"British Media: Kunming is the next Shanghai" proclaims a story headline today on Kunming Information Hub, the municipal government-owned website charged with being Kunming's face to the world.

In truth, it is not "British media" but one magazine that has made such a claim. The Kunming Information Hub article is a translated story from the March 2009 issue of UK-based magazine Monocle, a self-proclaimed "briefing on global affairs, business, culture & design".

The original business story, written by Bangkok-based Monocle correspondent David Fulbrook and entitled "Kunming: The next Shanghai", is a snapshot of a handful of youngish foreigners doing business in Kunming [disclosure: your correspondent is one of the interviewees].

The feeling that one comes away with after reading the story – other than a Monocle editor having a penchant for sensational story titles - is that Kunming is a city with amazing potential, primarily due to being surrounded by vast resources and having good access to the high-growth economies of China, India and Southeast Asia.

Under the aegis of its current party secretary and Communist Party rock star Qiu He, Kunming has made much progress in improving its traffic, health and education infrastructure while reducing corruption and inefficiency.

Attracting investment from elsewhere in China - and the world - has also been made a priority during Qiu's time in Kunming. Attempts to bring domestic investment to Kunming have been largely successful, with companies in China's more affluent coastal regions agreeing to make substantial investments in the city's future.

Less successful have been the efforts to attract elusive large-scale foreign investment that other southwestern Chinese cities such as Chengdu and Chongqing have been able to land. Even Nanning in Guangxi seems to be challenging Kunming as Southeast Asia's gateway to China.

This begs the question: Why with everything it has going for it does Kunming lag behind other Chinese cities, even in southwest China, as a destination for foreign investment?

A sidebar in the Monocle story that wasn't translated and posted on Kunming Information Hub is its suggested 'fixes' for Kunming. In recent months, much progress has been made on the first suggestion – that Kunming add bilingual street signs so that residents and visitors can navigate the city.

The remaining four tips Monocle offers Kunming are to improve the traffic and taxi situation, stop demolishing historical buildings, work on its image/branding/promotions and also to get better English-language media:


As for what Kunming residents think about the chances of Kunming one day becoming a major city on par with Shanghai, local BBS commenters seem split, with about half considering the story over-the-top Western reporting on China, and the other half hoping that Kunming does become more like Shanghai. In the words of one commenter:

"I hope the people of Kunming can liberate their minds the way the Shanghainese have."

For full the full Monocle story in English, check Andao Tea's website

As international travel and business interest in China's second- and third-tier cities grows, increasing number of cities around China are producing English-language promotional platforms and materials aimed at reaching a broader international audience - primarily via the internet.

Kunming is no different. Last year as part of the launch of its Chinese-language Kunming Information Hub website, it also unveiled its most competent English-language website to date – en.kunming.cn.

Much of en.kunming.cn, which doesn't have an English name, is translated content from its sister site or aggregated content from other sources such as the China Daily. It has also republished copious amounts of content from GoKunming – without linking back to the source story on GoKunming.

In addition to text content, en.kunming.cn also features a promotional video with the semi-Chinglish title 'I'm Kunming' (我在昆明) (see first half of the video above, second half here), in which an actor portraying a presumably American photographer narrates his thoughts while experiencing some of the more quintessential Kunming experiences and destinations.

As one local government BBS summarizes the promo video:


Shortly after arriving in Kunming, the photographer is sitting in his room reading what appears to be a local newspaper called 'What's Kunming', which bears an uncanny resemblance to how GoKunming's 'About Kunming' page looked in late 2007 (note to whoever made the video: newspapers don't have login boxes).

It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery – GoKunming is sincerely flattered.

Kunming's government is continuing to move toward increased transparency with the recent announcement that a new online platform dubbed the Kunming Information Hub (KIH) will be developed this year, according to a China Daily report.

The project was made public at a conference in Beijing on Monday, during which Kunming mayor Zhang Zulin (张祖林) presented the blueprint for KIH, which will integrate more than 100 municipal government and news websites. Administrative information such as municipal budgets and expenditures plus government procurement costs will be featured on the site.

In addition to making local government more transparent, KIH will serve as a platform for Kunming residents to register complaints and provide feedback to different governmental departments and offices. Aside from serving resident needs, KIH also aims to facilitate investment in Kunming and local business development.

The project blueprint, which has already been ratified, includes teams which will handle online complaints and petitions. Government departments will reportedly be issued yellow or red warning cards if they are slow to respond to complaints from Kunming residents and offices will be "graded by the public on a feedback sheet" as part of a new administrative accountability system.

China Daily will also assist Kunming in building a basic English-language version of KIH in order to increase the Kunming government's transparency in the eyes of current and potential foreign investors, the report said.

The announcement of the pending launch of KIH comes several months after Kunming media released a list of all municipal government officials including contact information and their work responsibilities.