Testimonials
“We have been working with CPG for the last four years. They were a crucial part to the development of our sourcing program. With their help we have sourced over 150 different items and in general the Chinese market has become much more approachable. CPG provides good communication, quality control, clear record keeping and a vast network. We sincerely value their working ethics and transparency in transactions and would recommend them to any company trying to get involved with China.”
Kris Van Damme
Business Development Manager, CRH
Foreign Relations
Most Recent Foreign Relations Articles:
First Impressions: The Rise of Commercial Western Influence in China
This entry was posted in Beijing Life, China Travel, CPG Blog, CPG Life, Expat Living, Foreign Relations and tagged beijing, china, china travel, commercial, culture, culture shock, first impressions, food, starbucks, subway, western, western influence. Bookmark the permalink. | Date posted: August 22, 2012 |
The beauty, cuisine, and the sheer size of the homogenous population in Beijing have left many tourists blown away by its dissimilarity to the Western world. Prior to my arrival in Beijing, I had heard so many examples of these differences and perhaps it was the ultra-alertness and expectations I had of this alien environment that made China’s embrace of Western ways a complete surprise to me. Coming to China has been somewhat of a shock to me, not because of the complete culture change that I was expecting, but because of the surprisingly large Western influence in China. As a Brit, I am more than familiar with a cup of tea. I would wager everything I own on being able to find it at any café and supermarket up and down the UK. You can imagine then, my huge surprise upon arriving at Beijing Capital Airport – thirsty and …
First Impressions: A German Tsingtao Beer
This entry was posted in Beijing Life, CPG Blog, CPG Life, Expat Living, Foreign Relations and tagged beer, beijing, brewery, china, first impressions, german, history, qingdao, tsingtao. Bookmark the permalink. | Date posted: July 18, 2012 |
Tsingtao is the brand name of one of the most popular beers that China can offer. Tsingtao beer is currently produced in Qingdao and is exported to more than 50 countries, including Germany. As you may know, Germany holds the reputation of being one of the premier beer countries in the world. However, Tsingtao beer in Germany is not just an ordinary imported product from China. One may even unofficially call it a German Tsingtao beer! The History of Tsingtao Brewery and German Tsingtao Beer Germany and Tsingtao brewery share a rich and unique history. According to the Tsingtao beer company’s website, Tsingtao beer was actually founded by German settlers as early as 1903! Qingdao (formerly Tsingtao) was a colonial trading post for Germany and in order to strengthen and establish trade opportunities in East Asia, German settlers began migrating towards the Tsingtao region. One of the cultural goods that …
The Price of Blue Skies – Is the EU Emissions Scheme Inviting a Trade War?
This entry was posted in Foreign Relations. Bookmark the permalink. | Date posted: February 20, 2012 |
On January 1, the EU extended its ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme) to the aviation sector. It requires all airlines transiting or operating from or to a European airport to buy pollution permits in accordance to their actual level of pollution. The ETS is a crucial tool for the EU to reach its 20% reduction target of CO2 emissions. While aviation only contributes to about 3% of global CO2 emissions, it is expected to grow considerably over the next decade (International Business Times). The measure is heavily contested by 26 of the 36 members of the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization), including the US, Russia and China. After a lawsuit at the ECJ (European Court of Justice), which judged the measure legal, The US House of Representative adopted a draft law forbidding American airlines to actually pay the tax. A few months later, the Chinese government announced it too was forbidding …
RMB Revaluation and Repercussions
This entry was posted in China Business, Current Events, Economics, Foreign Relations. Bookmark the permalink. | Date posted: December 12, 2011 |
Over the last six years, the appreciation of the Chinese Yuan has been as reliable as a clock. Since China tweaked the Yuan-Dollar peg in 2005, it has risen by 28%; so 4.5% per year. If you take out the two year period from 2008-2010 during which the Yuan was frozen in place, the appreciation works out to be about 7% per year. No other currency has had such a consistent, solid and risk-free performance . The Economist describes our global economy to be “sicker than a man with a bellyful of bad oysters” and the remedy is definitely not a trade war. Despite China’s objections, on October 11th, 2011, America’s Senate passed the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act, which would allow any “fundamentally misaligned” currency to be labelled a subsidy subject to countervailing duties. Guess which large Asian nation the senators had in mind? Recently, the White House …
Fast Fashion – Chinatown comes to the Italian Fashion Industry
This entry was posted in Foreign Relations and tagged china, fashion, italy, made in China, made in italy. Bookmark the permalink. | Date posted: November 20, 2011 |
Typically when people think of the dominance of China manufacturing in the world, we think of the “Made in China” label. But it may not really be so black and white anymore. Italy, which has long been known to be the global capital of fashion, has been finding that though it has been able to maintain the “Made in Italy” label, it could be the Chinese that are the ones providing the growth, as they bring their industrious nature and aptitude for dealing with restrictive regulation to Italy’s own fabric capital. Starting from one of the pioneers of modern fashion, Elsa Schiaparelli, to the modern czar of extravagant opulence, Roberto Cavalli, Italian fashion has had it all. Italian men and women have had some of the best fashion visionaries watching over what they wear; be it clothes, perfume, shoes, jewelry or hair, for almost all of the last century. One …
China’s Currency Manipulation- Excuse or Trade Disrupter
This entry was posted in Economics, Foreign Relations and tagged America, china, currency manipulation, Renminbi, trade wars, U.S., Yuan. Bookmark the permalink. | Date posted: November 5, 2011 |
China condemned the U.S. on Wednesday October 12, 2011 after the Senate passed the “Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Act,” with a 63-35 majority that threatens to punish China for allegedly undervaluing its currency with retaliatory tariffs on imports from China. Although the legislation refers to countries, it is clearly designed with China as its primary target. In effect the bill would require the US Treasury Department to determine if China is manipulating the yuan. If this is deemed to be the case, extra tariffs could be placed on some goods the US imports from Chinese suppliers. According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu, the bill is essentially trade protectionism, a serious violation of the World Trade Organization rules. For some years U.S. Congress members have threatened to take action on Chinese imports to retaliate against what they see as China’s manipulation of its currency valuation. They state that the …
Should China Come to the Rescue of Europe’s Economic Woes?
This entry was posted in Foreign Relations and tagged china, credit crisis, Europe, Greece. Bookmark the permalink. | Date posted: October 27, 2011 |
China has proven itself to be among the shrewdest in the world as it becomes increasingly well positioned. As events in recent years have shown, established themselves on increasingly powerful economic footing compared to the rest of the world. This is thanks to certain actions that the national government has pursed, one of the most important being that China has accumulated around £1.93trn (19.380trn RMB) worth of foreign currency reserves. China has earned this money by exporting much more to the rest of the world than it imports, as China sourcing continues to offer a lucrative draw to foreign companies, giving itself one of the largest trade surpluses in the world. China’s financial arsenal includes £664bn in US treasury securities and £21.7bn in Spanish government bonds. China is fast becoming an increasingly vital global player making it incredibly formidable with its prominent and fast growing economy thanks in large part …
