Another food safety scandal made headlines in China last week, this time when the dairy unit of Shanghai’s Bright Food was fined after its products were found swirling at the center of a recent string of controversies. But unlike previous scandals, this one involved a company with major global aspirations, as reflected by Bright’s recent string of overseas acquisitions. The fact that China’s first global food conglomerate may be a food safety laggard is hardly a message that Beijing should want to send the world, and will only make skeptical Westerners wary of Chinese food products. To prevent that from happening, which would hurt not only Bright but also future Chinese global aspirants, Beijing should seriously consider taking stronger actions against this globally minded company.
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Fund Raising: Maps, Milk and Vancl 丁丁网与华夏畜牧获得新融资 凡客或很快赴美上市
A flurry of fund-raising news is making the headlines today, showing that private equity and venture capitalists are still hard at work investing in China, even as many of their traditional favorites in the overheated Internet space are getting the cold shoulder. At the same time, the inevitable has finally happened with the first concrete report that cash-challenged clothing retailer Vancl has re-started its long-delayed IPO process, with an aim of making a public listing in New York potentially by the end of this year.
Microsoft Piracy Assault Moves to Cloud 微软盗版攻击转向云服务
A month after launching a new assault on piracy by China’s big state-owned enterprises (SOEs), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is boosting that offensive with announcement of a new deal to provide cloud-based access to some of its most popular software to the Shanghai city government. This latest move to boost its China revenue looks like a smart one to me, as it provides a more “carrot-like” attractive incentive to China’s big SOEs to stop using pirated versions of its most popular products like its Microsoft Office suite. Microsoft’s previous initiative, first reported back in September, used a more “stick-like” approach, trying to shame big SOEs into stopping their use of pirated products by exposing them in a careful campaign of media leaks and pressure from Beijing.
ZTE’s Smartphones Go Upscale 中兴发布新手机品牌Nubia 发力高端市场
Embattled telecoms equipment maker ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shanghai: 000063) is taking a relatively low-key approach to its newest move into the smartphone space, which comes with its launch of a new brand called Nubia specifically aimed at the high-end market. The tactic is a bit unusual for the company, which earlier this week put out a full-fledged press release announcing it has formally passed Taiwan’s fading HTC (Taipei: 2498) to become the world’s fourth largest smartphone maker. (company announcement)
Chery, With New JV, Heads to Market 捷豹路虎合资项目获批 奇瑞欲重启IPO
More than a month after struggling carmaker Chery first told the world that its joint venture with Jaguar Land Rover had received a government green light (previous post), China’s state planner has come out and announced its formal approval of the deal. But what caught my attention from the latest news reports were some of the details about the new venture’s plans, along with the more intriguing revelation that Chery is racing ahead with plans for an IPO to fund the project.
eBay Returns to China With Xiu eBay联手走秀重返中国
After failing badly in its first attempt in China, US e-commerce giant eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) is preparing for a second try at the market by teaming up with a local player online apparel seller named Xiu.com. Media reports are citing an unnamed knowledgeable source about this latest tie-up, but from my perspective it seems quite credible as eBay has been reportedly looking for a new China partner for much of the last year. (Chinese article)
Shanghai Street View: Filial Turning Point 沪经动向：孝道转折点
This week I want to look at an interesting trend that has seen a growing number of foreign firms look to Shanghai as a test bed for assisted living communities, a popular western concept for elderly people who want to continue living independently despite limitations brought on by age. The idea of letting one’s parents spend their golden years living with other elderly people while under the care of strangers is strange and unfamiliar for most Chinese, whose culture counts filial piety as one of its most basic tenets.
Qunar Joins Year-End IPO Queue 去哪儿网有望年底赴美上市
We’re seeing growing signs that a mini-parade of Chinese IPOs could march through New York in the last 2 months of 2012, with word that online travel site Qunar hopes to list in the US by the end of the year. (Chinese article) If the reports are true, Qunar would join a small but growing list of Chinese companies that could make US listings by year end, with video sharing sites operated by Xunlei and Sohu (Nasdaq: SOHU) also sending similar signals. (previous post) If these listings go well, we could even see one of the shakier companies that has been waiting patiently to make a listing quickly move forward with an IPO, with online clothing retailer Vancl the most likely candidate in this category.
Desperate Dangdang Joins TMall 当当网携手天猫 绝望中求生存
A day after announcing the arrival of a new chief financial officer (previous post), we’re getting word that fast-fading e-commerce superstar Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) is preparing to join hands with a major competitor by opening a new storefront on Alibaba’s TMall. The CFO change and now this latest tie-up with a rival all reflect the growing reality that Dangdang is rapidly fading from China’s fiercely competitive e-commerce crowd, and could even become one of its first major victims. One could even say this latest series of moves reflects a certain desperation, as Dangdang tries to reverse a worrisome trend that has seen its losses balloon over the last year.
Cars: Japan’s Long Winter, BYD Sputters 日本车企在华遇严冬
The prognosis isn’t looking good for Japanese car brands in China, with Honda (Tokyo: 7267) becoming the latest predictor that the gloom plaguing Japan’s big 3 automakers could last into next spring and perhaps even longer. That looks like bad news for not only Honda, Toyota (Tokyo: 7203) and Nissan (Tokyo: 7201), but also their Chinese joint venture partners including Guangzhou Auto (HKEx: 2238) and Dongfeng Motor (HKEx: 489). Meantime, former high-flying car maker BYD (HKEx: 1211; Shenzhen: 002594) also continues to sputter for its own internal reasons, with the company predicting its profit will continue to plunge for the rest of the year to almost zero.
Online: Jingdong, Baidu, Dangdang 京东进军电子支付 百度营收放缓
A number of interesting tidbits are sifting through the online world today, including news from the e-commerce space that Jingdong Mall is entering the electronic payments space and that Dangdang (NYSE: DANG) has replaced its CFO. Meantime, online search leader Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) has reported its latest results that show its growth continues to slow, with the rapid rate of the slowdown slightly alarming.
