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Journalist China
Business news from China By Doug Young.
Doug Young, journalist, has lived and worked in China for 20 years, much of that as a journalist, writing about publicly listed Chinese companies.
He is based in Shanghai where, in addition to his role as editor of Young’s China Business Blog, he teaches financial journalism at Fudan University, one of China’s top journalism programs.
He contributes regularly to a wide range of publications in both China and the west, including Forbes, CNN, Seeking Alpha and Reuters, as well as Asia-based publications including the South China Morning Post, Global Times, Shanghai Daily and Shanghai Observer
I have to extend my sympathies to education services provider New Oriental (NYSE: EDU), which seems unable to earn any respect from US investors these days. The company has just reported earnings that look quite respectable to me, after being exonerated last year by the US securities regulator over potentially problematic accounting. And yet despite all that good news, investors have greeted this latest earnings report largely with indifference, leading me to speculate that New Oriental could soon join a growing list of US-traded Chinese firms to privatize. Read Full Post…
Moral justice is the big victor in a courtroom drama between Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700) and security software specialist Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU), which has just ended with a guilty verdict against Qihoo for unfair competition. This new ruling comes just a month after another court ruled in Tencent’s favor in a similar but separate case where it was accused of unfair competition by Qihoo. What all of this shows is that China’s court system is becoming more sophisticated in settling business disputes, and can now make strong judgments to stop illegal behavior after it occurs. But the courts are still largely ineffective at discouraging such behavior in future cases, since Chinese law usually severely limits the size of damages for most transgressions. Read Full Post…
Internet search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) can’t seem to do anything right these days, even when it posts quarterly earnings results that look relatively respectable to me. I suspect that the same short-term traders who bid up Baidu’s stock to meteoric heights in the years after its 2005 IPO are now trying to make more money by short selling the company. That’s my best explanation for the 8 percent sell-off in Baidu stock in after-hours trade after it posted its latest quarterly earnings report. If the losses carry into the regular Friday session, Baidu could easily see its market capitalization drop below the $30 billion mark as its stock tests new lows not seen for more than 3 years. Read Full Post…
Chinese media are buzzing over the fact that tech giant Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) China sales slowed sharply in the first 3 months of 2013, raising the question of whether its days of strong growth in the market may be finished. Quite a few factors are at play in this case, including some short term issues like difficult comparisons from a year earlier. But other longer terms issues are also at play, most notably negative publicity which has tarnished the company’s “cool” image. Apple will need to address these latter issues in China over the next year, since continued image erosion could easily put the company on a long-term downward track.
When in doubt, regulate. That seems to be the growing attitude in Beijing these days towards China’s tech sector, following the latest media reports that one government agency is getting ready to tackle the problem of mobile spam, while another prepares rules for the newly emerging industry of apps that help people call taxis. I do agree that many problems like mobile spam need to be controlled, and that emerging sectors like taxi apps could always use some guidance to promote orderly development. But China’s growing tendency to try to regulate all things in the tech realm is a bit worrisome, and reflects a broader national love of rules, regulations and bureaucracy. (previous post) Read Full Post…
The latest stomach-churning results from fast food giant Yum (NYSE: YUM) are a good opportunity for an updated look at the impact that bird flu is having on companies that rely on the restaurant and travel industries in China. Somewhat ironically, these latest dismal results from the operator of KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants actually sparked a rally in Yum shares, since many were expecting the figures to be even worse than they were. Read Full Post…
In what looks like a major development in the ongoing feud between China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) and Tencent (HKEx: 700) over the latter’s popular WeChat service, China’s telecoms regulator has said it will no longer play the role of mediator in the issue and instead will let the market resolve the matter. I have to commend the Ministry of Information and Industry Technology (MIIT) for its decision, as I’ve previously said a regulator’s job is to maintain order in the industry and not to get involved in commercial disputes. This interesting turn of events could also signal that China Mobile itself may be preparing to back down in this case, following widespread criticism that it’s trying to blame others like Tencent for its own lackluster performance. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 24. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Huawei Lowers Long-Term Target For Enterprise Sales (English article)
Taiwan Investigates Taobao for Tax Evasion (English article)
MIIT: Market To Decide If Tencent (HKEx: 700) WeChat Charges Fees (Chinese article)
Yingli (NYSE: YGE) Signs $165 Mln Loan With China Dev Bank (PRNewswire)
Columbia Pacific, China Partner To Develop Senior Living Projects (Businesswire)
Yingli (NYSE: YGE) has become the latest player in China’s struggling solar sector to get a lifeline from Beijing, as an interesting picture starts to emerge of the relative health of the sector’s major players and who is likely to lead a coming consolidation. The list of who gets these lifelines could also reflect the relative importance Beijing places on China’s wide and varied field of solar panel and panel component makers, meaning some of these lifeline recipients could emerge as potential leaders to help consolidate the sector in the months ahead. Read Full Post…
I was a bit surprised by the just-released latest quarterly results from cellular crybaby China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL), which I expected to contain abundant evidence supporting its grievances in an ongoing battle with Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700). China Mobile complains that Tencent’s popular WeChat mobile instant messaging service is hogging up capacity on its network, and is pressuring Tencent to start charging fees for the service so that both companies can share that revenue. At the same time, China Mobile is also complaining that WeChat helps mobile subscribers circumvent traditional SMS services by routing messages over the Internet, robbing China Mobile of an important revenue source. Read Full Post…
A recent spat over the past week between a feisty short seller and real estate services firm SouFun (NYSE: SFUN) is providing some good entertainment for China stock watchers, though investors may be less entertained. The ongoing tussle has seen the self admitted short seller, a company called Glaucus Research, issue 3 reports over the period, with SouFun replying in each instance that it’s done nothing wrong. All of this shows that US-listed Chinese companies remain attractive targets for short sellers some 2 years after a series of attacks that sent many companies’ shares tumbling and kicked off a prolonged winter for the entire sector. Read Full Post…
