Aug 02 2010
This time, its Gibson Dunn making a move to open a new office in Hong Kong. According to the firm, it’s their second Asia office, alongside Singapore. Should be an interesting experiment as they are taking not only a general corporate focus, but a compliance aspect in hiring an FCPA expert to anchor this office.
More details after the jump.
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Jul 15 2010
Almost
one year ago, I received my copy of
Paul Midler’s book
Poorly Made in China: An Insider’s Account of the Tactics Behind China’s Production Game. I promised to do a review during paternity leave. Obviously that did not happen. However, in the plane a month ago, I actually had a chance to finish this book. And inspired by Imagethief
Sinica 13 post recently, I was inspired to finally write my review.
As many of you know, this book talks about the problem of quality fade. (For those of you who don’t know, quality fade refers to when a factory starts out producing high quality products and then later turns out inferior products by cutting corners to save costs) Paul shares his personal anecdotes of working with a Chinese factory making health and beauty (soap and shampoo) products, as well as run-ins at trade fairs and the experiences with other factories. Most of the book, however, focuses upon his representation of an American company sourcing their soap manufacture to a single factory in Southern China.
Jun 22 2010
Looks like Sidley Austin has opted to tap an American attorney from its executive committee to lead the Asia Pacific region offices. The firm announced in a press release, “Sidley Austin Management and Executive Committee Member, Thomas W. Albrecht, Relocates to Hong Kong as Managing Partner, Asia Pacific”. More details after the jump.
Jun 17 2010
Got an email some time ago that’s been sitting in my email box, and another email recently came that made me go back to it and think about it some more. Someone wrote to me with a link that includes 50 online courses about China, language, history, business, and more. And of course, the blog post is entitled “50 Open Courses to Make You an Expert on China”.
Now I am all for good education and online courses, even better. But is it really that simple to become a “China expert”? My answer is simply: no.
Jun 01 2010
Just got an email announcing the posting of a webcast entitled, “ ‘China Joint Ventures: Context, Contacts and Contracts” that seems very interesting. Slides and audio, and it’s also free. This is a webcast that is intended for in-house counsel, but I have a feeling that many (law students, outside counsel) will find the information interesting. (and also give them more insight into the minds of in-house attorneys like myself) More information after the jump.
May 04 2010
Just heard that Weil Gotshal poached… err… picked up John Fadely from Clifford Chance’s Hong Kong office in order to beef up its China funds practice. Definitely a good time to continue to beef up in terms of private equity staff while things are still a tad slower since it’s bound to pick up sooner or later. Though from the press release, it appears that Mr. Fadely is somewhat of an Asia generalist as well–which of course can be interpreted as positive or negative depending on what your emphasis is. Press release after the jump.
Apr 21 2010
Need to take a break from watching the Yushu earthquake death toll and the relief effort, and I thought I should post a quick recap and thoughts about Dr. Wang Zhenyao’s visit to the San Francisco Bay Area to discuss the development of NGOs with American non-profit leaders. Dr. Wang is Director-General of the Department of Disaster and Social Relief of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and also a professor at Beijing Normal University.
He had plenty to share about the China NGO sector with us, with some of my thoughts interwoven. (often in parenthetical statements) My apologies for taking a week to get this posted.
Apr 19 2010
Just wanted to share some more details that Dien Yuen at
Give2Asia sent my way regarding their
relief fund for the Qinghai / Yushu earthquake:
Give2Asia is seeking support from donors to help the survivors with the longer-term recovery.
The Chinese government has approved 15 government-organized NGOs to raise funds for recovery and reconstruction.
Apr 15 2010
With the Qinghai earthquake (a/k/a Yushu earthquake and Jiegu earthquake) relief moving along–slowly in the eyes of some, quickly in the eyes of the government–there is still great need there. I saw
this post from Rich Brubaker’s blog at
Collective Responsibility and am just going to borrow much of it. (Rich, I hope you don’t mind–just trying to help!)
So if you or your organization wants to donate through Tsongkha Charitable Association (TCA) or the Response team, you can transfer the funds to either of the bank accounts below. If your donation is large and you prefer it to be handled separately, we can arrange it as well. Otherwise, the team will combine your donation with other resources and purchase relief aids and distribute them together. TCA will be responsible in submitting reports to you.
In terms if needs, I talked to several people in Yushu. All of them lost their houses. Some people still received no aids (by 16:00, 15/April). They need food, drinks, tents, and electricity generators. Although CCTV is quick in propagating the swift response by troops, there still seems to be victims in unseen corners that need emergency assistance. So if you can provide any support, we can purchase needed goods and deliver them to the hands of victims as soon as possible.
If you have any question or need further information, please let me know.
Thank you for your concern,
Kelsang Norbu
Director
Tsongkha Charitable Association
Haidong, Qinghai Province
Tel: 13519714070 / 0971-6363082
Plateau Perspectives has also set up a Yushu Earthquake Relief website, with links to Chinese media that you can run through Google translate. (or if you have Chrome, get it automatically translated) The translations aren’t perfect, but its enough to know what’s happening on the ground there. For your convenience, here is the most helpful part of their page for updates:
Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China Website
http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2010-04/14/content_1580853.htmQinghai Province People’s Government Website
http://www.qh.gov.cn/html/31/133180.htmlQinghai Earthquake Portal
http://www.eqqh.gov.cn/zwgk/zwxx/201004/2298.shtml
Apr 14 2010
Worldvision finally put up a webpage for Qinghai earthquake donations
here. Because they are one of my favorite charities, I am giving them a separate post to support them. (it will also appear as an update in my original post)
Alert: China’s Qinghai province was rocked by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake on April 14. At least 400 people dead and over 10,000 reported injured. World Vision is sending an assessment team and emergency relief items to Qinghai.
Note: it is not a separate Qinghai quake fund yet. I am hoping it will become so, but as of this posting, it is not a dedicated, China-only fund. (it is, however, a earthquake relief only fund)
Your generous gift today will help provide life-saving essentials to survivors of disasters like the earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, and China.
I will keep updates coming.
UPDATE: Received a WorldVision email with some details as to what they are doing:
Adequate shelter and warm clothing for children and families is a key concern, according to Meimei Leung, who will lead World Vision’s assessment team into the affected area. She reported that temperatures in the area have been cold, and now many children and families might be without basic necessities.
“Based what we learn on the ground, we will be moving quickly to meet the needs of children, particularly to help them establish a normal routine again and stay clear of dangerous rubble,” said Leung.
Please donate!
Apr 13 2010
Back in 2008 during the Sichuan quake, I posted
this list of charities doing work in China in the aftermath of the quake. Now that the 6.9 quake (with aftershocks) has hit Qinghai, I wanted to do the same thing again: make sure that those who want to route funds there can do so.
I am still awaiting NGOs, GONGOs, and other organizations to start setting up their disaster relief funds for the Qinghai earthquake. Rest assured that I will be updating my blog regularly to include these funds as I see them popping up. I am hoping my favorite charity mobilizer Worldvision will act quickly.
Please check back. It’s been busy, but my M&A is now closed, and this is important to me, both because its China, and also because I am now in the non-profit sector at a soon-to-be major global NGO player.
UPDATE 1 (4/14 12am PST): From GoChengdoo, here is information for Red Cross of China:
Renminbi Donations
Account Holder: China Red Cross Society
Bank Branch: China Commercial Bank, Beijing Branch, Dongsinan Sub-branch
Account Number: 0200001009014413252Foreign Currency Donations
Bank Branch: China Citic Bank, Jiuxian Qiao Sub-branch
Account Number: 7112111482600000209Donations by Mail
China Red Cross Society
Address: No. 8 Beixin Qiao Santiao, Dongcheng District, Beijing
Post Code: 100007Online Donations
Red Cross Society of China website in English
UPDATE 2 (4/14 10am PST): WorldVision has set up its website to allow for Qinghai earthquake donations here. It is not a dedicated Qinghai quake fund, but a general earthquake disaster relief fund. I have a feeling that in the coming days, they will open up a Qinghai dedicated fund of some sort.
Alert: China’s Qinghai province was rocked by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake on April 14. At least 400 people dead and over 10,000 reported injured. World Vision is sending an assessment team and emergency relief items to Qinghai.
UPDATE 3 (4/14 3pm PST): Give2Asia has set up a Qinghai earthquake disaster fund. Being friends of Give2Asia, it is an organization that I highly trust as a philanthropic service provider and intermediary. Give2Asia is partnering with the China Charity Foundation to mobilize funds:
On April 14 at 7:49 a.m. in China’s Qinghai Province, a 7.1 earthquake struck, killing at least 400 people and injuring tens of thousands, according to the China Charity Federation (CCF). The quake also destroyed 90% of the homes in the county seat, Jeigu. Give2Asia has created the 2010 Qinghai Earthquake Fund and is partnering with the CCF to deliver immediate relief to survivors, such as shelter, first aid, water and food. CCF is already on the ground working with survivors.
My top 2 recommended places (WorldVision and Give2Asia) have now opened up funds, so you have no excuse to not donate something to the relief efforts.
Also, MercyCorps (who also has a good relationship with Give2Asia–I met some of their members when China sent a delegation last year to discuss philanthropy and learn from U.S. charities) has also opened up a China earthquake fund here. According to their blog, they are already on site and assessing the situation.
UPDATE 4 (4/14 10pm): Plateau Perspectives, a foreign NGO, has officially been asked to go and help with the earthquake relief efforts by the Yushu prefecture government. (h/t Collective Responsibility) The organization has set up a separate page to cover Qinghai quake developments:
The Yushu Prefecture government has requested aid from Plateau Perspectives in the form of medical personnel, medical supplies, and temporary shelters (ie tents and blankets). We are sending an advance medical team to Yushu in about 4 hours to assess the situation, provide emergency care, and set up a base of operations for medical outreach and supply delivery. Additional supplies and medical teams will be sent shortly thereafter. There is already a solid network of medical personnel in China prepared to depart for Yushu, and gifts of cash are the easiest and quickest way that you can help out. Gifts of supplies are more difficult and time consuming to receive, and most supplies needed can be bought in the provincial capital, Xining.
Apr 12 2010
So many emails to pile through my inbox, but ironically, many of them are about the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. In light of the recent things happening with Avon in China (see e.g., this post at the Wall Street Journal’s law blog), it seems like FCPA compliance and enforcement is coming towards MNCs doing business in China. What better time to get educated on the FCPA?
