I don’t follow China’s domestic banks too closely, largely because all are controlled by the government and their actions are more often directed by policy initiatives than real commercial factors. But the latest moves surrounding SPD Bank (Shanghai: 60000), also known as Pudong Development Bank, indicate that this relatively young financial firm could be a player to watch as China moves ahead with a major overhaul of its stodgy financial sector. Just last week SPD made minor headlines with its purchase of a small asset manager, and now it’s back in the headlines with word that it will merge with Shanghai Trust, one of the city’s largest trust companies. Read Full Post…
Where were you this past Saturday night? Most of us probably spent the evening having dinner out, or perhaps visiting friends. But for many of China’s tech executives, the date of March 15 has become for nervousness due to CCTV’s annual investigative reports broadcast that evening for Consumer Rights Day. The program often targets high-profile brands in its effort to uncover abusive business practices, and many of those names come from the tech sector. But this year’s program was a relative disappointment, with some observers cynically noting on their microblogs that CCTV seemed more interested in generating advertising revenue than protecting consumers. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 20 To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Huawei Targets 80 Mln Smartphone Shipments In 2014, Aims For No 2 Spot (Chinese article)
China Telecom, Unicom New Users Drop Sharply In February (Chinese article)
Tencent (HKEx: 700) Announces Annual Results For 2013 (HKEx announcement)
ZTE9 Releases FunBox – the World’s Fastest Home Entertainment Console (Businesswire)
Vipshop (NYSE: VIPS) To Partner With Russian Flash Sales Site (English article)
Solar panel maker Yingli (NYSE: YGE) and social networking site Renren (NYSE: RENN) don’t normally have too much in common, other than the fact that both are based in China and come from the tech sector. But on this particular day, both are joined by the unflattering fact that their latest earnings reveal companies deeply mired in the red, sparking sharp drops in their share prices. Yingli’s situation certainly isn’t encouraging, though its issues look more temporary. Renren is a different story, and its latest numbers show the company won’t be able to survive on its own over the longer term and it would be well advised to start looking for a strategic partner. Read Full Post…
I’m quickly getting tired of writing so much about the flood of new initiatives coming from Internet leaders Alibaba and Tencent (HKEx: 700), which is why I’m combining the latest word of new tie-ups for both into a single posting today. Frankly speaking, both of these initiatives look quite interesting and a year ago I would have done a separate posting and analysis for each. But these latest alliances look less interesting in the current frenzy of similar new announcements. One will see Alibaba partner with appliance maker Midea (Shenzhen: 000333), and the other Tencent and educational services provider New Oriental (NYSE: EDU). Read Full Post…
A yearlong explosion in new financial services from non-financial companies took a pause last week, when the central bank put the brakes on a plan by Internet giants Alibaba and Tencent (HKEx: 700) to offer virtual credit cards in partnership with Citic Bank (HKEx: 998). The sudden rush into financial services by private firms has provided some much-needed competition for China’s stodgy traditional lenders, most of which are state-run banks noteworthy for their lack of innovation. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 19. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Tencent (HKEx: 700), New Oriental (NYSE: EDU) In Online Education JV – Sources (English article)
Unicom (HKEx: 762) Announces 4G Plans Starting At 76 Yuan Per Month (Chinese article)
Online Classifieds Site Ganji Very Profitable, Considering IPO – CEO (Chinese article)
Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE) Reports Q4 and Full Year 2013 Results (PRNewswire)
ZTE (HKEx: 763) Wins Final Ruling from US ITC in FlashPoint Case (Businesswire)
I wasn’t historically a big fan of JD.com, China’s second largest e-commerce firm, largely because it often seemed more interested in hype than actually doing good business. But the company’s recent tie-up with Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700), and now the latest word of a new partnership with more than 10,000 convenience stores, have me thinking that perhaps JD has finally matured a bit in the run-up to a planned New York IPO to raise up to $1.5 billion. This latest convenience store tie-up looks quite shrewd for a number of reasons, most notably because it takes aim at one of the biggest weaknesses of its chief rival, leading e-commerce firm Alibaba. Read Full Post…
The ongoing cleanup of neglected Chinese firms from US stock exchanges continues, with word that online game developer Giant Interactive (NYSE: GA) has finalized its plan to go private. A report on the bid says that several other Chinese online game firms are also planning privatizations, as former industry leader Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) is also in the midst of its own such bid. It’s not hard to see why these companies are going private, as their shares have gone nowhere for years due to anemic growth. But what’s interesting here is the prospect that some of the private equity firms funding this wave of buy-outs could finally force a few of these companies to merge and create a more vibrant major new player with real growth potential. Read Full Post…
I’ve refrained from writing before about Shanghai’s ongoing brouhaha over taxi apps, mostly because it seemed too local and didn’t have any broader significance beyond the unruly adoption of a new technology. But Shanghai’s latest move forbidding cabbies from taking new orders while they still have passengers seems worth writing about, as it speaks to a broader issue that looks like simple greed at first but is really a much larger part of the modern Chinese psyche. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on March 18. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Pudong Development Bank (Shanghai: 600000) To Acquire Shanghai Trust (Chinese article)
Central Bank Releases Third-party Payment Draft Regulations (English article)
Alibaba to Invest in Sinopec’s (HKEx: 386) Sales Subsidiary – Sources (English article)
As Giant US IPO Nears, Alibaba’s China E-commerce Crown Slips (English article)
Giant Interactive (NYSE: GA) Enters Into Agreement For Privatization (PRNewswire)
