Everyone has their own favorite tales about taking taxis in China, and I’m certainly no different from the rest. Some tales are funny and involve colorful cab drivers, but more often the talk these days involves frustration at hailing a taxi in major Chinese cities, especially during peak hours. Now the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has done a formal survey of major cities on taxi satisfaction, and not surprisingly Shanghai ranks near the top of the list for its relatively reliable service.
News Digest: December 29-31 报摘： 2012年12月29-31日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 29-31. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- China Tightens Internet Controls, Legalizes Post Deletion (English article)
- ZTE (HKEx: 763) To Sell 81 Pct Stake in Shenzhen ZNV For 1.3 Bln Yuan (HKEx announcement)
- CNOOC (HKEx: 883) Sees Nexen (Toronto: NXY) Deal Closed in Q1 At Earliest (English article)
- Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Restructures Business into Portal and Microblog Divisions (English article)
- Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) Completes Purchase of 2 Solar Projects from SunEdison (PRNewswire)
Fubon Banks on Cross-Strait Thaw 富邦金控收购华一银行80%股权
The ongoing thaw in relations between China and Taiwan has helped increase trust between the former pair of Cold War adversaries, but hopes for a boom in cross-strait M&A have yet to materialize as lingering suspicions remain. That reality is on display once again this week, with the announcement by Fubon (Taipei: 2881), one of Taiwan’s leading banks, that it has reached an agreement to buy 80 percent of a mid-sized Chinese bank called First Sino Bank for about $900 million. (English article)
Solar Bits: LDK Woes, Hanwha Loan 光伏行业困境依旧
A couple of news bits from the solar sector are showing at once how companies continue to struggle with fallout from the ongoing downturn even as some larger players continue to receive lifelines from Beijing. In the former category, floundering giant LDK (NYSE: LDK) has just announced an arbitration panel’s ruling that it must pay hundreds of millions of yuan for equipment that it ordered at the height of the solar boom but which it no longer wants or needs. Meantime in the latter category, mid-sized player Hanwha SolarOne (Nasdaq: HSOL) has just received a major new credit line from a Beijing bank, becoming the latest to get state funding to continue its operations pending the roll-out of a larger industry overhaul plan.
Alibaba IPO: Waiting for a Window 阿里巴巴上市：等待时间窗口
The headlines have been flooded almost daily these last 2 weeks with the latest rumors regarding the much talked-about IPO for leading e-commerce firm Alibaba. The latest rumors from the last couple of days have cited a leaked internal company memo saying Alibaba plans to begin IPO preparations in the second half of next year, and could make a listing as soon as the end of 2013. (English article) Those rumors follows similar talk over the last week that the company is in the process of a major restructuring to organize Alibaba into 4 or 5 units around each of its key business areas. After rumors of the IPO came out, US media quoted still other sources saying that terms in the ongoing divorce between Alibaba and major stakeholder Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) give Alibaba incentives to make its IPO closer to 2015. (English article)
News Digest: December 28 报摘： 2012年12月28日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 28. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Alibaba Group to IPO in 2013 – Source (English article)
- Taiwan’s Fubon (Taipei: 2881) Says To Buy China Bank Stake For $1 Bln (English article)
- LDK (NYSE: LDK) Ordered to Pay 297 Mln Yuan in Arbitration Ruling (PRNewswire)
- 8 Authors Win 400,000 Yuan in Copyright Case Against Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) (Chinese article)
- Diodes (Nasdaq: DIOD) to Acquire BCD Semiconductor (Nasdaq: BCDS) (Businesswire)
Virtual Networks Coming in 2013 虚拟运营商或于明年进入中国电信市场
The Chinese media have been buzzing these last few days with word that the telecoms regulator will soon roll out a highly anticipated plan to allow virtual network operators (VNOs) into China in 2013, finally breaking the monopoly on telecoms services held by the nation’s 3 major telcos. Such a move could suddenly open the door for homegrown companies like Tencent (HKEx: 700) and Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) to offer specialized services over their own privately branded virtual networks, but would also open the door for bigger global names like France Telecom (Paris: FTE) and AT&T (NYSE: T) to enter the long-closed market.
Qihoo, Group Buying Set For 2013 Growth 奇虎360、团购网站明年料增长
As we approach the end of 2012, online search and group buying look like 2 spaces on China’s Internet that could see some big changes in the year ahead and provide some interesting investment opportunities. In the online search space, the new year could well shape up as the one when dominant search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) finally received some serious competition from Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU), which is quickly adding important features to its up-and-coming search service launched over the summer. Meantime, the new year could also see the revival of some of the nation’s beleaguered group buying sites, which have spent the past year in a bloody retrenchment that has seen many players either close or merge with rivals. In that space, we’re getting word that 55tuan, one of the former top players, has finally managed to turn a profit after altering its business model.
Renren Buy-Back: Does Anyone Care? 人人回购股票：有人关心吗？
Beleaguered social networking site (SNS) Renren (NYSE: RENN) is resorting to the feeble tactic of buying back its shares to boost its anemic stock, even as it faces little or no prospect of major new growth in the current chilly advertising climate. What the company really needs right now is a major jolt to excite investors, perhaps through a privatization or a mega-merger with leading rival Kaixin. Both of those could be possibilities in the new year, with the merger option as the most exciting that could breathe new life into a company that was once considered the Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) of China.
News Digest: December 27 报摘： 2012年12月27日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 27. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) Denies Alibaba to Invest in Weibo Rumor (Chinese article)
- NDRC to Probe Authenticity of E-Commerce Promotions During Chinese New Year (Chinese article)
- Jingdong Mall CTO Resigns (English article)
- Renren (NYSE: RENN) Announces Renewal of Share Repurchase Program (PRNewswire)
- 55tuan Says Achieved Profit in December at Millions of Yuan Level (Chinese article)
News Digest: December 26 报摘： 2012年12月26日
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 26. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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- China Mobile (HKEx: 941) to Launch Out 4G Trials in 100-Plus Cities in 2013 (Chinese article)
- MIIT to Issue VNO Licenses in Mid-2013 – Source (English article)
- Brazil Approves ICBC (HKEx: 1398) to Set Up Local Banking Unit (HKEx announcement)
- Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) Debuts Image Search Service (English article)
- Sony (Tokyo: 6758) Says China Business Has Recovered, Foresees Growth
