Soybean import demand to moderate

Consumer Hits

What's hot with China's consumers?

More big hitters

China Confidential researchers and contacts on the ground spot yet more consumer trends.

A lot of hot water

Clear skies for China's solar water heater industry.

Shanda's riveting new chapter

Shanda's literature arm has stormed the online reading market by allowing amateur writers to publish novels on its website and charge its members to read them.

A is for Alpha

Guangdong toymaker Alpha is proving a hit with China's kids through its cartoon series Blazing Teens and Race Tin.

Scramble for organic eggs

Organic egg producer DQY's profits have grown 500% since the melamine scandal hit China last October.

Shanda's shining star – Aion

Chinese online games giant enrolled over 1m players just one week after its launch of NCSoft's Aion.

www dot diamonds

China's middle class go in search of bargain gems.

Peak scores

Sports shoe maker Peak is winning with China's estimated 300m basketball fans.

Will China's property market revival continue?

Residential property sales, construction of floor space and real estate prices have been rising in recent weeks, but is the trend sustainable?

Should monetary policy be tightened?

A surge in lending has aroused concerns over the risk of future inflation and mounting bad debt.

China's rural promise

Conventional wisdom has it that the rural economy of China is either in terrible shape or, at best, becalmed. A study of long-range trends, however, yields a much more optimistic picture.

15th - 28th May

China opposes North Korea's nuclear test, while it boosts ties with Brazil. PetroChina makes its first overseas acquisition of a public company; Beijing eases regulations on overseas investment; and China Mobile strikes a deal on handsets.

A big boost for a green future

Li Keqiang, a protégé of President Hu Jintao, is injecting fresh vigour into renewable energy initiatives. Plus, optimism over Taiwan-China economic co-operation is overblown; and the fall out from North Korea’s nuclear test.