IT-giants replace real estate tycoons in policy building - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein

A strong shift from real estate tycoons to IT-giants marks a shift at China's economy in the ongoing political meetings in Beijing, says author Shaun Rein of The War for China's Wallet: Profiting from the New World Order to the South China Morning Post. "China is picking five to 10 private technology companies to make them national champions."

The South China Morning Post:

Technology is already a major contributor to China’s economy, underscored by the dominance of internet-based businesses and online advertising. China accounts for US$1 out of every US$4 dollar generated globally across application stores, according to analytics company AppAnnie, with Chinese app users spending more than 200 billion hours in apps in the fourth quarter of 2017, more than 4.5 times more than the next largest market India, and way ahead of the US in third place. 

“China is picking five to 10 private technology companies to make them national champions, while also giving them the roles that were formerly assigned to state companies, including the collection of information, big data sharing, and censorship,” said Shaun Rein, the managing director of Shanghai-based market intelligence company China Market Research and author of The War for China’s Wallet: Profiting from the New World Order. 

More than 20 property tycoons have dropped out as delegates to China’s legislative and consultative conference this year. 

Among them are Hu Baosen, chairman of construction firm Jianye Group, Longfor Properties’ chairman Wu Yajun, Yuexiu Group’s chairman Zhang Zhaoxing, New World Development’s chairman Henry Cheng Kar-shun, Shui On Group’s chairman Henry Lo Hong-sui, and Fosun Group’s chairman Guo Guangchang, whose conglomerate includes a property business.

More at the South China Morning 

Post. Shaun Rein 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.

Are you looking for more political experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

IT-firms galore in wealth creation - Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf

The Rupert Hoogewerf´s Hurun China IT List illustrated over the years where money in generated in China´s economy. IT-tycoons are super wealth creators, says Hoogewerf to the China Daily, not only for themselves, but for many others too.

The China Daily:

Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd topped the ranking of China's richest IT people for the third consecutive year, defending his position against rivals including Tencent Holdings Ltd founder Pony Ma. 

Jack Ma and his family's total wealth in IT industry was 195 billion yuan, followed by Pony Ma, whose wealth increased by 30 percent year-on-year to 134 billion yuan, according to the Shanghai-based Hurun Research Institute. 

Due to the rapid growth of the online gaming sector, NetEase Inc founder Ding Lei doubled his wealth to 96 billion yuan, surpassing Baidu Inc Chairman Robin Li and ranking third in the IT rich list. 

Hurun Chairman Rupert Hoogewerf said: "Those entrepreneurs should be called 'super wealth creators' instead of simply 'rich people', which could highlight their contribution to China's society and economy. They've created such a lot of opportunities and jobs."

More in the China Daily.

Rupert Hoogewerf 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.

Are you looking for more stories by Rupert Hoogewerf? Do check out this list.  

Related articles

• Why China´s billionnaires look for European soccer clubs - Rupert Hoogewerf
• Chinese tycoon who bought Grindr paying wife more than $1 billion in divorce
• £1.7 bn: China's 'most expensive divorce' for country's richest young couple
• The People's Republic of China is Mulling Integrating Blockchain Tech with Social Security
• Foxconn Invests in Uber's Rival Didi Chuxing
• Tencent´s cannibalistic culture - Andy Mok

All is not fine for Google in China - Paul Denlinger

Paul Denlinger via Flickr

Google might have gotten its one-year extension of its internet license in China, but that does not mean all its troubles are over, writes business analyst Paul Denlinger in the Business Insider. A smart move by China's government to avoid a head-on clash, but the real struggle is certainly not over.
Google is to blame, says Denlinger:

The whole Google China confrontation has made one thing clear: Google did not have a channel for dialogue with the Chinese authorities since the company issued its statement in January, saying that it would refuse to censor content on its Google.cn search engine. By taking an uncompromising stance on censorship with the Chinese government, Google made it very hard, if not impossible, to sit down and negotiate with any Chinese government counterparty, since this would have amounted to the Chinese side implicitly acknowledging that censorship could be negotiated with Google. No matter how you looked at it, this was a poor negotiating strategy, making a climbdown for both sides almost impossible, and an uneasy confrontation unavoidable... 

Now, even though Google has its ICP license, it can only provide music and products search, not Web page search. Among China's urban intelligentsia, Google was popular because of its web page search; now that service is not available.

Commercial
Paul Denlinger is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do let us know.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Google licence renewed, China confirms (cbc.ca)
• Why Google needs a mapping service in China - Paul Denlinger (chinaherald.net)
• Internet not yet a healthy market in China - Paul Denlinger (chinaherald.net)
• The Party sets the digital agenda - Paul Denlinger (chinaherald.net)

The troublesome way going global

Business Weeks sums up the trouble Chinese IT-companies are having in finding their way in a fast globalizing world. (h/t China Law Blog). While the Motorola's, Nokia's, Intel's and Dell's look with fear at the upcoming Chinese competition, life is tough for Lenovo, Ningbo Bird, TCL, Huawei, ZTE and SMIC. Making a profit is not that easy, when the government is keeping a close eye on you.

Take SMIC. The chipmaker will soon operate plants in five cities across China. By contrast, SMIC's Taiwanese rivals, United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC ) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM ), have built most of their factories in two science parks just a few hours' drive from one another in Taiwan, making it easier to manage the plants. So why has SMIC spread out so much? "Every [local] government wants to go into high tech," says Pranab Kumar Samar, an analyst in Hong Kong with Daiwa Institute of Research. That might make for good politics, but it's not exactly smart business.