Is China making life difficult for foreign companies?

[Randy W]

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I think it's more that they're trying to make life better for themselves, and just really haven't thought through some of the ramifications of these policies for foreign companies and their presence in the Chinese market. It seems like these concerns have heightened during the present regime.

 

in the SCMP

 

Is China making life difficult for foreign companies?

Once, China welcomed them with open arms, but now overseas firms are complaining about the country’s increasingly hostile business environment as concerns rise over protectionism, forced technology transfers and tightening censorship

“Challenging”, “hesitant” and “doubtful” are the kind of words European and American companies in China are using to describe their environment.

Concerns over the business climate are mounting, and range from rising protectionism and slow progress in market access to forced technology transfers and tightening internet censorship.

. . .

Yet few foreign companies dare publicly to express their worries. A common tactic is to express discontent to embassies and business lobby groups.

 

[Randy W]

Some news about KFC in China, and their nail polish in the WSJ

 

Taste Test: China Real Time Tries KFC’s Edible ‘Fried Chicken’ Nail Polish

 

First, because it’s made with actual food ingredients, each bottle has an expiration date of five days after bottling. Ingredients include original recipe seasoning, vegetable gum, edible color, vegetable oil and maltodextrin, a food additive made from starch, rather than the chemicals usually found in nail polish.

It needs to be ingested within five minutes of opening. And unlike regular nail polish, it can’t be reused after the bottle is opened.

 

 

 

and the KFC news . . .

 

China was once what one executive at KFC’s parent Yum Brands Inc. described as “an absolute gold mine,” as growth in the country spiked for years on Chinese consumers’ preference for Western fast food and clean decor. KFC has 5,019 restaurants in China and KFC (Hong Kong), a franchise managed by Birdland (Hong Kong) Ltd., has 52 outlets. KFC sales in China rose 12% in the first quarter of this year.

 

KFC was the first major Western fast-food company to set up shop in mainland China when it opened its doors in Beijing in 1987. But it has seen its fortunes shift as China’s burgeoning middle class has set its sights on more-upscale dining options.

Like some other foreign firms, the company has also come under official scrutiny over the past few years, including probes by Chinese authorities into the levels of antibiotics in its chicken.

Yum Brands plans to spin off its China division by the end of the year as it hopes to insulate the company from food-safety scares and fierce competition in the country.