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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
A new lawsuit filed in the US by Chinese fishermen seeking compensation from an oil spill nearly two years ago is exposing big shortcomings in China’s court system, undermining the nation’s efforts to build a world-class, independent judiciary. The suit against oil exploration giant ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is also casting an embarrassing spotlight on the government ministry handling the case, whose refusal to arbitrate the matter has forced the fishermen to look to the US for justice. Read Full Post…
Dominant Chinese mobile carrier China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) has a well established track record for its inability to do much outside its home market, but that could change soon with word that it’s teaming with European giant Vodafone (London: VOD) to bid for a mobile license in Myanmar. I’m often quite critical of China Mobile, as I think this cash-rich but lazy company has done little to take advantage of its huge size and resources to innovate and expand both at home and abroad. But in this case we’re finally seeing an initiative that looks well conceived, giving it a good chance of success as China Mobile looks to move into more competitive global markets.Read Full Post…
Paramount, Bona discover ups and downs of China film
New headlines from top Hollywood studio Paramount (NYSE: VIAb) and publicly listed China filmmaker Bona Film (Nasdaq: BONA) are showing both the huge potential of the China box office, and also the fickle nature of the broader film industry. In the more typical Hollywood style, Paramount has splashed across the headlines with word that it will join with 2 Chinese partners to co-produce the next installment of its blockbuster “Transformers” franchise. Meantime, Bona was decidedly lower key in announcing its latest quarterly results, highlighted by a slide into the red due to lack of hit movies. Read Full Post…
It may seem like a minor thing, but Jingdong Mall’s new decision to formally change its web address is one of the most welcome pieces of news that I’ve seen in China’s e-commerce space in quite a while. I realize that of course I’m exaggerating a little, but the latest decision from Jingdong does seem relatively significant because it demonstrates the company is trying to create a unified and consistent image for consumers and investors as it gears up for a large IPO likely to come later this year in New York. Read Full Post…
Despite a number of major advances in China-Taiwan relations these last few years, one area that has yet to see much progress is M&A by Chinese companies of their Taiwanese counterparts. Chinese banking giant ICBC (HKEx: 1398; Shanghai: 601398) is aiming to break that taboo with its newly announced plans to buy 20 percent of SinoPac Financial Holdings (Taipei: 2890) for about T$20 billion, or about $680 million. (HKEx announcement;English article) Announcement of the sale came the same day that Bank of Taiwan became the first Taiwanese lender to offering direct Taiwan dollar exchange services for China’s currency, the yuan, through its Shanghai branch. (English article) Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on April 3. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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ICBC (HKEx: 1398) To Buy 20 Pct of Taiwan’s Sinopac (Taipei: 2890) (HKEx announcement)
Paramount (NYSE: VIAb), China Movie Channel To Produce “Transformers 4” (English article)
China Telecom (HKEx: 728), Netease (Nasdaq: NTES) Partner on Mobile IM – Source (English article)
Baidu’s (Nasdaq: BIDU) Qunar Meets Resistance From Suppliers (Chinese article)
Class Action Suit Against Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) Dismissed (PRNewswire)
It wouldn’t be a proper week if I didn’t write at least one commentary on the problems plaguing the solar panel sector, so I’ll end this final work day before the Chinese Tomb Sweeping holiday with some of the latest headlines that reflect the turbulent state of affairs. In the positive news column, Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ), one of the healthier players, has announced that a shareholder lawsuit against it has been dismissed, removing the danger of a potentially costly court battle and an even costlier penalty. Meanwhile, suppliers of Suntech (NYSE: STP) are discovering the perils of doing business in the sector, as many begin to write down debts owed by the bankrupt former superstar. Read Full Post…
A new memo that has been reportedly leaked from China’s second largest mobile carrier, China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU), shows the nation’s 3 telcos may not be nearly as united as many may think in their approach to Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) popular WeChat mobile app. This revelation, if true, doesn’t surprise me at all, since industry giant China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) has been leading the assault on WeChat from the very beginning, complaining the popular mobile instant messaging app uses huge amounts of its networking capacity. But it’s far from clear if the nation’s other 2 mobile carriers, Unicom and China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) share China Mobile’s discontent. Read Full Post…
Global sector leaders Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Walmart (NYSE: WMT) have finally broken their silence with PR counter blitzes, after getting pummeled by the Chinese media for weeks in a series of local scandals. Before I go any further, I’d like to personally give myself the award for my inability to read the news, as I previously said the 2 crises now facing these 2 firms in China looked like non-news that would quickly subside. Clearly I was wrong. Read Full Post…
Just a year after re-entering China’s cellphone market, faded Japanese electronics giant NEC (Tokyo: 6701) is in rumored talks to sell its cellphone business to Chinese computing giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992). I previously predicted that such a tie-up could come after NEC’s original announcement last March that it would return to China, and this latest move could auger an eventual takeover of NEC’s entire struggling consumer electronics business by Lenovo. Read Full Post…
In the space of just a half year, Internet giant Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) popular mobile messaging WeChat app has gone from obscurity, to red-hot rising star, to its latest position as a target of attack from just about everyone. The popular app has come under assault in the last 3 months from the nation’s 3 telcos, which complain that WeChat users are taking up a growing share of their network capacity. The trio have found a potent ally in the nation’s telecoms regulator, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), which has stepped in to help “mediate” the dispute. On top of all that, a wave of envious rivals with copycat products is quickly appearing on the scene. Read Full Post…
