China’s 2 smaller telcos, China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) and China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU), are reportedly urging the telecoms regulator to quickly give them new 4G licenses as they find themselves in the uncomfortable position of rapidly losing share to dominant carrier China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL). The development looks a bit worrisome from a broader market perspective, as it appears to show that 3 years of steady gains by the 2 smaller companies in the 3G era could quickly be reversed if the regulator doesn’t act soon, stifling competition and hurting consumers as China Mobile re-emerges as the nation’s overwhelmingly dominant player. Read Full Post…
Recently listed e-commerce giant JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) was making plenty of noise in the microblogging realm this week, as it hyped a June 18 promotion that it’s trying to build as an alternative to Alibaba’s wildly popular November 11 Single’s Day event. Meantime, Xiaomi’s talkative CEO Lei Jun was in a rare defensive posture on his microblog, discussing a recent major price cut as his company tries to meet the huge expectations it has set for itself. Last but not least, officials from Alibaba and its recently acquired UCWeb web browser unit took advantage of a recent controversy involving a massive fine against a Shenzhen company to criticize rival Tencent (HKEx: 700) for wielding too much power on the Chinese Internet. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on June 26. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China’s Postal Savings Bank Said To Plan $4 Bln IPO (English article)
Vanke (HKEx: 2202) Completes Transition of B-Shares To H-Shares (Chinese article)
Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) Considers Sales Of China Business – WSJ (English article)
Skyscanner Acquires Chinese Travel Search Start-up Youbibi (Businesswire)
China Forestry (HKEx: 930) Extends Bond Buyback After Missed Payment (English article)
Today’s Headlines assaulted for copyright violations
It’s not easy being a high-flying start-up, and the burden becomes even heavier when a company builds up huge expectations for itself through excessive hype. Smartphone sensation Xiaomi was in the headlines last week when it launched a big price cut, leading some to speculate the company was struggling to meet its aggressive sales targets. Now in the latest setbacks for other start-ups, media are reporting that a fast-rising news app called Today’s Headlines is being assaulted on several fronts for copyright infringement. Separately, a newly launched group of mobile service providers called virtual network operators (VNOs) has also received a setback after experiencing widespread technical glitches. Read Full Post…
After a 2 week pause with no new listings, the market for overseas tech IPOs has come chugging back to life with a strong trading debut for video sharing site Xunlei (Nasdaq: XNET). That solid performance could bode well for online karaoke company Tiange, which has just filed for its own new listing in Hong Kong, continuing a recent trend towards more Chinese Internet listings in the former British colony. Both news bits provide the latest evidence that the overseas market for Chinese IPOs is finding a second wind after a losing momentum in April and May. That new momentum is likely to last through August when e-commerce leader Alibaba is expected to make what could be the largest IPO ever by an Internet company. Read Full Post…
This week’s Street View takes us for a stroll through the city’s parks, many of which will extend their opening hours under a trial program to improve access to Shanghai’s open spaces. As a westerner, I find the idea of limited access and operating hours for city parks a bit strange, since most US parks are “open” all the time and have no barriers or fences to limit public access.
Accordingly, I hope this trial program will ultimately lead to the removal of fences and other barriers that now surround are city’s parks in the next few years, providing much-need open spaces to offset the rapid encroachment of skyscrapers and other tall buildings. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on June 25. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Online Karaoke SNS Tiange Files For HK IPO To Raise Up To HK$1.6 Bln (Chinese article)
New VNO Phone Numbers See Multiple Bugs, No Immediate Fix (Chinese article)
Today’s Headlines Probed For Violations By Copyright Regulator (Chinese article)
Xulei (Nasdaq: XNET) Shares Rise 24 Pct On First Trading Day After IPO (Chinese article)
Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) To Launch Digital Publishing Platform (English article)
China’s homegrown traditional liquor industry has been plunged into turmoil over the last 18 months, and now the shakeup may have claimed its first victim with word that Jiugui Liquor (Shenzhen: 000799) is retreating from the national market. Of course the big question will be whether other makers of baijiu, the traditional Chinese liquor, will follow Jiugui’s lead, and whether Jiugui itself will survive as an independent company. I suspect the answer is that some limited and much-needed consolidation will finally begin to occur in this crowded and money-losing sector. But the process may be difficult, since regional stakeholders will be reluctant to give up control of liquor brands that are often closely tied with the identities of many smaller cities and towns throughout China. Read Full Post…
A day after I wrote about a conflict that threatened to delay the premier of the new “Transformers” movie in China, media are reporting the commercial dispute in the matter has been resolved. Meantime, leading Chinese private equity investor Fosun International (HKEx: 656) is also catching the Hollywood fever that has been infecting Chinese media companies lately, announcing a major new investment in a start-up production house led by a former Warner Bros (NYSE: TWX) chief. Both of these stories show that the through train connecting China and Hollywood continues to gain momentum, and even Beijing is getting on board to help solve business disputes that could otherwise cost millions of dollars in lost sales. Read Full Post…
US-listed Chinese companies were in the spotlight last week, after a new congressional report detailed the risks they pose to investors due to the unique structure they use to qualify for trading in New York. Uncertainties created by the variable interest entity (VIE) structure are just the latest in a long list of unusual risks that highlight why Chinese firms are quite different from other companies that trade in New York.
But while their risks may be different and often bigger, the rewards of investing in some of China’s biggest corporate names are also potentially huge, as evidenced by exponential growth for shares of some names. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on June 24. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Mobile Subscriber Growth Continues Unbalanced In May At Big 3 Telcos (Chinese article)
China’s Fosun (HKEx: 656) To Invest In Robinov’s Studio 8 (English article)
Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) To Launch TV Gaming Platform – Source (English article)
BMW (Frankfurt: BMW) Extends Joint Venture With Brilliance China To 2028 (English article)
Jiugui Liquor (Shenzhen: 000799) Retreats To Home Base, Limits Area (Chinese article)
