No. 343, Nov. 26(1)

Highlights from the Economic Observer, issue no. 343, Nov 26, 2007

Tony Blair as Chinese Real Estate “Spokesman”
Cover story
Half a million dollars is what it took for former British prime minister Tony Blair to make a three-hour appearance at a villa in southern China on behalf of Chinese firm Sunshine Enterprise. The Dongguan-based company used the appearance to polish its brand just before launching its luxurious villa project by Shongshan Lake. For many local Chinese, Dongguan evokes an image of dense factories and heavy industrial pollution.
Full article in English translation to be uploaded soon…
Original article: [Chinese]

New Corporate Tax Rules  to Come Out
Cover
The much-anticipated Corporate Tax Law is likely to be passed by the State Council within the month. The EO has learned that the controversial rules have been amended numerous times and the final draft will contain some 120 articles. A draftee has told EO that the new tax structure has five contentious areas, namely the definition of new technology enterprises, taxes on dividends, anti-tax evasion and transfer pricing rulings, tax incentives, and deductible items from taxable income.
Full article in English translation to be uploaded soon…
Original article: [Chinese]

Rolling Out the Luxury... Computers?
Cover
Chinese computer makers are tapping the high-end market by introducing laptops with bleeding edge components and design priced at over 50,000 yuan per piece. With luxury product consumption growing 20 percent per year, China's luxury goods market is expected to hit 11.5 billion dollars by 2015. Computer makers like Lenovo and Haier are also eager for a slice of the pie-- the former has introduced a limited edition of ThinkPad classics while the latter has come up with two new high-end models.     
Full article in English translation to be uploaded soon…
Original article: [Chinese]