Alibaba: well positioned to enter Russia - Ashley Dudarenok

Ashley Dudarenok

China internet giant Alibaba struck a major deal last week with Russia's  Mail.ru - one of Russia’s leading tech and media conglomerates that is already called Russia's Alibaba. A smart move says Russian Ashley Dudarenok, a veteran marketer on China's e-commerce and author of Unlocking the World's Largest E-market: A Guide To Selling on Chinese Social Media in the China Economic Review.

The China Economic Review:

Alibaba has invested more than $4 billion in Southeast Asian e-commerce group Lazada and other leading tech players in recent years. In June, the company posted that it had bought a stake in Turkey’s local leader Trendyol, while Amazon is still fumbling with the launch of a Turkish service. In India, Alibaba recently invested in digital payments platform Paytm, granting in exchange access to its cloud infrastructure. 

Alibaba’s experience building China’s e-commerce market effectively from scratch makes it uniquely suited to entering these markets, according to Ashley Dudarenok, a Chinese digital marketing consultant who is herself a Russian national. 

“They are aware that there is not much infrastructure in markets like India and Turkey, and they know exactly how to deal with this sort of aspirational consumer base,” says Dudarenok. “Along with countries in Southeast Asia, Russia is one such market.” 

It may be still be poor by Western standards, but Russia has the largest population in Europe and an emerging middle class that offers significant growth potential. As elsewhere, Alibaba is planting its seeds early, ready to reap the rewards when the consumer market matures.

More in the China Economic Review.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

Are you looking for more experts on e-commerce at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

US sanctions as Turkey picks Chinese defense system - Wendell Minnick

Wendell Minnick

The Turkish preference for a Chinese air defense system rocked the Western defense industry, and now US firms are hitting back, writes defense analyst Wendell Minnick in Defense News. 

Wendell Minnick:

Aselsan, Turkey’s biggest defense company, has become the first casualty of what could become a series of US sanctions on Turkish firms slated to help build an air defense system with the Chinese. 

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, a US investment bank, has pulled out of a joint bid to advise Aselsan on the company’s second listing on Istanbul’s stock exchange, citing Turkey’s contract negotiations with China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corp. (CPMIEC) to build the country’s first long-range anti-missile air-defense system. 

An Aselsan official confirmed Merrill Lynch’s withdrawal from a joint bid with Turkey’s Halkbank, but shrugged off the move. 

“That’s hardly a blow to our planned listing,” he said. “We’ll go ahead ... possibly selecting another bank for the task.”

More in Defense News.

Wendell Minnick is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting r conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.  

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Chinese missiles for Turkey no done deal yet - Wendell Minnick

Wendell Minnick

When NATO member Turkey selected long-range missiles from China, a shock went through the industry. But the purchase might not yet be a done deal, writes defense expert Wendell Minnick in Defense News.

Wendell Minnick:

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters Oct. 25 that Ankara would be open to new offers if talks with China Precision Machinery Import Export Corp. (CPMIEC) fail. “Currently, I don’t know if there are different proposals from the other parties. If there are, they could be considered,” Erdogan said. 

A senior procurement official said the decision to select CPMIEC may not be the end but rather the beginning of a fresh round of competition. “The game is certainly not over yet. We would enthusiastically assess rival bids if they make sense in terms of costs and the level of technology transfer we require,” he said. 

Turkey announced Sept. 26 that it selected CPMIEC to build the country’s first long-range air defense architecture, sparking a major dispute over whether the Chinese-built system could be integrated with the NATO air defense assets stationed in Turkey.

More in Defense News.

Wendell Minnick is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

China Weekly Hangout

How do China’s media work? The China Weekly Hangout is going to focus Thursday 7 November on the case of journalist Chen Yongzhou, the reporter of the New Express in Guangdong, and try to figure out how media in China work. Chen got arrested for articles he wrote on the state-owned company Zoomlion, developed into a hero for press freedom. Until he apologized for getting paid for those articles. Two scenario’s are still possible: a hero or a cheater, or even more scenario’s. You can read or announcement here, or register her for the event.

Not only its military, also China's internet companies go global, asked the China Weekly Hangout on September 5. Should Facebook, Twitter and Google+ worry now Tencent, Baidu, Sina, Alibaba and Xiaomi have plans to expand globally. Not yet, said investor +William Yung, media-expert +Paul Fox and +Tech in Asia editor +Steven Millward. Well, maybe Whatsapp should. Moderation by +Fons Tuinstra of the China Speakers Bureau.

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