2 May 2006 – holiday period
The best kept secret seems to be – how many people really live in the Beijing Municipality?
I have been checking any figure published in the official press. Most are misleading and contradictory, once you know what to look for.
Finally, in the April edition of the magazine BusinessBeijing (one of my favorite), I found an overview I can give a stamp of credibility. The official population in 2005 was 15.36 million – in 1949 it was 4.2 million. The outlying rural regions count for 16.4% or 2.52 million. Now comes the interesting part – it does not include the more than 4 million migrant workers without a residency status.
In other words, the real total would be about 20 million. Now you know.
China’s total population on 1 November stood at 1.306 billion according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
Wal-Mart China will hire up to 150,000 employees over the next five years – five times the current work force. It has now 30,000 employees and 56 stores – 20 more to open this year.
China will produce 98 million desktop and laptop computers in 2006, 58 million for export. Roughly, production goes up 20% every year. Check the lable on your PC when you go shopping next doors to Wal-Mart.

Here we urge the authorities to allow a smooth development of new technologies through efficient protection of Intellectual Property Rights.
In France they are giving a bad example, setting the clock back by a bill that would require Apple to open its software codes of its iTunes Music Store.
I am very happy with iTunes and use two iPods. Great fun, I have downloaded nearly all my CDs and have nearly 7 days of uninterrupted music. No access to the Music Store yet in China. The iPod helps me in my running in the gym: last Saturday I run 15K on the treadmill in 90 minutes. Kind of boring without the music. Last Marathon in Beijing I even used the Nano I bought a couple of days before the race.
Why people love the iPod and iTunes? Because it is a good product. France should go after companies that make bad products, not the ones that innovate and make consumers happy.
As commented in the IHT, the French short-sightedness could result in other countries forcing French companies to open their “codes” – e.g. in electronics, biotech and telecom.
Once again France is setting a bad example.
I just don’t get it how all those clever people in France can come up with such ridiculous ideas like the 35 hours week and the rest. The Chinese must be happy with the French – now they have good excuse to ask foreign companies to open their technology secrets. Even the new Chinese draft Labor Law looks like it was a direct import from France. If approved the new law will take away all flexibility from the labor market. Another consequence: it will encourage companies to steal staff from competitors: the employees can take along all the technology and management expertise as the penalties to be paid are peanuts.