The Made-in-China label is rarely synonymous with stylish design. So its good to see that Brilliance JinBei Automotive has got rave reviews from the specialist press for its new Italian-designed models, shown recently at the Geneva car show...   more »

Citigroup hopes to become one of the first western banks to start operating in China and also plans to double the number of branches to more than 30 this year. Foreign banks predict a big demand for their services in China. But it will be interesting to see whether the Chinese retail banking market really lives up to today's excited expectations...    more »

Chinese software house Ufida plans to tap into IBM's global network of R&D, and sales and marketing experts to expand outside China. The take-home from this story is that Ufida sees a growing international market for Made-in-China software and is not affraid to use western technical and marketing skills to help in that expansion...   more »

It's rarely a good idea to put your eggs in one basket. EBT Mobile, the London-listed retailer with a growing network of mobile-phone shops in China, believes there could also be opportunities in China's fixed-line telecoms market...   more »

Chinese companies still have a long way to go if they want to become "strategic suppliers" to western tech firms. Chip giant Intel has just honoured over 50 of its suppliers for the quality of their processes and products. But we struggled in vane to find any Chinese names in the top award category...   more »

STMicroelectronics, the Franco-Italian chipmaker, is to make China's Dragon processor under a technology licensing deal struck with its developer, the Institute of Computing Technology. Its a rare occurrence for a well-established western tech firm like STMicro to licence Chinese technology, particularly in an industry like semiconductors...   more »

UK customers with the nostalgia bug may have to wait to get their hands on the new MG TF sports car, production of which started this week at Nanjing Automotive Group's factory in Nanjing. Dealers in Britain have expressed interest in franchises for the reborn MG brand. But it is clear that Nanjing has bigger plans than selling to a niche market of nostalgic MG lovers in the UK...   more »

Geong International, the London-listed software house, has signed contracts worth almost $500,000 with two Chinese customers for its enterprise content management software, PortalAge, which is finding increasingly popularity withbig Chinese banks and automotive firms...   more »

A smart move from Planet Payment, a small US company that specialises in payment processing. While paying with plastic is taken for granted in the west, it ain't so easy in China, which could come as a shock to the growing numbers of credit card-toting foreign visitors...   more »

Who said China's different? Its telecoms market, for example, is starting to bear some of the hallmarks of a mature western market. In its latest financial results, China Telecom, the country's largest fixed-line operator, reported a drop in profit of 2.7% and complained of slow growth in its core business...   more »