Beijing
Chinese shoppers' luxury letdown
Although Chinese consumers are among the world's biggest spenders on luxury goods, they do not always get the treatment they deserve from top brands, an industry expert says.
Ouyang Kun, the head of the Beijing office of the World Luxury Association, an independent market research group, said Chinese consumers often paid "a luxury price" for international big brands but did not get "the luxury services" that the brands would offer in other markets.
Australia's diva launches 3 stores in Beijing, 100 more planned for China
Australia fashion jewellery retailer diva has opened its first stores in Beijing and has big plans for China over the next 12-18 months. The first three stores opened at EC Mall in Haidian District, City Mall Chaoyang District, and Beijing’s premier shopping street Wangfujing Street. These stores follow the successful launch of diva in Shanghai in September where diva opened its first two stores in mainland China.
Lamborghini SUV debut at Beijing Auto Show rumored
The auto world is agog with whispered rumors sparked by Lamborghini. All portents indicate that the luxury motor company has a new concept version of a Lamborghini SUV and will be sending it into production, and which will ultimately be debuted in Beijing's Auto Show in April.
China's Chaoshifa expected to open 23 stores this year
Beijing-based supermarket chain Chaoshifa opened 6 new stores in 2011 and was expected to open 23 in 2012, including 7 self-owned ones, according to reports from Chaoshifa 2012 Suppliers Conference held on 11 January.
Anger swells as Apple puts end to iPhone sales in Beijing and Shanghai
Several thousand angry people, some of whom stayed up all night in the cold, threw eggs at Apple Stores and were reluctant to leave after Apple Inc quickly sold out and cancelled sales of its long-awaited iPhone 4S in Beijing and Shanghai stores on Friday.
Apple said the move, including the refusal to open a store in Beijing, was to ensure customer safety and advised people to buy the iPhone 4S online or in China Unicom's outlets.
HK dessert franchise fails Beijing safety test
A Hong Kong dessert franchise has been ordered to stop selling one of its products in Beijing, as it failed to meet hygiene standards.
Beijing Municipal Administration of Industry and Commerce found that the bacterial count in a batch of Honeymoon Dessert mango pudding tested on 27 October was 130,000 - 13 times the maximum permissible level.
Nokia gets closer to suppliers with headquarters move to Beijing
Aiming to improve business efficiency and reduce costs, the Finnish communications corporation Nokia will relocate its Asia Pacific headquarters from Singapore to Beijing.
A Nokia spokesperson previously said in an email to media that the headquarters relocation is expected to make Nokia's operation adapt to the business environment, so as to improve their competitiveness in the market. The new moves include enhancing the company's product assembly in Asia, bringing it closer to suppliers.
China's car sales hit the brakes
Car sales in China climbed 5.2 percent last year, the slowest pace since the nation's car culture took off at the turn of the century, as consumers shunned local brands after Beijing scrapped tax incentives for small cars.
Even so, solid demand for foreign marques helped China keep its ranking as the world's top market, with total car sales of 14.5 million, about 2 million more than in the US last year.
Lenovo plans branding push
Lenovo, the IT group, is ramping up efforts to engage young consumers around the world, in recognition of the fact its branding performance must "catch up" with other core business metrics.
The firm, which bought IBM's hardware arm in 2004, leads the Chinese PC category and has rapidly progressed in certain sectors internationally; its ThinkPad devices, for example, have been especially popular with corporate clients.
China eyes 10pc annual growth in exports, imports
China wants its exports and imports to grow at an annual rate of 10 percent each year over the next four years with total trade hitting USD4.8 trillion by 2015, the Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday, reiterating Beijing's plans to balance trade flows.
The Ministry said in a statement on its website that China also aims to grow retail sales at an average annual rate of 15 percent over the same period.
