Publicity savvy smartphone maker Xiaomi was making awkward noises in the blogosphere this past week, as it found itself stinging from critical remarks made by a top executive at Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), the company’s role model. At the same time, the company got an unexpected show of support from another source, as controversial Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU) CEO Zhou Hongyi defended the smartphone maker over a different brouhaha involving involving an embarrassing data security investigation in Taiwan.
In separate news, TV giant TCL (Shenzhen: 000100) Chairman Li Dongsheng was talking up a potential electronic payments alliance, with word that his company is discussing a tie-up with UnionPay, operator of China’s leading electronic transactions network. Just last week I commended Li for taking some new risks a decade after 2 disastrous partnerships with European companies. But this latest chatter is starting to get a bit worrisome, as Li seems to be thinking in quite a few directions that are increasingly scattered and lack any common theme. Read Full Post…
Beijing made the right decision last week in deciding not to oppose a World Trade Organization ruling that it unfairly supported its domestic UnionPay financial transactions network at the expense of foreign rivals like MasterCard (NYSE: MA) and Visa (NYSE: V). Now it needs to show it is prepared to wean its other big industries from unfair state support, starting with the unrelated solar energy sector that has recently become a major source of friction between China and its major trading partners.
In what looks like a big setback for UnionPay, the World Trade Organization has ruled that the financial services network operator has an illegal monopoly that unfairly locks rivals like MasterCard (NYSE: MA) and Visa (NYSE: V) out of the market for settling financial transactions denominated in China’s currency, the renminbi. But while this ruling may represent a victory for Visa and MasterCard in the longer term, I have no doubt that the decision will be meaningless for at least the next few years, as Beijing, even if it decides to comply with the ruling, erects bureaucratic obstacles to make sure that UnionPay maintains its monopoly status for now.
After months of seeing a steady stream of lackluster IPOs go to market, often with lukewarm or disastrous receptions, I’m finally happy to report the year’s first truly exciting new offering coming from the courier unit of China’s post office, which could be followed later in the year by another exciting listing for UnionPay, operator of the nation’s dominant electronic money transferring network. Let’s look first at the upcoming offering for China Postal Express, the package delivery unit of China Post, which has filed for a Shanghai listing to raise up to $1.6 billion. (
UnionPay, China’s equivalent of Visa (NYSE: V) and MasterCard (NYSE: MA), is making headlines today with some impressive numbers showing its profit has exploded in the last few years, as it looks to highlight its growth story in the run-up to what could well become the blockbuster Chinese IPO of the year. Of course this is all just my guessing, as UnionPay, whose stakeholders include most of China’s major banks, has never given a detailed timeline for such an offering, which I would expect to come as a dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai as soon as the second half of this year. Such an offering would have huge appeal for investors, as it would offer a strong financial services alternative to China’s big banks, which often behave more like policy lenders than true commercial banks and, as a result are now in the midst of a crisis after sharply boost their lending under a directive from Beijing at the height of the global financial crisis. By comparison, UnionPay operates a national electronic payments settlement network similar to the Cirrus and Plus networks operated by MasterCard and Visa, which is much less vulnerable to the whims of government policy. UnionPay has also been aggressively expanding the network globally, leveraging its strong base in China to sign a steady stream of major agreements to extend its network to major global banks and other financial services firms. One of the latest moves in that direction saw the company sign a deal last August to link its network with US Bancorp (NYSE: USB), a top US player, and more recently it inked another deal with another US company called WorldPay. That aggressive expansion and the growth of the financial services industry in China is apparent in UnionPay’s bottom line, which has grown 10-fold over the last 5 years as its profit reached just over 1 billion yuan in 2011, or about $160 million. (
