China is working hard to get rid of its image a a counterfeit and piracy haven in the eyes of the world community.  After its successful Olympics, the nation of 1.3 billion people is beginning to stamp out counterfeit producers and sellers and to be known as a legitimate manufacturing center.  From Reuters: China is becoming a bit [...]

“Unlocked” iPhones are continuing to flood into China as consumers wait for Apple to sign a distribution deal.  An estimated half a million First Generation iPhones were brought to China between June 2007 and March 2008, roughly one-tenth of all global shipments of the iPhone.  In addition, some estimates state that 40 percent of the entire world’s [...]

Chinese citizens continue to get thrown in jail and beaten for attempting to address issues of corruption in China.  From the Christian Science Monitor:  When Fang Zhaojuan began organizing her neighbors here to impeach village leaders whom she suspected of corruption, she had no idea that the challenge would lead her first to the hospital and then [...]

The 121 tons is the equivalent of the tusks from 11,000 elephants.  Source: “Round the horn,” The Economist, July 19, 2008, pg. 68.

Mistresses of Chinese Officials could face charges of corruption as the Communist Party tries to lower corruption. From the AP (via IHT): China could put the mistresses of corrupt officials on trial in its fight to battle corruption under a proposed criminal law amendment, a state newspaper said Tuesday. Spouses, children and those who have “intimate relations” with corrupt [...]

Source: Andrew Bounds and Roman Olearchyk, “Alarm at flood of bogus pesticides,” Financial Times Deutshland, July 1, 2008.

The Wall Street Journal reports on the popularity of the Silk Market in China. From the WSJ: While Chinese authorities have taken aggressive efforts to protect Olympics-related intellectual property, the Silk Market in central Beijing stands out as a symbol of the enduring struggle against counterfeiters. Silk Street has become central to the Olympic experience. Games organizers highlight [...]

Ticket scalpers in China lost money when Chinese Olympic hero Liu Xiang dropped out of the 110 meters hurdles to injury.  From BBC News: Olympic tickets are being sold for as little as a tenth of their previous black-market value after a Chinese athlete dropped out. The price for tickets to see the 110m hurdles plummeted after athletics [...]

The Boston Globe has an article on the makers of Titleist Golf Balls fight against counterfeits in China.  From the Boston Globe:  Jason Yao lives a dangerous life for a guy in the golf business. He gets death threats. He raids factories and markets. He shakes down informants and hangs out with private investigators. He has 10 aliases. China [...]

According to author Moises Naim, ” human smuggling out of China alone has been estimated between $1 and $3 billion per year”. Source: Moises Naim, Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers, and Copycats are hijacking the global economy, (New York: Doubleday, 2005), pg. 88.