Beijing must really be worried about Facebook coming to China. As you may recall, Chinese media were buzzing a few weeks ago that the global social networking giant was quietly talking to a Chinese partner about a joint venture (previous post), with some saying that partner was none other than search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU). According to one of my industry sources, Beijing, after confirming the situation, has taken the unusual step of giving Facebook three conditions which will quite simply put the brakes on any China plans it may have. The first two conditions may be less-than-ideal but still acceptable, calling on Facebook to only enter China via a true joint venture with a local partner and to locate all of that venture’s servers in China, within easy reach of local censors. But the third condition, and the real deal breaker, would call on Facebook to make any new site it sets up in Chna open to government scrutiny at all times – an unusual step even for even China. If my source is correct, and I believe he is, Facebook’s latest bid to scale the Great Firewall could be dead already, leaving the field to domestic leaders Renren (NYSE: RENN) and Kaixin.
Bottom line: China has become even bolder and more direct than before in its determination to keep global Internet giants from operating directly in its market.
中国政府一定是确实非常担心Facebook入华。你可能还记得，仅仅几周前，中国媒体还大肆报导这家全球社交网站巨擘正悄悄与一家中国公司洽谈成立合资企 业事宜，还有报导称，这家中国公司正是本土搜索巨头百度<BIDU.O>。据我的一名业内消息人士称，北京在确认了这一情况後，已采取不同寻 常的步骤，向Facebook提出三个入华运营条件，而这些苛刻条件意味着Facebook的任何中国计划都将戛然而止。 前两个条件虽然不太理想但仍算可以接受，即要求Facebook必须与当地合作夥伴成立真正的合资企业，并将该合资企业的所有服务器设在中国，以便于国内 网络审查。但真正让合作没得可谈的是第三个条件：Facebook在华创建的任何新网站都要随时接受中国政府的审查–这甚至对中国来说，也是罕见的举 措。如果我得到的消息属实，而且我也相信这是真的，那麽Facebook试图爬过”防火长城”（Great Firewall）的最新一搏可能已告失败，市场空间将留给中国本土企业人人网和开心网。
一句话：在决心阻止全球网络巨头在华直接运营方面，中国的举措正变得比以往更加大胆和直接。
Related postings 相关文章:
◙ Facebook’s China Tie Up: No Big Deal Facebook能否入华？
Telecoms equipment maker ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) has taken quite a number of body blows these days, both at home and abroad, but is determined to show it still has some fighter left in it. In a rare piece of good news for the company being sued by both global giant Ericsson (Stockholm: ERICb) and hometown rival Huawei, ZTE has landed a deal to be the primary provider of equipment to upgrade Telenor’s VAS platforms in its home Nordic markets. (
So, what exactly have all those Westerners smitten by the potential of China’s Internet bought into with their investments in money-losing video sharing site Youku (NYSE: YOKU)? The answer is a decidedly mixed bag, based on the company’s first quarterly earnings results. (
could bring some excitement back into the price element of the equation, and Ctrip should certainly have an edge in this space over other new group buying players due to its strong connections with most major Chinese hotels. In fact, this move fits a broader pattern that has seen Ctrip management take a much more conservative approach to new business, with the result that its new moves — while far fewer than those from the likes of Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Tencent (HKEx: 700) — often stand a much better chance of success.
Minsheng Bank (HKEx: 1988; Shanghai: 600016), one of China’s first private banks, is telling the world it sees the future, and that future is in rural banks. (
After a bit of delay, a healthy dose of drama and more than enough hype, it’s finally official: Renren (NYSE: RENN) is a publicly traded company, beating out rival Kaixin to become China’s first listed social networking site. (
In yet another troubling sign for China’s growing tendency to interfere with market forces, Chinese media are reporting the state telecoms regulator has stepped in to try and “mediate” an end to an intellectual property lawsuit by Huawei Technologies against crosstown rival ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) in Europe, and a countersuit by ZTE. (
of its core online game business, Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) has been a total dud since its listing, and its Ku6 Media (Nasdaq: KUTV) was also a dud until a recent merger rekindled investor interest. I’ve previously said I like Chen’s idea of trying to monetize his different businesses, which appears to be what he’s doing here. But he needs to focus more on creating interesting businesses that can generate investor excitement, or risk ending up with a crop of uninspiring separately-listed companies under the umbrella of an equally uninspired parent.
end of its state-run work units, the upcoming $2 billion-plus Hong Kong listing of Shanghai Pharma looks particularly attractive. (
McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD), in the unfamiliar position of being a constant runner-up in China to rival KFC (NYSE: YUM), is preparing an unusual campaign to try to narrow the gap. The new strategy involves opening more drive-through restaurants to tap the growing number of mobile Chinese with the new cars and not enough places to drive them. According to a Chinese media report, McDonald’s plans to open 700 new stores in the next two years — increasing its current count by 50 percent — with about half of those offering drive-through service. (
