The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 27. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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US Expands China Hiring Probe To Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) (English article)
Huawei Founder Ren Zhengfei Vows Counteroffensive Against US (Chinese article)
PetroChina (HKEx: 857) Receives US Court Notice On Probe Into Executives (English article)
LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) Reports Financial Q3 Results (PRNewswire)
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Picks Guangming Daily As New China Partner (Chinese article)
Leading cellphone chipmaker Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) has become the latest foreign firm to encounter resistance in China following the Edward Snowden spying scandal, as Beijing shows it can also play the national security card to the detriment of big western tech firms. But in this case, the US chip giant is not only seeing sales to its Chinese customers drop, but is also facing scrutiny from China’s powerful state planner on allegations of monopolistic behavior. Both of these developments show that Beijing is quite capable of using the national security pretext to play tit-for-tat games with Washington, potentially costing US tech firms billions of dollars in lost China sales. Read Full Post…
Shanghai often looks more like a laboratory these days than a modern financial hub, as the number of new and experimental zones and projects in the city accelerates under Beijing’s new, reform-minded leaders. On a single day last week, I read at least 6 reports about various new projects and zones coming on stream in the city, including several in the Pudong area. Read Full Post…
Some longtime Chinese workers at a Nokia (Helsinki: NOK1V) plant in Guangdong got a rude surprise when they were recently asked to take pay cuts, as the former cellphone giant struggles to halt its rapid decline. But rather than accept the cuts, the workers went on strike to protest the cost-saving measure after Nokia’s recent purchase by Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), a move which could offer the best chance of saving the company. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 26. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) Faces Antitrust Probe In China (English article)
Giant Interactive (NYSE: GA) Receives Buyout Offer At $11.75 Per Share (PRNewswire)
ICBC (HKEx: 1398) Says Approved For Subsidiaries In New Zealand, Peru (HKEx announcement)
Huawei To Market ‘Honor’ As Independent Smartphone Brand (English article)
China Mobile (HKEx: 941) To Officially Launch Commercial 4G On Dec 18 (Chinese article)
Media are hailing the big first-day gains of 500.com (NYSE: WBAI) and Sungy Mobile (Nasdaq: GOMO) in their New York trading debuts, saying the strong performance reflects a return of investor confidence to Chinese Internet stocks after a 2 year pause. I agree with that assessment somewhat, but would also offer the contrarian viewpoint that this pair of offerings was quite small, and thus the gains for both companies could have been easily influenced by the big banks underwriting the deals. Read Full Post…
My emotions were mixed on reading recent news of a major factory relocation by leading car maker Geely (HKEx: 175), reflecting a larger transformation of China’s cities from centers of industry to ones of commerce and modern living spaces. On the one hand, I felt some nostalgia knowing that yet another factory would be leaving one of China’s big cities, slowly stripping away a flavor so closely associated with Chinese urban landscapes. But on the other hand, these urban factories are part of history and really have no place in 21st century cities, where they are a major source of noise, congestion and pollution. Read Full Post…
The ongoing crackdown against corrupt officials at major state-owned enterprises continues to pick up momentum, with word that a top official at aluminum giant Chalco (HKEx: 2600) has resigned after being targeted in a probe. News of this latest probe comes at the same time another former high-level executive from leading telco China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) has just been formally sentenced to life in prison after his own trial for corruption. Other major state-owned enterprises whose top executives have become targets of recent corruption probes include that oil giant PetroChina (HKEx: 857; Shanghai: 601857; NYSE: PTR) and shipping leader Cosco (HKEx: 1919; Shanghai: 601919). Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on November 23-25. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Rectification Coming For Mobile Game Sector – Culture Ministry Official (Chinese article)
Shares of 500.com, Sungy Mobile Roar On NY Trading Debut (English article)
Chinese Nokia Workers Pledge To Continue Strike (English article)
Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) CEO Says NSA Fallout Impacting China Business (English article)
Alibaba Blocks Referrals To Mobile E-Commerce Platforms From WeChat (Chinese article)
Baidu reportedly near deal to buy Zongheng literature site
Internet stalwarts Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) and Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) are back in the M&A headlines with news of relatively small acquisitions, indicating the market may be running out of big targets as we prepare to end a landmark year for major deals in China. I’ve been reporting on Chinese Internet companies for more than a decade, and during most of that time would be lucky to see 1 or 2 major acquisitions or equity tie-ups in any single year. But all that changed this year, with top Internet names like Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (HKEx: 700) emerging as major buyers in a series of deals collectively valued at billions of dollars. Read Full Post…
A new report in the Chinese media nicely illustrates why I seldom write about big state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in this space, and shows more broadly why even many of the nation’s entrepreneurial firms are often suspected of misleading accounting. The report details an ongoing scramble among SOEs like shipping behemoth COSCO (Shanghai: 601919; HKEx: 1919) and aluminum giant Chalco (HKEx: 2600; Shanghai: 601600) to sell off assets to make themselves appear profitable and avoid possible de-listing on the Shanghai stock exchange. The report also reveals some other tricks these companies are using to hide their losses and look more attractive to Chinese investors, many of whom often lack the sophistication to look beyond a company’s bottom line. Read Full Post…
