Asia Business Podcast

If you were in Shanghai in 2019, you surely recall the blowout grand opening of Costco’s first store here. Yes, when they had to basically shut down part of a district and close the store early on the first day as a safety precaution. How was their so much buzz leading up to the grand opening? We talk to Mike Golden, Founder and President of Brandigo - the team that drew up the launch campaign for...

We talk with Wody Keita S., Founder and GM China at IZIVAT, a mobile APP and a web-platform that empowers millions of international travelers and shoppers. How they build innovative solutions combining finance, payment, and tax-free shopping and react to the covid-19 pandemic impact on travel industry. https://www.asiabusinesspod.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this wit...

You've heard a lot about the new data rules in China. But what are big foreign brands actually doing to comply? With so much at stake for their brand image and so many new and unclear rules to comply with, Michel shares with us the approaches his clients are taking on the ground. https://www.asiabusinesspod.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or...

We talk with Minesh Pore, Co-Founder and CEO at BuyHive, a global network of on-demand sourcing professionals, on the effect of the lockdowns in Shanghai and elsewhere on supply chains and how companies are trying to adapt. https://www.asiabusinesspod.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.asiabusinesspod.c...

We talk with some of the best inter-cultural leadership advisors in China - Gabor Holch and Yingying Li, on the skills that expat executives still offer to multinational and local companies here, as well as how Chinese talent will look to global opportunities in the future. https://www.asiabusinesspod.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get ac...

We talk with Brandon Hughes, founder of FAO Global and former Strategy and Intelligence Director in the US Army. On providing strategic advice to foreign businesses entering China and Chinese businesses coming to the US. https://www.asiabusinesspod.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.asiabusinesspod.com

We speak with Andy Klump, founder and CEO of Clean Energy Associates. Andy has been in China for 20 years and walks us through the solar industry's development with emphasis on China's role in becoming the dominant industry manufacturer today. We touch on factors affecting supply, demand, and pricing both in China and abroad. And what the future of solar adoption looks like as governments, busines...

We speak with Jarrod Ward, Chief Business Development Officer for the East Asia Region at Yusen Logistics. Jarrod has been in the supply chain & logistics management business for over 20 years including the last five based here in Shanghai. Jarrod helps give us some surprising and unforeseen insights into what has been driving the increasing costs and delays in supply chain management these days,...

We talk with Greg Turner, founder of Shenzhen High Performance Event Management. Greg has been in China for 20 years and build up and operated from scratch one of the leading sports and entertainment venues in China at STU Sports Park in Shantou. We talk with Greg about the history of sports in China and why sports for kids never has seemed to develop in the same way that sports are a part of chil...

This episode is a feature from our sister podcast, the China Digital Tech podcast hosted by Paul Lin. If you live in China, you’ve surely seen NIU electric scooters everywhere, But fewer people know the fantastic success of their international expansion, a shining example for other Chinese-based companies looking to expand abroad. Joe Constanty, Director of International at NIU walks us through ho...

We talk with Joel Gallo, adjunct professor at NYU Shanghai and previously senior executive at Deloitte, Dell EMC and E&Y, where he advised more than 100 global financial firms on different strategic projects. Joel shares with us why he sees China opening up the financial sector and the mad rush of major investment banks such as Goldman Sachs taking full ownership of their operations and launching...

Kim Kirkendall discusses some of challenges Western businesses face coming to the China, and Chinese businesses face going to the US. Kim first came to work in China in the 1980s and has watched China's economy change dramatically. From listening to her speak, you'll quickly be able to see how Kim is a very observant person. Kim shares some of the best stories and best observations she's made on C...

We talk with Huihan Lie, founder of My China Roots. My China Roots is akin to the Ancestry.com of China, an online platform primarily for overseas Chinese to build one's family tree, upload historical family records and search for one's ancestors in a genealogical database. Huihan's ancestors over the generations migrated from China to Indonesia and then eventually settled in the Netherlands. We d...

We talk with Ming Khor, Founder and CEO of Keru. On getting his MBA from Wharton, interning at Apple, and turning away from the traditional corporate path to come back to his teaching experience as inspiration for his own business in China. Keru is a social enterprise which organizes social impact service learning opportunities for students and professionals to drive change in society alongside mi...

As part of our continuing Ganbei series “Built in China”, we talk with Lucas Englehardt, Founder and CEO of xixilab.com - which offers direct-to-consumer teeth straightening with invisible braces in China. Prior to that Lucas was Founder and CEO at WaimaiChaoren, an O2O food delivery startup bought by Delivery Hero. On how international entrepreneurs can best attract, retain, motivate talent here...

As part of a new series called “Built in China”, we are looking at international “serial” entrepreneurs who have chosen to live and build startups in China. Our first guest is Charles Liao. Charles was born in Shanghai but grew up in the US and has founded numerous companies, most recently the air purifier company Mila and the men’s personal care brand Day 22. Mila has been invested in by Electrol...

Will Chinese companies really be forced off of US stock exchanges because they cannot fulfill certain US audit requirements? The Public Company Accounting Oversights Board (PCAOB) is tasked with essentially auditing the auditors of public companies trading in the US. For Chinese companies which have listed on NASDAQ and NYSE, PCAOB has never been able to do this, and we’re now approaching a hard 3...

Xiaomi recently won a case in US federal court to block implementation of a rule that would have prevented US persons from investing in their stock. The announcement of this rule had initially sent their stock plummeting. Xiaomi and Luokung, another company facing this rule, have now given other similar companies a playbook for pushing back. We talk with Tim O’Toole, a white collar defense and int...

The Variable Interest Entity. Sounds like a boring term an accountant or lawyer might use. Well it is an accounting term, but it’s anything but boring when you know how its used in the real world. It’s the key to how all Chinese internet companies have been structured to go IPO outside of China for the last 20 years. Let’s just say it’s a bit of a clunky workaround to deal with restrictions on for...

On the heels of the Shanghai Automotive Show, Bill Russo of Automobility Ltd. joins us for a deep dive on the automotive industry and which types of players are likely to be winners and losers in the biggest global markets - China and the US. https://www.asiabusinesspod.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ww...

Our latest deep dive on China tech. Semiconductors companies used to be boring. Now they are at the frontline of a global macro competition between two powers. We look at the China semiconductor industry and the challenges it faces as it seeks to bring more of the value chain home locally and rely less on foreign suppliers. A bridge too far? Have a listen and find out. Guests: Stewart Randall, Dir...

A wide ranging interview with Ker Gibbs, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. On how the new Biden Administration will impact US-China relations, the approach US companies are taking towards corporate investments in challenging bilateral times, and how Amcham helps advocate for US businesses at all levels and on both sides of the Pacific. Ker acknowledges the multiple challen...

In this episode we lean on the experience of three foreigners who have done business in China for decades - Rich Robinson, Joanne Wood, and Dan Krassenstein. A wide ranging discussion on favorite China personal experiences, lessons to adapt to doing business in China, and how they see cross-border trade and investment trends with China going forward. https://www.asiabusinesspod.com/ This is a publ...

In the wake of the recent IPO, we interview three early members of the Airbnb China team on how Airbnb found and stuck to its core advantages against an array of local competitors. And how it managed to emerge as a rare Western tech startup success story in China. Guest lineup: Robert Hao, Co-Founder and COO of Hype, Ltd., Director of Business Operations and Strategy, HCO, Head of Supply at Airbnb...

When you look at the actual origin of investment flows, China is now the biggest investor in Indonesia. And two macro trends are currently at play in the trade relationship. Chinese (and other) manufacturers are diversifying out of China and finding relatively young and affordable Indonesian labor attractive especially as other countries like Vietnam become saturated and more expensive. And Indone...