Volkswagen (Frankfurt: VOWG) has scored an important victory in its plans to expand in South China with approval for a new $2 billion-plus joint venture factory, a development that also has broader implications for China’s drive to nurture a new group of homegrown brands for eventual export. In this latest development, VW has received the green light to build a new joint venture plant with local partner FAW in the South China city of Foshan after a one-year delay, the China Daily reports. The state planner finally gave the green light after determining that a new electric vehicle, to be manufactured under the Kaili brand name at the plant, qualifies as a new brand — a prerequisite for approval of such new joint venture factories. This approval marks an important step forward for VW, which is already well represented in most of China through its ventures with FAW and Shanghai’s SAIC (Shanghai: 600104), but counts affluent South China as one of its weak spots, with Japanese automakers and local players like BYD (HKEx: 1211) and Guangzhou Auto (HKEx: 2238) now dominating the market. From the broader perspective, approval of this venture also reflects Beijing’s desire to push foreign automakers to develop new “made in China” brands with their local partners. GM (NYSE: GM) and Nissan have both rolled out such brands over the last year, and very early signs are that their sales are going well, drawing on the quality assurance of a foreign partner while bringing the low costs of the “made in China” label. If this plan moves forward, and early signs are certainly good, this new crop of homegrown brands with foreign backing could serve as an eventual springboard into lucrative Western markets where consumers value both quality and low prices.

Bottom line: Approval of VW’s new South China plant marks an important advance for VW, and reflects Beijing’s desire to develop a new crop of homemade brands for eventual export.

德国大众汽车<VOWG.DE>进军中国南方市场的努力取得重要胜利，其计划在南方建一个20亿美元合资工厂的项目获中国政府批准，这对於努力想将本土品牌推向国际市场的中国来说，此举也有重大意义。据《中国日报》报导，在拖延了一年後，一汽大众佛山工厂终於获批。一汽大众此款电动车品牌定名为“开利”，满足了自主品牌等相关要求，因此获国家发改委批复。这对於大众来说是其前进的重要一步，大众通过与一汽和上海汽车<600104.SS>成立合资公司，在中国大部分市场已有良好发展，但其在富庶的中国南部市场却乏善可陈，日系汽车厂商、比亚迪<1211.HK>和广汽集团<2238.HK>等当地汽车厂商目前主导南方市场。从更广泛义的意义来说，批准合资工厂，说明中国政府希望能利用外资汽车生产商的力量，与本土合作夥伴一起开发“中国制造”品牌。去年，通用汽车<GM.N>和日产都推出了类似品牌，初步数据显示，它们的销量都不错，因为一方面有外国制造商的质量保证，另一方面有本土合作方，可以降低成本。如果这个计划得以推行，这批得到外资支持的本土品牌将成为最终走向西方市场的跳板，因西方消费者既看中品质，又希望获得低价。

一句话：大众在中国南方建厂的计划获批对其意义重大，也说明中国希望能打造可以走向国际市场的本土品牌。

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Autos: Good Times Screech to a Halt 中国汽车业：当繁荣已成往事

◙ GM’s China Growth Story Stalls Out 通用汽车在华增长势头受挫

◙ China Takes Car Incentives to the Farm to Halt Skid

I read with amusement that wind power producer Huaneng Renewables (HKEx: 958) stumbled out of the gate in its Hong Kong debut on Friday with a 3 percent decline from an already cheap IPO price, as investors fretted over recent news that China will halt subsidies to makers of wind power equipment and components. (English article) Honestly speaking, I couldn’t understand what all the worry was about as Huaneng is a power generating company, not an equipment maker that may see some slight impact from China’s subsidy-ending move. Clearly big names like General Electric (NYSE: GE) and Temasek didn’t worry about the company’s prospects, as both came in as cornerstone investors to this IPO. So let’s look at the big picture here to see why this investment is a sure-fire winner: China has set a massively aggressive goal to have 110 gigawatts of wind power capacity installed by 2015, nearly triple the current figure. Huaneng, as the nation’s largest power producer, will clearly be called upon to help implement this aggressive target. To make that proposition attractive to Huaneng shareholders, which include the Chinese government, Beijing has already introduced attractive rates for wind power tariffs that offer attractive returns for investors. If it really wants to encourage investment in the area to meet its target, it could even increase those rates, offering a potential upside for wind power producers. At the end of the day, anyone betting against this company should have a better reason than concern about loss of subsidies, as Huaneng Renewables’ profits should be strong and steady over the next 5 years.

Bottom line: Huaneng Renewables could be a good buy following its weak Hong Kong debut, as it looks set to cash in on China’s aggressive wind power goals.

我饶有兴趣地发现，中国风力发电企业–华能新能源股份有限公司<0958.HK>周五在香港的首日挂牌交易中便出师不利，收市价比本已非常便宜的发行价下跌了3%，因最近市场传言称中国将停止对风电设备和零件生产商的补贴，投资者对此颇为担心。实话说，我无法理解为何会出现这种担心，因为华能是一家发电企业，并不是可能因中止补贴政策而受到一定冲击的设备生产商。很明显，通用电气<GE.N>和淡马锡等知名企业并不担心华能的前景，因两者均为华能此次IPO的基础投资者。那麽让我们来看看大背景，看看这笔投资为什麽一定会成功：中国制定了在2015年前实现风电装机容量1.1亿千瓦的宏伟目标，是现有水平的近三倍。作为中国最大的发电企业，华能势必需要为实现这一目标而添砖加瓦。为获得华能股东的支持，中国政府推出了具有吸引力的风电并网电价，以使投资者能获得较好回报率。如果中国政府真得希望鼓励风电领域投资，以实现上述目标，那麽甚至还可能提高风电并网电价，以使风电企业获得潜在优势。最终，不看好这家企业的人应该有更好的理由，而不是担心补贴被取消，因华能在未来五年的利润应会强劲而稳定。

一句话：华能新能源香港上市首日表现不佳，不影响它的潜力股地位，因其料会受益於中国宏伟的风电发展目标。

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Ming Yang Headwinds Spotlight Sector Woes 明阳挫折凸显行业之殇

◙ Longyuan Looks to Breeze Overseas 龙源电力寻找海外风能市场机遇

◙ Beijing Warms Up Solar Sector 中国政府向太阳能产业伸出援手

After pricing its IPO at the bottom end of an indicated range, kids Website operator Taomee (Nasdaq: TAOM) has shown it’s truly not ready for prime with an equally unimpressive debut that saw its stock sink 8.6 percent on its first trading day. (English article) The company cautioned in its prospectus that internal controls were one of its potential weaknesses, which surely didn’t help market concerns about Chinese company accounting in light of the ongoing scandal surrounding New York-listed Longtop Financial (NYSE: LFT). I should also be fair in saying that broader sentiment towards Chinese Internet companies has cooled considerably in the last couple of weeks, partly due to accounting concerns but also partly because a correction was sorely needed after a huge run-up this year. After surging 30 percent on its debut last month, shares of social networking site Renren (NYSE: RENN) are now actually trading 35 percent below their IPO price. Money-losing video-sharing site Youku (NYSE: YOKU) has lost more than half its value since mid-April, though it’s still more than double its IPO price from late last year. Even industry stalwarts Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) and Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) are feeling the pinch, down 23 percent and 13 percent, respectively, over the last week. The clearly cooling sentiment doesn’t mean that all new Chinese IPOs will be flops, but rather that investors will only buy quality stocks with strong top- and bottom-lin growth potential, and won’t just fork over big bucks for any Internet play with the “made in China” label.

Bottom line: Taomee’s IPO flop signals a more cautionary investor approach to China Internet IPOs, and could put a big damper on new offerings for the next 3-6 months.

运营儿童网站的中国淘米网<TAOM.N>近日进行首次公开募股(IPO)，发行价定在了发行区间的下限，而其上市首日表现也不尽人意，当日重挫8.6%，充分表明该公司未能搭上互联网IPO黄金时代的顺风车。淘米在招股说明书中警告称，内部控制是该公司的潜在弱点之一。由於在美国上市的中国企业–东南融通<LFT.N>的财务丑闻调查还在进行之中，淘米的这种说法当然无助於缓解市场对中资公司财务状况的担忧。公平地说，过去一两周，投资者对中国互联网企业的广泛兴趣已大幅冷却，部分是由於担忧其财务状况，部分也因为在经历了今年的猛涨後，市场亟需进行修正。社交网站人人网<RENN.N>上月上市首日股价飙升30%，但目前股价比其IPO价格低35%。自四月中旬以来，视频分享网站优酷<YOKU.N>股价也缩水一多半，不过其股价依然高於其IPO价格的一倍多。就算是互联网行业的中流砥柱新浪<SINA.O>和百度<BIDU.O>也倍感压力，上周其股价分别下挫23%和13%。市场情绪冷却并不意味着所有中国企业的IPO都会遭遇失败，但说明投资者只会买入那些有着巨大增长潜力的绩优股，而不会只青睐那些所有打着“中国制造”标签的互联网企业。

一句话：淘米IPO的失利说明，投资者对中国互联网企业的IPO愈发谨慎，这
可能会抑制未来3-6个月的新股发行。

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Xunlei Marches Down IPO Aisle 迅雷迈向IPO之路

◙ Dud Looms With Shanda Literature Offering 盛大文学上市令人不解

◙ China Groupon Wannabes in Fund-Raising Frenzy 中国团购网站掀起融资狂潮

Just a couple of weeks after launching a campaign to reignite growth with a new foray into smartphones, Spreadtrum (Nasdaq: SPRD) is taking another step on that front with its purchase of a designer specializing in chips for high-speed cellphones. Spreadtrum says it will buy 48 percent of Mobile Peak Holdings, which makes chips for the cutting-edge HSPA standard, for total consideration of $32.6 million, and intends to buy out the entire company by the end of the year. (company announcement) The announcement contains no other financials, though Spreadtrum says that Mobile Peak’s business is strong enough that Spreadtrum won’t see any impact on its EPS outlook this year, which tells me that Mobile Peak should be an instant contributor to profits and revenue. This kind of mid-sized M&A is exactly the kind of deal I like to see, targeting a company that’s small enough to quickly integrate in an area that Spreadtrum has clearly identified for future growth. Investors seem to be less convinced, with Spreadtrum stock down more than 20 percent over the last two weeks amid a broader cooling sentiment toward China stocks. Given Spreadtrum CEO Leo Li’s earlier record at reviving this company’s fortunes more than a year ago, I’d give this latest initiative a good chance of success and look for returns on this smartphone push as soon as the end of this year.

Bottom line: Spreadtrum’s acquisition of a mid-sized HSPA chip designer is a shrewd part of its new foray into smartphones that could start to pay returns by the end of this year.

仅在一两周前，展讯通信（Spreadtrum）<SPRD.O>为寻找新的增长点，宣布进军智能手机市场，现在该公司已采取行动，即收购专为高速手机设计芯片的公司。展讯称，公司将收购摩波彼克(Mobile Peak Holdings)公司48%的股权，交易总额为3,260万美元，并打算在年底前实现完全控股，摩波彼克专业致力於高度集成UMTS/HSPA+调制解调器芯片组的设计工作。展讯的声明并未透露更多财务内容，但表示摩波彼克业务非常强劲，不会对展讯今年每股收益产生任何影响。这等於告诉我，摩波彼克将立即为展讯创造利润及营收。这种中等规模的并购才是我最希望看到的，收购一个小型公司，迅速整合到公司已确定未来增长的领域。投资者似乎信心不足，在投资者对中国股票热情降温的大环境下，展讯股价在过去两周跌幅逾20%。鉴於展讯执行长李力游一年前曾给公司带来的不俗表现，我认为展讯并购举措成功机率很高，并预计公司最快将在今年年底前看到收益。

一句话：展讯收购中等规模的HSPA芯片设计商，是其进军智能手机市场的明智之举，今年年底前有望看到回报。

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Spreadtrum Tries Getting Smart to Reignite Growth 展讯进军智能手机市场是明智之举

◙ Asustek Chases Convergence in New Padfone 华硕推出Padfone 整合智能手机和平板电脑

◙ China Mobile Finally Pushing on 3G 中国移动终於要大力推动3G业务

China is plugging ahead with its determination to consolidate the country’s fragmented cable TV industry, aiming to build a national digital entertainment leader despite strong resistance from entrenched provincial interests. In the latest development on this front, local media are reporting that Hunan TV & Broadcast (Shenzhen: 000917) has agreed to buy 49 percent of Baoding Pascali Broadcasting, a major operator in nearby Hebei province. (English article) This deal looks significant as it’s one of the first publicly announced cross-provincial purchases I’ve seen in this latest consolidation drive, which began earlier this year. (previous post) By comparison, consolidation within a province looks relatively easy as local party bosses and government officials exercise considerable authority throughout their regions. The same can’t be said for the national government, whose control is much weaker at the provincial level, thereby posing what could become a major obstacle for national cable consolidation. I previously pegged the chances for success of this latest campaign, following a failed effort five years ago, at around 30-40 percent, and later upped that to 50 percent when there appeared to be some signs of movement. (previous post) I’ll revise that to 55 percent in light of this latest development. But big obstacles still remain despite this positive case, and one should note the Hubei company didn’t get an outright majority stake in the deal. With China coming under growing international pressure to make its media market more open, perhaps Beijing is realizing the only way it can ever hope to build any world class competitors in this space is through this kind of consolidation.

Bottom line: The purchase of a Hebei cable operator by a Hunan rival marks a significant cross-province tie-up in China’s latest cable TV consolidation drive, but many obstacles still remain.

虽然受到来自地方的阻力，但中国政府仍决心大力整合有线电视行业，旨在创造一个全国性的数字娱乐媒体巨头。据当地媒体报导，最近的一个举动是，湖南电广传媒<000917.SZ>已同意收购保定百世开利49%的股权。这笔交易意义重大，因为这是我在这场年初开始的整合大潮中看到的首个公开宣布的跨省并购案之一。相比之下，省内的并购相对要容易一些，因为地方党政机关部门对其所管辖的区域能施加相当大的权力。但中央政府对地方的控制力就会相对弱一些，这将对跨区域整合造成相当大的障碍。我以前曾经觉得这种交易的可能性也就有三四成，後来发现有些进展迹象後，我将成功机率提高到50%，鉴於最新的这个进展，我再次将成功机率上修为55%。虽然这笔交易成功了，但一些大的障碍仍然存在，而且应该注意到的是，该公司并没有得到多数股权。如今中国在开放媒体市场方面受到越来越多来自国际社会的压力，中国政府也意识到，只有通过这种整合方式，才能在媒体领域打造世界级的公司。

一句话：湖南电广传媒购买河北这家有线电视运营商的举动，标志中国有线电视跨区域整合终有斩获，但障碍依然存在。

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ China Cable Consolidation: Second Time the Charm? 中国有线电视行业整合势头正劲

◙ China Makes Up Its Mind: Cable Consolidation 中国终於下决心：有线电视行业整合

Ever since Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) officially cut ties to its popular Weibo microblogging service earlier this year, it seems like Weibo has been making strategic and innovative moves on nearly a weekly basis as it looks to monetize its business for what Sina hopes will eventually become a blockbuster IPO. In one of the latest moves, Chinese media are reporting that Weibo has entered into an agreement with China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) that will see China’s third-largest mobile carrier make Weibo easier for its subscribers to access from their cellphones. (English article) This is exactly the kind of agreement that Weibo should be pursuing, as mobile Internet is clearly the direction that microblogging is moving. I’d be even happier if Weibo signed a similar deal with China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHA), the country’s largest mobile carrier with 70 percent of the market, or even the second biggest carrier, China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU). But let’s give Weibo some time. The second recent development will see Weibo launch an English-language service, presumably for foreigners who want to access to this wildly popular service but can’t read Chinese. The only problem is, there’s already a much better English language microblogging service out there: Twitter. And as anyone in China will tell you, the primary reason that Weibo has flourished in the first place is because Beijing officially blocks Twitter in China. Sure, maybe there are one or two foreigners living in China who would rather use an English language Weibo than finding other ways around the Chinese firewall to use the real Twitter. But those people are few and far between, and Weibo would be better served to focus on its home market and leave the English language world to Twitter.

Bottom line: Weibo’s tie-up with China Telecom is the kind of move it needs to make in its march to profitability, while its introduction of an English service is a complete waste of time.

自从新浪<SINA.O>今年稍早将其微博业务剥离出去後，新浪微博似乎每周都推出战略创新之举，新浪希望，微博业务最终能进行首次公开发行（IPO）。中国媒体近期报导称，新浪微博与中国电信<CHA.N>达成协议，中国电信用户通过手机访问微博将更方便。这的确是新浪微博应该开展的合作，手机上网显然是微博的发展方向。不过，若新浪微博与中国移动<0941.HK><CHL.N>或中国联通<0762.HK><CHU.N>签约，我会更高兴。但让我们给新浪微博一点时间。新浪近期第二项举措是，将推出英文版微博，针对的用户群可能是，想使用新浪微博但不懂中文的外国人。唯一的问题是，现在已经有更好的英语微博服务了，那就是Twitter。在中国，人们会告诉你，新浪微博能这麽受欢迎的主要原因是，人们在中国无法登陆Twitter。当然，可能会有一两个住在中国的外国人确实想用英文版新浪微博，而不是翻墙使用Twitter。但这样的人终归是少数，新浪微博应重点关注国内市场，把英文市场留给Twitter。

一句话：新浪微博与中国电信合作是实现盈利的举措之一，而推出英文版微博则纯属浪费时间.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Sina’s Latest Weibo Move Looks Like SNS 新浪似要发展社交网站

◙ New Weibo Makes First M&A Move 新浪微博并购忙

◙ Sina Gearing Up for Weibo Spin-Off 新浪欲剥离微博

China’s overheated auto market has just posted another miserable month, with May car sales edging up just 0.3 percent while a broader measure that includes cars, sport utility and multi-purpose vehicles fell 6.1 percent, according to the latest industry figures. (English article) The association that compiles the data is sticking to its previous gloomy forecast, first issued last month, that sales could actually fall for the year after notching red-hot growth in 2009 and more solid gains last year fueled by incentives from Beijing. In a bid to moderate the downslide, Beijing has just announced a new round of incentives that clearly have a rural flavor, perhaps as part of China’s efforts to spread more wealth to its smaller cities and towns. Under that plan, owners of farm vehicles, buses and heavy trucks can all trade in their clunkers for up to $2,800 in subsidies toward the purchase of a new vehicle. (English article) The head of the auto association that compiles the monthly sales figures was clearly not impressed by the latest plan to bring some momentum back to the industry, saying vehicle owners could make more by selling their clunkers on the secondary market. I would agree that this program won’t bring the industry roaring back to its previous growth days. But considering the growing importance of owning a car to one’s social stature, combined with the fact that I see little or no secondary market for the kinds of clunkers this program is targeting, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a slight rebound in car sales by the end of the year as rural folk look to hop aboard China’s latest car craze bandwagon. In the end, that should benefit the cheaper homegrown brands like Geely (HKEx: 175), BAIC and Chery.

Bottom line: China’s auto industry will remain sluggish for at least the next year, but a new incentive program aimed at rural buyers could give the market a surprise bounce by year end.

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Autos: Good Times Screech to a Halt 中国汽车业：当繁荣已成往事

◙ GM’s China Growth Story Stalls Out 通用汽车在华增长势头受挫

◙ China’s Green Auto Dream: A Road Paved with Problems 中国的绿色汽车之梦：前途荆棘密布

Just two months after forming a tie-up with dominant search engine Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), video sharing site Xunlei has filed to make a Nasdaq IPO worth up to $200 million. (English article; Chinese article) I have to say I was a bit surprised by how small this company is, with first-quarter revenue clocking in at a relatively meager $14.3 million, even though that was double a year earlier. By comparison, industry leader Youku (NYSE: YOKU) was a bit bigger at nearly $20 million, showing this is clearly an industry still in its infancy. A quick glance shows that Xunlei does indeed appear better positioned than either Youku or Tudou, which is also pursuing a public listing or sale of the company. (previous post) One of the biggest things setting Xunlei apart is the fact that it is already profitable, unlike both Youku and Tudou, which are both in the red and are expected to stay there for the next year or so. The other major factor is Xunlei’s backers, which include not only Baidu but also Google (Nasdaq: GOOG). With a pedigree like that, Xunlei could easily be poised to quickly overtake the other two, especially if it uses its Baidu links to promote its service. I said previously that Xunlei itself could even be a takeover target before its IPO. (previous post) Given its need for strong ties to Baidu, I’d say that Baidu would be the more likely buyer in any pre-IPO buy-out. But Google could also try to swoop in for a buy at the last minute, much the way that it tried to do just before Baidu’s own IPO. Either way, I’d say that Xunlei looks like a good bet for anyone interested in the fast-growing China video-sharing market.

Bottom line: Xunlei looks like the most attractive bet in the China video-sharing space, boasting strong partners in Google and Baidu and a profitable business.

视频分享网站迅雷两个月前刚与百度<BIDU.O>展开合作计划，现已向美国证券交易委员会(SEC)提交了在美国市场IPO(首次公开募股)上市的申请，拟通过这项交易筹集最多2亿美元资金。不得不说我对这个公司规模之小有点意外，迅雷今年首季度营收虽已同比翻番，但仍仅有大约1,430万美元。行业龙头优酷<YOKU.N>相对较大，营收接近2,000万美元，显示整个行业仍处起步阶段。但是快速浏览後你会发现迅雷确实比优酷或土豆更有优势。迅雷鹤立鸡群的很大一点就是，不像优酷与迅雷，该网站已然有所盈利。而前两家网站仍未翻身，且未来一年左右仍会如此。再一个重要因素就是迅雷的合作夥伴除了百度还有谷歌<GOOG.O>。有这样的靠山，迅雷料可以很快超越优酷与土豆。正如我此前所说，迅雷IPO之前甚至有可能成为收购目标。鉴於其与百度建立牢固关系的必要性，我认为如果IPO前真有人收购的话，百度的可能性更大。但谷歌也有可能成为半路杀出的程咬金，当年百度IPO时，谷歌就有类似做法。而无论从哪个角度，我认为如有人对中国迅速发展的视频分享市场感兴趣，迅雷都是一个很好的赌注。

一句话：迅雷看似是中国视频分享市场最具吸引力的赌注，不仅有百度与谷歌这样雄厚的合作夥伴，而且业务已有盈利。

Related postings 相关文章:

◙ Xunlei Looks Even More Interesting in Baidu Tie-Up

◙ Watch Out Youku: Google-backed Xunlei Marching to Market

◙ Youku Ambushes Market with Massive Follow-on, Investors Bite 优酷利用投资者心理大捞一笔