I remember the pride that I felt around a decade ago the first time I used a self-serve cashier at a US grocery store, where shoppers can scan their own food items and then pay for them using a credit card. The whole system was very advanced and made me feel quite high-tech; but equally important was the sense of pride I felt at the trust that such a system implied, since there was nobody there to verify that I actually scanned all my items and paid for them. Now Shanghai is looking to copy the self-service check-out concept, though in a decidedly low-tech way with very Chinese characteristics as it introduces a new string of self-serve vegetable stalls at the city’s wet markets.
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Guangzhou Auto: China’s GM? 广州汽车集团：中国的通用？
Less than 2 months after signing a major R&D tie-up with rival Chery, leading south China automaker Guangzhou Automobile (HKEx: 2238) is back in the headlines with news of a similar tie-up with 2 other smaller rivals. This latest move makes Guangzhou Auto look increasingly like a potential consolidator for the many smaller and mid-sized automakers in nearby provinces, potentially molding the company into a future General Motors (NYSE: GM) of China. Auto historians will note that GM has no formal brands carrying its own name, but rather was formed through the consolidation of many smaller brands during a similar consolidation of the US auto industry many decades ago.
Financial Times Shops For China Buyer 《金融时报》寻求中国买家
Three months after British media company Pearson (London: PSON) reportedly started testing the waters for a possible sale of its flagship newspaper the Financial Times, one of my knowledgeable sources is telling me the company’s advisers have even come to China in their search for potential buyers. My source was quick to add that a Chinese buyer is highly unlikely to make a bid for Pearson for mostly political reasons, which I’ll explain shortly and many of which are detailed in my new book, “The Party Line” about how China’s media work. (book description)
Foreign Banks Cool to Solar, Beijing Steps In 光伏业融资遇冷 中国政府挑担子
A few of the latest headlines reflect a cooling appetite by foreign banks for funding solar energy related projects, creating a worrisome vacuum that Beijing may need to fill as it seeks to stop struggling sector from sinking further still. Two of the latest such headlines look like particular cause for worry, with Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ) taking over financial responsibility for a solar power project from one of its construction partners for unspecified reasons that I suspect are related to waning interest by foreign banks in funding such projects. (company announcement) Another similar recent domestic media report says that a Chinese company that insures solar panel sales has just made its biggest-ever payment to JA Solar (Nasdaq: JASO) after the panel maker couldn’t collect payment from one of its overseas customers. (Chinese article)
China Mobile Muscles Tencent Into Talks 中国移动与腾讯进行营收共享协议谈判
Just a couple of weeks after telecoms heavyweight China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) complained that Internet giant Tencent (HKEx: 700) was stealing its text messaging business, we’re getting word that the 2 companies may have started talks for a revenue sharing agreement to resolve the dispute. China Mobile’s discontent involves Tencent’s popular mobile instant messaging service WeChat, better known by its Chinese name Weixin, which has soared to prominence in the last 2 years and recently passed the 300 million registered user mark. (previous post) The service allows people to send text messages back and forth over the Internet, letting them circumvent traditional text messaging that is one of the biggest revenue sources for China Mobile and the nation’s other 2 big telcos.
Facebook Forges Links, Sina Shuffles; Facebook未弃中国梦 新浪或将一分为二
News involving a new China tie-up by Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) will undoubtedly reignite speculation that the social networking giant could finally enter the world’s biggest Internet market in 2013, fulfilling the long-stated goal of company founder Mark Zuckerberg. Meanwhile in other Internet news, leading web portal Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) is reportedly undergoing yet another new internal shuffle, foreshadowing major changes in store for one of China’s oldest online companies in 2013.
China Internet Rule: Beijing’s Order Obsession 中国互联网新规
Everyone is giving their view on China’s new Internet rule announced late last week and what it means for both web surfers and service providers, so I too feel a need to provide my own interpretation on this latest development in the country’s wild and often unruly social media space. In a nutshell, the new rule seems designed to formally put into law many of the practices already performed by major companies and individuals, and in that sense it doesn’t represent a huge change in Beijing’s stance toward the Internet and new media in general.
ZTE Sells Assets, Huawei Courts Iran 中兴出售资产，华为讨好伊朗
After a few weeks of silence, embattled telecoms equipment makers Huawei and ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen: 000063) are back in the headlines again for the wrong reasons, with more bad news for each of these 2 companies that have lately entered an endless downward spiral. Exactly where this spiral of bad news will end is anyone’s guess, and I suspect 2013 won’t be a particularly good year for either company. But we could finally see the situations at both firms stabilize around the middle of the year, especially if either starts to gain some traction for its less controversial newer smartphone business.
Shanghai Street View: Taxi Tales 沪经动向：打车的故事
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.
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)
