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☆ Hong Kong shoppers are crossing the border into Shenzhen to buy croissants and rotisserie chickens at China's newest Costco
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The store's popularity is driven by Hong Kong residents crossing the border to shop in mainland China. Xinhua News AgencyLarge bulk stores are a rarity in Hong Kong due to the city's limited space and expensive culture. AdvertisementHong Kong's economic struggles, however, have created the perfect circumstances for Shenzhen Costco to thrive. Costco has organized several shuttle buses each day that run between the Shenzhen store and Hong Kong, according to a company spokesperson. Costco is also partnering with cross-border delivery companies that pack and ship items purchased by Hong Kong residents.

Persons: — Organizations: Costco, Service, Xinhua, Agency, Hong, Shenzhen Costco, Bloomberg, Tencent Holdings, Pay Locations: Shenzhen, China, Hong Kong, Costco, Guangdong Province, Guangdong Province of China, Taiwan

☆ Tencent's Riot Games division cuts 11% of staff to 'create focus'
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Tencent's Riot Games unit said Monday it's eliminating 11% of its workforce, or about 530 jobs, and scaling back on its division that publishes games from small developers. Eric Shen will become Legends of Runeterra's executive producer, replacing Dave Guskin, accroding to a blog post from Guskin, who said he'll work on other Riot games. Tencent, based in China, invested in Riot Games in 2011 and became its outright owner four years later. In September, Tencent-backed Epic Games announced it was cutting 16% of its staff. Shares slid 12% in late December after China announced new rules designed to limit excessive gaming.

Persons: Ma, we've, Dylan Jadeja, that's, Nicolo Laurent, Eric Shen, Dave Guskin, Jadeja, Tencent's, Tencent Organizations: Tencent Holdings Ltd, Tencent's, Google, League of, Riot Games, Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, Sony, Epic Games, China Locations: Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao, Bay, China, Guskin, Forge, Los Angeles, Tencent

☆ China's Tencent Music beats revenue estimates on paid subscriber growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The logo of China's Tencent Music Entertainment Group is seen next to an earphone in this illustration picture taken March 22, 2021. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 14 (Reuters) - China's Tencent Music Entertainment (1698.HK) beat estimates for third-quarter revenue on Tuesday, helped by steady growth in paid subscriptions on its music streaming platform. Tencent Music, which includes platforms such as QQ Music, Kugou Music, Kuwo Music and WeSing, has won listeners over by bundling everything from karaoke platforms to live concert streaming services. Total revenue of the Tencent Holdings Ltd-controlled (0700.HK) company, however, fell to 6.57 billion yuan ($900.9 million) in the third quarter. Net profit attributable to equity holders of the company rose to 1.71 billion yuan, from 1.06 billion yuan a year earlier.

Persons: Florence Lo, Harshita Mary Varghese, Akash Sriram, Pooja Desai Organizations: Entertainment, REUTERS, HK, Kugou, Tencent Holdings, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Montana AG asks court to reject TikTok challenge to state ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A separate lawsuit has been filed by TikTok users in Montana. Knudsen said in a legal filing that Montana can ban harmful products, saying it does not violate free speech rights. The law does not impose penalties on individual TikTok users. TikTok estimates 380,000 people in Montana use the video service, or more than a third of the state's 1.1 million people. The American Civil Liberties Union this month called TikTok's ban unconstitutional and "a direct restriction on protected expression and association."

Persons: Dado Ruvic, China's ByteDance, General Austin Knudsen, " Knudsen, Donald Trump, Knudsen, David Shepardson, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: REUTERS, Tencent Holdings, Republican, HK, Biden, American Civil Liberties Union, Thomson Locations: Montana

The logo of China's Tencent Music Entertainment Group is seen next to an earphone in this illustration picture taken March 22, 2021. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration/File PhotoAug 15 (Reuters) - China's Tencent Music Entertainment Group (1698.HK), said on Tuesday second-quarter revenue rose 5.5% from a year ago, driven by growth in paying users on its Spotify-like music streaming platform and a recovery in the advertising market. The number of paying users of its online music streaming service rose more than 20% to 100 million, a milestone for the company. Net profit attributable to equity holders rose to 1.30 billion yuan from 856 million yuan a year earlier. To attract more users and stave off competition from the likes of NetEase-owned Cloud Music and ByteDance's short-video sharing platform Douyin, Tencent Music has been aggressively adding original content in recent quarters.

Persons: Florence Lo, Cussion Pang, Pang, Josh Ye, Samrhitha, Maju Samuel, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: Entertainment, REUTERS, HK, Spotify, Tencent Holdings, Wall, Cloud Music, Thomson Locations: Hong Kong, Bengaluru

George Clinical declined to comment. The private equity firm has entered a deal to buy most of George Clinical, the clinical research organisation said in December, adding the transaction was subject to FIRB approval. George Clinical did not disclose a sale price but said its parent, the George Institute, a medical research group, would retain an undefined stake. The George Clinical deal would involve the holding of healthcare and patient data which is considered sensitive in Australia. Hillhouse has offered to ensure data remains onshore and not be shared overseas, the people said.

Persons: George Clinical, Hillhouse, Zhang Lei, George, George Clinical's, Scott Murdoch, Kane Wu, Sumeet Chatterjee, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Hillhouse Capital, Foreign Investment, Board, of, Treasury, George Institute, Yale University, Tencent Holdings, HK, JD.com Inc, Baidu Inc, Koninklijke Philips NV, Thomson, & $ Locations: HONG KONG, Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, London, United States, Australia, China, Refinitiv, Netherlands, Asia, Pacific, Sydney

☆ China grants approvals to 86 domestic online games
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, May 22 (Reuters) - China's gaming regulator on Monday granted publishing licences to 86 domestic online games, including titles belonging to Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK), NetEase Inc (9999.HK) and other developers. Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; editing by Jason NeelyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Alibaba misses revenue estimate, approves cloud unit spinoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"We would love nothing more than to see one of these little Alibabas...becoming another big Alibaba, as big as the group company is right now," said Alibaba Group chairman Daniel Zhang on an earnings call. Alibaba logged revenue of 208.20 billion yuan ($30.12 billion) for the three months ended in March, compared with a Refinitiv consensus estimate of 210.3 billion yuan. Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders was 23.52 billion yuan for the quarter, reversing a year earlier loss of 16.24 billion yuan. Revenue for Alibaba's cloud division in the recent quarter was 18.6 billion yuan, down 2% year-on-year. The company has opened up registration to test the technology to enterprise customers of Alibaba Cloud.

☆ China's Tencent marks return to revenue growth in first quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The world's largest video game company and operator of the WeChat messaging platform said revenue reached 149.98 billion yuan ($21.70 billion) for the three months ended March 31. Net profit rose 11% to 25.83 billion yuan, versus a 29.67 billion yuan average analyst estimate. Domestic gaming revenue gained 6% to 35.1 billion yuan while international gaming revenue rose 25% to 13.2 billion yuan. Tencent also saw revenue from online ads rose 17% to 21 billion yuan. Revenue from fintech and business services grew 14% to 48.7 billion yuan as the firm continued to expand in those areas.

☆ China's Tencent Music revenue beats estimates on jump in paying users
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 16 (Reuters) - China's Tencent Music Entertainment Group (1698.HK), topped quarterly revenue estimates on Tuesday as the Spotify-like music streaming platform benefited from growth in paying users, sending its U.S. shares 2% higher in premarket trading. That helped the Tencent Holdings Ltd-controlled company, which owns platforms including QQ Music, Kuwo Music and WeSing, snap five consecutive quarters of revenue declines. Total revenue rose 5.4% to 7.00 billion yuan ($1.01 billion) in the first quarter, beating analysts' estimates of 6.86 billion yuan, according to Refinitiv data. "We are glad to achieve a record-high online music paying ratio and expand ARPU for the fourth consecutive quarter. Net profit attributable to equity holders was 1.15 billion yuan, compared with 609 million yuan a year earlier.

Alibaba, one of the most valuable assets in SoftBank's portfolio, tumbled as much as 5.2% in Hong Kong and closed down about 2%. On Wednesday, the FT said forward sales based on filings at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed SoftBank's Alibaba stake would eventually fall to 3.8% from almost 15%. The Japanese group, led by billionaire founder Masayoshi Son, has sold about $7.2 billion worth of Alibaba shares this year through prepaid forward contracts, the newspaper said. "It is well within the realms of expectations that the proportion of Chinese shares among its total investment will shrink further." In New York, Alibaba's shares were up 3% as analysts noted that the stake sale was more due to SoftBank's circumstances.

TOKYO, April 13 (Reuters) - Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) has moved to sell almost all of its remaining shares in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK), , the Financial Times reported, sending the Chinese e-commerce major's stock tumbling. Alibaba, one of the most valuable assets in SoftBank's portfolio, tumbled as much as 5.2% in Hong Kong after the report before paring the loss to 2.8%. SoftBank has been seeking ways to monetise its stake in Alibaba, which the Japanese conglomerate bought into more than two decades ago with just $20 million spending. On Wednesday, the FT said forward sales based on filings at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed SoftBank's Alibaba stake would eventually fall to 3.8% from almost 15%. The Japanese group, led by billionaire founder Masayoshi Son, has sold about $7.2 billion worth of Alibaba shares this year through prepaid forward contracts, the newspaper said.

☆ Savvy Games to acquire gaming company Scopely for $4.9 bln
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 5 (Reuters) - Savvy Games Group, wholly owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), has agreed to acquire Scopely, a maker of mobile games based in Culver City, California, for $4.9 billion, the companies said on Wednesday. Scopely, founded in 2011, will become an autonomous operation under the Savvy umbrella, they said in a statement, noting the deal will "strengthen Savvy's global position" and enable Scopely to accelerate growth. Last year, state news agency SPA said Savvy would invest 142 billion riyals ($37.85 billion) in initiatives aimed at making the kingdom a global hub for gaming. In February, Savvy bought a $265 million stake in the Chinese E-sports company VSPO backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK). ($1 = 3.7513 riyals)Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard ChangOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Tencent applies for dual counter trading on Hong Kong exchange
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

March 31 (Reuters) - Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK) said on Friday the video game company has applied for a dual currency counter with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to allow investors to trade its shares in the yuan, in addition to the Hong Kong dollar. The stock exchange said in December it will introduce a new dual counter trading model from the first half of 2023. Other Hong Kong-listed companies such as insurer AIA Group Ltd (1299.HK) have also applied for a dual currency counter with the Hong Kong exchange. The launch of the dual currency counter is aimed at further advancing the internationalisation of the Chinese yuan, the Hong Kong bourse operator said earlier this month. Reporting by Nausheen Thusoo in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak DasguptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] Horizon Quantum Computing Chief Science Officer Si-Hui Tan and Chief Executive Officer Joe Fitzsimons sit in front of their white board in Singapore in this handout photo taken November 2021. Courtesy Horizon Quantum Computing/Handout via REUTERSOAKLAND, Calif March 31 (Reuters) - Singapore-based software startup Horizon Quantum Computing on Friday said it raised $18.1 million to expand its engineering team and speed up product development. The company, founded in 2018, created a programming language called Helium for quantum computers, designed to make it easier to tackle complex problems. Quantum computers, based on quantum physics, could potentially perform some calculations millions of times faster than the current fastest super computers. Horizon Quantum Computing said it is also planning to open its first European offices in Ireland, where it is building its new engineering center.

☆ Alibaba's breakup lifts hopes China's regulatory winter is thawing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The move represented a light at the end of the tunnel for many investors who had seen a wave of regulatory blitzes as a major cloud hanging over China's private sector. Reuters GraphicsAlibaba said on Tuesday it would split into six units - Cloud Intelligence Group, Taobao Tmall Commerce Group, Local Services Group, Cainiao Smart Logistics Group, Global Digital Commerce Group and Digital Media and Entertainment Group. He was spotted on Monday in Hangzhou, home to Alibaba, just one day before the company announced the restructuring. Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK), China's largest gaming company, saw shares rise as much as 5.1%. Alibaba's split may pave the way for other Chinese tech giants to undergo similar restructuring, CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng said.

☆ Asian stocks rally as bank jitters calm, Alibaba lifts mood
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Alibaba's Hong Kong shares (9988.HK) shot up 15%, while the company's U.S.-listed shares closed 14.3% higher. The news lifted investor confidence in the wider Chinese tech sector, with shares of Alibaba's e-commerce rival JD.com Inc (9618.HK) 7% higher, and gaming giant Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK) jumping 5%. "Alibaba's split may pave the way for other Chinese tech giants to do similar," CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng said. "This helps break down the monopolistic power of these conglomerates, which complies with the Chinese government's regulatory overhaul over antitrust issues." Futures indicated European stocks were set to open higher, with Eurostoxx 50 futures up 0.41%, German DAX futures up 0.38% and FTSE futures up 0.08%.

☆ Alibaba's breakup plan lifts hopes China's tech crackdown is ending
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The group's Hong Kong-listed shares jumped as much as 16.3%, tracking a 14.3% rally in its U.S.-listed shares overnight . Its e-commerce rival JD.com Inc (9618.HK) rose 7% and gaming giant Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK) gained 5%. That compared with a 2.3% jump in benchmark Hang Seng Index (.HSI) and a 3.2% gain for the Hang Seng Tech Index (.HSTECH). Brian Tycango, who tracks China's tech sector at Stansberry Research, says that in addition to enabling higher valuations, the restructuring better protects individual divisions from future government regulation. "Any new regulations will likely not affect the whole company now - just the particular division that that regulation covers," Tycango told Reuters.

☆ Asian stocks rally as banking anxiety eases; Alibaba surges
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was 0.82% higher, while Japan's Nikkei (.N225) advanced 0.49%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged over 2%, buoyed by Alibaba (9988.HK) after the Chinese e-commerce conglomerate announced its break-up plans. Alibaba's Hong Kong shares (9988.HK) shot up 15%, while the company's U.S.-listed shares closed 14.3% higher. Worries over inflation have prompted investors to recalculate what they expect the Fed to do in its next meeting in May. In the foreign exchange markets, the dollar index , which measures the U.S. currency against six peers, was mostly flat, having eased 0.3% overnight on improving risk appetite.

☆ Alibaba's Hong Kong shares surge 16% on split-up plans
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 29 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares of Alibaba Group (9988.HK) soared on Wednesday, marking a vote of confidence from investors after the company announced a major restructuring plan. Shares of Alibaba's e-commerce rival JD.com Inc (9618.HK) were up 7%, and gaming giant Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK) jumped 5% on Wednesday morning. That compared with a 2.3% jump in benchmark Hang Seng Index (.HSI) and a 3.2% gain for the Hang Seng Tech Index (.HSTECH). One day before the re-organization was announced, Alibaba founder Jack Ma, who had been out of mainland China since late 2021, was spotted visiting a primary school in Hangzhou, the city where Alibaba is headquartered. Reporting by Josh Horwitz in Shanghai and Donny Kwok in Hong Kong; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Sam HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Tencent Returns to Revenue Growth With Digital-Ad Recovery
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Raffaele Huang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

In the past few months, Tencent has secured government licenses for several blockbuster videogames in its pipeline. SINGAPORE—Chinese internet conglomerate Tencent Holdings Ltd .’s quarterly revenue rose 0.5% from a year earlier, backed by rising demand for digital advertisements, as executives said businesses were shaking off the impact from Beijing’s tough pandemic controls. October-December revenue rose to the equivalent of $20.8 billion, the company said Wednesday, after two quarters of contractions.

☆ Tencent Posts Surprise Profit Growth Despite Economic Slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Raffaele Huang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

In the past few months, Tencent has secured government licenses for several blockbuster videogames in its pipeline. SINGAPORE—Chinese internet conglomerate Tencent Holdings Ltd. posted a surprise 12% rise in its quarterly profit from a year earlier, even as China’s weak economy and Beijing’s tough Covid-19 controls during the period dented demand for videogame and advertising markets. October-December net profit was the equivalent of $15.3 billion, boosted by a one-time gain of $12.46 billion from the disposal of food-delivery company Meituan stocks, the company said Wednesday. Revenue rose 0.5%. Both beat expectations of analysts polled by FactSet.

☆ Tencent’s Sales Growth Lifted by Digital-Ad Recovery
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Raffaele Huang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

SAN FRANCISCO, March 21 (Reuters) - Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O), the U.S. semiconductor designer that dominates the market for artificial intelligence (AI) chips, said it has modified its flagship product into a version that is legal to export to China. On Tuesday, the company said it has similarly developed a China-export version of its H100 chip. The rules around AI chips imposed a test that bans those with both powerful computing capabilities and high chip-to-chip data transfer rates. A chip industry source in China told Reuters the H800 mainly reduced the chip-to-chip data transfer rate to about half the rate of the flagship H100. The Nvidia spokesperson declined to say how the China-focused H800 differs from the H100, except that "our 800 series products are fully compliant with export control regulations."

☆ China Favors Chips, AI Executives Over Internet Tycoons at Top Political Meetings
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Shen Lu | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference opened at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Saturday. A number of prominent Chinese internet executives have been left out of the country’s top political meetings in Beijing this week, giving way to experts in artificial intelligence and semiconductors as Chinese leader Xi Jinping ’s priorities shift amid rising technology competition with the U.S.Pony Ma , Robin Li and William Ding , the chief executives of Chinese internet companies Tencent Holdings Ltd., Baidu Inc. and NetEase Inc. respectively, are conspicuous in their absence from this year’s list of delegates to the National People’s Congress, China’s legislative body, and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a political advisory body. Also missing was Lenovo Group Ltd. CEO Yang Yuanqing .

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