The Caixin-Sinica Business Brief, episode 21

09/05/17 • 21 min

Welcome to the 21st installment of the Caixin-Sinica Business Brief, a weekly podcast that brings you the most important business stories of the week from China’s top source for business and financial news. Produced by Kaiser Kuo of our Sinica Podcast, it features a business news roundup, plus conversations with Caixin reporters and editors. This week, we examine how Haidilao 海底捞, one of the most popular hotpot restaurants in China, is in hot water after a media exposé, which allegedly showed rats and all sorts of other sanitation problems in it, went viral. We analyze the news that Wanda Group’s shares plummeted as much as 10 percent over rumors — denied by the company — that its founder and chairman, Wang Jianlin 王健林, had been detained by Chinese authorities. We dive into the report that the Chinese ship detained by Ecuadorean authorities in mid-August for supposedly illegal fishing off the Galápagos Islands belongs to Fuzhou Honglong Ocean Aquatic, a private company registered in Fujian Province. We explore why some of China Huishan Dairy’s creditors, including the Bank of China, are escalating their opposition to the company’s debt-restructuring plan. We look at why some of China’s biggest cities have called a timeout on the companies responsible for crowding sidewalks with shared bikes. We investigate why leading rail equipment maker CRRC is falling far short of its ambitious goal to use exports to offset slowing growth at home. And we learn about the investigation launched by the Chinese police against Guo Wengui after a former female employee claimed that he repeatedly raped her. In addition, we talk to Caixin senior editor Doug Young about Alibaba and its efforts to build business offline. We also chat with Caixin reporter April Ma about a Chinese startup that used images of WWII-era “comfort women” — sex slaves — to make animated GIFs (the kind that are popular on instant-messaging apps). We’d love to hear your feedback on this product. Please send any comments and suggestions to [email protected]. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Previous Episode

The Caixin-Sinica Business Brief, episode 20

Welcome to the 20th installment of the Caixin-Sinica Business Brief, a weekly podcast that brings you the most important business stories of the week from China’s top source for business and financial news. Produced by Kaiser Kuo of our Sinica Podcast, it includes a business news roundup, conversations with Caixin reporters and editors, and a selection of complete stories from the week’s news, read by Kaiser and Sinica rotating co-host Ada Shen. This week, we learn about a high-speed railway linking China and Thailand, whose construction is set to begin in October after two years of setbacks and delays. We look at why BYD Auto Co. Ltd., one of China’s leading electric-vehicle (EV) makers, says it plans to launch “mini and small-size” EVs within two years. We investigate why South Korean carmakers in China are running empty. We explore the proposed lifting of restrictions by China’s aviation authority to limit the number of Chinese airlines allowed to operate international routes from China to key destinations in certain countries. We study the news that a privately run website for military buffs is getting a big state salute with an investment by state media People’s Daily. We examine how China’s restaurant-meal-delivery industry is being shaken up by a long-anticipated buyout that leaves just two main contenders in the booming market. We analyze how a patient who complained about “tasteless food” at a public hospital was detained by the police and why China’s netizens are outraged by what they call “police overkill” in suppressing voices online. In addition, we talk to Caixin senior editor Doug Young about China’s high-speed trains and the recent move by Ford Motor Co. to form an electric-car joint venture with China’s Zotye Automobile. We also chat with Caixin reporter Li Rongde 李荣德 about a deeply disturbing story on how young boys are being recruited for paid fights. We’d love to hear your feedback on this product. Please send any comments and suggestions to [email protected]. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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The Caixin-Sinica Business Brief, episode 22

Welcome to the 22nd installment of the Caixin-Sinica Business Brief, a weekly podcast that brings you the most important business stories of the week from China’s top source for business and financial news. Produced by Kaiser Kuo of our Sinica Podcast, it features a business news roundup, plus conversations with Caixin reporters and editors. This week, we tell you how the deaths of over 100 goats that ate spring onions exposed to a highly toxic pesticide have sparked public outcry over the lack of regulations curbing the overuse of such chemicals in China. We look at the news that a baby girl in the interior city of Xi’an was named after the smash-hit mobile video game Honor of Kings 王者荣耀. We explore the latest move by Alibaba, the operator of the country’s largest online sales platform, to build its own mall at its headquarters in the eastern city of Hangzhou. We examine how a social media post accusing well-known establishments in Beijing of cleanliness breaches triggered hygiene checks by authorities at the city’s five-star hotels. And we explain why the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, the country’s top insurance regulator, is banning booze from all of its offices and subsidiary departments. In addition, we talk to Caixin editor Poornima Weerasekara about a pregnant woman’s suicide and the bigger picture of giving birth in China. We also chat with Caixin senior editor Doug Young about why a photo of the drummer from the 1980s band Black Panther holding a glass thermos filled with tea went viral on the Chinese internet, and the rumors about Wang Jianlin 王健林, the founder and chairman of Wanda — that he was detained, or prevented from flying. We’d love to hear your feedback on this product. Please send any comments and suggestions to [email protected]. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.