Tencent is leveraging it’s over one billion users into a truly historic surge in valuation.

While no Chinese leader has chosen his own successor in decades, Mr. Xi is an exceptionally strong ruler and has demonstrated a strong, if tacit, preference for Mr. Chen. Further consolidation of power during his next 5 year term may allow him to buck the trend.

However, China’s moves to cut pollution ahead of their bi-decade leadership conference has yet to cut into their rate of economic expansion.

Given HTC’s reported market cap ($1.9 B), Google seems to have acquired large majority of its business.

President Trump’s visit is hoped to smooth over rising tensions in the wake of the IP violation investigation launched by USTR Lighthizer last month.

The two will now resubmit their application to CFIUS amid heightened scrutiny of Chinese/American investments from both nation’s leaders.

Infrastructure investments, the two nations’ bi-lateral relationship, and China-ASEAN dialogue are expected dominate discussion.

Restrictions on business activities and the sidelining of officials associated with Xi’s predecessors have become more common as the Party Conference approaches.

A reliable look into the thinking of top CPC officials offers some insight into sticking points before the President’s visit to China in November.

President Trump has vacillated in recent weeks between breaking from his base and sending them messages of solidarity. Which tack will he take in China?

China’s second largest e-commerce platform bets big on emerging middle-class consumption in Southeast Asia.

Tencent also recently signed a mega-music deal with rival Alibaba, increasing its dominance in the music streaming industry.

PRC officials are also said to be ready to phase out some regulations on foreign investment. Acquisitions in the technology sector are reportedly back on the table while entertainment industry is to remain restricted.

Wanda’s top exec may have emerged unscathed after months of rumors but the company has taken a recent turn towards domestic investment after a spate of foreign deals.

American companies, such as Facebook, also have grand plans to bring the vast unconnected parts of the world online.

Despite talk of a ‘mutual decision,’ there is strong speculation that the tightening regulatory environment in China led to the deal’s demise.

Late to the game in developing mobile apps, Baidu hopes to leapfrog competitors by focusing on next-gen AI.

The company quickly issued a denial but investors remain jittery amid heightened state scrutiny of oversea investments.

The NFL has been looking to expand into the Chinese market for years – the deal with Tencent and its almost 1 billion WeChat users is a step in the right direction.

The two rapidly growing companies have yet to come into serious conflict – could that change soon?

The verdict is a setback for Samsung, which accounts for almost 20% of South Korean exports on its own.

After over a year of fiery campaign rhetoric, the probe represents the Trump administration’s first direct action against China’s trade practices.

Alibaba’s bet on big data, AI, and cloud computing is starting to pay big dividends as its growth chugs ever onward.

As economic growth booms in Southeast Asia, companies must thread the needle between the demands of workers and foreign businesses.

The formalization of restrictions follows less stringent regulations imposed this year as China’s political class prizes stability leading up to the bi-decade leadership shuffle this fall.

While its success has been cheered on by CPC officials, Wolf Warrior 2 does not stick to the traditional formula of featuring a flawless and moralizing party hero.

The tone of the dialogue from the U.S. and the DPRK has been dialed down in recent days after flaring up dangerously last week.

Sony’s now terminated venture with Disney was launched two decades ago to minimize costs in the then nascent Southeast Asian market.

There have been reports that Alibaba and Tencent, along with other Chinese tech players, have a plan to invest $12 billion into China Unicom.

The Wisconsin facility, which Foxconn promises will create 13,000 jobs, is set to begin production in 2020.

The Chinese commodity industry, the most heavily indebted sector of the economy, has been buoyed recently by rising prices.

In 70 years of existence, Pakistan has yet to have a PM serve a full five-year term. PM Sharif’s predecessor was also ousted by the Supreme Court.

Some worry that the criticism of Tencent in a CPC paper marks the beggining of a backlash against Tencent and Alibaba, which have been so successful that they have gained enormous influence on Chinese culture and business.

High-level diplomatic meetings between the two countries are becoming more common, and the two leaders hope to develop a rapport that will allow them to work with each other on thorny maritime issues.

The cashless phenomenon, largely confined to China, has been remarkably swift. Mobile payments reached $5.5 trillion in 2016 – even buskers are in on the act.

A number of OTT services have proliferated across the Asia Pacific, but so far PVOD has only gained major traction in Australia and, to a lesser extent, Hong Kong.

The Chinese crackdown on foreign deal-making hits a new gear as the bi-decade CPC leadership shuffle rapidly approaches.

Mobike main Chinese competitor, ofo, has a California trial starting in March. Mobike will face competition from the local Capital Bikeshare, which has a solid foothold in DC.

Earnings are not expected to recover until December. India’s S&P BSE Sensex has risen 20% this year as foreign cash flooded the market.

Legendary Entertainment, the Hollywood Studio Wanda acquired last year, is notably absent from the proposed merger. Wanda attempted to include Legendary in a merger last year but was blocked by regulators due to the studio’s operating losses.

Non-Manufacturing companies also expressed optimism and plan to expand capital investment in the next year.

Temasek’s assets jumped to a record $199 BIllion through March 31. The firm was an early investor in Alibaba, whose stock has been on a tear in the past year.

Honor of Kings has over 50 million daily active users and accounts for over 40% of Tencent’s mobile gaming revenue.

Oracle plans to eventually expand it’s operation and build a total of 5 Asia Pacific digital hubs.

Negotiations between the two parties have accelerated since President Trump pulled out of TPP upon taking office.

The coming events have also led to restrictions on risky investments and stricter controls on capital leaving the country.

Alibaba can leverage its 450 million strong user base to garner support for its device. However, it will need to invest heavily in AI if it is to master the many dialects and regional pronunciations found in China.

Ofo has grand ambitions to operate 20 million bikes in 20 countries by the end of the year.

Earlier this year Baidu announced Apollo, its open source self-driving car code. Allowing developers to access the code, a strategy that has paid dividends for Google’s Android smartphone platform, is meant to promote innovation.

The President escalated his critique of China’s role in dealing with North Korea on his Twitter account this morning.

PM Lee made an extraordinary move to boost public confidence by removing the party whip for parliamentary debate on the issue, allowing all MPs to vote outside party lines.

The Chinese government also stated that the Joint Declaration with Britain concerning Hong Kong was a ‘historical document’ with no ‘practical significance.’

The moves come just two weeks before the two sides were set to meet for a first round of negotiating on ways to ‘re-balance’ their trade relationship and was announced on the day President Xi was set to attend a ceremony marking 20 years of China/Hong Kong partial reunification.

The announcement comes on the heels of last weeks SelectUSA FDI Summit in DC. The timing will help help set the tone of Moon’s first big international meeting following some recent tension in the U.S./South Korea relationship over THAAD deployment.

A heavy police and protester presence greeted the president, who hadn’t visited Hong Kong in almost 10 years, then as vice president. Hong Kong has recently been rocked by turbulence and heavy losses on its stock exchange.

Mr. Son outlined his plans for SoftBank’s huge $93 billion joint tech fund with Saudi Arabia as well as his view for the future relationship between technology and society.

The rapid adoption of digital platforms continues unabated in Southeast Asia, where Alibaba has made several significant bets on startups.

Tencent’s unbelievable success and user base in China leaves it in a prime position to snap up more of the $100 billion per year international gaming industry.

Investment in these industries has already hit a fever pitch in the Southeast Asian region. The Chinese Big 3 of Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu, along with Japan’s SoftBank, have led the recent charge.

The demands include conditions that are non-starters for the Qatari state, ratcheting up tensions in an already restive region.

PCV notes that, much like the capital controls currently in place, an increase in the policing of political speech online is likely a byproduct of the coming bi-decade leadership shuffle this fall.

Toyota announced a $10 billion U.S. investment earlier this year amid a flurry of Asian investment.

Whether this crackdown on riskier loans and overseas investment will continue on past the august political reshuffle remains to be seen.

Worries abound for China’s Wanda Group, which purchased AMC theaters. A sell of Wanda-related bonds by a state banks suggest that Chairman Wang Jianlin has lost political favor.

China’s hunger to acquire foreign computer chip IP has the Japanese government, along with its US counterpart, looking warily over their shoulders.

The Secretary of State emphasized the view of the U.S. government that China cannot weaponize trade for geopolitical influence.

The revelation marks another setback for the development fund that previously helped finance Hollywood mega-hit ‘The Wolf of Wall Street.’

The resort represents a major successful inroad into a Chinese media industry valued at over $200 billion.

Anbang’s aggressive investment strategy, coupled with its courting of the Jushner family, may have pushed the Chinese state to crack down as it seeks economic and political stability in advance of the twice-a-decade leadership reshuffle this fall.

This is the newest in a series of investments in the personal mobility and ride hailing industries by Daimler, including the Car2Go car-sharing service that operates in many US cities.

China has the world’s largest 5G test field and expects the technology to generate 8 million jobs domestically.

The United States’ large trade deficit with India will surely be a topic of conversation. Unlike President Xi of China and Prime Minister Abe of Japan, PM Modi will not join President Trump for a personal visit to his Florida club, Mar-a-Lago.

The new head of APAC operations will be Kurt Rieder, former head of cinema groups in Turkey and Singapore.

PCV notes that this underscores the fact that an unsatisfactory showing at the domestic box can increasingly be offset by stronger performance overseas.

The meeting seemed to brush aside Chinese concerns over Singapore’s support of Taiwan and the U.S. naval presence in the South China Sea.

The star studded conference will explore the theme of disruption and examine the game-changers in today’s fast paced and global film industry.

China’s tech giants continue to post impressive growth, investing in their own businesses as well as startups. Investment in the latter has propelled over 100 startups to valuations of over $1 billion.

China is now the world’s largest e-commerce market as its huge middle class quickly adopts pervasive mobile internet use. Domestic alternatives to popular blocked western websites also offer plenty to keep most locals from testing the Great Firewall for cracks.

Alibaba’s net income for the quarter ending March 31st more than doubled from 2016 as China’s huge middle class continues to propel a remarkable surge for its online shopping industry.

PCV notes that a deal may well benefit both sides. Google stands to gain access to detailed consumer demographic information from a country where many of its platforms are blocked. In turn, Baidu secures a partnership with one of the world’s top companies as it continues its attempts to fend off cash-flush rivals Alibaba and Tencent.

Alibaba was the next highest rated Asian Pacific brand, falling in at number 14. Almost a quarter of the world’s ‘top brands’ hailed from the the region, with Chinese companies accounting for slightly over half of its total.

The dominance of Tencent’s all-in-one mobile app WeChat has Alibaba questioning its strategy to break off a larger slice of China’s massive mobile market.

The investment comes on the heels of similar acquisitions by Alibaba within China’s domestic online ticketing market.

In 2016, Oppo sold 3 phones in China’s massive mobile market for every two sold by Apple.

The region’s commitment to next-gen connections and digital infrastructure has many countries boasting speeds that rival western nations.

The Trump Administration clearly understands ASEAN’s vital security role in the Pacific. However, it is still unclear if they will make economic cooperation with the region an equally important priority.

Plug and Play has supported thousands of ventures in over a decade of work, including now-giants like PayPal and Dropbox.

The fund’s largest investments so far have been in Volkswagen, European banks, and oil companies.

The moves come as Vietnam’s economy has been moving steadily in the direction of the private sector following a number of losses and scandals at SOEs.

The expansion calls for a mix of foreign content and African exclusives. Region-specific content has so far proven to be a big winner for iflix as they challenge Netflix for dominance in emerging markets.

Mobile gaming propelled a Chinese industry that still lags far behind international competitors when it comes to console gaming.

PCV notes that restrictions on capital outflows, especially for riskier investments, have increased in advance of the leadership reshuffle this Fall. Economic stability remains the the government’s paramount goal until that time.

PCV notes that Tencent Pictures recently invested in Kong: Skull Island, which was wildly successful in China. Preliminary Asian returns for Wonder Woman suggest it was also a good bet.

A Netflix-style structural shift from hosting to producing content is underway at the streaming services run by China’s three digital giants.

PCV note that propping up the yuan has been a priority as the Chinese leadership seeks to minimize capital outflows before the bi-decade leadership reorganization this fall.

PCV notes that the early visit by the Southeast Asian leader is an indication of the importance both sides place on the U.S.-ASEAN relationship.

GDP lagged about a percentage point behind estimates in the first quarter.

The new wave of investment will involve more active management as Chinese investors seek to avoid the low-growth acquisitions of the past.

PCV notes that countries along China’s One Belt One Road route must make tough decisions to balance the increased commerce participation would create with acceptance of China’s overarching geopolitical strategy.

The planned IPO comes after forecasts of a 70% rise in profits in 2017.

In a sign of Indian films broadening global appeal, both the film and its predecessor were shown at the Cannes Film Festival last week.

China’s One Belt One Road contains many projects in a region that has historically been intertwined with the United States.

Restrictions on Chinese high-tech imports to the U.S., as well as restrictions on American firms access to the Chinese financial services market, are both further targets for liberalization.

Baidu is doubling down on its commitment to AI after falling behind Alibaba and Tencent in recent years.

PCV notes that the closer the yuan tracks the dollar the less likely it is that President Trump will enact trade measures against China, a major talking point of his campaign.

Sea Ltd. plans to hold its IPO early next year. After beginning as a gaming company, Sea, like many Asian tech firms, branched out and went into the mobile shopping and payments businesses.

PCV notes that, regardless of its ultimate passage, Vietnam is already forging ahead on many of the economic reforms that are outlined in the TPP. Publicly praising the deal is seen as part of a negotiating tactic to extract a better deal from the U.S. in any bilateral talks.

PCV notes that experts have increasing called for the U.S. to be cognizant of the spread of ISIS and similar groups to the Asia Pacific following their battlefield setbacks in the Middle East. Martial law was last declared in Mindanao in 2009.

China had recently intensified it’s campaign to crackdown on risk financial practices in advance of its leadership conference this fall.

Asian ‘unicorn’ startups valued at over $1 billion are beginning to expand beyond China and India.

However, some of the countries involved have questioned the relevance of the partnership absent the United States.

Although total growth is down, Chinese consumer spending shows no sign of abating.

Perceived as having fallen behind Tencent and Alibaba, Baidu plans to double the amount it spends on content over the course of 2017.

The films the fund acquires will be imported via China’s flat-fee import system, which allows them to bypass the official quota of 34.

89% of internet users in Southeast Asia use a smartphone as their primary connected device.

Roberto Azevedo describes how technology is a primary driver of job loss and offers support for continued efforts to pass ‘TPP 11’ after the exit of the U.S. in January.

May 19, 2017 ‘Stellar performances by Indian and Southeast Asian stocks propelled the Nikkei Asia300 Index to a record this week. The index, which tracks over 300 promising companies in 11 Asian economies, climbed 16% since its December 2016 introduction to hit 1,221.26 points Wednesday, outperforming the Nikkei Stock Average’s roughly 7% gain over that period. Historical […]

China and Vietnam have already had minor military engagements over sovereignty rights to areas of the South China Sea.

The fund has commitments from Apple and Qualcomm and is a new force in tech investing compared to more traditional Wall Street and Silicon Valley players.

Don’t miss this interview with Nicholas Simon where he surveys the Southeast Asian Film Industry and Identifies areas for growth.

A recent tax amnesty raised the government over $10 Billion and helped ease pressure on the budget

Premier Li Keqiang has stated China’s willingness to work with U.S. leaders on a bilateral investment agreement. Chinese companies have invest $110 Billion in the U.S. since 1990.

The draft Code of Conduct serves as a starting point for the next round of negotiation where specifics will be discussed.

Vagueness in the law’s wording has those who have worked on Hollywood-China co-productions worried, though little has been said on the record for fear of jeopardizing access to China’s enormous movie market.

PCV notes that the huge mobile gaming and advertisement profits further fund Chaiman Pony Ma’s mission to make Tencent the premiere ‘jack-of-all-trades’ internet company. Sky high profits buy Tencent more time to develop their finance, cloud computing, and media businesses.

Growth potential is huge as many SEA small businesses still lack advanced online capabilities. Digital payments in India were up 59% in March compared to December 2016.

E-Payments have begun to penetrate many common transactions in SEA including motorcycle taxis, mass transit, and money transfers. The market is set to explode to a $32 B valuation by 2021.

iflix has found success in SEA by focusing on local content. This partnership aims to diversify their traffic, which currently relies heavily on mobile viewers – a common feature for streaming services in the region.

President Moon’s policy of engagement with the North is contrasted by President Trump’s hard-line approach. Their ability to work together on this issue may lend insight into how they will go about resolving other issues, such as trade.

PCV notes that while the overall Chinese economy has been slowing, it’s huge middle class is still fueling tremendous growth in many industries, including entertainment and technology.

The deal, under discussion since 2010, would liberalize trade relations between Singapore and its second largest trading partner.

Over half the Nifty-listed stocks were beating analyst estimates.

The deal adds Bona’s 41 theaters to Wanda’s China leading number of 401. PCV notes that in 2012 Wanda purchased AMC Theaters, which has over 300 screens in the US and Canada.

India’s concerns over One Belt One road surround the proposed cooperation between Pakistan and China in the disputed Kashmir region.

The hyper-local focus pursued by iflix seems to be paying off. In Indonesia, their biggest market, no Western shows were in the top 10 ten most popular.

The roster of speakers at this year’s APOS Conference reflected the shifting balance towards regional companies such as Malaysia’s iflix. After sending their CEO to last year’s conference, Netflix’s top brass was conspicuously absent this year.

Softbank’s CEO, Masayoshi Son, hopes to cash in on Rubin’s international recognition to enhance Softbank’s brand overseas and attract top quality engineers.

Tencent predicts the mobile gaming market will become increasingly international, giving US firms greater access to the huge Chinese market.

The deal has been revived in light of the ‘lighter-touch’ regulation favored by new FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai. Negotiation with Deutsche Telekom will prove difficult, however, as T-Mobile is a key source of profits for the company. A combined company would challenge heavyweights Verizon and AT&T.

May 11, 2017 ‘Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plan to revive an ancient trade route connecting the Middle Kingdom, Central Asia and Europe has morphed into a sweeping campaign to boost global trade and economic growth. While globalization is losing public support in the U.S. and Europe, Xi’s“Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) has met with increasing […]

The Softbank CEO believes the increasing sophistication and prevalence of AI will set off a tech gold rush.

PCV notes that advanced infrastructure investment is projected to lead the next wave of global growth.

The Chinese tech giant aims to add over 1M US small business to its ecommerce platform to sell to the huge Chinese middle class. Alibaba’s founder and CEO, Jack Ma, met with President Trump last month to discuss creating jobs in the US. Keep an eye on Mr. Ma’s upcoming conference scheduled for June in Detroit.

Rivals in the US include Apple, Google, Paypal, and Samsung.

PCV notes that the new leadership is at odds with the Trump administration over his North Korea policy and is considered less aligned with the USA than the previous conservative government, which was in power for the last 9 years.

The majority of the money will be reinvested in Sea’s ecommerce platform, Shopee.

May 5, 2017 ‘After its stock price reached a record high in Hong Kong earlier this week, Chinese internet giant Tencent, now valued at more than $300 billion, made the list of the 10 most-valuable companies in the world. The company is best known for its popular social messaging platform WeChat, mobile payment solutions and […]

India has tried to tackle it’s ‘bad’ debt problem in the past to prevent it from further weighing on growth. RBI aims to resolve the 60 worst cases in the next 9 months.

May 5, 2017 Listen to the Bloomberg Market’s audio on Singapore here.

PCV recently attended an Asian Development Bank briefing that highlighted many of these trends. It is important to note that high-tech infrastructure development is predicted to lead the next wave of growth.

CNBC dissects APOS 2017, where PCV’s Mike Regan opened up the proceedings and spoke about the vast potential of the region’s swiftly growing TMT industry.

Most recently SoftBank was in talks to heavily invest in Paytm, the Indian digital payment giant.

Don’t miss this Newsweek cover profile of Alibaba’s Jack Ma.

Former MPAA Chairman Senator Chris Dodd had previously commented on the rising importance of the Chinese market to Hollywood.

Wanda, which also owns the AMC movie theater chain, aims to make Legendary a top 5 studio by 2020.

PCV notes that Tencent founder Pony Ma recently commented on the potential of AI to usher in a new wave of high-tech manufacturing.

May 2, 2017 ‘A prominent Indian outsourcer said Tuesday it plans to hire some 10,000 American workers in the U.S. over the next two years, a move that comes amid increased scrutiny of Indian tech firms for their heavy use of the H-1B visa program for high-skilled foreign workers. Bangalore-based Infosys Ltd. , India’s second-largest […]

The roll out comes on the heels of the announcement that iflix, another VOD provider, would expand into the Middle East and Africa.

May 1, 2017 ‘US President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday (April 30) evening for their second conversation since Mr Trump won the presidency, and invited him to the White House to “further strengthen ties”. During his May Day Rally speech, PM Lee said he has accepted the invitation and hopes to […]

April 28, 2017 ‘Alibaba’s four-year-old Yu’e Bao surpassed JPMorgan’s US government money market fund to become the world’s largest, according to the Financial Times. With 165.6 billion US dollars under management, the Yu’e Bao fund has grown rapidly, reflecting the increasing importance and irreplaceable role of technology and e-commerce in China.’ Read the Full Story

April 28, 2017 ‘American small- and medium-sized businesses — such as retailers of cosmetics, apparel, maternal and baby products, and health supplements and even farmers — are cashing in on the huge purchasing power of China’s vast and fast-growing middle class through e-commerce while creating jobs for Americans.’ Read the Full Story

North Korea, the South China Sea, and trade and investment ties were expected to be high on the agenda.

PCV notes that the move comes at a time when the company is seen as falling behind fellow giants Tencent and Alibaba.

PCV notes that President Trump has backtracked on hard-line trade pronouncements before. The same may be likely here – keep an eye on this situation as it continues to develop.

April 28, 2017 ‘India is bracing for what could be a historic weekend at the box office when Baahubali: The Conclusion opens wide this Friday. Living up to its name, the first installment of Baahubali (which means “the one with strong arms”), is estimated to have reached a muscular $100 million worldwide when it was […]

April 27, 2017 ‘Chinese investment in the United States in 2016 more than tripled from 2015 to $46 billion, with Chinese companies adding 1,300 new operations, according to a report. Chinese-owned companies now employ over 140,000 in the US, with companies increasing their presence in the South and Midwest “significantly”, though their investments are still […]

April 27, 2017 ‘HOOQ, the Asian streaming video platform backed by two Hollywood studios, is expanding a drive into local content production. Among its newest titles is “Marlina The Murderer in Four Acts,” which will play next month in the Directors Fortnight section of the Cannes film festival. HOOQ, which has the backing of Sony […]

APOS is Asia’s premier event for the media, telecom, and entertainment industries.

April 26, 2017 ‘SINGAPORE – A new billion-dollar fund has been launched to help promising companies with strong intellectual property (IP) to take on global markets. The Makara Innovation Fund (MIF), a partnership between the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (Ipos) and Singapore-based private equity firm Makara Capital, was one of a range of initiatives […]

April 26, 2017 ‘Chinese internet company Tencent Holdings Ltd. opened its first data center in Silicon Valley this week, expanding cloud-computing services into the U.S. even as American companies complain they face growing restrictions when doing the same in China. With Wednesday’s statement, Tencent becomes the second Chinese company to open such a center in […]

April 26, 2017 ‘After two years operating in Asia, streaming service iflix is expanding into the Middle East and North Africa. The company, which has positioned itself as a Netflix alternative in countries where the streaming giant has less market share, has launched in eight territories in the two regions, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, […]

April 26, 2017 ‘Ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing is near an agreement to raise $5 billion to $6 billion in a deal that would make it the most valuable startup in China, according to people familiar with the matter.’ Read the Full Story

PCV notes that high-tech infrastructure investments such as this are projected to fuel the next wave of growth across the region.

April 25, 2017 ‘Employment by Chinese-owned firms in the U.S. has jumped ninefold since 2009 to 140,000 jobs while China’s investment in the country tripled to a record last year. That’s according to a Rhodium Group analysis released Tuesday jointly with the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. Chinese investment flowed for the first time into […]

April 25, 2017 ‘SHANGHAI— Netflix Inc., which has struggled to win government approval to operate in China, said it had struck a licensing deal with Chinese video-streaming platform iQiyi to show the U.S. company’s original content here. IQiyi is a subsidiary of Baidu Inc., which made its mark as China’s most popular internet search engine and […]

PCV believes Tencent, and its visionary Chairman Pony Ma, have a prescient, well informed view on the drivers of manufacturing in the TMT space.

PCV believes this is an important speech policy makers and captains of industry would do well to read, especially in the US, if there is true commitment to “make America great again.” Sobering views from a visionary on the challenges.

April 23, 2017 ‘China’s mobile payment and digital technology will help India release enormous market potential and quicken India’s drive to get rid of poverty by building an inclusive financial system, experts noted over the weekend. Paytm, India’s largest mobile payment and ecommerce platform, has been developing rapidly since the start of 2015 when China’s […]

April 23, 2017 Tencent Penguin Pictures, one of the studio operations belonging to Chinese social media giant Tencent, has come on board “The Trading Floor.” The 5-part series, which goes into production imminently, is the first premium series from Hong Kong-based Fox Networks Group, and is being made with Andy Lau’s Focus Television. Read the […]

PCV believes this is worth watching because of the two heavyweights involved and their distinct business plans.

April 20, 2017 ‘THERE was a time, not that long ago, when China’s big internet companies were dismissed by investors in Silicon Valley as marginal firms with a tendency to copy Western products. Not any more. Today they are monsters with increasingly hefty international ambitions. Alibaba, China’s biggest e-commerce group, handles more transactions each year […]

PCV believes Tencent’s decision to suspend the tipping practice solves Apple concern for now, but may be revisited as the companies continue to grow and converge in this space.

April 19, 2017 Round one of a U.S.-Japan economic dialogue produced little of substance on cooperation in sectors such as infrastructure and energy, blunting a tool Tokyo hopes will fend off future attacks on the trade and currency fronts. According to a joint statement issued after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Japanese Deputy Prime […]

March 21, 2017 The accounting firm published its annual assessment on the first morning of the three-day FICCI-Frames conference (Mar. 21-23) in Mumbai. Read the Full Story

April 18, 2017 ‘SINGAPORE – US consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble said Tuesday (April 18) it will invest US$100 million (S$139.8 million) over the next five years in setting up its first digital innovation centre in Singapore in partnership with the Economic Development Board. The move reaffirms P&G’s commitment to Singapore and aims to […]

April 18, 2017 Hollywood has become so entangled with China that the movie industry can’t run without it. Chinese investors and more than a billion potential moviegoers have made China indispensable to the film business. The country’s box-office total last year, at $6.6 billion, was the world’s second-largest compared with the first-place U.S., $11.4 billion. […]