Music on the move
Wang Zhongjun has had trouble making money from his record company. Piracy has been a problem, and less people are buying records than ever before, says the president of Beijing-based Huayi Brothers. The company owns a number of entertainment firms, including a film production house and a record company.

Money on the mobile
The China Mobile Payment Business Development Report, released in January by Byna Consulting, shows that in 2005, 15.60 million Chinese consumers were using mobile phones to pay for products or services, growing 134 per cent year-on-year. The number of users accounted for 4 per cent of the total mobile subscriber population and the amount of the payment reached 340 million yuan (US$42 million).

Scholarly pursuits
The long historical tradition of essay writing in China likely dates back at least 2,500 years ago, when Confucius identified it as one of the six basic skills of the nobility. Essay writing eventually emerged as one of the most important parts of the imperial examinations to promote government officials in the Sui Dynasty 1,400 years ago.