International Law

China Blogs: That's The way, Uh-Huh Uh-Huh, We Like It, Uh-Huh, Uh-Huh. Part VII

By Dan

About a year ago, in Part I of this series, I promised we would go through our blogroll and justify and expound upon each blog, five by five.  Six months ago, I did Part 6 of this series. This is the sixth of this slowly running series, where I explain, in alphabetical order, why it is that each blog managed to qualify for our blogroll under our admittedly "slippery, vague, and subjective criteria:"

Our blogroll basically consists of those blogs we like and which we think our readers will like or should be reading. We tend to like blogs that are unique in their content, well written, or consistently helpful. If we really like a blog, it makes it on no matter what. The less we like the blog, the more we have to believe it can be helpful to our readers. If a blog has not posted for a couple of months, we start seriously consider removing it from the rolls. Three months and it is usually removed. We obviously focus on China related blogs and, within that, we generally focus on those blogs related to law or business.

So without further ado, the seventh five in our alphabetical list:

China Translated. This blog is written by Tom Orlick, the China Economist for Stone & McCarthy Research Associates, with quasi-regular guest posts by Don Johnson, Senior Economist at AECOM, and Duncan Innes-Ker, Senior Economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit. These are three serious China economists and China Translated is one serious and excellent blog on China's economy.

ChinaBizGov. Written by G.E. Anderson, who describes himself as a "China specialist, former CFO, and PhD Candidate in Political Science at UCLA. Research focuses on state-owned enterprises, corporate governance and China's auto industry." I have learned a ton about China's state owned entities (SOE) and auto industry from this blog and I am a huge fan.

Chinalyst. Chinalyst is not really a blog; it is a blog consolidator. And though I am not ordinarily a fan of these sort of things, but Chinalyst does such a great job in consolidating China blogs (and it even gets its own comments), that I am a fan of this one. It is a great place to go to check up on newer China blogs that might otherwise not make it onto your radar. Chinalyst is the brainchild of Fili An, a Hong Kong based management consultant.

Chinese Law Prof Blog. This is truly the dean of China law blogs, having been online for more than five years. it is put out by Donald Clarke, a Professor of Law at George Washington University Law School, and one of the leading academic lights on China law. Chinese Law Prof Blog focuses primarily on the big issues relating to China law and it describes itself as providing "China law resources, information, and news for the academic community."

CnReviews. CnReviews' explanation of its blog is both dead on and better than anything I could say, so here goes: 

CNReviews.com (CNR) is an English-language blog for those interested in learning more about this generation's most exciting economic story: China. 

CNR focuses on three very practical areas:

People: Who is interesting? Who is successful? What are they up to and what can we learn from them?

Business: Looking to work in China? Hoping to start a business? What are the opportunities and what are the challenges?

Life: Planning a visit? Already here but struggling to adapt? How to survive and just why is China the way it is?

Do we have all the answers? No, just most of them. Either way, we hope that sharing our experiences and our insights will help more people better understand the phenomenon that is China, and figure out how China will matter to them. It's all about asking the right questions and starting the right conversations.

CnReviews is put out by Elliott Ng and Kai Pan.  

Danwei. Danwei is the brainchild of Jeremy Goldkorn, but it today has many contributers. It has been online since 2003 and it is probably the most widely read China blog, and with good reason. Its description of itself is spot on:

Danwei is a website about media, advertising and urban life in China.

With frequent reference to and translations from Mainland Chinese media, we publish fresh information about China that you won't find anywhere else. We also produce original video shows and audio podcasts about China.

Using extensive Chinese language sources, we keeps tabs on a wide variety of subjects including legal and business stories, media and entertainment gossip, and the environment.

The Chinese word 'Danwei' (??) means 'unit', as in a unit of currency or measurement, or as in 'work unit' - the old term for a state-owned company that was supposed to provide cradle-to-grave employment, housing and medical treatment.

A couple years ago, I did a blog post, entitled, "Five Deserted Island China Blogs -- Just The Essentials, Ma'am," setting out the absolute essential China blogs. Danwei made that list, with this explanation:

Danwei. Why? Because there is something worth reading on there every day and every week or so there is something on there that is completely original and of critical importance. 

As true today as it was back then.

More to come....

What do you think?

Full post as published by China Law Blog on September 19, 2010 (boomark / email).