The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 28. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Alstom (Paris: ALO) Shares Sink On Risk Of Fine In US Bribery Probe (English article)
KFC (NYSE: YUM) China Launches New Menu, Marketing Strategy Nationwide (Businesswire)
ICBC (HKEx: 1398) Announces Annual Results For 2013 (HKEx announcement)
Hyatt (NYSE: H) To Introduce 2 New Brands To China (Businesswire)
Lenovo (HKEx: 992) Recalls 110,000 Notebook PC Batteries In China (Chinese article)
Internet leader Tencent (HKEx: 700) has just announced a major purchase involving a Korean game maker, in what would normally be leading news on the Chinese Internet. But instead, the company is making bigger headlines on talk that it’s nearing a deal to buy 20 percent of leading online video firm Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) for a smaller amount. The 2 deals collectively would be worth about $1 billion, which these days doesn’t seem like big news anymore for China’s rapidly consolidating Internet. Read Full Post…
The number 1,000 took on new significance in the blogosphere this past week, with tech titans Lenovo (HKEx: 992), Huawei and Xiaomi in a sudden new rush to chop prices for some of their newest products to under 1,000 yuan. The number translates to roughly $160, and is certainly not a bad price for the relatively high quality smartphones and tablet PCs that are suddenly being sold by the trio at that price and even less.
Meantime, tech executives were also paying tribute on their microblogs to Pat McGovern, the billionaire founder of the IDG media empire that was one of earliest venture capital investors to realize the potential of China’s Internet. McGovern, who died last Wednesday, leaves behind an empire that helped to fund some of China’s most recognizable Internet names, including sector leaders Tencent (HKEx: 700), Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), Ctrip (Nasdaq: CTRP) and SouFun (NYSE: SFUN), and many others. Read Full Post…
Retail village to debut alongside Shanghai Disneyland
An amusing rivalry between 2 US entertainment giants is rapidly shaping up in Shanghai, with developers of the new Disneyland (NYSE: DIS) resort announcing a major new retail development just days after DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA) broke ground on its own massive entertainment complex in the city. The close timing of these 2 announcements may be partly coincidental, but the rivalry certainly isn’t. Hollywood followers will know that DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg was formerly the head of Disney’s famous animation division, and only left the company after a famous fall-out with former Disney chief Michael Eisner. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 27. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Tencent (HKEx: 700) To Buy 20 Pct Of Youku Tudou (NYSE: YOKU) – Source (English article)
The growing feud between banks and China’s biggest Internet firms has taken a major new turn, with word that leading lender ICBC (HKEx: 1398) may be preparing to formally sever ties with Alibaba’s Alipay electronic payments platform. The move would be clearly aimed at Alibaba’s wildly popular Yu’ebao service, which lets users put excess funds from their Alipay accounts into a product that functions much like a traditional bank savings account but offers much higher interest rates. Of course the next big question is whether other big banks will follow ICBC’s lead, and I suspect the answer is that many will indeed do so. Read Full Post…
Nearly all of the Chinese companies to list in New York during the current IPO boom have come from the tech sector, but reports of a new candidate that combines tech and finance looks like an interesting one to watch. The company, China Risk Finance, operates a peer-to-peer (P2P) loan platform, and is reportedly talking to investment banks about a potential New York listing later this year. (Chinese article) That could provide investors with an interesting and potentially exciting chance to buy into China’s small but quickly growing private financial services sector. Read Full Post…
China achieved an important milestone in its trade relations with the west last week when it settled 2 disputes with the European Union through negotiations, a less familiar tactic that produced a similar breakthrough deal last year. Both sides should be commended for this new approach, which not only avoids damaging trade wars but also helps to build a friendlier trade relationship based on mutual trust. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 24. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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ICBC (HKEx: 1398) Cuts Off Alipay, To Phase Out 3rd Party Payment Platforms (Chinese article)
P2P Lending Platform China Risk Finance Weighs US Listing – Source (Chinese article)
Agricultural Bank Of China (HKEx: 1288) Announces Annual 2013 Results (HKEx announcement)
Wanda To Add 780 RealD (NYSE: RLD) 3D Cinema Systems Across China (Businesswire)
Camelot (NYSE: CIS) Announces Shareholder Approval of Merger Agreement (PRNewswire)
US probe of JPMorgan claims victim in top official
The recent series of foreign government probes into their companies’ China business practices has claimed its first major victim, with word that the local investment banking chief of JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) will retire from the company. There’s no direct evidence that the departure of longtime JPMorgan executive Fang Fang is related to the ongoing US probe against his company’s China hiring practices. But of course everyone is speculating that’s the case. The development looks like a positive one, as it sends a message that foreign companies intend to change the way they do business in China, and I expect we could see some other similar executive shuffles in the months ahead. Read Full Post…
I generally try to avoid taking sides in political disputes like the one involving US accusations that Chinese telecoms equipment from Huawei could pose a national security threat. But in the case of the latest revelations about US government spying on Huawei, I do think that Washington should at least discuss the results of its efforts to find evidence of a covert relationship between Huawei and the Chinese military. At the same time, I find Beijing’s condemnation of the snooping a bit insincere, as I’m quite sure that China and most other nations also engage in similar electronic spying. (English article) Read Full Post…
