‘Golden week’ shopping arrives amid uncertain times
Judging by sales of certain luxury goods in the shopping heartland of Hong Kong, what gift to give your boss is a conundrum facing more than a few well-heeled mainland visitors during the “golden week” holidays from October 1.
Giving gifts is crucial if you want to get ahead in Chinese politics or business, but what do you do when you don’t know whether your boss is about to be promoted or tossed out of a job?
Judging by sales of certain luxury goods in the shopping heartland of Hong Kong, that’s a conundrum facing more than a few well-heeled mainland visitors during the “golden week” holidays from October 1.
The break is a boom sales period for Hong Kong stores, but this year it’s coinciding with a slowdown in the Chinese economy and the build-up to Beijing’s once-a-decade leadership transition.
The crucial congress that will name the new chiefs of the secretive Communist Party will take place on November 8, state media has announced.
Few analysts expect any surprises at the very top – Vice-President Xi Jinping appears certain to replace President Hu Jintao – but what happens at lower levels of China’s vast machinery of state is anyone’s guess.
Rumours are swirling of deep divisions within the party’s elite, and many analysts say this leadership transition is the most turbulent since Jiang Zemin’s appointment as party leader in 1989.