China :: Business :: Deals

Yougou Denies Rumors of Baidu Investment National Business Daily, 8/31/11 Yougou.com, Chinese online fashion company Belle's B2C footwear platform, has denied earlier reports that it received investment from Chinese internet company Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU). Several investment funds have expressed interest in Yougou, according to a senior executive in the company, but management aims to find a strategic investor in the internet sector. CEO Zhang Xuejun recently disclosed that the company has set a three year target for profitability. According to another source within the company, Belle completed a 17,000 square meter warehouse for Yougou in Shenzhen two months ago. Yougou currently uses its own warehousing facilities and third-party logistics providers. Zhang added that Yougou will consider developing its own delivery services once it reaches certain internal sales targets. Editor's Note: For more information on this topic, please see " Yougou Obtains USD 200 Mln Funding from...

In reading Caroline Wheelers article in The Globe and Mail I got to thinking about a paradox, wrapped in a riddle and infused with mystery, that has been on my mind a lot lately. Ive had a lot of names for it over the years but the most succinct one is EMPTY STORE SYNDROME. It is a phenomenon somewhat particular to China. If you have spent any time traveling or doing business in China you know the scene. Three thousand square feet of retail space in a luxury mall staffed by pretty/handsome/fashionable young people. Every product looks perfect, the fixtures, lights and other aspects of merchandising are perfect and the tenant is a world famous top 50 brand, onlythere is no one in the store. There never is. If you step into one of these stores you are either a. surrounded by five staffers eyeballing you suspiciously or b. ignored by the five sleeping, reading, dreaming staffers In general the people are in the mall and they may pass through the store, but they NEVER BUY ANYTHING!!!! ...

Source : Kirin Aug 22 2011 --- Kirin Holdings Company, Limited and China Resources Enterprise, Limited have proceeded with the preparation to establish a joint venture and completed the procedures, which was announced in the previous news release "Kirin and China Resources Enterprise, Limited agreed to establish a Non-Alcohol Beverage Joint Venture in China" dated January 24, 2011. Through a series of procedures, China Resources Kirin Beverages (Greater China) Company Ltd. has been established with 40% and 60% shares held by Kirin and China Resources Enterprise respectively. Accordingly, Kirin's stake in each of its subsidiaries, Shanghai JinJiang Kirin Beverage & Food Co., Ltd., Kirin Beverage (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Shanghai Kirin Beverage & Food Co., Ltd., Beijing Flying Kirin Beverage Co., Ltd., will be soon transferred to under China Resources Kirin Beverages Group. At the new joint venture, excellent synergy will be created by the combination of Kirin Group, w...

First they came for Baidu, then they came for Weibohow soon you Taobao? Sina Weibo has taken steps to warn users against spreading rumors and false reports. I think this is part of the bigger, more established government method of keeping the natives calm by forcing them to self-police through vague directives. It also seems to be part of a larger effort to ensure state control over every aspect of the Internet. I think Beijing was rattled by the role social media has played in revolutions across the Arab world. One truly wonders what the future of the Internet in China will be. The hallmark of he Internet around the world is the open-ended, find, do, say, buy anything beauty of it all. Will China show us what the first State-Owned and Operated Internet will look like?

Hat tip to China Bystander for this report. Water shortages are going to be increasingly worrisome in China both in terms of drought, shortages and ability to deliver to bigger urban populations. Worth considering from a humanitarian, political and business POV. http://chinabystander.wordpress.com/

With the news that HP is selling off its PC business coming fast on the heels of the announcement that China is now the #1 computer market in the world one wonders if a Chinese buyer is in the offing. It would seem to make sense. More IP, more brand recognition, more built-in trust and the ability to meet the demand in China with a hometown company. Lenovo? A company from another industry? An SOE? We shall keep tabs on this and keep you posted.

China Where American internet companies go to die and be reborn as the local version. Wall Street Journal BY LORETTA CHAO BEIJINGGroupon Inc.s joint venture in China has closed offices in some cities and laid off hundreds of employees, according to people familiar with the situation, raising questions about the online coupon companys strategy in a big market ahead of its planned initial public offering of stock. Former and current employees of the Chinese joint venture, which operates the website GaoPeng.com, say more than 10 offices around China have been closed, including one in the northern city of Tangshan where an employee said he and his co-workers were locked out last Friday after their lunch break just after being notified of

With the specter of a second recession hanging over Europe and North America these are not halcyon days for companies with consumer products to sell. But there is one market that is still proving to be robustEquatorial Guinea. Ok, China. Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) China probably overtook the U.S. as the largest personal-computer market last quarter, after three decades of American dominance in an industry pioneered by Apple Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. Personal-computer shipments in China rose 14 percent to 18.5 million units during the second quarter, the first time they surpassed the number in the U.S., where they fell 4.8 percent to 17.7 million, Bryan Ma, an analyst at research firm IDC, said in an interview today. On a full-year basis, China will likely pass the U.S. in 2012, he said. The estimates highlight the growing importance of Chinas consumers to the global economy after the country passed the U.S. in 2009 as the largest auto market. Ok, so two weeks ago we ...

Source : Wall Street Journal By James T. Areddy and Mike Esterl Coca-Cola Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Muhtar Kent said Thursday that the Atlanta soft-drink giant plans $4 billion in new spending in China over the next three years, the latest big investment commitment by multinational food and beverage groups targeting the world's No. 2 economy. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Kent said the investment would be used to add bottling plants, expand some existing facilities and fund initiatives in distribution, marketing and the development of new cold drinks. "It's our third-largest global market, growing at double-digits," he said. Not on Coke's China agenda, however: acquisitions. "It's no longer on our radar screen because we're seeing so much potential for organic growth," Mr. Kent said. Coke and rival PepsiCo Inc. have been investing heavily in China, where each company is enjoying double-digit volume growth rates as the...

Bar Counter in Ezee Beverages Booth Ezee Beverages Booth Ezee Beverages Booth Commerce Minster of Zhe Jiang Province and General Manger of Ezee Beverages Mayor of Ningbo City and General Manger of Ezee Beverages Chinese Entrepreneurs and Marketing Director of Ezee Beverages This summer, Ezee Beverages , part of the Underberg group took part in Ningbo's Export & Import Trade Exhibition. Underberg, founded in 1846 in Rheinberg Germany, entered the Chinese market in 2009. Its Chinese branch office, Ezee Beverages is located in Shanghai. ( Source: Ezee Beverages ) For more information about Ezee Beverages please visit: http://ezeebeverages.com/

An interesting conversation between James Fallows and Damien Ma on political will and corruption China Fallows and Ma It speaks to the sustainability of the Chinese model and tendency to push big ideas and changes off to the future. Good stuff.

Thu Aug 18, 2011 6:13am EDT REUTERS * Baidu may face tougher rules after state media criticism * Protracted campaign could hit Chinas Internet sector * Baidu shares fall 10 pct in two days after strong 2011 rally * Baidus online market revenue closes in on CCTV advertising About 9 months ago we noted that the Central government was planning to open and operate its own search engine. We figured it was because the competition for the eyes and ears of netizens was beeing won by Baidu. This shocked us because Baidu is a shining star of a Chinese global company. Would the government really target Baidu after having dispatched Google? Well todays news seems to confirm our somewhat cynical take on the situation. Its important to bear in mind that although China has 400 million Internet users, like all media products, its still mostly a no go for foreign firms and may be so for domestic companies as well. Are we moving toward the dominance of the SOE in this category as well? It seems C...