The old whore of the East has cleaned up her act and is attracting a whole new generation of businessmen, journalists, eager entrepreneurs and party people. Shanghai is the coolest, the hottest, the most exciting Asian metropolis - the superlatives may change, but the sentiment remains the same. And as the city rises resplendent from the ashes of its less salubrious past, it constantly invites comparison - and competition - with another Pearl of the East, the former British colony of Hong Kong...

China is lifting its ban on foreign investment in television and film production companies, as part of a package of landmark reforms intended to revitalise the country's sprawling state-dominated media industry. The prospect of direct involvement in TV and film production will be of intense interest to overseas media groups, which are hungry for a greater role in the rapidly growing Chinese market. The move also underlines Beijing's determination to commercialise media organisations ran...