Asahi is selling its minority stake in Tsingtao beer as the beer market in China is not giving it the gain it expected since it entered in 2009, says business analyst Shaun Rein to Bloomberg. “Tsingtao is in trouble,” said Rein. “It’s not premium enough, and it’s not cheap enough.”Read More →

Social mobility between the generations in China has stalled, argues author Zhang Lijia, even more than elsewhere. While she moved herself from factory worker to a social commentator, and recently wrote Lotus: A Novel on prostitution in China, most Chinese are currently stuck socially where they were born.Read More →

Chinese have become avid international travelers, but they develop into a very different breed than other tourists. Shaun Rein explains in his today released book The End of Copycat China: The Rise of Creativity, Innovation, and Individualism in Asia, how different China tourists are, and what they mean for the industry.Read More →

H&M and Zara might be winners in the competitive fashion market in China, tells author Shaun Rein of “The End of Cheap China” to the BBC. But brands like Gap, Marks & Spencer, American Apparel, Abercrombie & Fitch and Banana Republic belong to the majority of the losers.Read More →

No says Shaun Rein in Bloomberg, it might take at least another ten years before China’s middle class earns enough, and he advises clients to focus on premium products for the rich. Yes, says Helen Wang in CNN, since China is cheap enough. What do you think? Fill in our poll.Read More →

Many Western brands in China might be targeting the emerging middle class, but that does not exist in China, like it does in the US, argues retail analyst Shaun Rein. Chinese consumer got for the premium products, or for the cheap, there is no middle ground, he writes in Bloomberg.Read More →