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China Economics Information Technology

Chinese People and their Mobile Phones: Online Transactions through SMS

A range of new payment services through mobile phones has put a virtual withdrawal machine in consumers’ hands, enabling 8 million mobile users in China to pay bills, buy insurance or book tickets. Jointly launched among China UnionPay, commercial banks and the service operators, users had their mobile phone numbers joined with that of their bank accounts, allowing them to fulfill payment for various services, like their gas fee and air ticket booking.

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China Economics Innovation Trend Watching

China, Technology, Innovation and the Environment: Part II

An energy structure with a low utilization rate, and an economic growth mode with serious, hazardous emissions have posed stark challenges for the sustained growth of Chinese economic society. Faced with such a grave situation in energy saving and emission reduction, more than 6,000 science, technology workers, as well as scientist-turned-entrepreneurs on met recently to discuss issues such as energy saving and environmental protection. Among them were more than 100 members from Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), the highest palaces for scientific research achievements and engineering progress […]

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China Consumer Behavior

China, Socialism & Consumer Behavior: Part II

As the number of millionaires continues to grow in China, the country attracks more and more events targeted for the rich and famous: the annual Top Marques luxury fair returned to the Shanghai International Convention Center in Pudong yesterday with nearly 300 rare exhibits including roadsters, yachts, works of art and antiques. The four-day event is expected to attract more than 30,000 visitors, mostly customers invited by the exhibitors and senior staff from wealthy companies in banking, energy resources and IT, according to Sheng Lei, the general manager of the event organizer, Borrison Expo […]

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China Economics Information Technology Software

Shanghai IT income set to beat US$128billion

Revenue of Shanghai’s information technology industry is set to double last year’s figure to surpass 1 trillion yuan (US$128 billion) in 2010 when the World Expo is held here. The city will invest heavily in several IT projects for the expo, such as a citywide wireless broadband network, a digital transport management network, electronic payment and social security systems, paper-less customs application system and mobile TV, according to Shanghai Municipal Informatization Commission […]

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China Economics Information Technology Trend Watching

Information Technology Salaries in the Rise in Shanghai

People working in the information technology industry earned more than employees in all other industries on average last year, according to the Shanghai Statistics Bureau. The wage gap between different sectors widened last year. The average wage in the IT sector was 3.55 times of the average salary for those in the service sector, the lowest paid group of workers, while in 2000, the average wage in the highest sector was 3.24 times that of the lowest […]

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China Consumer Behavior Economics Trend Watching

China, Socialism & Consumer Behavior

With the opening to new markets and the growth of the Chinese economy, a new social class has emerged — to some extend, unthinkable in a Communist China: the millionaires. According to a survey from Cap Gemini/Merrill Lynch, the number of millionaires (in US Dollars) in China have reached more than 230,000. The large majority of these new riches choose Shanghai to invest their money and also spend their money

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Design Readings

Chinese Calligraphy: Typography, Design & Illustration

Nowadays, Calligraphy has become a symbol of erudition, and has a strong influence on Chinese design. I’d dare to say that, with its strong repetition and reproduction practice drills, Calligraphy has modeled the Chinese world view […]

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China Consumer Behavior Economics Information Technology

Advertising in China: alternative media

Combine cheap labor costs and cheap electronic appliances and you’ll get a high-tech version of the ‘sandwich-man‘: in the middle of XuJiaHui, the busiest commercial center in downtown Shanghai, it’s common to see young men carrying backpacks, probably containing laptops, attached to 17” LCD displays showing TV spot advertising, as well as some interactive media advertising…

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China Consumer Behavior Economics Information Technology Trend Watching

e-Commerce in China: numbers and trends

China could become the world’s biggest online market within two years: the number of Chinese netizens has surpassed 123 million and number of people with access to broadband connection rose by 45.3 percent during the first half of the year to 77 million. Studies show that a typical Chinese consumer spends an average of 17.9 hours per month (36 min./day) engaged in popular online activities such as chatting, blogging, gaming, and shopping […]

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China Economics Information Technology Innovation Trend Watching

China: Technology, Innovation and the Environment

Since the beginning of its economical opening — when the first 5-year plans were devised in 1979 — China has being growing at an incredible speed, with its GNP numbers jumping from 44 billion dollars to 1.6 trillion dollars in just 20 years. Such growth has pushed the Chinese manufacturing industry into devouring huge amounts of natural resources in a alarming way: in 2004, China — the 8th largest economy in GNP scale — consumed 8% of all the oil, 31% of all the coal, 10% of all the electricity, 30% of all ore, 30% of all steel, 19% of all aluminum, 20% of all the copper and 40% of all cement produced in the world […]