All Roads Lead to China: Business News, Analysis, and Insights from China

It seems like on a weekly basis there is at least one story about food quality, and while some would say that the very fact that the media is (able) to report on issues of food quality is a step forward, for me there is a still long way to go. The lead paragraph of […]

In response to the recent news that two Chinese automakers were recalling cars exported to Australia for a quality failure (asbestos in car seat foam), Michael Dunne wrote the follow up post on China Realtime Chinese Asbestos in Australia? Blame ‘Quality Fade’ where he offers two possibilities for how the “failure” occurred: First, were they […]

The product safety issue has been one that I am consistently a bit sensitive to. If nothing else, it has continually proved itself to be a case where statistics can be used to show anything that an author needs to use them for. While I am sure you all remember, the basic rundown of last […]

Last summer, one of my primary positions when it came to the product safety scandal was that importers had to ensure their supply lines were just as compliant in China as they were in the U.S. It is a simple.. SIMPLE.. risk assessment really that some (maybe many) failed to fully understand, and as we […]

After reading the transcript of the press conference, I knew I had to get my hands on the report itself and read through it for myself (Action Plan can be downloaded here). I needed to see just what the findings were, and more than that, I needed to see what their recommendations were…. Now, given […]

On Tuesday, an article came across my RSS that I just knew was going to lead to a post.. or series of posts. Bush’s Import-Safety Plan Is Detailed in the NY Times reported that the “plan” has been released There is a lot of information that I am going to try and pack in here, […]

One of my very first projects in China involved a study of 400 farmers in the Jiangsu province bringing agriculture to market. My team at the time went through town after town and interviewed farmers, wet market buyers, truckers, and food processors to understand the process as it stood .. .and we used that to […]

for the last few months, there have been few China related topics discussed more than the 2007 lead tainted toys, and more generally, product safety. Fingers have been pointed, stones thrown, consumer rights in high gear, and Lou Dobbs has gained traction. But thorough all this, many are wondering what the real impact will be. […]