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Journalist China
Business news from China By Doug Young.
Doug Young, journalist, has lived and worked in China for 20 years, much of that as a journalist, writing about publicly listed Chinese companies.
He is based in Shanghai where, in addition to his role as editor of Young’s China Business Blog, he teaches financial journalism at Fudan University, one of China’s top journalism programs.
He contributes regularly to a wide range of publications in both China and the west, including Forbes, CNN, Seeking Alpha and Reuters, as well as Asia-based publications including the South China Morning Post, Global Times, Shanghai Daily and Shanghai Observer
I don’t usually write about IPOs in China’s domestic A-share market, mostly because most such offerings are for stodgy state-run firms with low growth potential and whose shares aren’t available to most foreigners. But the market is changing as the regulator slowly warms up to more interesting private firms, which is reflected in an upcoming listing plan by entrepreneurial budget carrier Spring Airlines. At the same time, separate reports are shining a spotlight on another potentially exciting domestic IPO that would still be a year or two in the future, with word that e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) has set up Ant Financial, a separate company to officially own its financial service assets. Read Full Post…
Supreme Court rules for Tencent in antitrust lawsuit
Big foreign multinationals may be feeling the heat from a recent string of anti-monopoly investigations, but Chinese Internet firms won’t have to face such worries anytime soon. That’s the latest message coming from Beijing, with word that China’s Supreme People’s Court has ruled in favor of social networking giant Tencent (HKEx: 700) in a long-running lawsuit claiming the company controlled a monopoly in the instant messaging market. I originally sided with Tencent when the case was filed 3 years ago by security software specialist Qihoo 360 (NYSE: QIHU), because I felt the lawsuit looked retaliatory for an unrelated suit between the pair at that time. But much has changed since then, most notably the meteoric rise of Tencent’s wildly popular WeChat mobile instant messaging service that has become an indispensable tool for millions of people in China, myself included. Read Full Post…
Just weeks after Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) unveild a major new tie-up with a leading Chinese microchip maker, the Chinese partner behind that deal is moving ahead with its own drive to consolidate the nation’s fragmented sector for such chips, formally known as integrated circuits (ICs). The Chinese company, Tsinghua Unigroup, is reportedly leading the establishment of a major new fund that will invest in IC designers and manufacturers. While such a fund might normally focus on providing money to start-ups, based on Unigroup’s recent actions it looks more likely that this new entity could become a vehicle for consolidation that is sorely needed in China’s microchip sector. Read Full Post…
My award this year for the world’s most patient company goes to Universal Studios, which has just received the official green light to build one of its trademark theme parks in Beijing after more than a decade of perseverance. I’ll admit I’m writing about this particular story partly for sentimental reasons, since Universal Parks & Resorts first announced its plans to build theme parks in Shanghai and Beijing shortly after I first arrived in Asia in 2002. Now some 12 years later, China’s powerful state planner has reportedly finally given the green light for such a park to be built in Beijing, in an investment totaling more than 20 billion yuan ($3.2 billion). Read Full Post…
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…
Two high-profile executive moves are highlighting the recent attraction of China’s tech story to both domestic Chinese and foreigners, lured by breakneck growth that produced the world’s biggest-ever IPO last month with the $24 billion IPO of e-commerce leader Alibaba (NYSE: BABA). The first move has seen former Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) executive Jai Mani leave his position in a California-based start-up to take an India-based job at fast-rising Chinese smartphone sensation Xiaomi. The other has seen well-known Chinese financier Levin Zhu jump ship from the top post at CICC, China’s oldest investment bank, reportedly to start his own company involved with Internet-based finance. Read Full Post…
ICBC (HKEx: 1398; Shanghai: 601398) is in a couple of separate headlines today, spotlighting 2 very different phenomena taking place at China’s largest and most aggressive bank. The first has Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek increasing its stake in ICBC by a small amount, in a largely symbolic move that reflects the recent lack of interest in Chinese bank stocks by global investors. The second has ICBC in talks to underwrite a yuan-denominated bond sale by Russian energy giant Gazprom, reflecting the bank’s rising stature on the global stage as China seeks to internationalize its local currency. Read Full Post…
After spending most of its life in relative obscurity, Chinese insurer Anbang is suddenly making steady headlines on the global stage with word of 2 major new deals in Europe and Asia, following its landmark agreement last week to buy New York’s storied Waldorf Astoria hotel for nearly $2 billion. The larger of the latest deals has Anbang in talks to buy a major stake in South Korea’s Woori Bank, while the smaller has it buying Belgian insurer Fidea. Meantime, Anbang’s earlier landmark Waldorf deal is showing early trouble signs, with word that some US diplomats are expressing concerns about the sale over the potential for spying. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on October 15. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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Anbang Insurance Deal For Waldorf Astoria Raises US Security Fears (English article)
EU, China Have Resolved Telecoms Dispute: EU Trade Chief (English article)
Xiaomi Signs Former Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Exec As India Products Manager (English article)
Costco (Nasdaq: COST) Makes China Debut On Alibaba’s (NYSE: BABA) Tmall Platform (Businesswire)
China’s Gingko Tree Said In Talks To Buy Siemens (Frankfurt: SIEGn) Offices (English article)
I’ll admit that I’m somewhat skeptical of e-commerce leader Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) due to its excessive hype and increasing lack of focus, even though the company regularly seems to defy gravity with a sky-high valuation that has made it China’s biggest Internet company. But despite my doubts, I’m actually somewhat upbeat on a new report that says the company aims to export its premier annual sales event as part of a much-needed global expansion to justify its high valuation. At the same time, another report saying the company will spend more than $1 billion on a rural expansion also looks like a smart move, coming a year after a similar expansion by its closest rival JD.com (Nasdaq: JD). Read Full Post…
After fraying under a steady stream of disputes over the last 2 years, China-Western trade relations took a much-needed turn for the better last week with new reports showing that Beijing and its major trading partners were taking constructive steps to reduce the tensions. Two reports indicated Beijing will take steps to reduce some of the government support it gives to emerging high-tech industries, addressing a sore spot in its trade relations with the west. Read Full Post…
