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This week’s Street View takes us to Tianshan Road in the Changning district, where a group of mothers stirred up controversy by holding a charity event where they breast fed their young children in public. To an American who has lived in China for more than a decade, this kind of event seems tame by western standards. But it also seems quite bold for this ultra conservative country where public discussion of sex is still largely taboo and often extremely awkward. Read Full Post…
China was traditionally known for its rampant piracy, but is now suddenly becoming a strong copyright protection advocate with the rise of a new generation of video site operators looking to protect their intellectual property. In the latest twist of this new and somewhat unexpected trend, Internet TV operator LeTV (Shenzhen: 300104) has successfully sued fast-rising smartphone maker Xiaomi for copyright violations related to Xiaomi’s problem-plagued Internet TV set-top boxes. Read Full Post…
Big stock moves for veteran online travel agent eLong (Nasdaq: LONG) and newly listed mobile game firm Ourgame (HKEx: 6899) are shining a spotlight on the need for consolidation in many of China’s online sectors, where these smaller players lack the resources to thrive over the longer term. Shares of eLong suddenly soared more than 20 percent in the latest session on trading volumes not seen for years, which will inevitably lead to speculation of a looming buyout offer. Meantime, Ourgame shares tanked 17 percent on their first trading day in Hong Kong, as investors yawned at the chance to buy into yet another mid-sized Chinese gaming firm. Read Full Post…
Chinese solar panel makers have taken an important step to solving their ongoing trade spat with the west by formally launching a private sector trade association to speak on their behalf. The move gives the panel makers their first truly commercial representative to discuss the matter with peers in the US and Europe, providing a better alternative to the government-backed groups that previously spoke for them. Read Full Post…
Newly listed companies are becoming popular investment targets for some of China’s tech giants, with online classified site 58.com (NYSE: WUBA) and video sharing site Xunlei (Nasdaq: XNET) both picking up major new backers in the form of Tencent (HKEx: 700) and Xiaomi, respectively. Meantime in other IPO news, a long-delayed domestic IPO for the website of the official Xinhua news agency is finally moving ahead, some 2 and a half years after a deal was first rumored. The case of Xinhuanet is particularly interesting because Xinhua and People’s Daily, the official Communist Party newspaper whose People.com (Shanghai: 603000) website is already listed, recently merged their 2 money-losing online search sites. Read Full Post…
After several false alarms, China’s slow-moving telecoms regulator has finally made its highly anticipated award of 4G licenses to the nation’s 2 smaller telcos, providing a much needed boost as they lose share to dominant telco China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL). Now China Telcom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) and China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHA) will have to quickly build networks based on 4G FDD-LTE technology, the standard used in most of the rest of the world that will now finally make its debut in China. Read Full Post…
The list of Chinese companies defaulting on their bonds continues to grow, with word that timber firm China Forestry Holdings (HKEx: 930) has missed an interest payment as it tries to repurchase the notes. I’ll admit that one reason I’m focusing on this news is because of a recent conversation I had with a Chinese banker, who explained to me what happens behind-the-scenes when companies have difficulty making bond payments. That explanation shows why we haven’t seen too many bond defaults yet, despite constant media reports that China’s banks are struggling under mountains of unreported non-performing loans. Read Full Post…
It’s been 2 weeks since I’ve written a post exclusively about leading e-commerce company Alibaba, so I thought I’d end the week with a round-up of a few company news bits including its selection of the New York Stock Exchange for its highly-anticipated IPO. In related news, the company’s major shareholder Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) is reportedly in talks to reduce its planned sale of Alibaba shares in the offering. Last but not least, Alibaba has formally added its name to one of its latest acquisitions, a stake in one of China’s leading soccer clubs. Read Full Post…
An exciting showdown that could become a landmark case in copyright protection is shaping up in Shenzhen, where a company accused of rampant piracy is refusing to pay a record fine formally levied this week by the city government. I first wrote about the massive 260 million yuan ($42 million) fine against video sharing site QVOD, whose Chinese name is kuaibo, about a month ago when the record-breaking sum was first announced. (previous post) Now Shenzhen has formally levied the fine, and QVOD has refused to pay and is threatening to take its own legal action. Read Full Post…
Several news bits from the electronics retailing space are in the headlines today, reflecting the volatile state of a highly competitive sector where margins are razor thin. US retailing giant Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) leads the headlines, with word that it’s mulling a sale of its China business 3 years after closing most of its own-brand stores in the market. Leading e-commerce firm Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) is also reportedly eying a retreat in the China home appliance market, while homegrown player Aisidi (Shenzhen: 002416) is moving in the other direction with its purchase of one of the nation’s top online cellphone retailers. Read Full Post…
China’s 2 smaller telcos, China Telecom (HKEx: 728; NYSE: CHA) and China Unicom (HKEx: 762; NYSE: CHU), are reportedly urging the telecoms regulator to quickly give them new 4G licenses as they find themselves in the uncomfortable position of rapidly losing share to dominant carrier China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL). The development looks a bit worrisome from a broader market perspective, as it appears to show that 3 years of steady gains by the 2 smaller companies in the 3G era could quickly be reversed if the regulator doesn’t act soon, stifling competition and hurting consumers as China Mobile re-emerges as the nation’s overwhelmingly dominant player. Read Full Post…
