Alibaba’s Jack Ma in Talks to Buy SCMP Stake
Jack Ma, the founder and executive chairman of e-commerce giant Alibaba, is said to be in talks with South China Morning Post to acquire a stake in the Hong Kong-based English language newspaper....
View ArticleAlibaba to Buy South China Morning Post
Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. has agreed to buy Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post and other associated media assets from the SCMP Group. The announcement came following weeks of speculation...
View ArticleSCMP Buy Brings Political Risks for Alibaba
Last week, Alibaba struck a $266 million deal to purchase the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post and other associated media assets. The company’s stated intentions to boost China’s image while...
View ArticleDalian Wanda Sets Its Sights on Hollywood
China’s real estate and investment firm Dalian Wanda Group, which controls AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. and is the largest cinema chain operator in the world, is close to finishing a deal to acquire...
View ArticleWestern PR Firms, SCMP, and China’s Story Abroad
At Reuters, Engen Tham and Matthew Miller report efforts by China’s State Council Information Office to recruit a Western PR firm to help promote China’s image abroad. Hill+Knowlton, Ketchum, Ogilvy,...
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Word of the Week: Mountain Stronghold
The Word of the Week comes from the Grass-Mud Horse Lexicon, a glossary of terms created by Chinese netizens or encountered in online political discussions. These are the words of China’s online...
View ArticleRhetoric vs. Reality in Trump’s Stance on China
During the long election campaign, Donald Trump consistently took a hard line on China, blaming the country for stealing American jobs and threatening to launch a trade war if elected. After the...
View ArticleNYT on South China Morning Post: Responses
On Saturday, The New York Times published a piece by Javier C. Hernández scrutinizing the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, two years after its acquisition by mainland tech tycoon Jack Ma’s...
View ArticleCyberspace Administration, Alibaba, Ex-Google Chiefs on China’s Internet
Last month, former SAPPRFT head Zhuang Rongwen took over from Xu Lin as head of the Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s top internet regulator, as Xu moved to oversee foreign propaganda...
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Minitrue: Delete Parodies of Jack Ma’s 996 Comments
The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. The name of the issuing body has been omitted to protect the source. All...
View ArticleBeijing Announces New Rules to Curb Tech Monopolies
China’s market regulator has announced new rules to identify and stop monopolistic practices in the internet industry, in the latest move by Chinese officials to rein in the country’s burgeoning tech...
View ArticleXi Personally Stopped Ant Group IPO
After Shanghai’s stock exchange abruptly suspended Ant Group’s initial public offering just 10 days after Jack Ma delivered a blistering speech comparing Chinese regulators to a “geriatric club” intent...
View ArticleAlibaba Faces Antitrust Probe While New Regulations Challenge Ant Group’s...
New announcements from China’s regulatory authorities have revealed broad plans to rein in Alibaba and Ant Group, as part of a concerted effort to strengthen state supervision of Jack Ma’s business...
View ArticleXi’s Grande Vision For U.S.-China Relations Runs Through Starbucks
On Thursday, January 14, Xinhua published a letter from Xi Jinping to former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, calling on Schultz to encourage the development of U.S.-China ties. Xi’s public letter to...
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Consumerism, Communism, and Cartoons: Chinese Youth Reject Jack Ma
News of the suspension of Ant Group’s initial public offering, shocking to business-world observers, received a warm welcome among some corners of Chinese youth. Many of the primary users of Ant...
View ArticleDetails of Alibaba Penalties Emerge as Regulators Eye Other Giants in Tech...
More than four months after a high profile crackdown on Jack Ma’s financial empire marked the beginning of a regulatory overhaul for China’s big tech companies, details of the penalties set to be...
View ArticleAfter Months of Speculation, Regulators Drop Hammer on Jack Ma’s Business Empire
Six months after abruptly calling off fintech giant Ant Group’s IPO and launching an investigation into Alibaba for antitrust violations, Chinese regulators have at last announced their penalties...
View ArticleChinese Regulators Prepare to Take Action Against More Tech Companies
After levying a record-breaking fine against Alibaba and requiring sweeping structural changes to Ant Group’s business earlier this month, Chinese regulators are showing no signs of letting up in their...
View ArticleNetizen Voices: On May Day, Shenzhen Party Committee Celebrates “996” Culture...
May Day was conceived as a celebration of the eight-hour work day by a coalition of socialists and labor activists in fin de siècle Europe. Over a century later, Shenzhen’s Communist Party Committee...
View ArticleCEOs Feel The Pinch As Regulators Come Down On Big Tech
After decades of a nearly laissez-faire approach to tech regulation—stringent censorship measures aside—Chinese authorities have stepped up their scrutiny of the country’s internet giants. Regulators...
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