China’s appetite for luxury brands is well documented, but stereotypes are widely diffused. Young Chinese shoppers are presented as label-obsessed buyers, but the reality is that the love of luxury has a Confucian essence. China is ruled by collectivism. Individuals aspire to be assimilated into cohesive social groups and luxury Read more…
Smartphone shipments in China dropped to $103 million units during the fourth quarter of 2018, down 9.7% yearly, according to report from the International Data Corporation (IDC). IDC said the drop is due to a combination of factors, including economic pressures, longer replacement cycles, and smaller wallet share. The domestic Read more…
Amazon, the largest e-commerce marketplace in the world, recently announced that it was closing its e-commerce business in China. In fact, a week ago, the company released a statement saying “We are notifying sellers we will no longer operate a marketplace on Amazon.cn and we will no longer be providing Read more…
Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, has spoken out on social media in recent days in support of the Chinese work practice known as “996.” The number refers to working from 9 am to 9 pm six days a week and is said to be common among the country’s Read more…
On March 21st, Xi Jinping landed in Rome together with his wife, Peng Liyuan. Italy was the first stopover of a European tour which also included Monaco and France, where Xi met with Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel and Jean-Claude Juncker. This was the first visit by a Chinese president to Read more…
An unexpected and surprising news came out last week about Italy’s participation in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Michele Geraci, undersecretary in the economic development ministry, told the Financial Times that Italian government is planning to sign a MOU (memorandum of understanding) to formally endorse the big Chinese project. Read more…
The remarkable growth of China’s technology and innovation in the international stage has demonstrated the country’s determination to become a global leader in the digital space. Mobile technology, as an innovation enabler, has become a focused area China hopes to command, particularly after its diversion from the global norms in Read more…
In the last two decades many technology startups were created and according to statistics, less than the 10% succeeded. A success story is Xiaomi, a company founded in 2010 in China which in less than 10 years has become a hi-tech giant with a revenue of over 20 billion dollars. Read more…
Have you ever imagined to go shopping without bringing any money or cards? This is actually the lifestyle of hundred of thousands of Chinese people, since in the last years, they are able to pay mainly through an application on the phone. The most common one is the powerful Alipay, Read more…
“Unilateralism and protectionism won’t solve problems but add uncertainty to the world economy”. You could think that these words come from a liberal politician of the West. Not really. This is a recent declaration by president Xi, which testifies that China has become a strong supporter of globalization, seen as Read more…