The Future is Slippers

To kick off our meeting, we invited Paul French, retail analyst, and author of Midnight in Peking (the true story of a murdered young British woman in 1937 Beijing). Good way to start our meeting: Sharp, insightful and amusing commentary about China's burgeoning middle class. China's not that interested in creating their own luxury brands. It's easier just to buy Western companies....  M&S are opening stores in Shanghai's satellites towns, full of people saying 'What is shortbread?... and on Shanghai's ageing population: training shoe manufacturers are now saying the future is slippers.