The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 28. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════x
China Investigates More Top PetroChina (HKEx: 857) Executives Over Corruption (English article)
LightInTheBox flirts with IPO price after weak earnings
The latest developments for New York listed e-commerce firm LightInTheBox (NYSE: LITB) and Singapore-listed China Mingzhong Food (Singapore: MINZ) are showing just how fragile a nascent turnaround for battered overseas-listed Chinese stocks could be. Shares of the recently listed LightInTheBox have plunged over the last week following a weak earnings report, bringing them close to their IPO level after an initial surge in their June trading debut. Meantime, Mingzhong shares have plunged even more rapidly, losing half their value after a short seller attack questioning some of the company’s financials. Read Full Post…
Many expats in Shanghai will be pleased to hear about a new campaign to standardize the local use of English and other foreign languages to make the city friendlier to foreigners. Such a drive is long overdue, even though it may come as a minor disappointment to lovers of “Chinglish”, the Sinofied version of sometimes comical and often unintelligible English one often finds at many shops, restaurants and other public venues. Read Full Post…
A couple of interesting news bits are coming from the new energy vehicle sector, including a potential roadblock into the China market for up-and-coming US player Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) and new results from struggling domestic electric car maker BYD (HKEx: 1211; Shenzhen: 002594) that look encouraging but not too exciting. The main common theme in this latest news is that new energy vehicle makers continue to hold out hopes for the China market, banking on strong government policies to boost the market, even though progress has been slow so far. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 27. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Geely (HKEx: 175) Targets US Exports With Volvo-Developed Models in 2016 (English article)
Apple plans flurry of launches to revive China prospects
A new report is saying that Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) will formally launch its 4th store in Shanghai around the upcoming Oct 1 National Day holiday, in the latest sign that the tech giant is preparing a major drive to rekindle it flagging China growth. Regular readers will know that the weeklong Oct 1 holiday is one of China’s biggest shopping periods, and that recent reports have said the telecoms regulator may issue long-awaited 4G licenses on or around the holiday. (previous post) Those facts, combined with the recent visit to China by Apple CEO Tim Cook, all seem to point to the long-awaited announcement of an iPhone deal with domestic heavyweight China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) on or around the holiday. Read Full Post…
China’s award of more than half of a massive new telecoms contract to domestic firms despite strong competition from global rivals sends a bad signal for Beijing’s commitment to fair trade, appearing to show that political factors play a significant role in such commercial decisions.
While it’s understandable that China wants to support its homegrown firms in their quest to become global leaders, such favoritism could easily lead to complaints by foreigners who feel they open their markets to Chinese products but don’t receive reciprocal treatment. This current case is especially sensitive, since the European Union already suspects Chinese telecoms equipment makers like Huawei, ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) and Datang of getting unfair state support through policies like government grants and tax credits. Read Full Post…
Froth in company valuations seems to be building once again in China’s high-tech realm, with word that up-and-coming smartphone maker Xiaomi’s latest fund raising values the company at more than $10 billion. The last time I wrote about such a rapidly rising valuation was about 2 years ago when an investor in high flying e-commerce site Jingdong proclaimed that company was also worth more than $10 billion. Jingdong’s value later came down considerably, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Xiaomi’s latest valuation is also just a bit too high on too much investor enthusiasm about this company that is growing fast but also playing in a very competitive market. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 24-26. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Huawei, ZTE (HKEx: 763) Win Bulk Of China Mobile’s $3 Bln 4G Bonanza (English article)
Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Invests In Renren’s (NYSE: RENN) Nuomi (PRNewswire)
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) To Open 4th Shanghai Store Before Oct 1 Holiday – Report (Chinese article)
Electric Carmaker Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) Hits Roadblock In China Over Trademark (English article)
China Commerce Ministry Warns Auto Makers Over Price Monopoly (English article)
Lilly joins list of drug makers accused of massive bribery
I thought that maybe I had accidentally opened an old news page today when I read the latest headline that US drug maker Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) had been accused of massive bribery in China to sell its medicines. In fact, the headline wasn’t even directly about the allegations that had come from a Chinese newspaper report, but was rather based on a Lilly executive who commented that the company was “deeply concerned” about the latest claims that it spent more than 30 million yuan ($4.8 million) to bribe Chinese doctors to use its medicines. (English article) Read Full Post…
couple of reports on major global M&A by Chinese buyers are showing why such deals could be difficult for a number of reasons, and why it always helps to get a more experienced multinational partner. In the former category, a stalled deal appears to be on the brink of collapse that would have seen a Chinese group buy insurance giant AIG’s (NYSE: AIG) ILFC unit, the world’s largest aircraft leasing company. In the latter category, a new partnership between Chinese grocery store operator China Resources Enterprise (HKEx: 291) and British giant Tesco (London: TSCO) may be preparing a major bid for the Park N Shop grocery store chain being sold by Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa (HKEx: 13). Read Full Post…
