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☆ 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 .

☆ ChatGPT Fever Sweeps China as Tech Firms Seek Growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Karen Hao | Shen Lu | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The viral popularity of ChatGPT has stirred a frenzy within China where tech companies, battered by a two-year regulatory clampdown and the Covid-19 pandemic, have been seeking new sources of growth. Search engine owner Baidu Inc., e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and social-media conglomerate Tencent Holdings Ltd. are among those that have announced investments to develop their own equivalents to the artificial-intelligence chatbot, which isn’t available in China. Stocks of other Chinese companies have surged in recent weeks as they have jumped on the bandwagon, triggering state media to issue a warning about the speculative rally.

☆ Meta in Talks to Reboot China Business With VR Headsets
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Raffaele Huang | Newley Purnell | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Tencent Holdings Ltd. is in talks to sell Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc.’s popular virtual-reality headset in China, home to the world’s biggest pool of internet users. Tencent, China’s biggest videogame company, has proposed to Meta that it become the exclusive seller of Meta’s Quest 2 headsets in China, people familiar with the discussion said. Tencent has also sought to publish Chinese versions of existing videogames for the device, they said.

☆ Tencent in Talks to Sell Meta’s Quest 2 VR Headset in China
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Raffaele Huang | Newley Purnell | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ VR firm Pico, owned by Chinese TikTok maker ByteDance, announces 'small' layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HONG KONG, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Pico, a virtual reality (VR) headset manufacturer owned by TikTok's Chinese developer ByteDance, said on Friday it was laying off a small number of people, after local media reported the start of hundreds of redundancies earlier this week. The South China Morning Post reported unidentified sources on Thursday as saying Pico had trimmed some teams by as much as 30%. "We greatly appreciate these colleagues' contributions and are working closely with those impacted to support them through this time of change." The layoffs mark the latest streamlining for ByteDance, which like many tech peers in China has cut jobs since last year and undergone restructuring as economic growth slows. On Thursday, Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK) said it was making some personnel adjustments after local media reported the Chinese gaming and social media major was laying off staff in its recently formed "extended reality" (XR) business.

☆ American Cloud Companies Face Challenge From China in Southeast Asia
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Raffaele Huang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

China’s Alibaba Cloud has pledged a new investment of $1 billion to support its global partners in the coming three years. SINGAPORE—U.S. cloud-computing companies, dominant globally, are facing intensifying competition from upstart Chinese rivals in Southeast Asia, offering a head-to-head look at how the two geopolitical rivals’ corporate champions stack up in a key technology. China’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Huawei Technologies Co. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. are planning to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Southeast Asia in the coming years.

☆ Amazon, Microsoft, Google Pressured by Chinese Cloud Rivals in Southeast Asia
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Raffaele Huang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ China approves 88 games in January, including titles by Tencent and NetEase
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Jan 17 (Reuters) - China's video games regulator on Tuesday granted publishing licences to 88 online games, including titles belonging to Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK), NetEase Inc (9999.HK) and miHoYo. Shenzhen-based Tencent, the world's largest gaming company, received at least one game licence for a mobile game named "Yuanmengzhixing", the list published by the National Press and Public Administration showed. NetEase, China’s second largest gaming company, also received a licence for a shooting game named "Chaofanxianfeng". miHoYo, the famed developer behind Genshin Impact, secured one licence for a game named Honkai: Star Rail. Unlike in most other countries, video games need approval from regulators before release in China, the world's largest gaming market.

☆ China moving to take 'golden shares' in Alibaba, Tencent units - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] The logo of Tencent is seen at Tencent office in Shanghai, China December 13, 2021. REUTERS/Aly Song/File PhotoJan 13 (Reuters) - China is moving to take minority stakes with special rights in the local units of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK) and Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK), the Financial Times reported on Friday. Seeking influence, Beijing began taking these stakes, called "golden shares," in private online media companies - usually about 1% of a firm - more than five years ago. These golden stakes are bought by government-backed funds or companies which gain a board seat and/or veto rights for key business decisions. However, the specifics of the government's plan to take golden shares in Tencent remain under discussion, but they will involve a stake in one of the group's main China operating subsidiaries, the report added.

☆ Analysis: Tencent bets big on WeChat Channels in push to build its own TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

"Tencent hopes it can turn Channels into the next WeChat Pay. Two sources familiar with Tencent said the importance of Channels has been repeatedly communicated within the company. In November, Tencent President Martin Lau said Channels' advertising revenue was on track to reach 1 billion yuan in the fourth quarter of 2022. "For example, in Douyin or Kuaishou, you won't be able to ask your viewers to add you on WeChat. But on Channels, you can quickly add somebody on WeChat," Yang said.

☆ New Jersey, Ohio join other states in banning TikTok from state devices
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - New Jersey and Ohio said on Monday they were joining other states in banning use of the popular video app TikTok on government-owned and managed devices. Murphy's office said "there have been national security concerns about user data the Chinese government might require ByteDance to provide." On Friday, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said he planned to join other states in banning use of the popular video app that has more than 100 million U.S. users. Republican governors have led the charge to ban TikTok from state devices and some Democratic governors have been slower to do so. Calls to ban TikTok from government devices gained steam after U.S. FBI Director Christopher Wray said in November it poses national security risks.

☆ China Approves Foreign Videogames in Latest Breather for Tech Giants
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Raffaele Huang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Imported videogames have been an important source of income for large Chinese game companies. SINGAPORE—China has resumed granting publishing approvals for foreign videogames, ending a halt stretching back to June 2021 and removing a source of uncertainty for the country’s once-flourishing videogame industry. China’s main videogame regulator, the National Press and Publication Administration, said Wednesday that it had approved 45 imported titles, including “Pokémon Unite,” a multiplayer battle arena game co-developed by China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Japan’s The Pokémon Co., and Riot Games Inc.’s first-person shooter game “Valorant.”

☆ Tencent chief blasts managers in fiery townhall - sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

In a rare show of frustration, Pony Ma said at a year-end meeting with staff on Dec. 15 that internal reviews this year had exposed unspecified corruption within Asia's biggest social media and gaming company, the sources said. Tencent reported a second straight quarterly revenue drop last month as China's economic slowdown and regulatory scrutiny hit its ad and gaming businesses. Up to the previous quarter, Tencent had reported double-digit growth for almost every three-month reporting period since going public in 2004. Ma, who mostly stays out of public view, also said the company needed to focus on short video for future growth, and described the WeChat Video Account, Tencent’s short video platform, as the "hope" of the Shenzhen-based company, the sources said. He warned that the video gaming business group would have to get used to Beijing’s strict licensing regime, and the number of new games China would approve would remain limited in the long run.

Dec 2 (Reuters) - Analysts have upgraded forecasts for Chinese corporate earnings in 2023, on expectations that its economy will benefit from stimulus measures and the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. Analysts raised forward 12-month earnings of companies on the MSCI China index (.dMICN00000PUS) by 2% in November, data from IBES estimates showed. They had earlier cut the forward 12-month earnings by 15% between January and October this year on concerns over slowing growth. We forecast earnings growth of 15%-20% for MSCI China, which would be underpinned by lower commodity prices, improved economic growth and lower asset write-downs," said James Wong, strategist at UBS. Breakdown by country for Asian companies' earnings growth in 2023China's COVID-19 cases remain near record highs.

☆ China Clamps Down on Internet as It Seeks to Stamp Out Covid Protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Liza Lin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

SINGAPORE—China’s internet watchdog instructed tech companies to expand censorship of protests and moved to curb access to virtual private networks this week, as a government clampdown succeeds in keeping most protesters off the streets after nationwide demonstrations erupted over the weekend against the country’s strict Covid policies. The Cyberspace Administration of China issued guidance to companies on Tuesday, including Tencent Holdings Ltd. and ByteDance Ltd., the Chinese owner of short video apps TikTok and Douyin, asking them to add more staff to internet censorship teams, according to people familiar with the matter. The companies were also asked to pay more attention to content related to the protests, particularly any information being shared about demonstrations at Chinese universities and a fire in the western Xinjiang region that triggered the nationwide backlash over Covid policies.

Google, Activision and Riot did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the new filing. Epic last year mostly lost a similar case against Apple Inc (AAPL.O), the other leading app store provider. The deal with Activision was announced in January 2020, soon after it told Google it was considering launching its own app store. Google around the same time was forecasting billions of dollars in lost app store sales if developers fled to alternative systems. Epic's lawsuit alleged that Google knew signing with Activision "effectively ensured that (Activision) would abandon its plans to launch a competing app store, and Google intended this result."

☆ Tencent Slashes Meituan Stake Worth $20 Billion, Posts Revenue Drop
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Raffaele Huang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Tencent has been a large shareholder of Meituan since the latter’s early days. SINGAPORE— Tencent Holdings Ltd. is shedding most of its stake in food-delivery company Meituan as the Chinese social-media and videogame giant moves to cash out from its investments in China’s internet sector. Tencent on Wednesday said it would distribute more than 958 million shares of Meituan, worth roughly $20 billion, as a special dividend to Tencent shareholders. The distribution will leave Tencent with a 1.5% stake in Meituan from 17% currently.

☆ Broken Deal Triggered Currency Losses for Barclays, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Ben Dummett | Patricia Kowsmann | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Barclays PLC, Deutsche Bank AG and Citigroup Inc. lost money on currency-hedging products they sold to a client for an acquisition that fell through, the latest example of the damage spread during the worst stretch for deal making in years. Prosus NV, best known as the largest investor in Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd., agreed in August 2021 to acquire India’s BillDesk, an online payments platform, for 345 billion rupees, equivalent to about $4.7 billion at the time. To protect the price against swings in the rupee, Prosus bought derivative contracts from the banks that allowed it to lock in the exchange rate ahead of the deal’s closure. Prosus had the flexibility to get rid of the hedge for no fee if the deal didn’t close.

☆ Microsoft powers up search for Chinese gaming hits in race against Sony
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterGrowing Western interest in Chinese games reflects a maturing of China's game development industry, analysts said. Chinese games are now on a par with big-budget Western games, said Daniel Ahmad, senior analyst at researcher Niko Partners. "Chinese game developers are trying to standardise their development tools, create advanced production processes, invest in really large-scale teams," Ahmad said. Microsoft has been building a team to scout for Chinese games, two industry sources said. Gaming executives now point to "Genshin Impact" as a global industry milestone, lauding its production value and seamless cross-platform game play.

☆ Australian fintech firm Airwallex raises $100 mln, retains $5.5 bln valuation
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 11 (Reuters) - Australian fintech company Airwallex said on Tuesday it raised $100 million in an extension of a funding round, sustaining its $5.5 billion valuation. The Melbourne-based company said it secured more funds from existing investors, including Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK), Sequoia Capital China and Lone Pine Capital. Australian industry superannuation fund HostPlus and a North American pension fund also participated in the round, Airwallex said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterWith the $100 million raised in the Series E extended round, Airwallex's total funding increased to more than $900 million, the company said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Harish Sridharan and Baranjot Kaur in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Hogue and Subhranshu SahuOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Tencent Considers More Stake Sales to Fund Share Buybacks, Future Growth
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Jing Yang | Raffaele Huang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Tencent Holdings Ltd. is looking into shedding more of its huge investment portfolio as the Chinese social-media and videogame company tries to fund a series of share buybacks and refocus its growth strategy, people familiar with the matter said. The technology giant, which owns stakes in some of China’s largest internet companies, has recently completed a regular review of its sprawling portfolio and identified its priorities for possible stake sales based on the returns these investments have generated, the people said. Potential disposals could include online real-estate brokerage KE Holdings food-delivery company Meituan and ride-hailing giant Didi Global they added. Tencent is in no rush to execute the divestments, the people said, and it is unclear when they will happen.

☆ Joe Biden elimină interdicțiile impuse de Donald Trump asupra aplicațiilor TikTok și WeChat
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-10 | by ( ) www.jurnal.md time to read: +2 min

Sursa foto: ChesnotJoe Biden elimină interdicțiile impuse de Donald Trump asupra aplicațiilor TikTok și WeChatPreședintele american Joe Biden a revocat miercuri interdicțiile impuse de predecesorul său, Donald Trump, asupa platformelor TikTok și WeChat, deținute de companii chineze. Ordinul înlocuiește acțiunile fostului președinte Donald Trump, destinate în mod special companiilor chineze, inclusiv celor care dețin TikTok - ByteDance Ltd., și WeChat - Tencent Holdings Ltd., care a încercat să interzică utilizarea acestor aplicații în SUA. O evaluare separată privind vânzarea TikTok către o companie americană este în curs de desfășurare și nu este legată de acest ordin, a spus un înalt oficial al administrației. Anunțul vine în contextul în care Biden a plecat într-o vizită de o săptămână în Europa, pentru a participa la summit-ul G7. China este pe agenda discțiilor și este așteptat ca liderii celor mai bogate țări să se concentreze pe acest subiect.

Persons: Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Biden, Gina, Trump Organizations: Holdings Ltd, Casei Albe Locations: Ltd, SUA, China, americană, Europa

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