On the Road  Just a short entry for the blog today. We left the hotel in Beijing at 5:30 this morning enroute to the airport. After a few far-too-close calls, Fran and I successfully boarded and were on our way to Shanghai. Pudong airport is quite a distance from central Shanghai – connecting the two however is the engineering marvel …

On the Road  In stark contrast to when I opened the curtains yesterday to reveal great disappointment, today Beijing truly turned it on, presenting a winter-wonderland outside as snow blanketed the city. Beijing looked truly stunning today, the snow cleared much of the pollution and the extended sight-lines showed a beautiful winter city – giving a whole new appreciation for what is …

On the Road  This morning was a pretty big disappointment when I opened my curtains to reveal one of the worst days for pollution since I arrived in Beijing. I made the decision to hold off on the Forbidden City for one more day and make the journey to the Silk Market, a place described to me as a hub …

On the Road  Today was Friday in Beijing, the final day of the working week and the last full-day of our work program until we reach Shanghai on Monday. First up was a meeting with Nicola Morris, General Manager of Fonterra’s farm operations here in China. She walked us through exactly how New Zealand’s largest company was getting on over …

On the Road  Early start today with breakfast at 6:15am, something I’m going to have to get used to! Today is the Economist’s China Summit for 2013. Taking place for the third time in as many years, the conference this year is themed around the recent leadership change that took place in China and the greater implications it could have both domestically …

The departing boss of Coca-Cola in New Zealand is leaving disappointed that companies are not appreciated for making money but says the country has been a great place to do business and live in. George Adams is moving back to Europe after serving nine years as managing director of Coca-Cola Amatil NZ and Fiji. Irishman Barry O’Connell, who is currently …

On the Road  Fran and I have just returned from an amazing day with some of the leading figures in developing Beijing-Hollywood. I’ll keep my remarks brief as  I wouldn’t want to spoil the video that will go up on the site in the coming days. We began the day at the magnificent Star Lake Resort – a newly built, luxury facility …

The New Zealand dollar was under pressure in early trading after being sold-off overnight in London. The kiwi was at 83.93 US cents at 8am, little changed from 83.94 cents at 5.25pm on Tuesday. But it slumped from 84.19 cents to about 83.75 cents before recovering in overnight trading. There appeared to have been a large kiwi-euro flow in London …

On the Road  Today was an early start! Our driver arranged to collect Fran and I from the hotel at 7:30am to begin our program. symptoms of diabetes First up on the agenda was a meeting with Derek Low, head of Beca’s operations in China. Beca, a New Zealand engineering firm, operates a number of offices throughout Asia. Derek spoke to us …

A lack of wind is being blamed for the acrid grey smog currently blanketing Beijing with the city enduring some of the worst pollution on record. Official readings taken over the weekend showed PM2.5 readings in Beijing of 886 micrograms per cubic metre. To give that some perspective – 25 micrograms is the WHO’s cut-off level for safe emissions. The …