For the latest news on U.S.- and Hong Kong-traded Chinese stocks, visit our new Bamboo Works site.
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
As we get bombarded with a slew of quarterly reports from the likes of NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES) and Tencent (HKEx: 700) about their health in the present, I want to turn my attention to the future with a look at an interesting report on potential Chinese suitors for tumbling smartphone maker BlackBerry (Toronto: BB). The report that caught my attention mentions PC giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992) and telecoms equipment maker Huawei as 2 leading candidates to buy BlackBerry, which formally put itself up for sale earlier this week. Read Full Post…
After a wait of more than 2 years, Sina’s (Nasdaq: SINA) hugely popular Weibo microblogging platform is finally realizing some of its potential, raising the possibility we could finally see an IPO for the Twitter-like service in the next year. People started buzzing about a Weibo IPO as early as late 2010, when the service first began its meteoric rise after Beijing blocked the original Twitter in 2009. But then investors quickly cooled to the idea of an IPO, as it became apparent that Sina Weibo might take a long time to become profitable and a separate series of accounting scandals rocked the broader sector of US-listed Chinese stocks.Read Full Post…
A year after winning a license for domestic parcel delivery in China, global giant UPS (NYSE: UPS) is rolling out a major expansion in the market in a bid to capitalize on the local boom in e-commerce. This kind of expansion could be especially profitable for UPS, as it could profit not only from an explosion in demand for delivery services, but also from demand for its highly profitable logistics services. E-commerce companies could welcome such third-party logistics services, as many are already building up their own networks of warehouses in a bid to deliver their goods more efficiently.
Barely a month goes by these days without rumor of a new acquisition target for Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), which suddenly seems anxious to buy up major assets in its bid to diversify beyond its core search business. The latest rumors say Baidu is close to a deal to purchase Nuomi, the group buying unit of social networking leader Renren (NYSE: RENN). As one of China’s most profitable Internet companies, Baidu is hoping to take advantage of low valuations of Chinese Internet firms, many of which are running low on cash and have had trouble attracting interest from foreign investors. Baidu, by comparison, has plenty of resources to make such purchases, including $2.5 billion in cash from 2 recent major bond sales. Read Full Post…
US-listed drug maker Simcere Pharmaceutical (NYSE: SCR) must be eagerly looking forward to completing its pending privatization, following the release of its latest quarterly results that show the fast-growing Chinese healthcare market is suddenly losing some of its luster. Simcere is just the latest drug maker to encounter headwinds in China, where fierce competition and strict government oversight are suddenly giving both domestic and foreign drug makers a major headache. Many of those companies were hoping to make big bucks as China rolled out a new national healthcare network to replace its old system where everyone got medical care through their state-run work units. But Beijing is pushing back by showing it aims to get maximum value for its money, and also that it won’t tolerate aggressive sales tactics practiced by many companies. Read Full Post…
Traditional retailers are taking a hit recently, with fast-food operator KFC and sporting goods seller Li Ning (HKEx: 2331) the latest to report disappointing results due to a complex series of factors. KFC is suffering from a number of company specific issues, combined with residual effects from China’s slowing economy and fallout from a bird flu outbreak earlier in the year. The picture looks more grim for Li Ning and other traditional non-restaurant retailers, which are fighting a losing battle against fast-rising e-commerce firms. Read Full Post…
I’m calling today “IPO Tuesday” because there are quite a few interesting news bits involving Chinese listing plans, led by an unexpected report that Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700) is eying Singapore for a listing for its popular WeChat mobile messaging service. That same report cites a source saying that Tencent itself eventually aims to complement its existing Hong Kong listing with a dual listing in New York — another unexpected twist for one of China’s most dynamic Internet companies. Meantime, China’s largest investment bank CICC is also making headlines with word of a listing plan, as Internet company 500wan.com moves ahead with its own New York IPO. Read Full Post…
I wasn’t too surprised to read the latest news that British retailing giant Tesco (London: TSCO) was effectively bowing out of the Chinese supermarket business, as the company never really found a niche in the fiercely competitive market. But more interesting will be the fate of remaining giants Walmart (NYSE: WMT) and Carrefour (Paris: CA), and even domestic leader Sun Art (HKEx: 6808), as these companies struggle to remain relevant amid a major assault from e-commerce firms. Of those big players, only Walmart has made a serious move into e-commerce, which looks set to rapidly overtake traditional markets in China’s retailing space. Read Full Post…
We’ve been reading all year about how China is set to overtake the US to become the world’s largest smartphone market in 2013, and now we’re seeing some numbers that tell the story more vividly. The latest figures on China’s smartphone market show Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) position slumping in the second quarter, as sales have surged for a field of domestic players cranking out millions of cheap models, many selling for less than 1,000 yuan ($160 )each. Up-and-coming smartphone maker Xiaomi entered that part of the market just 2 weeks ago with its introduction of the Hongmi, which retails for just 799 yuan. (previous post) Read Full Post…
After several years of trying to figure out what to do with billions of dollars in problematic loans made by Chinese banks during the global financial crisis, Beijing may be close to a long-term solution with plans to create a special market for selling off those loans. Central leaders should be commended for finally addressing a problem that has been hanging over China’s banking sector for the last 2 years, putting the nation’s financial recovery at risk. At the same time, this latest rescue plan once again underscores the close relationship between China’s major banks and the central government, which often prevents them from behaving like true commercial banks. Read Full Post…
A suddenly intensifying rivalry between Internet giants Alibaba and Tencent (HKEx: 700) is building steam, as the pair jockey for position in the fast-growing space for electronic payments and other financial services. It does seem appropriate that these 2 companies are setting the national tone in this race, as they are China’s 2 biggest Internet firms and have risen rapidly on the strength of their ability to innovate. I slightly favor Tencent in this new race due to its ability to roll out new services that complement its existing products at a relatively gradual pace. That contrasts with Alibaba’s most recent approach of launching a much wider range of services at a quicker pace, which runs the risk of overwhelming and confusing consumers.
