Maximum China

International channels such as TV5, CNN and BBC are getting routinely blacked out these last days. YouTube has been blocked again as well. Tibet content is likely to blame.

After ten months of hard work we finally have our business licenses and company chops. We have licenses to serve both the advertising industry and the human resources industry. I’m sure we are the first and only company in China.

A legal formed company in China should have at least three chops. They are called Company Chop, Finance Chop and Private Chop of Legal Person. The shape of company chop and finance chop of foreign company is ellipse. The shape of company chop and finance chop of Chinese company is round.

Maximum has been sponsoring quite some events recently. Objectives: create brand awareness and build a database with prospects. Sponsors get the attendants list and we are already working on our first leads.

The Great Firewall of China has blocked YouTube. No more movies from us on YouTube but on Tudou.

We just bought ourselves some basic stuff at Ikea Shanghai. I never really liked their stuff, but there is no other shop where you can buy everything you need all at once, right? 400 euro’s on things you already have at home feels like a big waste of money but we do have some stuff of our own now.

I haven’t written anything in one week so let’s start with a little video showing our new apartment in Xintiandi. I know some of you are really curious on how we are living in Shanghai.

The first-ever Deloitte Film Festival invited all people of the Deloitte U.S. Firms to make short videos that answered the question “What’s your Deloitte?”. Teams comprised of one to seven people submitted films about their lives and experiences at the organization. Nearly 400 submissions were received and more than 2000 participated in the filmmaking process.

The videos were posted on an internal “You-Tube” like site and then rated by the filmmakers’ peers and colleagues. From there, a diverse panel of judges chose the finalists and Deloitte’s employees picked the winners. The top videos, seen here, will be integrated into the organizations recruiting efforts.

In line with the government announcement of National Holiday, Maximum China will be closed from October 1st to October 7th, 2007. But instead we will work on Sept 29th (Sat) and 30th (Sun).

China introduced these holidays in 1999. But after several years of experience, some discordant voices have emerged. Complaints about overcrowding, poor service and a scarcity of hotel rooms during this week have spurred debate over the merits of the week-long holiday concept. 3.5 billion people all having a week long holiday sounds a bit crazy.

I will probably stay home to catch up with some work and do some sports.

We have received the approval letter issued by Shanghai Foreign Investment Commission, which

also informs us that the Approval Certificate is ready at Ministry of Commerce in Beijing. JLJ will go fetch it in Beijing.

Once we get the Approval Certificate, we will submit to Shanghai AIC (Administrative Bureau for Industry and Commerce) for business license. I have been working for months on this project and

finally it looks like there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

Working here without a business license is almost impossible because we are not allowed to lease an office or apartment, not allowed to have staff on your payroll, not allowed to sign contracts and not allowed to work or live in China.