Hello Macau, goodbye Hong Kong. This has been the main theme surrounding Chairman Xi Jinping’s visit to Macau to mark the 20th anniversary of the former Portuguese colony’s transfer of sovereignty to China. Besides sending a not-so-subtle message to “bad student” Hong Kong, Xi is “expected to announce new policies aimed at diversifying the casino
There is an old saying how lawyers do well in good times and in bad times; just not when everything stays the same. Times are mostly bad right now with China, and our China lawyers have in 2019 seen and likely will continue to see in 2020 a lot of the following: 1. China is cracking
No sooner than President Trump signed the Hong Kong human rights and democracy act into law, China announced retaliatory measures, banning U.S. warships from Hong Kong and restricting the work of American NGOs. These responses were narrowly tailored—perhaps in part because China is wary of rocking the boat too much, in a way that could
The numbers coming out of China continue to amaze. There are 855 million digital consumers in China and they have more than twice as many internet users as the US has people. The Chinese are spending an average of 358 minutes per day online. They spend 8% of their online time streaming video content. A
This blog has not minced words when it comes to describing the grim situation in Hong Kong, which, as one of my former colleagues at the State Department puts it, “will get worse before it doesn’t get better.” Signs of Hong Kong’s demise as an international business center are plentiful. The city is in recession.
Since October 6, 2018, one of our recurring themes has been that China has become far more difficult for foreign companies. It is what we have been calling the New Normal. This New Normal extends to all foreign companies that do business in or with China, but it has hit U.S. and Canadian companies particularly
As regular readers of this blog know, we are very much down on Hong Kong as an international business center. See Hong Kong for International Business: Stick a Fork in It (August 13) and Hong Kong for International Business: Stick a Fork in It, Part 2 (October 22). We have seen and we believe we
Three months ago, in Hong Kong for International Business, Stick a Fork in It, we predicted the slow demise of Hong Kong as an international business center. Many wrote us to say they agreed. Many wrote us to say they vehemently disagreed. Those who disagreed argued that we had underestimated the grit and the resilience
Many of our clients are considering moving their manufacturing out of China. As they look around S.E. Asia and South Asia (and occasionally elsewhere as well), they often come to us with the following question: to where should we move? In analyzing that question, it is worthwhile to consider why manufacturers were initially attracted to
Somewhat paradoxically, increasing tension and tariffs between the United States and China seem only to drove more companies to want “to go into China.” See Why NOW Is a Good Time to Double Down on Doing Business in China. Most of these companies looking to go into China are companies that sell something to China
