OVERSEAS ACQUISITION SPREE China Economic Weekly July 10

OVERSEAS ACQUISITION SPREE China Economic Weekly July 10

over the past three years， chinese tycoons in the private sector launched a wave of aggressive overseas mergers and acquisitions. deals in 2016 totaled $215.8 billion， a year-on-year increase of 148 percent.

China Economic Weekly looks at what the tycoons have bought， where their money comes from and where potential risks lie. These large， emboldened Chinese firms are increasingly setting eyes on sectors that are new to them in their overseas acquisitions. they favored entertainment industries， football clubs and real estate projects. For example， chinese real estate giant wanda Group took over club Atlético de Madrid， one of the top european football clubs， and the u.s.-based AMc theaters.

however， most of the bold moves were funded by bank loans， making them risky investments. considering existing high liabilities and leverage， many of the acquisition deals turned out to be bad business decisions.

As a result， Chinas financing authority tightened supervision on such deals， saying chinese enterprises should refrain from jumping into foreign markets in haste， and instead expand their operation step by step when going abroad.

CRAWFISH FEVER China Newsweek July 13

over the past two years， we have seen the rising popularity of crawfish on Chinese peoples dining table. China Newsweek looks at why this food - that used to be regarded as unhygienic and unappetizing - emerged as the new summer favorite dish across the nation.

Internet-based startups first found that crawfish was a good choice for food-delivery businesses because its taste and flavor would not be compromised over long-time delivery and the profit margin was relatively large. later， online retailing platforms like tmall and Jd.com jumped on the bandwagon and started selling cooked crawfish snacks. Both startups and online retailing platforms used social media as means of marketing and promoting， overwhelming consumers with images of fun-filled crawfish parties.

In fact， crawfish had all the qualities needed to become a favorite snack. the food is nutritious with high protein and low fat. Its spicy flavor also seemed to strike a chord with chinese consumers palates.

DOUBLE STANDARDS Legal Daily June 29

A report published by china consumers Association on June 28 has found that products offered in brick-and-mortar stores have higher prices and higher quality than similar items sold online. this indicates that some enterprises have double standards for online and offline products.

consumers choose to shop online both for convenience and for cheaper prices. however， double standards have led many consumers to sacrifice quality in exchange for lower prices in their online shopping. According to the report， customers are sometimes misled on purpose in buying products online that have failed to meet national standards. consumers interests are inevitably harmed in the process. it is normal for consumers to expect similar quality for similar products whether they are sold online or offline.

However， different quality standards for online and offline products result in online products constantly failing to meet consumers expectations. As a result， consumers tend to lose trust and confidence in the brand.

to win over consumers， enterprises should uphold honesty and integrity. otherwise， they will not only be subject to punishment by government authorities， but also pay a heavy price for their dishonest practices.

BOOK-CLUB MANIA Oriental Outlook June 29

A recent survey by chinese Academy of Press and Publication showed that chinese people read 7.86 books on average in 2016， a slight improvement from the previous year.

Promoting reading among the public has been among the governments priorities since 2014. the past three years also saw book clubs mushrooming across china. Voluntarily set up by book lovers， the clubs gather like-minded people to share their passion for reading. however， hampered by lack of experience， insufficient funds and overdependence on individual organizers， clubs are now struggling to last over time.

taking advantage of booming new media， online book clubs spearheaded efforts to handle this challenge innovatively. the most successful ones even transformed themselves into digital content providers by identifying their readers needs and compiling quality， in-depth and enlightening content for them. Readers， as it turns out， are happy to pay for quality content. Besides， government authorities also offered to step in to help create a more favorable environment for the development of these self-organized clubs.