Asia

WSJ – A Xi Jinping Protégé Rises to Stardom

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.

Foreign Affairs – Japan Warms to China

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.

China Daily – Mobike eyeing Washington, DC

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.

FT – Trump-Xi honeymoon is over as US threatens sanctions

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.

Financial Times – Tencent: free to pay

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.

WSJ – Weibo Gets in Beijing’s Way

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.

WSJ – Behind the Great Firewall, the Chinese Internet Is Booming

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.

Bloomberg Tech – Baidu’s IQiyi in Talks With Google Amid Content Partnership Push

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.

WSJ – Fitting Into Beijing’s New World Order

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.

Nikkei Asian Review – Why Vietnam is all in for TPP11

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.

Nikkei Asian Review – Indian, ASEAN stocks spur Asia300 Index to record

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 […]

WSJ – South Korea’s President Moon to Meet Trump in June

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.

Bloomberg Asia – Chinese Largesse Lures Countries to Its Belt and Road Initiative

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 […]

FT – Jack Ma steps up campaign to bring US businesses to Alibaba

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.

Forbes -Tencent’s New Strategy

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 […]

WSJ – Indian Outsourcer Infosys to Hire 10,000 Workers in U.S.

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 […]

Global Times – Alibaba’s Yu’e Bao becomes largest money market fund globally

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

China Daily – US rides China’s e-commerce wave

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

Hollywood Reporter – India Box Office: Will ‘Baahubali 2’ Set Records?

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 […]

China Daily – Chinese FDI in US triples to $46b

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 […]

Variety – Asian VoD Platform HOOQ Expands Local Film, Series Production

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 […]

WSJ – Tencent Opens U.S. Data Center as American Rivals Face Hurdles in China

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 […]

Bloomberg – Chinese Investment Creates and Protects U.S. Jobs, Rhodium Says

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 […]

WSJ – Netflix Secures Portal Into China Through Deal With Baidu Unit

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 […]

Global Times – India’s digital payments to prosper with new communication technology

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 […]

Variety – Tencent’s Penguin Pictures Boards Fox Networks’ ‘Trading Floor’

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 […]

The Economist – China’s internet giants go global

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 […]

Nikkei – Japan, US fail to go deep as they begin economic dialogue

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 […]

WSJ – Hollywood’s New Script: You Can’t Make Movies Without China

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. […]

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