Many companies from traditional sectors have been taking a serious look at the Internet these days, worried that failure to develop a solid web strategy could result in their eventual demise. For sectors like retail and some other traditional product categories, I agree that strategy makes sense as the Internet radically changes the way that these industries operate. But I find the recent Internet obsession by the CEO of Vanke (HKEx: 1036; Shenzhen: 000002), one of China’s leading real estate developers, a bit more difficult to understand, since property doesn’t seem like a sector that can easily migrate to the web. Read Full Post…
Results from a recent poll about Shanghai’s hospitals made for some entertaining reading, but also showed that local residents are quite content with the state of local health care. Despite the frequent complaints some people have about our local hospitals and practices that westerns find strange, I personally also agree that the current system is surprisingly satisfactory and efficient, even if it sometimes lacks the personal touch.
China’s healthcare system has undergone huge changes since the first time I stepped into a hospital in Beijing in the 1980s for a physical exam. The hospitals of that era were truly basic institutions lacking in much equipment, even if their staff of doctors trained in western and traditional Chinese medicine were friendly enough. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on January 3. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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It’s quiet outside as markets reopen on this first work day after the New Year, so I thought I’d start off 2014 with some predictions for the year ahead in the sectors that I cover. Generally speaking, I do think the first half of the year will see a continuation of strong momentum that began in late 2013 for many sectors. But that momentum will slow as we near the mid-year mark, and 2014 could end with a whimper as the Chinese economy continues to slow and Beijing pushes for higher quality growth. Read Full Post…
The microblog realm has been buzzing loudly this final week of 2013 with stories that are likely to be major themes in the new year, led by a probable IPO by Jingdong, China’s second largest e-commerce firm. Meantime, e-commerce leader Alibaba was showing no signs of slowing down the endless promotion of its recently launched mobile instant messaging (IM) service Laiwang, as it tries to catch up with Tencent’s (HKEx: 700) hugely popular WeChat rival service. Lastly, tweets coming from top e-commerce firms Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) and Suning (Shenzhen: 002024) hint that 2014 could see the start of consolidation in the booming but also fiercely competitive parcel delivery sector, perhaps including a few major acquisitions and closures and a long-awaited domestic IPO for China Postal Express, the parcel delivery unit of China’s Post Office. (previous post) Read Full Post…
We’ll start off this first day of the new year with what could well become a major theme for 2014, with word that make-up giant Revlon (NYSE: REV) is officially pulling the plug on its China operations. This timing of this move, which was officially announced just before year end, was most likely related to accounting issues, as Revlon probably wants to take some or all of its resulting $22 million write-down in the fourth quarter. But that said, Revlon’s withdrawal shines a spotlight on the tough market for consumer goods in China, as a slowing economy leads many to cut back their spending on non-essential daily items like make-up. Read Full Post…
A couple of year-end announcements from solar majors Trina (NYSE: TSL) and ReneSola (NYSE: SOL) are pointing to a coming flood of new orders for the entire solar panel sector next year, fueled by huge new demand from their home China market. I fully expect we’ll see a steady stream of similar announcements throughout next year and even into 2015, providing a flow of good news for rebounding solar stocks after a 3-year sector downturn. But amid the bright news, potential downside lurks in the risk that payments for some of these mega-orders could be slow to come, as many solar plant operators are big state-owned entities that may lack the funds and skills to pay for and operate all of their ambitious new projects. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on December 31. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) Removes All Pirated Material From Yingyin Video Platform (Chinese article)
Trina (NYSE: TSL) Signs Framework Agreement For 1GW Solar Project in Xinjiang (PRNewswire)
Vanke (Shenzhen: 000002) CEO, Fearing Changes In Real Estate, Learns From Alibaba, Tencent (Chinese article)
It seems quite appropriate that we’re ending 2013 with word of yet another acquisition and New York IPO plan in China’s Internet space by leading search site Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU), capping a year that will go down as the most active for Chinese online M&A in the sector’s short but colorful history. It’s certainly appropriate that Baidu’s name is connected to both of these final news bits for the year, since the company and e-commerce leader Alibaba were the 2 most active drivers of this year’s M&A wave. Read Full Post…
The accelerating anti-graft campaign in China could be entering a new phase, with word that Britain’s anti-corruption watchdog has formally launched an investigation into jet engine maker Rolls-Royce. The move marks the latest investigation of a major foreign firm related to its China operations, as Beijing itself engages in an increasingly aggressive campaign to root out corruption at state-owned enterprises. While this latest investigation is certainly a welcome development in the drive to clean up China’s business environment, the acceleration of the broader campaign could also create major disruptions in the country’s business world over the short-term. Read Full Post…
After moving extremely slowly throughout the year, the telecoms regulator is suddenly surprising everyone with a flurry of major new announcements in the final weeks of 2013. First the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued long-awaited 4G wireless licenses earlier this month, and now we’re learning that it has just issued its first batch of virtual network operator (VNO) licenses. This sudden issue of VNO licenses comes as a bit of a surprise, since there were no advance indications for the timing and many believed the MIIT wouldn’t make the move until next spring. Read Full Post…
