The embattled telecoms pair of Huawei and ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) are embarking on major hiring sprees outside their home market, seeking to not only import foreign expertise but also foreign faces as they try to look more global and less Chinese. That’s my major takeaway on reading separate reports that ZTE is launching a drive to recruit workers from 2 struggling western cellphone giants, while Huawei is also hiring thousands of new employees in Europe to cater to its largest market outside of China.
In brand-obsessed China, it seems that even something as abstract and esoteric as a free trade zone (FTZ) can become a mingpai, or famous brand. That’s my quick assessment, on reading that our city’s highly hyped FTZ is getting ready to embark on a nationwide campaign to spread its name and business model as it approaches its first anniversary.
More broadly speaking, this move by the Shanghai FTZ shines a spotlight on the Chinese obsession with famous brands. As a China resident of many years, I’ve noted this fascination with mingpai has a long history in modern China dating back to well before the current reform era. But this latest move to create a “brand” around the new FTZ seems a bit extreme, and perhaps indicates it’s time for China to tone down its obsession with famous names. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on June 11. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Internet titan Tencent (HKEx: 700) is wasting little time in its search for synergies with its growing stable of strategic partners, with word of a new tie-up between its popular WeChat instant messaging service and its search partner Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU). The new partnership will see WeChat provide exclusive access to its huge volumes of user-generated content for indexing by Sohu’s Sogou search engine. The alliance comes just 9 months after Tencent and Sohu announced an equity tie-up that saw the 2 companies combine their search businesses to form China’s third largest player. Read Full Post…
Wind power company Ming Yang (NYSE: MY) became China’s latest new energy equipment maker to dip its toe into project finance and development last week, when it announced a new plan for a massive wind farm project in Jiangsu province. Its announcement follows similar moves by many of its peers from the solar sector, and comes as Beijing embarks on a broader plan to clean up China’s air through initiatives like clean energy development. Read Full Post…
The telecoms world is buzzing today on news that China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) has made a major acquisition in Thailand, marking only its second purchase outside its protected home market despite years of saying it wants to go global. While it’s nice to see China Mobile finally put some of its huge cash pile to work, this particular purchase doesn’t look too exciting since it will only acquire 18 percent of True Corp, one of Thailand’s top telecoms companies. The deal also looks like it’s being driven by politics rather than True’s desire for any real strategic partnership, which also makes it look less exciting. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on June 10. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Legend Holdings Profit Up 20 Pct In 2013, Becomes Limited Stock Company (Chinese article)
China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Takes 18 Pct Stake In Thai Carrier True Corp (HKEx announcement)
A couple of new headlines are highlighting Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) lackluster performance in China in the first part of this year, as the smartphone pioneer falls behind homegrown sensation Xiaomi and takes much needed steps to improve its China App Store. In one of the reports, media are saying that Apple trailed Xiaomi for the first time in the first quarter of this year. Meantime, another report is saying that Apple is embarking on a major drive to recruit more China developers to make local apps for its iPhone, since a strong selection of good apps is key to maintaining its popularity in the market. Read Full Post…
China’s campaign to clean up its fragmented and scandal-plagued food industry has gotten a boost on the meat front, with word of a new tie-up between national grains giant COFCO and global private equity giants KKR and Baring Private Equity Asia. This latest move is part of Beijing’s growing effort to bring in foreign expertise to create a handful of major food groups that can ensure product quality and food safety. Unfortunately, nearly all the major giants now emerging are big state-run companies, meaning most of these firms are likely to be quite bureaucratic and most won’t be available to foreign stock buyers. Read Full Post…
Chinese workers who quit their jobs at IBM (NYSE: IBM) this spring rather than take new positions at Lenovo (HKEx: 992) under an M&A deal may be regretting their decision, with word that the deal may derail due to US national security concerns. Of course I’m being just a tad facetious with my comment about the former IBM workers, but I’m quite serious about the doubts that are suddenly swirling around the deal announced early this year for IBM to sell its low-end server business to Lenovo. The latest reports are a bit more neutral, though I would now give the deal just a 50 percent chance of getting clearance from the US national security regulator. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on June 7-9. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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COFCO Meat Brings in KKR, Baring PE, HOPU, Boyu as Strategic Investors (Businesswire)
China Mobile (HKEx: 941) Rolls Out Own-Brand 4G Phone Selling For 999 Yuan (Chinese article)
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Steps Up Campaign To Woo China Developers (English article)
Xiaomi China Sales Surpass Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) In Q1 (Chinese article)
Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) Announces Pricing Of Offering Of 8.8 Mln ADSs (PRNewswire)
