai – connecting the two however is the engineering marvel that is the …

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Day 8: The Forbidden City

In stark contrast to when I opened the curtains yesterday to reveal great disappointment, today Beijing truly turned it on, presenting a winter-wonderland outside as snow blanketed the city. Beijing looked truly stunning today, the snow cleared much of the pollution and the extended sight-lines showed a beautiful winter city – giving a whole new appreciation for what is truly a tremendously …

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Day 7: “Who needs college when you’re a movie star?”

This morning was a pretty big disappointment when I opened my curtains to reveal one of the worst days for pollution since I arrived in Beijing. I made the decision to hold off on the Forbidden City for one more day and make the journey to the Silk Market, a place described to me as a hub for the weird, …

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Day 5: It’s simple economics

Early start today with breakfast at 6:15am, something I’m going to have to get used to! Today is the Economist’s China Summit for 2013. Taking place for the third time in as many years, the conference this year is themed around the recent leadership change that took place in China and the greater implications it could have both domestically and internationally. Boasting …

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Day 3: Oh, you don’t speak English

Today was an early start! Our driver arranged to collect Fran and I from the hotel at 7:30am to begin our program. symptoms of diabetes First up on the agenda was a meeting with Derek Low, head of Beca’s operations in China. Beca, a New Zealand engineering firm, operates a number of offices throughout Asia. Derek spoke to us predominantly about Beca’s …

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Beijing air pollution hits record levels

A lack of wind is being blamed for the acrid grey smog currently blanketing Beijing with the city enduring some of the worst pollution on record. Official readings taken over the weekend showed PM2.5 readings in Beijing of 886 micrograms per cubic metre. To give that some perspective – 25 micrograms is the WHO’s cut-off level for safe emissions. The …

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Day 2: A crash course in Chinese Business

“You have to remember, Beijing has the population of Australia crammed into a space the size of Sydney.” Monday morning in Beijing today brought with it the beginning of the business program here in China. First stop for the day: Mahon Investments to visit David Mahon and Charlie Gao for a briefing. Both have vast experience with China and offered …

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