Summer Break - I'll be back August, 2.

China Teaches the World Chinese for Free

From Reuters:

"China launched a Web site, www.linese.com, on Saturday offering free Chinese lessons and materials to promote the study and use of the language abroad.

The site includes audio-visual presentations, interactive exercises and advice for teachers of Mandarin Chinese, with photographs and descriptions of cultural icons such as the Great Wall, kung fu actor Jackie Chan and basketball star Yao Ming.

Many of the exercises touch on China's mythical and imperial past, including practice sentences such as "how can you be a hero if you are unarmed" and "I find that Tibetans like worshipping heroes."

Richard Li Sells 23 Percent Stake in PCCW

From SiliconValley.com:

"Richard Li, the scion of Hong Kong's most prominent business family, is selling a 23 percent stake in PCCW Ltd. for $1.2 billion, ending his failed attempt to transform the phone company into a regional Internet powerhouse.

Financier Francis Leung said Monday he is buying the 23 percent stake from Li's investment company for 6 Hong Kong dollars (about 71 U.S. cents) per share. That represents a premium of 8.1 percent on PCCW's recent share price."


China Net Investor - Souvenir from the Internet Bubble days:

Pacific Century CyberWorks, CMGI to form Internet venture
(Jan 31, 2000 !!!)

Hong Kong's Pacific Century CyberWorks Ltd. (PCCW) and U.S. Internet conglomerate CMGI Inc. said Tuesday they have formed a 50-50 joint venture for Internet-related business in Asia.

The new company, to be named CMGI Asia and headquartered in Hong Kong, will in turn set up joint ventures with 18 CMGI majority-owned operating companies that would have the world's third largest market reach following American Online Inc. and Microsoft Corp., PCCW and CMGI officials said.

The first four ventures to be formed will involve Alta Vista, a major media and commerce network, Engage Technologies, a leading provider of profile-driven Internet marketing solutions, iCAST, a multimedia online entertainment company, and 1ClickCharge, a single-click Internet payment service.

China's eBay Rival Opens Real Shopping Mall

From vnunet.com:

"Taobao, China's main competitor to eBay, is about to open a real shopping mall, according to Chinese media reports.

'TaoBao City' will contain 300 shops and is expected to open in August, its operators told the Chongqing Business Times."

"Taobao's motive for backing the mall is part of an experiment to break down the barriers that keep many people away from internet shopping, the newspaper said, without naming its sources at Taobao."

China's Instant Messaging Service Users Exceed 746mn

From TMCnet:

"By the first quarter of 2006, the instant messaging service subscribers in China had reached 746.57 million, increasing 7.8% from the fourth quarter of 2005. The increment is the least one in the past five quarters."

"In terms of the market share, Tencent QQ still held the No.1 position by its successful marketing mode, earliest entrance, and huge subscribers and totally controlled 69.28% shares, a slight decline from previous quarter."

China Mobile to Continue Looking for Overseas Acquisitions

From Forbes:

"China Mobile will continue its search for overseas assets in spite of its decision to abort a 5.3 bln usd bid for Millicom International Cellular, the Financial Times reported, citing sources close to the company.

The collapse of talks between state-owned China Mobile and Luxembourg-based Millicom, in what would have been the largest overseas acquisition by a Chinese company, leaves the mobile operator with a large cash mound on its books."

China Net Investor: China Mobile is the world's biggest mobile phone provider with some 260 million subscribers

Baidu Includes Libraries Catalogues

From ShanghaiDaily:

"China's most popular search engine, Baidu.com, has signed an agreement with the mainland's top libraries to include their catalogues on its search site, making it the largest Chinese books database in the world.

Baidu signed the accord with the Chinese National Science Library to provide links to the library's database, following a similar deal with Peking University Library signed two months ago."

Team Buying - The Power of the Mob

From The Economist:

"On an otherwise quiet Friday afternoon in Guangzhou, a city in southern China, 500 shoppers gather outside a Gome electrical superstore in the downtown district. They arrive en masse at the designated time—June 16th at 4pm—that they had previously agreed online. Several hours later, they emerge clutching boxes, having secured 10-30% discounts on cameras, DVD players and flat-screen televisions."

"Tuangou, or team buying, aims to drive unprecedented bargains by combining the reach of the internet with the power of the mob. It is spreading through China like wildfire. The practice originated in online chat-rooms but has quickly inspired several specialist websites, such as 51tuangou.com and http://www.teambuy.com.cn/."

Record Labels to Sue Yahoo! China

From CNNMoney:

"The world's biggest music companies are preparing a lawsuit against Yahoo China for copyright infringement as part of the industry's efforts to crack down on piracy."

"The IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) estimates that about 85 percent of all music consumed in China is pirated.

Kennedy singled out Yahoo China and Chinese Internet search leader Baidu.com, which was ordered by a Beijing judge last year to stop directing users to music download sites."

China's "Amazon" Receives Venture Capital

From ShanghaiDaily:

"Dangdang.com, China's version of amazon.com, received a venture capital investment last Friday, probably the last VC investment before a long-awaited initial public offering on Nasdaq, the Beijing-based online retailer disclosed yesterday.

The investment figure, which Dangdang declined to reveal yesterday, was US$30 million and investors have 12 percent of dangdang.com now, according to sohu.com, quoting Li Guoqing, dangdang's co-president."

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Chinese Regulators Turn Their Attention to Blogs

From Earthtimes:

"The Chinese government has decided to impose stricter controls on the Internet and will now tighten the scrutiny on blogs and search engines to bar content deemed immoral or unhealthy, it was announced on Friday.

"As more and more illegal and unhealthy information spreads through the blog and search engine, we will take effective measures to put the BBS, blog and search engine under control," Cai Wu, director of the Information Office in China's Cabinet told the official Xinhua news agency. "