Managing Editor & Publisher Russel Beron russel@chainamagazine.com Art Director Colin Dizengoff colind@imprintasia.com Graphic Designer How Xu Finance Manager Jenny Kim Key Account Manager Wendy Yu

Account Manager Carl Pan Circulation Manager Giselle Yang Special Projects Amina Khayat Photographers Grant-Oh! Buchwald Jackson Lowen Contributing Writers Jamie Bolton, Jack Buffington, Chris Deans, William Dodson, Chris Horton, David Lammie, Michael Mackey

FROM THE EDITOR

Who would have thought that two weeks of sports activities could bring the middle kingdom to a standstill? That is until the Olympics came to China. Visa restrictions -- ostensibly due to the Olympics --have limited entry of foreign business people and cleaned out most foreigners not in China on an official work visa. Olympic logistics restrictions have put a stop to many kinds of cargo movement and brought delays for most others, while economic activity and tourism has slowed dramatically. This has been a tough year so far for China, record snowstorms, followed by an earthquake, an economic slowdown in the US and heavy inflation in China. April’s Canton fair was a bust due to over the top security resulting in a lack of orders and limited trading activity. Then the government finally yielded to oil price pressure, raising prices almost 20%, though oil is still heavily subsidized. Sometimes you have to wonder what’s behind the thinking in Beijing. What does this all mean for China? The easy days are over, both for foreign manufacturers and for local suppliers. China is starting to look more like any other market, where healthy competition drives out the weaker players and pushes cost cutting and efficiency. Really this spells opportunity for Chinese players, like the local 3PL’s we talk about in our cover story. Offering value added service is a sure way to stay competitive in this market. As some of our other stories suggest, the need for first class logistics and increased supply chain efficiency will only increase. Markets like Vietnam, which has its own growth problems to deal with, are picking up some of the manufacturing slack due to the Olympics and becoming more viable for certain types of production, but there is no ready replacement for China in the foreseeable future. It will be interesting to see what happens in the wake of the Olympics as the country gears up for Expo 2010, hopefully Beijing will learn from their mistakes.

Chaina magazine editorial advisory committee

Dittmar Nerger Head of Global Sourcing Bayer Healthcare Dong-Hong Zhu Head of WW Procurement (China), Materials Manager, Agilent Technologies Shanghai Guy Tran Logistics Manager, Auchan China Hypermarkets Jean-Luc Laboucheix Supply Chain Director Asia Pacific, Goodyear Max Henry Founder and Executive Director, Global Supply Chain Council Vanessa Guo Vice President Sales Runbow Logistics Nis-Peter Iwersen Vice President, Danfoss China Robert Jiang General Manager, Dajin Logistics Tony Li Logistics Manager, Amway China

CHaINA Sponsorship For information on sponsorship opportunities with CHaINA Magazine, please contact: Russel Beron russel@chainamagazine.com DISTRIBUTION

We distribute CHaINA free by direct mail to subscribers in China, Hong Kong and Singapore who are involved in all aspects of supply chain management, manufacturing and logistics. Our target subscribers are logistics, warehousing and transportation directors and managers; sourcing, procurement and purchasing directors and managers; and manufacturing executives at foreign and domestic Chinese companies. For subscription inquiries, please contact: subs@chainamagazine.com. Contact us to receive a free digital or print edition of the magazine. CHaINA Magazine is distributed through selected locations in Shanghai, including hotels, restaurants, business centers, airport lounges and other key locations.

Comments and Feedback We welcome feedback and comments about our content or any issues relating to supply chain management or trade in China. Please email any comments to the Editor at: russel@chainamagazine.com

Russel Beron

Editor and Publisher CHaINA Magazine

Chaina magazine’s sponsors:

CHaINA Magazine (ISSN 1992-9668) is published jointly by Painted Horse Media Limited (Hong Kong) and the China Supply Chain Council Limited (Hong Kong). There is no charge for qualified readers to receive subscriptions. Send subscription requests or address changes to subs@chainamagazine.com. The contents of the magazine may not be reprinted in whole or in part without the permission of the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for product claims and representations. CHaINA is a registered trademark of the China Supply Chain Council. www.chainaonline.com JULY/AUGUST 2008

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