The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 17. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Ant Financial Set Up With Alibaba Assets Alipay, Yu’ebao And Others (Chinese article)
Spring Airlines To Become First Public Low-Cost Carrier With IPO By Year End (Chinese article)
Internet Giants’ Brawl Ends With Qihoo (NYSE:QIHU) Final Loss To Tencent (English article)
McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) Hits Snag In China Expansion With Franchisee Dispute (Chinese article)
Two news bits involving employee movements are casting a spotlight on major stories that have rippled through the Chinese corporate headlines over these last few months. The first has employees of leading PC maker Lenovo (HKEx: 992) moving into the Chinese corporate headquarters of faded cellphone giant Motorola, indicating the former is confident of closing its landmark purchase of the latter. The second has US-owned meat processor Husi laying off most of the workers at its Shanghai plant, which is reeling from a massive downturn after investigative TV reporters uncovered food safety violations at the facility. Read Full Post…
A few weeks ago I praised Shanghai’s laggard media for uncovering one of the biggest stories of the year, so it seems fitting that this week I take another look at our local media’s return to the spotlight for far less positive reasons.
For those who don’t follow the industry so closely, the rare moment of glory for Shanghai’s media I’m referring to came back in late July. That’s when undercover TV reporters from Shanghai Media Group (SMG) exposed that a range of unsavory practices at Husi Food, a US-owned meat supplier to such major global brands as McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD), KFC (NYSE: YUM) and Starbucks (Nasdaq: SBUX). Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on September 12. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China Misses Out On First Wave Of New iPhone Releases (English article)
Tech Factory Workers Strike In China Over Mooncakes, Benefits (English article)
FAW, Volkswagen (Frankfurt: VOWG) Fined 248 Mln Yuan After Antitrust Probe Of Audi (Chinese article)
McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) August Sales Metric Hurt By China Scandal (English article)
JD.com (Nasdaq: JD) Responds To Reports Of Strike, Says Has Made Necessary Preparations (Chinese article)
Most of the recent flood of probes against foreign firms have been of the civil variety, resulting in stiff fines for anti-competitive behavior but few or no criminal charges and prison time. But that trend could be changing, with officials at car maker Volkswagen (Frankfurt: VOWG) and a former major meat supplier to McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) and KFC (NYSE: YUM) being probed or charged with crimes that could end with lengthy prison terms. It’s probably still too early to say if criminal charges against executives at major multinationals will become a trend. But if it does, it could certainly send a new chill into China’s rapidly worsening relationship with western businesses and governments. Read Full Post…
Top executives from software security maker Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) and struggling game operator The9 (Nasdaq: NCTY) were getting chummy in the blogosphere last week, filling the airwaves with chatter as they prepared to announce a new alliance at the country’s top gaming trade show in Shanghai. Meantime, executives from PC giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992) took time out from their usual tech and marketing chatter to make some low-key criticism against the government, including a microblog post in defense of the beleaguered McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) as it grapples with one of its worst-ever food safety scandals in China. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 5. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on July 30. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China Retail Executive Wang Being Probed In Bribery Case (English article)
GAPPRFT Mulls Quota System for Foreign Online Video Content – Source (English article)
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on July 24. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) Sticks By Meat Supplier OSI After Yum Severs Ties (English article)
SAIC (Shanghai: 600104), Alibaba Partner In Internet Car Initiative (Chinese article)
First Foreign-Invested Hospital Approved, Obstacles Remain (Chinese article)
Phoenix Satellite TV (HKEx: 2008) Announces Profit Warning (HKEx announcement)
Lenovo (HKEx: 992) To Launch, Air Purifiers, Other Smart Devices (Chinese article)
It’s been more than a year since a major food safety scare hit western fast-food operators in China, so we were probably overdue for the latest scandal that is now consuming leading chains KFC (NYSE: YUM) and McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD). Frankly speaking, Chinese consumers are probably so jaded about food safety scandals by now that I don’t know if these latest 2 will really have much long-term impact on either company.
The most disgraceful element this time is the fact that the supplier at the heart of the latest scandal is a foreign-owned firm. Up until now, most of the suppliers who provided tainted food to big foreign supermarkets and restaurant chains were domestic Chinese firms, which usually have lower quality control standards. Thus this latest scandal could really do some damage to the broader image of foreign-owned companies, which are generally seen as more trustworthy than their Chinese peers. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on July 22. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Yum (NYSE: YUM), McDonald’s Apologize As New China Food Scandal Hits (English article)
Mobile Internet Users Pass Desktop Users For First Time – CNNIC (Chinese article)
Huawei’s H1 revenue Up 19 Percent Year-On-Year At $22 Bln (English article)
