Journalist China
Alibaba, Sogou in New Search Moves 阿里巴巴和搜狗向在线搜索业务发力
There’s a flurry of interesting new developments in China’s online search market, which has suddenly become a hotbed of new activity after a several years of quiet during a period of domination by sector leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU). Leading the reports is news that e-commerce giant Alibaba, which already operates an e-commerce search site called eTao, is entering the more mainstream search market. At the same time, other reports are saying that Sohu’s (Nasdaq: SOHU) Sogou, the industry’s third largest search engine, is in talks to acquire Soso, the search engine run by Chinese Internet titan Tencent (Nasdaq: 700). Lastly there’s the more minor news bit that the search engine run by the People’s Daily has run into hard times and is laying off up to 10 percent of its staff.
Lenovo‘s Growing East-West Split 联想东西方业务不断分离
I don’t know if anyone else out there has noticed this, but a recent string of events is pointing to a growing rift between PC giant Lenovo’s (HKEx: 992) North American-based operations and its home base in China, in what could be a good or bad thing depending on how the situation develops. The nascent rift was on display recently with media reports that the company was forming a new Americas highly autonomous unit to strengthen its North and South American operations. (Chinese article)
China: A Global New Energy Scavenger 中国：全球新能源企业买家
New reports that major car maker Dongfeng Motor (HKEx: 489) is bidding to buy a struggling US hybrid car maker are casting a spotlight on China’s emerging role as scavenger for global new energy companies struggling to stay in business. A number of factors are driving this budding trend, led by the fact that many of these Chinese suitors are relatively cash rich and in a good position to provide much-needed funds for cash-starved western new energy firms.
Jingdong Raises Funds As IPO Looms 京东商城最新融资或为IPO前奏
China’s second largest e-commerce site Jingdong Mall may not be good at making profits, but its latest round of mega fund-raising shows it’s become quite adept at convincing wealthy investors of its longer-term viability. Equally important, this latest round of $400 million in new fund raising means Jingdong may still be eying an IPO in the near term, reviving a plan that it launched last year but later abandoned due to a weak market. It would most likely want to make the offering sooner rather than later, since archrival and market leader Alibaba may also looking to make its own multibillion-dollar offering later this year if market conditions remain positive.
Western Brands Try E-commerce Road to China 西方品牌借网店来中国闯市场
US apparel maker Cherokee (Nasdaq: CHKE) made a strategic gamble last week when it largely circumvented China’s traditional retail store network and opened a shop on the Internet, highlighting an emerging new path for foreign mid-sized brands into the lucrative sector. (company announcement) Unlike real-world shops, online stores are much cheaper to set up and also target an e-commerce market set to become the world’s largest over the next decade.
Free Trade Wins as US OKs Nexen Sale 美国为中海油收购尼克森放行 自由贸易的胜利
In a big victory for free trade, the US has approved the sale of Canadian oil exploration giant Nexen (Toronto: NXY) to China’s CNOOC (HKEx: 883; NYSE: CEO), removing the last major obstacle that could have stopped the landmark deal. The US approval was decidedly low-key, with Nexen formally announcing it had received the final major green light it needed to close the sale. (English article) The development marks the second major approval of a potentially sensitive deal by the US in the last month, and is the latest indicator that such deals that pose no real risk to national security and are likely to move forward for now without political resistance.
Free Trade Wins as US OKs Nexen Sale 美国为中海油收购尼克森放行自由贸易的胜利
In a big victory for free trade, the US has approved the sale of Canadian oil exploration giant Nexen (Toronto: NXY) to China’s CNOOC (HKEx: 883; NYSE: CEO), removing the last major obstacle that could have stopped the landmark deal. The US approval was decidedly low-key, with Nexen formally announcing it had received the final major green light it needed to close the sale. (English article) The development marks the second major approval of a potentially sensitive deal by the US in the last month, and is the latest indicator that such deals that pose no real risk to national security and are likely to move forward for now without political resistance.
Real Estate Services: Time to Buy? 房地产服务：买入时机？
After showing early signs of a pickup last fall, online real estate services firm Soufun (NYSE: SFUN) is sending even stronger signals that springtime may indeed be coming for companies that make their money from buying and selling activity in the property market. Here it’s important to point out that this coming spring for market leaders Soufun and E-House doesn’t mean that China’s real estate prices are going to start rising sharply again anytime soon. Instead, what it means is that real estate buyers and sellers are starting to feel confident that the market has stabilized after more than a year of uncertainty due to government cooling policies.
US Sanctions Spotlight China Expansion Risk 美国制裁突显中国扩张风险
New US sanctions against a handful of Chinese companies accused of illegally selling goods to Iran, North Korea or Syria are once again casting a spotlight on the risk investors and businesses face when dealing with Chinese companies, especially sellers of high-tech equipment and services. In this particular case most of the sanctioned companies appear to have ties to China’s military and are all privately held. But other high-profile cases in the past year have pointed to similar potentially illegal behavior by telecoms equipment giants Huawei and ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063), which are suspected of selling or trying to sell goods to Iran, possibly in violation of US or UN sanctions.
Baidu Tries E-Commerce Search 百度购物上线 再入电商门槛
After several misguided e-commerce initiatives that ended in failure, Internet giant Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) is finally making what looks like a smart move in the highly competitive space by focusing on what it does best: providing search services. In this case, media are reporting that China’s dominant provider online search company has quietly launched an e-commerce search engine, in what looks like a direct challenge to e-commerce leader Alibaba’s own eTao e-commerce search site.
