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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
Apple promises to safeguard data on Chinese servers
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) has emerged as a rare voice of reason in the war of words between China and the west over cyber security, with word that the global tech giant has decided to host some of its users’ personal data on Chinese-based computers. Apple’s move was almost surely a business decision first and foremost, providing its Chinese users with speedier services. But the move also sends a signal that other western companies should consider following, reflecting Apple’s belief that using Chinese infrastructure doesn’t pose a risk to compromising a company’s private data. Read Full Post…
After saying little or nothing about its wave of anti-competitive probes against some of the world’s top firms, China is finally breaking the silence with its justification for actions that have targeted everyone from software giant Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) to leading US car maker General Motors (NYSE: GM). The justification is coming via the state-owned English-language newspaper the China Daily, and argues that such investigations are common in the west and aren’t targeted against foreign firms. This long-overdue explanation also hints that Beijing may be worried about a potential action by the US and European Union, who may be preparing to complain to the World Trade Organization (WTO) that Beijing discriminates against western companies. Read Full Post…
A summer full of negative news for Sino-foreign trade relations got a rare piece of positive news over the weekend, with word that the US has approved the sale of IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) low-end server business to Chinese PC giant Lenovo (HKEx: 992). The case looks a bit like another deal between the pair of tech giants nearly a decade ago, when IBM agreed to sell its high-profile PC business to Lenovo, only to see the deal run into political headwinds before finally getting approved by Washington. But this latest approval is slightly different, as it comes against a backdrop of heightened trade and other national security tensions between China and the west, especially from the US. Read Full Post…
A widening web of anti-trust investigations has snared one of China’s biggest overseas investors, with word that General Motors (NYSE: GM) has become the latest foreign company to be probed for monopolistic practices. News of this particular investigation shows that no one is exempt from such probes, since GM is one of China’s oldest and largest foreign investors in the automobile sector and is quite chummy with longtime partner SAIC (600104), one of Shanghai’s largest companies. Thus by potentially punishing GM, China’s anti-monopoly regulator would also be punishing a leading Shanghai company, hurting its profits and potentially slowing its growth and future investment from GM. Read Full Post…
I’ve been writing regularly about the flood of anti-monopoly probes against western firms recently, so it seems only appropriate that I end the week with a flurry of new headlines involving cases against chipmaker Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM), luxury car maker Audi (Frankfurt: VOWG), and a long-overdue response from a major western business group. In the first news bit, the anti-monopoly investigator has reportedly nabbed a government insider who was helping Qualcomm in the case against it. The second bit has media reporting the regulator is preparing to levy a large but relatively manageable fine against Audi. And the third bit has the EU’s local chamber of commerce calling on China to stop bullying its members. Read Full Post…
The busiest day of the second-quarter earnings season has just come and gone, with online gaming leaders Tencent (HKEx: 700) and NetEase (Nasdaq: NTES), top telco China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL), leading PC maker Lenovo (HKEx: 992) and e-commerce high-flyer Vipshop (NYSE: VIPS) all reporting results in the same 24-hour period. I’ll give quick reviews of individual companies shortly, but the bigger picture based on stock reactions seems to be a massive yawn from investors. Most of the stocks were either unchanged or moved slightly downward in response to the earnings reports, meaning most results continued recent company trends.
The lackluster response also hints at some investor fatigue, following a wave of euphoria during a flood of new Internet IPOs in New York in the first half of this year. All that said, let’s take a quick look at each of the reports and what they say about current and future trends. Read Full Post…
Smartphone makers Xiaomi and Huawei are learning tough new lessons this week, reflecting intense competition in the overheated market where a feisty field of Chinese players are vying for a place alongside global leaders Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and Samsung (Seoul: 005930). In Xiaomi’s case, the company has become emboiled in an embarrassing new gaffe in Taiwan involving collection of personal data. Meantime, Huawei’s Honor line of smartphones, which it’s trying to position as an mid- to upscale brand, is rapidly moving into the bargain bin with word that it has slashed the price on a new 4G model to just 799 yuan, or $130. Read Full Post…
I’m no fan of censorship, but I still have to compliment Beijing on its recent unusual decision to inform South Korea of the reasons behind its recent decision to block the popular mobile instant messaging service called Line in China. This kind of explanation would sound normal in any other country; but it represents a big step for Chinese censors, who are highly secretive when they choose to block Internet sites, ban foreign films and TV shows and take other similar actions.
Many people, myself included, won’t be truly satisfied with China until it completely removes its practice of censoring material that simply expresses different views from the central government or is critical of high government officials. But at least this unusual act of openly explaining one of its censorship actions marks a move in the direction of more transparency, which could be a small sign of improvement in helping companies navigate the difficult Chinese media market. Read Full Post…
The microblogging realm was filled with words of sympathy this past week at the woes for some of China’s longest-serving foreign tech firms whose names have become household words over the last 20 years. Leading the list were a flood of comments on Nokia, whose name was once synonymous with cellphones in China but later fell on hard times and last week laid off a big part of its Chinese workforce. Meantime, other tech executives looked on in wonder at the recent plight of Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Mercedes-Benz, which have joined a growing list of western firms being investigated by Chinese anti-trust regulators.
Chinese firms haven’t been the only ones feel the pain these past few weeks, as the nation’s Internet regulator has also cracked down on social media sites with its eye squarely on industry titan Tencent (HKEx: 700). As that happened, the operator of the popular WeChat and QQ instant messaging platforms got some rare sympathy from rival Weibo (Nasdaq: WB), the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, which itself came under a similar crackdown 2 years ago. Read Full Post…
Consolidation continues to advance in the Chinese supermarket aisle, with word that Hong Kong grocery operator Dairy Farm (London: DFIB) is paying nearly $1 billion for 20 percent of Yonghui (Shanghai: 601933), one of China’s top chains. A couple of years ago I would have said this deal looked like a good one for both sides, combining Dairy Farm’s well-run Hong Kong-based chain of Wellcome supermarkets with Yonghui’s sizable Chinese operations. But frankly speaking, China’s rapid migration of food shopping into the e-commerce realm makes the whole idea of consolidation of brick-and-mortar operations look like a belated effort with limited growth potential. Read Full Post…
The following press releases and media reports about Chinese companies were carried on August 13. To view a full article or story, click on the link next to the headline.
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China Probes Threaten to Squeeze Foreign Profits (English article)
Shanghai GM (NYSE: GM) Admits To Coming Under Anti-Monopoly Investigation (Chinese article)
