Even as luxury goods consumption has fallen worldwide, China’s appetite for high-end retail has shown a strong momentum. Italian men’s brand Ermenegildo Zegna continues to see a strong flow of new customers through the doors of its 60 retail outlets in China. “More than I expected,” says Ken Kress, head of Zegna’s China operations. “The bottom line is that the overall economy and diversification of wealth have continued to grow.”

Looking to address shortfalls in its current health care system, the Chinese government is implementing large-scale health care reforms. In April, the State Council announced an allocation of 850 billion RMB (US$123 billion) as part of its New Medical Reform Plan to improve health care through 2011. The plan promises to cover 90% of China’s population under a universal health care system by 2010 as well as to significantly improve care facilities and expand health related infrastructure.

Because of its reliance on exports, Korea has had a tough time through the global financial crisis. Combined with internal political strife and an unstable North Korea, the downward spiral of the Won to a low of 1570 KRW to 1 US Dollar in March 2009 has left a lot of Koreans worried that their economy is in an irreversible tailspin. The cheap Won, however, has made Korea a perfect travel destination for anyone seeking great food, hotels, and culture at bargain basement prices and it has also made Korea’s electronics giants like LG Electronics (LGERF.PK) and Samsung (SSNLF.PK) extremely competitive through the global economic slump by letting them cut prices and take market share from Japanese rivals like Sony (SNE) that are hamstrung by the high Yen.

A version of this column originally appeared in China Business Review.

American construction machinery bellwether Caterpillar (CAT) has had a tough year. Its stock price is languishing in the high 30s down from a 52 week high of 85.96 and it has drastically reduced its full time and part time workforce. Given the state of the global economy and the slack demand for construction projects this comes as no surprise.

Activision Blizzard’s (ATVI) massively popular MMORPG or ‘massively multiplayer online role playing game’ World of Warcraft is moving to a new home in China. WoW which for several years had been licensed by The9 (NCTY) in China will now be licensed by NetEase (NTES) for the next 3 years. Investors should take note of this new development as NetEase continues its roll.