China news and archive

China's Singles Day shopping spree enters final stretch

China's Singles Day shopping bonanza entered its final stretch Friday, with all eyes on whether sales can top a record one trillion yuan (140 billion dollars) despite the country's struggling economy. Conceived by technology giant Alibaba, the informal holiday's title riffs on a tongue-in-cheek celebration of singlehood inspired by the four ones...

Retail

Chinese officials gather Alibaba execs over data heist

Alibaba shares sank on Friday after a report said the tech giant's executives had been called in for meetings with Chinese officials over the theft of a vast police database. A hacker last month put on sale what they claimed was the personal information of hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens -- which, if true, would make it one of the...

Fashion

Shanghai tailors keep qipao dress tradition alive

Zhou Zhuguang surveys his Shanghai workshop and rows of workers meticulously stitching high-collared Chinese dresses known as qipao, some of which sell for nearly 5,000 dollars. "It's a highly skilled craft," said Zhou, co-founder of Hanart, one of China's most well-known qipao makers. "Some of our tailors spend a lifetime learning to make...

People

Chinese influencer dubbed 'livestream queen' hit with record fine

The social media accounts of an influencer known as China's 'livestreaming queen' disappeared on Tuesday, after she was ordered to pay a record 200 million dollar fine for tax evasion. Huang Wei, known by her username Viya, is one of China's most prominent livestreamers in an e-commerce sector that has accelerated its rapid growth despite the...

Fashion Featured

Uniqlo, Inditex, SMCP and Skechers accused of profiting from the forced labour of Uighurs

On the eve of China’s 100th year anniversary celebration of its Chinese Communist Party, France launched an investigation into the “concealment of crimes against humanity” by global textile giants, including Inditex and Uniqlo, who stand accused of having profited from the forced labour of Uighurs. France’s National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s...

Retail

Ganni expands into China with Tmall

Danish fashion brand Ganni is launching direct-to-consumer e-commerce in China with Tmall, part of the Alibaba Group on June 28. The collaboration will give Ganni access to more than 800 million active and digital-first consumers on the platform and will allow Chinese consumers to experience the “full Ganni universe,” said the brand in a...

BusinessFeatured

Global demand for Chinese made fashion soars

Global demand for Chinese-made clothing surged in the first four months of the year, with a total valuation of 44.41 billion dollars exported. The data was shared by the General Administration of Customs of China, which said demand was up 51.7 percent over the same period last year. Exports surged to 44 billion dollars From January to April,...

Fashion

Eagle-eyed appraisers sift Chinese second-hand luxury market for fakes

It's the world's biggest market for luxury goods -- and their counterfeits -- so an expert eye for telling a bona fide Chanel handbag from a bogus one is a skill set in hot demand across China. Enter the "luxury appraiser", an diffrentiator of real from fake, trained to triage handbags, belts and garments for dodgy serial numbers, stitching and...

Business

China summons internet firms to warn over unfair competition

Beijing - Financial regulators in China summoned 13 internet companies on Thursday to call for changes to their fintech operations, the central bank said in a notice, as Beijing ramps up scrutiny on monopolistic practices in the country’s tech industry. Regulators have been taking China’s tech firms to task to curtail the reach of private...

People

Valentino names CEO for Greater China

Valentino has named Mitchell Bacha as CEO for Greater China. He will report to Marco Giacometti, Valentino’s chief commercial officer. Bacha succeeds Oliver Yang who was CEO of Asia Pacific since 2008. Bacha is Australian, but has extensive experience in the Asian market. He was previously CEO Asia Pacific for Diesel. He also worked as managing...

Business

Rattled Chinese tech giants pledge to end unfair competition

Beijing - More than 20 Chinese tech giants have made a public pact to abide by anti-monopoly guidelines, after regulators told them to note “the warning” of a record fine against e-commerce giant Alibaba. Beijing is taking China’s tech firms to task to curtail the reach of private companies into the daily finances of the Chinese public — and,...

Business

Following record Alibaba fine, China is not letting up on big tech

A record fine, public penitence from a tech giant and a 'who's who' of digital firms warned to "rectify" their ambitions within a month -- state regulators are showing no one is bigger than Beijing in Xi Jinping's China. E-commerce titan Alibaba absorbed the massive 2.78 billion dollar penalty from China's market watchdog last Saturday, after a...