Some of Hollywood’s top agents, executives, and power brokers met with China’s next wave of film and television moguls. It was an interesting exchange of information, where the dean of U.C.L.A.’s film school, Robert Rosen, rubbed shoulders with Jiao Hongfen, Vice Chairman of the China Film Group Corporation. The Chinese executives (all in their 20s and 30s) were young compared to their US counterparts and represented the latest generation of Chinese power players. They were selected by China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. Don’t underestimate the power of these young executives – one of them, operating a Chinese movie channel, has 800 million viewers, a number that US channels such as HBO can only dream of.

The program included an appearance by Ron Meyer, president of the Universal Studios Group, who gave pointers on how to run a movie studio. Harry E. Sloan, chief executive of MGM, explained to the attendees where his own perennially reorganized studio “stands today.” Dan Glickman told the audience about the purpose of the Motion Picture Association of America.

The movie agent world was explained by Mike Simpson, of William Morris, while Mark Gill, a producer, explained the dark arts of independent film.

The most interesting session though was the one of Gareth Wigan, a former vice chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment. He said that he and his fellow executives have often played the ugly American in dealing with foreigners. “Hollywood has not earned a good reputation in its adventures with other countries,” said Mr. Wigan.

Chinese films are gaining global popularity, despite the rejection by the average American viewer of subtitles (a given in many European countries). The information exchange between the Chinese and US media moguls combined with the nomination of Chinese movies for the Oscars year after year, show that the Chinese movie industry is worth watching – especially since this new generation of movie makers and shakers (dubbed the 6^th generation) are trendsetters with a passion who will quite likely write movie history.

According to the CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center),
China is the largest wired nation with more than 253 million people connected to the web.

For a comparison, the Nielsen Ratings report about 223 million Americans using the internet services.
Ever since analysts began examining the number of internet users, United States was leading all data-charts in that area. This year, it’s the first time china surpassing the U.S., and the numbers should get even higher.

Though the impressive figures, China’s economy is still far behind its American opponent; even South-Korea is more successful than China, financially speaking.

The number of E-commerce enabled websites in China is expected to reach around 370,000 by 2010 according to a study by AMI, Access Markets International Partners Incorporated, a market intelligence company specializing in small and medium businesses, IT, the Internet and telecommunications. The study also revealed that the rise in the number of E-commerce websites in China is largely due to the growing number of SMB’s with E-commerce facilities, which rose by 45% in 2008. The overall number of
E-commerce sites in China rose from around 135,000 in 2007, to around 200,000 in 2008. According to the AMI study, some of the E-commerce initiatives that have been successful in recent years in China include online retail, online travel and accommodation, and e-portals for supplies and materials. Web 2.0 sites offering social networking, blogs and exchange of information, are also providing a useful environment for E-commerce to develop in China.

A new poll revealed that 71.9% of Chinese believe that the internet will become a tool for greater democracy in China. Beijing Youth Daily conducted the poll earlier this year, immediately after the revolutionary online chat that President Hu Jintao held with Chinese internet users this June. The chat itself was seen as a sign that Chinese government officials are interested in consulting with their citizens and in learning their views; 56.8% of participants in the poll felt the chat demonstrated the government was moving towards being sensitive to public opinion.

Of the 2,874 people polled, 47% said that they often express their opinions online and a further 43.6% occasionally express their opinions online. When asked on which platforms those polled express themselves, three websites ranked as the most popular: qq.com or QQ messenger, with 60.5%, Sina.com, with 44.5% and Netease.com, with 44.1%. Other websites include rivals, Sohu.com, with 27.5%, and local campus networks, with 25.1% of those polled.

However, despite the sudden openness the government is demonstrating, the internet is still censored rigorously in China, and various bodies have reported arrests of bloggers following their online criticism of the authorities. In fact, only 26% of users polled said they thought that people should use their true identities online. Nevertheless, 66.9% said they thought that reasonable and polite expression should be encouraged.

The last two or three months have seen one landmark online event after another in China, heralding, perhaps, yet a further phase of change in the workings of Chinese politics. The internet has proved to be an extremely effective tool in China, with bloggers wielding extraordinary power over public opinion, perhaps even more so than their western counterparts do. And this, despite strict government controls, censorship - and over 30,000 “web police” constantly patrolling their web-beats.

First, there was the case of an ‘internet lynching’ of “Running Fan”, the teacher, ridiculed on the web for running out of his classroom ahead of his pupils during the Sichuan earthquake in May. The incident, and its subsequent coverage on the internet, inspired a public debate on social morals and caused the government to issue a new ethical code of conduct for teachers.

Then there was the surprising online chat with President Hu, in June, following shortly after the revelation that Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, apparently, has a very popular webpage on Facebook. And now, the rather spectacular sacking of four Communist Party, local police officials in Guizhou Province, for their part in the alleged mishandling, and possible cover up, in the terrible rape and murder of high school student, Li Shufen. There was even talk on the web that Shufen had been raped and drowned by relatives of local officials; riots ensued. Local citizens and online public were roused to protest by persistent bloggers who would not allow the case to be filed away. One blogger, reputedly the ‘ring leader’, Zhou Shuguang – aka, “blogger Zola”, posted emotive pictures and pleas from the murdered student’s family on the internet in a very western style media campaign.

Chinese bloggers are now claiming victory and the undeniable awareness that China’s leadership has displayed in recognizing the power of public opinion – and in responding to it, goes a long way to proving them right; only a short time ago, this would all have been unthinkable in the one-party state.

A new online dating site has been launched in Shanghai, China. The site, yuanlaishini88.com, which caters for both Chinese and English-speaking hopefuls, aims to attract the professional 25+ market from China and abroad. CEO and founder, Eve La Rosa, says the bi-lingual service will offer a safe and user-friendly environment where busy singles will be able to find their match.

To get things off the ground and build up a client base, Yuanlaishini88 is offering free VIP membership to the first 20,000 members; but if current trends in China’s gigantic online community are anything to go by, they should reach that volume very quickly – provided the site delivers, that is. With some 220 million Internet users, the majority of whom are young, China boasts the largest online population on the globe – and figures are still rising. Social network and dating sites are particularly popular in China, so there is good potential for yuanlaishini88.

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Not surprisingly, it turns out that gender also plays a part in determining trends in Internet behavior in China. This is probably true for most countries, but Internet corporations vying for a market share in the biggest Internet community on the globe, are keeping a close watch on China’s 220 million net users for signs of online trends. China’s enormous volume of net users continues to rise, as more and more people gain access to computers and studies into Internet behavior in China have indeed shown the emergence of clear trends. (more…)

The story of Jack Ma is wonderfully inspiring. Ma, 43, founder and CEO of e-commerce giant, Alibaba.com, China’s largest business-to-business website, is packed with energy and has an eagle eye for business opportunities. Brought up in the industrial city of Hangzhou, a couple of hours drive south of Shanghai, Ma had already set himself apart from his peers by the age of 12. It was then that his interest in learning English motivated him to take what can only be described as exceptional action for one so young: Ma offered free tours to western tourists - just so that he could practice his English. This was no mean feat as it meant cycling a considerable distance to and from the hotel where Ma picked up his tourists each day. Even then, Ma’s characteristic drive and determination was phenomenal; in fact, Ma continued with this rigorous routine until he was 20.

Perhaps it was this exposure to foreign cultures at such a formative stage in his life that shaped his global vision. It was this global vision, together with his sharp talent for recognizing market potential that led Ma to found “China pages”, after his very first encounter with the Internet in 1995, when he spotted that Chinese manufacturers were not on the Internet. China Pages was one of China’s first Internet companies and was largely instrumental putting Chinese businesses on the global map. Since then, Ma, widely regarded as a Pioneer of the Internet in China, carried on to establish Alibaba.com, and Taobao.com – which competes with eBay in China.

Whilst Ma’s wealth and power are quite phenomenal, it is actually his ethos, which is most impressive, and a part of that ethos is even reflected in his choice of the name ‘Alibaba’. The allusion to the ‘Tales of Arabian Nights’ is clear – and not to the forty thieves, of course, but rather to “open sesame” – the password that opened the treasure- trove to the outside world.

China has surpassed the United States as the largest user of the worldwide web. This is due to a massive jump of over 60% of the Chinese getting online in the last 12 months.

By March 2008, there were in excess of 200 million users online, which is equivalent to the number is US users, but experts predict that the growth in China is rising month on month.

Despite these huge figures, China still follows behind other countries when it comes to overall users compared to the total population. The global average of users to population is roughly 19%, whilst China falls below this mark. Currently many Chinese workers are low paid but who will see an increase in wages over the next few years, giving them the ability to get online, which should see the country match the global average. It is even estimated that the total number of Internet users in China, in the next few years, will surpass the total population of the USA.

Due to trading restrictions on landline telecom companies - who cannot sell mobile phones, they have been forced to generate business by offering low-cost broadband deals. This is another reason for the increase in users.

Like many users in the west, the Chinese are increasingly turning to the Internet for entertainment purposes. Video sharing sites are amongst the most popular in the country and some even have estimated audiences greater than US TV stations.

One aspect of the Internet that Chinese users cannot experience is freedom of information. The Government monitor user searches and block many western websites that they see as corrupt propaganda. The government also prohibit sites which promote pornography, violence or is seen as a threat to the country’s security.

The Chinese are starting to embrace the power of the Internet by organising a countrywide boycott of a supermarket that supports the Dalai Lama.

Internet Marketing Coaching – Top 4 Things to Avoid When Choosing a Coach

Internet marketing coaching is almost a necessary thing in today’s fast moving internet environment. It is necessary to move as fast as you want to when you first get online. You see, when you get started, you know…nothing. And how do you learn the fastest? By learning from people who have done it already.

That is the bottom line – you need internet marketing coaching.

But there is good coaching and bad coaching.

This article is about bad coaching, which you want to avoid at all costs.

So what is bad coaching?

1) Getting coaching from someone who makes less than you do. Look, if they are not already doing what you want to do – or at least better than you are not – how do you think they will be able to teach you?

2) Getting coaching from someone who cannot effectively communicate. Make sure you can communicate with them via the communication type that you will be using for the coaching. If it is telephone coaching, spend 5 minutes on the phone with them before you buy. If it is email coaching (most popular) ask them a question via email and see how well they answer you. Can you learn from this person?

3) Getting coaching if you are not willing to listen. Look, they make $10,000 per month, you make $500 per month. Do what they say! When you are making $10,000 per month, you can do it your own way!

4) Getting coaching if you have no time to follow directions. If you are going to pay $500 per month for coaching – you need to have time to apply everything they teach you each month – and that generally means at least 15 – 20 hours per week of your time, working online.