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A typical think tank professional has good reason to stay close to centers of politics such as Washington, DC, and Beijing. But some prefer new ideas found far from the world's political elite. Page 2

The global economic and financial crisis has had a major impact on foreign direct investment (FDI) flows. But trends point to new directions. Page 2

With its world's largest mining and construction assembly center officially opened last month, Sandvik is ready to further accelerate its expansion in China.

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After four years of research, cosmetics maker and television celebrity Robin Niu (Niu'er) chose Taobao, China's largest online commerce cite, to launch his new product. Page 3

As China ushers in a new generation of smartphones and 3G networks, Google and Baidu are shifting their battle from the Internet to China's mobile search market. Page 3

Global PC giant Hewlett-Packard is eager to win a larger share of the growing, but largely untapped market of rural consumers in China. Page 4

Central Retail Corp, Thailand's leading retail conglomerate, sees plenty of room for expansion into one of the world's larger consumer markets. Page 4

Harbin and Budweiser beers, two core brands of Anheuser-Busch InBev China, reached "double-digit" sales volume growth for the summer season, buoyed by the firm's aggressive marketing and expansion. Page 4

Born as the scion of one of Macao's more wealthy and powerful families, Lawrence Ho is now focused on expanding his resort empire. Page 5

High-end luxury hotel groups such as Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts are now targeting guests from the government sector and State-owned enterprises to make up for the decline in international business travel in this economic downturn. Page 5

Beijing Huaxia Pawnshop Co teams up with a credit guarantee institution and Bank of Communications Ltd to offer loans targeting small and medium-sized businesses. Page 8

For Lord Sharman, chairman of Aviva Group, this year's location for the group's board of directors meeting held special significance. China is becoming an important focus for Aviva. Page 8

China's top banking regulators are considering a consumer protection plan to ensure that customers are consistently treated fairly when receiving services from domestic banks. Page 8

The Yunghe soybean milk trademark will return to a Taiwanese company in Hong Kong this month following a seven-month battle over Yunghe's intellectual property rights. Page 9

People's Insurance Company (Group) of China reports on its corporate social responsibility achievements for 2008. Page 10

Daryl Guppy, the Australian investment guru, believes a full recovery of the world economy might be only four years away. Page 12

(China Daily 10/19/2009 page1)