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 […]

A few years back, the Director of Sustainable Sourcing for a large electronics firms told me “I just want to get our Chinese suppliers to the point where I can trust them.  That they will do the work without constant supervision”.  It was before the age of lead paint barbie dolls, and to the best […]

While it has been 2 years since Lead Paint Barbie hit the store shelves, I have seen a flurry of related activity over the last two weeks. From books on “Made in China”, to two Posts at China Law Blog The Six (Not Five) Keys To China Quality and Six More Keys To Quality Product […]

Good friend Pierig Vezin of Wethica has written the piece below as part of his regular newsletter series, and he has graciously allowed me to report it in full. It is about a subject, the impact of factory audits on suppliers, that I think many people really need to take more time to understand – […]

The summer and fall of 2007 should have been a wake up call for anyone and everyone whose supply chain involved China.  The risks of doing business outside of one’s four walls smacked importing firms across the face as their products failed.  Lead paint barbie, tainted dog food, and others. It was a time when […]

With only 6 shopping days left before Christmas, it looks like Mattel is going to need to pull out all the stops to make up for the fact that their 2oo7 Lead Paint Barbie has cost the firm another 12 million USD. According to the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General: Massachusetts Attorney General Martha […]

Following my post last week, the UN released the 30 page report Advancing Food Safety in China. PDF Here Primarily written in response to, and as a study of, the recent milk contamination cases, this paper is an excellent guide for those who are looking to understand more about the regulatory environment, the agencies, and […]