Wine critic praises China’s passion

Robert Parker sees much to admire in the mainland industry, but talk also touches on image problems

“I think a lot of foreigners think only their wine is best. It’s pride and prejudice.

“In reality, they’ve all done bad things. In the 1990s, they exported a lot of substandard wine to China because they knew Chinese people would not know what was good.”

Sarkozy called Israeli PM Netanyahu 'liar'

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "liar" in remarks to US President Barack Obama overheard by journalists.

Poly Home Sales Tumble in October

China's second largest developer saw a steep fall in house sales.

The Poly Real Estate Group Co, China's second-largest developer by market value, saw a 39.27 year-on-year fall in house sales in October, according to the company's latest financial announcement.

The company's home sales stood at 5.42 billion yuan (857 million U.S. dollars) in October, a steep fall compared with last year.

Poly sold a total of 569,400 square meters of floor area in October, down 26.79 percent from a year ago.

For the first ten months, Poly's housing sales rose 24.59 percent year on year to 62.69 billion yuan, but dipped 0.78 percent in floor area from the previous year to 5.56 million square meters.

China Sees Real Estate Meltdown

China's real estate faces a meltdown after home sales hit record low.

China witnessed a real estate meltdown when hundreds of brokerages were shut down and employees laid off after home sales hit record low.

An anonymous source estimated that around 3,000 outlets might close this year, leaving some 50,000 real estate brokers a great chance of unemployment.

According to one Beijing property transaction website, sales of pre-owned homes dropped to 7,262 units in October from 8,750 in September, a year-on-year decline of 48.7 percent and a month-on-month fall of 17 percent.

Hong Kong's party’s over as developers forced to slash flat prices

Declining transaction numbers indicate even mainlanders are balking at record valuations

China’s Elite Have New International Outlook

“Almost all of the elements are in place for an uprising like we saw in 1989 – corruption is worse today than it was then, people feel they can’t get ahead without political connections, the wealth gap is much bigger and growing and there has been virtually no political reform at all. The only missing ingredient now is a domestic economic crisis.”

Foreign vineyards keen to tap China wine market

As growth slows in their traditional markets, wine makers from around the world are eager to tap demand in China but industry players say the increased competition and a lack of wine drinking culture mean it won't be easy money.

Beijing pressed to open up on grain stockpiles

Just how much of the mainland’s harvests sits in government depots has long been a secret. But as food prices rise, many say now is the time for transparency

Research funding misused

Scientific research funding has become a major source of income for mainland academics, with as little as 40 per cent of the money being spent on research, mainland media say.

Diners warned on toilet-roll napkins

Cheap recycled napkins used by small restaurants in some mainland cities contain carcinogenic whitener

Bad loan rate adds to woes in Wenzhou

First rise in 10 years underscores the difficulty city’s business owners are having finding capital as they wrestle with rising costs and weak external demand

30pc off flats in mainland price war

With developers weighed down by unsold units and Beijing pushing ahead with tightening measures, analysts predict big reductions across the mainland

Chirps and Cheers: China’s Crickets Clash