WebProNews

Tag: China

  • Chinese Photoshop Gaffe Goes Viral

    To the scrutinizing eyes of the internet, no Photoshop disaster will go unnoticed. That doesn’t just apply to the Western web, but also to those in the East.

    Chinese internet users have taken a fairly egregious editing error and run with it. Late Sunday evening, an article was posted to the government website of Huili County, China. Huili county is part of the Sichuan Provine and is under the adminstration of the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture.

    The article, about upgrades to road conditions within the county, had a photo with three government officials on the scene who appear to be discussing the road conditions. The only problem is that the photo is so clearly photoshopped that it’s laughable. Apparently one user who spotted this error posted it to a Chinese internet forum and said:


    I had nothing to do today so I visited the website for our county government. The headline story was about the upgrade for the road to the countryside. I looked at the photo and I almost coughed out half a liter of blood! Even a rank amateur like myself can tell that this was a PhotoShop job, and they had the nerve to put this on the home page!

    So many people visited the government website that it was down for a brief period of time. Here’s the photo in question –

    Chinese internet users took the photo began creating their own Photoshop masterpieces. I present to you, some winners of the Levitating Government Officials meme, courtesy of the Chinese site tt.mop.com –

    When this began to go viral, the Huili County Government went into damage control mode. They set up an account on Weibo, which is China’s version of Twitter, just to address the Photoshop faux pas. On Weibo, they said that government officials did in fact go on site for the road inspection, but the original photos weren’t very clear. They also said that they learned a lesson from all this and thanked the internet community for their criticism.

    They also posted what are supposed to be the original photos from the road inspection. Check them out for yourself but in my opinion, the argument could be made that they still look a bit off.

    Photoshop disasters are some of the best things on the internet, hands down. If you have some time to kill, may I suggest browsing through the Top 20 Photoshop Disasters of 2010 as judged by PSDisasters.com.

  • Virginity, A Small Price To Pay For An iPhone 4

    Apple now has a new slogan for the iPhone.

    “So awesome, you’ll do anybody for one!”

    Of course, Apple already had a slogan similar to this for their iPad 2 – “So awesome, you’ll cut out your internal organs for one.” Earlier this month the news surfaced that a high-school freshman in China named Zheng had sold one of his kidneys on the black market for the money to purchase Apple’s new tablet.

    He was contacted online by a man offering him 20,000 yuan, or just over $3,300. When his mother found out, she wasn’t pleased to say the least. Authorities were unable to find the people responsible.

    Now, another Chinese citizen has decided to sell a piece of their body for the latest and greatest device. This time it’s a girl, and she has offered her virginity to the first person who will buy her an iPhone 4.

    It’s being reported that a “jiulinghou,” or person born during the 90’s, posted messages to microblogging site Weibo that said it was her “dream to own an iPhone 4” but her father wouldn’t let her get one. She then said that she was willing to sell her virginity to anyone that would buy her one. Weibo is basically the Chinese version of Twitter.

    She also posted photos of herself to the site with general descriptions of her physical features. The whole thing has caused quite the controversy in China.

    This definitely wouldn’t be the first time that a lady’s first time is up for grabs on the interwebs. In 2008 a 22-year-old woman tried to auction off her virginity online in order to pay for college tuition. Since she did this all through the Moonlite Bunny Ranch in the prostitution-legal state of Nevada, everything was totally legal. Apparently she received a top offer of $3.4, but the deal was never consummated.

    This story leaves a lot of questions unanswered. What about the data plan? She won’t enjoy her prize very much without one of those. Will the “lucky” guy have to get her a 2-year contract? What would she do for a locked iPhone 4?

    And possibly, most of all, why in the hell wouldn’t she wait and do this when the iPhone 5 comes out?

    [Image Courtesy]

  • Recent Gmail Attack Reportedly Targeted White House Employees

    White House workers were reportedly targeted in recent attacks against Google’s Gmail service, said to come from hackers in China. The White House has not indicated who exactly was targeted, but has said that there were no official messages compromised.

    A report from Devlin Barrett and Siobhan Gorman at the Wall Street Journal says:

    The hackers likely were hoping the officials were conducting administration business on their private emails, according to lawmakers and security experts.

    The government has acknowledged senior administration officials were targeted in the “phishing” attacks on hundreds of users of the email service. White House officials declined to discuss who was targeted.

    The Obama administration reiterated Thursday that no official messages were compromised. But lawmakers and outside computer-security experts said recent White House history suggests administration officials sometimes use personal email to talk business, despite rules against doing so.

    Google is currently said to be working with the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, investigating the attack.

    On June 1, Google wrote on its blog:

    Through the strength of our cloud-based security and abuse detection systems*, we recently uncovered a campaign to collect user passwords, likely through phishing. This campaign, which appears to originate from Jinan, China, affected what seem to be the personal Gmail accounts of hundreds of users including, among others, senior U.S. government officials, Chinese political activists, officials in several Asian countries (predominantly South Korea), military personnel and journalists.

    The goal of this effort seems to have been to monitor the contents of these users’ emails, with the perpetrators apparently using stolen passwords to change peoples’ forwarding and delegation settings. (Gmail enables you to forward your emails automatically, as well as grant others access to your account.)

    Google detected and has disrupted this campaign to take users’ passwords and monitor their emails. We have notified victims and secured their accounts. In addition, we have notified relevant government authorities.

    It’s important to stress that our internal systems have not been affected—these account hijackings were not the result of a security problem with Gmail itself. But we believe that being open about these security issues helps users better protect their information online.

    As you probably know, this isn’t the first time Google has been involved with China-based hacking. About a year and a half ago, incidents actually led to Google directing its Chinese domain to Hong Kong.

    Earlier this week, it was reported that the Pentagon has decided that cyber attacks can be considered acts of war, a subject that will be addressed in its cyber strategy, which will be made public (in part) sometime this month. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Obama Administration is not going to raise the matter with the Chinese government until more facts become clear.

    It would seem, however, that the Chinese government is raising the matter anyway. Rachel King at ZDNet is reporting that China has refuted claims that it was responsible for the incident, and is accusing the U.S. of starting a global “Internet War”. Meanwhile, neither the U.S. government or Google has pointed the finger at the Chinese government yet.

  • iPad 2 Worth a Kidney to Chinese Teen

    iPad 2 Worth a Kidney to Chinese Teen

    Don’t get me wrong, I love gadgets. Also, don’t misunderstand me – I would gladly part with a kidney in the right circumstance. Say my mother or someone else I loved needed one, I would give it up in a second. You only need one, right? Or maybe even for the right price on the black market…

    But for three grand? I don’t think so.

    That’s exactly what one Chinese high-school freshman did. Seventeen-year-old Zheng from Huaishan, Anhui Province sold one of his kidneys for 22,000 yuan, a little over $3300.

    According to the Shanghai Daily, the teen went to Chenzhou no. 198 hospital under the supervision of three men to have the kidney removed. His poor mother, who knew nothing about the exchange, called the authorities as soon as she saw what had happened. The police had no luck in reaching the “broker” via the cell phone number given by Zheng. The kid’s health is currently deteriorating.

    As would be expected, the hospital has denied any connection with the operation. They said that “[their] urology department is contracted to a businessman in Fujian.”

    Zheng said he did all of this for the latest Apple tablet:

    “I wanted to buy an iPad 2 but could not afford it. A broker contacted me on the Internet and said he could help me sell one kidney for 20,000 yuan.”

    I guess this is one way Apple could advertise their popular product – “The iPad 2: so awesome, you’ll sell your organs on the black market for one!”

    Here’s an alleged photo of Zheng showing his post-surgery scar, courtesy of China’s Global Times:

    In April, we reported on a study that found young people with a high level of dependence on social media, bordering on addiction. Kids all over the world reported feelings of distress and despair when separated from things like Twitter and Facebook for just 24 hours. I guess the addiction to social media applies to the devices used to access said social media.

    The Chinese have made news recently over fights regarding Apple products. When the iPad 2 was first launched in the States, Chinese scalpers set up camp near the NYC Apple store to buy up the devices and scalp them for ridiculously inflated prices. Apple stores in China were sites of disputes over the iPad 2, one reportedly resulting in the front glass windows being destroyed by the fighters.

    It’s no wonder that Apple just surpassed Google as the world’s most valuable brand. When people are selling their kidneys for your latest and greatest, you have quite the hold on the global consumer.

  • Angry Birds Going After China

    While reveling in their recent success — 140 million downloads, ya’ll — Rovio announced their next move for the Angry Birds franchise. The target? The far east; China, to be exact. The goal for the company behind Angry Birds isn’t that much different than their U.S. strategy: Domination of the mobile device gaming market.

    Thanks to a report at AppleInsider, the Angry Birds plan for Chinese domination was revealed during the Global Mobile Internet Conference in Beijing earlier this week. During the presentation, Rovio executive Peter Vesterbacka was quite boastful of Angry Birds, saying the brand has grown faster than any before it. Owing this confidence to the Angry Birds ever-growing downloads total, it’s easy to see why Rovio thinks their game will just as successful in China.

    It also helps that China has over 300 million mobile device users, giving the Angry Birds a lot of potential targets. Rovio’s goal for the Angry Birds takeover of China calls for 100 million downloads, and with so many members of the Chinese population using mobile technology, that goal isn’t so far-fetched.

    As for Angry Birds’ current success story, Vesterbacka thanks Apple and its ability to distribute content for the opportunity to prosper:

    “Apple created the distribution for us that we didn’t have before. All of a sudden, great games mattered,” said Vesterbacka. “We are seeing smartphone growth explode, and we are riding that wave.”

    He also credited the game’s popularity to the character designs, using Pixar’s track record with memorable characters as a template for Angry Birds. Oddly enough, however, while heaping credit on Apple’s environment, Vesterbacka was none to friendly to the Android market, calling it fragmented and a “very Google centric ecosystem.”

    Because, yeah, Apple’s mobile architecture has such the reputation of being open and accessible for all devices… Nevertheless, it’s pretty easy to see why Rovio is so indebted to Apple. Without the iPhone platform, Angry Birds would most likely have the designation of being just another game.

  • Social Media Involvement Greater in China than U.S.

    Due to the large population discrepancy, it probably won’t surprise anyone that China has more broadband users that the United States.  What might surprise you is just how much more active the Chinese are online, especially when it comes to engagement with social media.

    An interesting study by Netpop Research entitled Social Face-Off : A Comparison of U.S. and China Social Media Use finds that people in China are more involved in every type of social media activity of which they studied.  First, some general facts about the two internet communities: of the broadband users age 13 and above, the Chinese have a much younger, more educated internet population than the U.S.  They also spend more time online per weekday.

    Not only is China spending more time online, but while they are online they are interacting with social media at a much greater rate than the U.S.  When Netpop measured the “contribution” percentage in each country, they found that 93% of the 411 million Chinese broadband users contribute to social media compared to only 73% of the U.S.’s 169 million broadband users.  “Contributors” are people involved in one or more activity such as posting to a social network site, posting to a blog, updating their location, uploading videos and much more.

    People who can be described as “heavy contributors” (engaging in 6+ social media activities) are 2 out of every 5 in China.  Only 1 out of 10 can be described this way in the U.S.

    Here’s the really interesting part – China completely dominated the U.S. in participation in every social media activity except “posting to social network sites,” which they only lead by 2%.  Americans love their Facebook, and our status-update-happy culture is the only thing that kept this statistic close, I assume.

    One of the major discrepancies is the amount of micro-blogging happening in each country.  Netpop points out that Twitter is the only major micro-blog in the U.S., while the Chinese regularly use sites like Fanfou, QQ Micro-blog and Souhu Micro-blog along with Twitter.  Really, the only crossover in the sites considered in this study are Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Picasa ans YouTube.

    The find that would be most interesting to brands and advertisers involves relative amounts of “opt-ins” to connect with brands via social media channels.  In China, apparently 92% of its broadband users choose to connect to brands via social media.  Only 72% choose to in America.

    Americans are about as likely to sign up for an emailing list, but the Chinese are much more likely to connect in other ways like becoming a fan on Facebook and following on a micro-blog – which looks to be the largest way that brands connect to the people of China.

    What accounts for this giant discrepancy in social media connection between the two countries?  Netpop says that more Chinese have the “go-getter” personality and that they see social media as a way to get-ahead:

    The data also underscore how much larger and more active Chinese netizens are than their American counterparts. True, Chinese Internet users are younger in age, but demographics alone cannot explain such differences. Psychographics also provide clues. In the United States, we find ambition – or the desire to “get ahead” – motivating social media use in a small and discrete segment known as the “Go‐Getters.” By contrast, Go‐Getter qualities are expressed in two of the three Chinese segments. Chinese netizens, in other words, are more likely to use social networking to get‐ahead, perhaps reflecting a more eager and opportunistic outlook in general.

     

  • China: U.S. Internet Freedom Not So Great Either

    Every year, the United States government releases a report on the state of human rights around the world.  This year, like many others, the United States called out China for various wrongdoings – one such problem being “The Great Firewall” that restricts Chinese citizens’ access to the internet in astoundingly far-reaching ways.

    This year, China’s Information Office of the State Council published a report titled “The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2010” as a sort of response to American criticisms of its own practices.

    The report indicates that the Chinese government believes the U.S. is not practicing what they preach.  China says that the U.S. has no business being the human rights cop of the world.  From the report:

    United States has a dismal record on its own human rights and could not be justified to pose as the world’s “human rights justice”. However, it released the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices year after year to accuse and blame other countries for their human rights practices. The United States ignores its own serious human rights problems, but has been keen on advocating the so-called “human rights diplomacy”, to take human rights as a political instrument to defame other nations’ image and seek its own strategic interests.

    The Chinese report pitches a wide net over many human rights issues, from poverty to the killing of civilians in Afghanistan.  After reading the lengthy report, much of it seems like a mishmash of Googled facts, thrown together out of context to prove a point.  In lashing out at the United States’ protection of childrens mental health, the report pulls from six different sources and includes some questionable statistics: up to 93% of American children are victims to traumatic experiences, such as sexual abuse and neglect and that 93,000 children are “incarcerated.”

    This doesn’t mean that some things in the report aren’t absolutely true, such as the prevalence of gender discrimination and the persistence of unemployment and poverty – but much of the report feels like kitchen-sink accusations and thin-air statistics.

    The accusation train interestingly makes a few stops at technological issues, such as unwarranted seizure of electronic devices, which ars technica points out is a real concern:

    Citizen’ s privacy has been undermined. According to figures released by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in September 2010, more than 6,600 travelers had been subject to electronic device searches between Oct 1, 2008 and June 2, 2010, nearly half of them American citizens. A report on The Wall Street Journal on Sept 7, 2010, said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was sued over its policies that allegedly authorize the search and seizure of laptops, cellphones and other electronic devices without a reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. The policies were claimed to leave no limit on how long the DHS can keep a traveler’ s devices or on the scope of private information that can be searched, copied or detained. There is no provision for judicial approval or supervision.

    Next up is an attack on America’s internet freedom.  Although the Chinese report is trying to make a point about American hypocrisy, I would just refrain from even talking about internet freedom if I were them.  <Pot, meet Kettle>

    While advocating Internet freedom, the US in fact imposes fairly strict restriction on cyberspace. On June 24, 2010, the US Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs approved the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, which will give the federal government “absolute power” to shut down the Internet under a declared national emergency. Handing government the power to control the Internet will only be the first step towards a greatly restricted Internet system, whereby individual IDs and government permission would be required to operate a website (Prison Planet.com, June 25, 2010). The United States applies double standards on Internet freedom by requesting unrestricted “Internet freedom” in other countries, which becomes an important diplomatic tool for the United States to impose pressure and seek hegemony, and imposing strict restriction within its territory. An article on BBC on Feb 16, 2011 noted the US government wants to boost Internet freedom to give voices to citizens living in societies regarded as “closed” and questions those governments’ control over information flow, although within its borders the US government tries to create a legal frame to fight the challenge posed by Wikileaks. The US government might be sensitive to the impact of the free flow of electronic information on its territory for which it advocates, but it wants to practice diplomacy by other means, including the Internet, particularly the social networks.

    The piece is rather lengthy, but worth a read as it paints a picture of how others might view the United States, whether you believe most of it is BS or not.  I especially got a kick out of the “porn is bad” lecture at the end of the “on the rights of women and children” section.  Maybe China will move on to Russia next, if they do in fact ban Skype and Gmail.

    Thanks to Guardian.

  • Google Linked To (Alleged) Tax Violations In China

    Google Linked To (Alleged) Tax Violations In China

    It’s a good bet that Googlers who believed the corporation should leave China are now saying “I told you so” to those who argued it should stay.  Today, there’s word of yet another problem in the country, as three local companies owned by Google have been accused of violating tax laws.

    Indeed, according to a report that appeared in the Economic Times (a state-run newspaper), the companies have in fact been found guilty of violating laws and penalized for it.  “Tax authorities have recovered the funds and collected fines,” according to Owen Fletcher, who’s based in Beijing and saw the original claims.

    More investigations are supposed to be taking place, though, and it looks like the claims don’t just revolve around a simple miscalculation or two.

    For starters: over $6.1 million is supposedly at stake.  Also, Fletcher wrote, “The problems at the ‘Google enterprises in China’ included using fake receipts and reporting unrelated spending as costs, such as for massages.”

    Those allegations could damage Google’s reputation even if they’re proven untrue.  It’s no secret that random claims can hurt corporations, and Google’s stance on censorship has already put it in a controversial position.

    Anyway, this counts as the latest in a long string of incidents indicating that Google isn’t too welcome in China.  Other recent problems for the company include Gmail accessibility issues and the loss of a partnership with Sina.

    It should be interesting if Larry Page adopts a new approach to China when he replaces Eric Schmidt as Google’s CEO next month.

  • Leading Chinese Portal Dumps Google

    Leading Chinese Portal Dumps Google

    There’s bad news for Google in China this month as the country’s largest Web portal has stopped using (and thereby promoting) Google’s main product.  Sina will now rely on search technology of its own rather than allow Google’s search engine to serve its users.

    A quick nod to glass-half-full types: this development might work in Google’s favor if lots of Sina users notice a decrease in search quality and draw attention to the issue, essentially giving Google free PR.  But that scenario’s something of a long shot.

    Otherwise, this just represents the loss of an important partner in China, meaning Google’s revenues in the country may take a hit.

    Also, it’s possible Google will become even more of an outcast in China as a result of this change.  Google’s been on a bit of a losing streak, after all, with partners abandoning it left and right after the big censorship brouhaha and the Chinese government (allegedly) blocking Gmail again.

    At this rate, it’s hard not to question whether anyone will want to do business with Google in the future, and what sort of business it’ll be allowed to conduct.

    Anyway, here’s a more complete look at Google’s performance in China.  Owen Fletcher, who’s based in Beijing, noted, “Google’s share of revenue in China’s online search market extended its slide in the last three months of 2010, falling to 19.6% from 21.6% in the third quarter and from a peak of 35.6% in the last three months of 2009, according to Beijing research firm Analysys International.  Baidu’s market share rose to 75.5% from 73% in the third quarter and compared with 58.4% in the last three months of 2009, according to Analysys.”

  • Google Blames China For Blocked Gmail Service

    Google Blames China For Blocked Gmail Service

    Chinese Gmail users – and Gmail itself – appear to be facing a sort of threat from the Chinese government once again.  Google’s gone on the record stating that fresh connection and usability problems have cropped up in the past month or so, and that Chinese authorities are the cause.

    A Google spokesman didn’t equivocate when giving a comment to the Guardian.  He stated, “Relating to Google there is no issue on our side.  We have checked extensively.  This is a government blockage carefully designed to look like the problem is with Gmail.”

    Google and the Chinese government have of course clashed many times before.  Google blamed Chinese authorities for a cyber attack that resulted in the theft of intellectual property, and the two sides have gone back and forth over censored search results, too.

    Still, things had quieted down in recent months (a Google exec even called China “the heart of the future of the Internet” in December), making this new development something of a surprise.

    The most obvious basis for Chinese authorities’ aggression is the unrest in the Middle East.  The Chinese government was likely trying to stifle dissent at home without attracting international attention.  And it probably didn’t mind if it hurt Gmail’s market share and Google’s reputation in the process.

    This could get interesting now that Google’s rejected the option of keeping quiet.  Then another thing to watch is how Larry Page handles the situation as CEO, since Eric Schmidt is set to step aside in two weeks’ time.

  • iPad 2 Scalped in New York City

    iPad 2 Scalped in New York City

    Just how badly do you want the new iPad 2?

    Some New Yorkers are having to ask themselves that question as Asian scalpers have taken up residence outside the flagship Apple store on 5th Avenue at 59th.  With demand thoroughly besting supply at the moment, the hot device is selling out at stores and even online customers are finding themselves staring at the possibility of excessively long shipping times.  Most certainly not helping is the group of scalpers that have descended upon the Apple store, buying almost every iPad 2 available.

    The scalping group are not only selling to American customers, but also shipping some overseas to be sold at the engorged prices.  The Post quoted one ringleader as saying, “The ones we bought today are already on their way to China…it’s been pretty crazy.”  The iPad 2 ranges in price from $500 to a little over $800.  The scalpers are demanding double, sometimes more for the product they just bought inside the store.

    Although the Apple employees are aware of the scheme taking place near their store, they say they are powerless to do anything about it.  The Post quotes an Apple employee as saying, “Listen, we all know what’s going on here. I find it sad and disgusting,  These people are preventing ordinary folks from getting their hands on an iPad.”

    It remains unknown exactly how many people paid the scalpers double or triple for the iPad 2, but it is safe to assume that those units shipped over to China will not stick around very long.

  • GaoPeng (The Chinese Groupon) Makes Its Debut

    Groupon announced today that the Chinese group-buying portal GaoPeng.com is officially live today. The portal is funded by Groupon,  Tencent Collaboration Fund and Yunfeng Capital, and is now accepting email registrations. Deals will premier on the service in March. 

    “As the pioneer of the space and the market leader in over 40 countries, we’re pleased to share our learnings with the GaoPeng team and bring a Groupon-quality customer and merchant local e-commerce experience to Mainland China,” said Groupon CEO Andrew Mason in a post on the company’s blog. “?We look forward to working with Tencent Collaboration Fund and Yunfeng Capital to deliver unbeatable deals from top local businesses, starting in Beijing and Shanghai this March!”

    The site has a fairly familiar look:

    GaoPeng Launched In China

    “Groupon is a recognized brand name with excellent operational and sales execution capabilities,” said Yun Ouyang, head of GaoPeng. “GaoPeng will learn from the international group-buying experience of Groupon while focusing on the local market in China. We are committed to catering to the local and diversified shopping needs of local customers and to the business needs of local merchants.”

    “GaoPeng aims to introduce a sophisticated group-buying business model and an international service standard to the market,” Ouyang added. “We hope to work together with other local group-buying portals to jointly develop this emerging market, which will ultimately benefit the consumers and merchants in China.“

    GaoPeng is based in Beijing. At first it will cover Beijing and Shanghai, but will later extend to other major cities in China.

  • Bing-Alibaba Relationship Stumbles In China

    Bing-Alibaba Relationship Stumbles In China

    It looks like Microsoft isn’t going to defy Google and Baidu and achieve a great victory in China anytime soon.  Three and a half months after it began, a partnership involving Bing and a search engine owned by Alibaba has already ended.

    To be fair, little is known about the situation, and it could have been someone at Microsoft who pulled the plug.  The comments of one Microsoft representative hint that a corporate memo didn’t exactly go around, however.

    Owen Fletcher reported, "Pilot cooperation between Microsoft Corp.’s Bing search engine and Alibaba Group search website Etao has ended, a spokeswoman for a Microsoft joint venture in China said Monday."

    Then Fletcher continued, "The spokeswoman for Shanghai MSN Network Communications Technology Co., a Microsoft joint venture that operates Bing in China, said she was unsure when the cooperation ended and called it ‘uncertain’ whether it would be restored."

    Bing logoThat’s less than encouraging news for Microsoft supporters, since a different representative labeled China "the most important strategic market for Microsoft" in late 2009, and Steve Ballmer didn’t back down during the Google hacking brouhaha.

    On the bright side, Bing remains in beta in China, so it’s not as if Microsoft has already put lots of time and energy into making the venture succeed.

  • Alibaba Makes Major Logistics Investments in Chinese Market

    Alibaba Makes Major Logistics Investments in Chinese Market

    Alibaba announced plans to build a network of warehouses across China, and drive major investment in logistics in that country, with the aim of allowing merchants to meet growing domestic consumption. 

    "It’s clear that logistics is a crucial link in the e-commerce eco-system and in order for Chinese entrepreneurs to reach their future growth goals, this sector needs to develop rapidly in China. It’s also clear that everyone involved in this sector needs to work together to accomplish this," said Alibaba Chairman and CEO Jack Ma. "Hopefully within 10 years’ time, anyone placing an order online from anywhere in China will receive their goods within eight hours, allowing for the virtual urbanization of every village across China. In order to achieve this, we will need to establish a modern, 21st century logistics network."

    Alibaba and its financing partners will commit between US$3.01 billion and $4.52 billion to the initiative, and hopes to spark a grand total of over 15.05 billion in investment from other partners within the e-commerce ecosystem. 

    Alibaba Makes Big Investments

     "Creating a network of warehouse facilities is a key tactic in our strategy to resolve the bottleneck facing the logistics industry in China," said Zhang Wei, Alibaba SVP and head of the company’s strategic investment team.

    "In the other areas of the logistic industry, Alibaba Group will mainly participate through investments aimed at helping our working partners to accelerate their own growth," added Wei. "We very much encourage participation in the logistics industry from members of the investment community. We will work with everyone in an open, dynamic and win-win environment to achieve this important goal of ensuring Chinese merchants are able to get their products to customers as quickly and efficiently as possible."

    The company says usage of its warehouse facilities will be a service available to all, including partners in the logistics industry, Taobao (a Chinese shopping site) sellers, and independent B2C websites.

  • Google Sees Search Ad Gain In China

    Early last year, it looked like Google might leave (or get kicked out) of China.  Then, in a business sense, the best-case scenario appeared to be a series of embarrassing losses to Baidu.  But a new report from Analysys International indicates that Google’s share of search advertising revenue in China may have stabilized at a respectable level.

    Michael Kan wrote earlier today, "The search engine giant’s share of Chinese search advertising revenue rose to 23.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010, a 1.5 percentage-point increase from the third quarter, Analysys International said Tuesday."

    That’s a nice increase for a three-month period, especially since Google’s share had been sliding.

    Of course, Kan noted, "At the end of 2009 . . . Google had a 35.6 percent share."  And Analysys International indicated that Baidu’s share of the market remained at 71.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010, so the dominant Chinese company isn’t exactly floundering.

    Still, a gain is a gain under any circumstances, and Google fans might be able to interpret this as a sign Google’s rebounding from rock bottom.

    We’ll be sure to keep an eye out for additional stats that could signal if Google’s managing to make gains in a country with over 1.3 billion people/potential users.

  • Facebook Reference Appears On Chinese Social Network

    Before diving in, we should perhaps remind everyone that trademarks don’t mean a lot in China.  Knockoffs of all sorts are produced in massive quantities.  But not long after Mark Zuckerberg toured the country and met with business leaders, Facebook’s name has been spotted in connection with a Chinese social network.

    Some info to orient you: Tencent Holdings Limited is a Chinese tech company that reported $1.8 billion in revenue in 2009.  It owns a popular messaging platform along with a lot of other social properties.  And Tencent also owns the social network in question, PengYou.com.  So while the circumstances are doubtful, they can’t be dismissed.

    Moving on, then, it seems some sort of Facebook authentication option was seen on PengYou.com.  Mobinode reader Yu Junde captured a screenshot, and writer Gang Lu explained afterward, "If you choose an oversea school/university for your education profile, the Facebook authentication will show up."

    Not much else is known because no one’s gotten the authentication process to work.  So we may be looking at an early mockup of a tie-in, or just a mistake or joke.

    Anyway, now more than ever, Facebook definitely has reason to want to do business in China.  A fresh report indicates that there are 450 million Internet users in the country, compared to the entire U.S. population of 310 million.

  • PayPal Plans China Expansion

    PayPal Plans China Expansion

    Different estimates put China’s population in the neighborhood of 1.3 billion people, and soon enough, PayPal intends to start helping them do business worldwide.  PayPal will open an ecommerce hub in Chongqing with the local government’s blessing.

    This won’t be a simple matter of encouraging people to use the online payment system when making purchases and accept it when making sales.  Instead, it looks like the company means to interact with merchants in a number of ways, presumably earning their respect and loyalty in the process.

    According to Bloomberg, "PayPal agreed with Chongqing’s municipal government to set up the center to offer foreign exchange settlement, telesales, training, verification and other services . . ."

    A PayPal spokesperson also said, "This is the first time in the world for PayPal where we are doing such a wide-ranging, comprehensive partnership with a government.  In this case, we are looking to develop the local e-commerce industry in inland China to help Chinese merchants build up their capabilities to conduct cross-border trade."

    The government partnership should help ensure PayPal doesn’t encounter the same problems Google did.  Or the same problems eBay did, for that matter (eBay entered China in 2002 and quit the country in 2006).

    This situation will definitely bear watching.

  • Group Predicting Facebook Entry Into China Grows

    A lot has been said in the past few weeks about Facebook entering China, and this morning, another expert expressed his opinion that the social network will at some point make an entrance.  Gady Epstein, the Beijing bureau chief for Forbes, even used a form of the word "inevitable" to describe the move.

    A little background information: Mark Zuckerberg has been visiting China this month, supposedly on vacation, but also just happening to meet with the execs of a number of important local companies.  And one Baidu representative even came out in support of Facebook doing business in China.

    Epstein wrote in response, "Will Facebook eventually play nice with the Chinese government, ushering in an era of a censored China Facebook?  My guess: Yes."

    Epstein reasoned, "Zuckerberg has already answered the question of whether Facebook will go to China with a question of his own: ‘How can you connect the whole world if you leave out 1.6 billion people?’  That powerful notion – connecting the whole world – is what will trump arguments against a Facebook entry into China even in the eyes of many Western users."

    Then Epstein noted, "Will there be blowback, outrage and constant discussion of the impact of censorship on Facebook in China?  Of course.  Will much of that venting take place on Facebook?  Most likely.  Let a hundred Facebook groups bloom; Zuckerberg will welcome them.  If the viral campaign against you is taking place on your platform, you’re in good shape."

    That’s an interesting point.  Plus, in the long term, it’s hard to imagine people worrying more about a social network than the poisonous dog food and toys that were traced back to China, and protests regarding those problems have blown over.

  • Baidu Exec Calls For Facebook To Enter China

    A couple words of caution: Baidu doesn’t speak for the Chinese government, and no one’s hinted that any sort of formal alliance exists between Baidu and Facebook.  A high-ranking Baidu spokesperson has said he’d like to see Facebook operate in China, however.

    Kaiser Kuo, Director of International Communications at Baidu, indicated his support while participating in an online discussion about Mark Zuckerberg today.  On Quora, Kuo started by confirming that Zuckerberg met with Robin Li, Baidu’s CEO.

    Then Kuo continued, "[A] Facebook entry into China would be fraught with challenges but personally I believe that having Facebook in China, even if it were compelled to abide by China’s strict censorship requirements, would still be better than not having it here.  I believe that it would be a net positive for China’s Internet users.  More connectivity is better than less."

    Of course, plenty of questions about human rights and censorship exist.  Plus, American companies have often had trouble getting traction in China even when they obey the Chinese government’s every request.

    Still, it looks like Facebook’s got a friend in Baidu – the company that’s pretty well crushed Google – when it comes to establishing a presence in China.

    We’ll keep an eye out for any interesting statements on Zuckerberg’s part when he returns from his trip to Beijing.  Hat tip goes to Oliver Chiang.

  • Google Slides To Third Place In Chinese Online Ad Market

    Google Slides To Third Place In Chinese Online Ad Market

    It’s a pretty well-known fact that Baidu’s beaten Google in China, and all of Google’s efforts to reverse that fact haven’t accomplished much.  Unfortunately for the company, those efforts also failed to hold off another rival, as a new report puts Alibaba ahead of Google in the online ad market.

    Owen Fletcher wrote earlier today, "In a breakdown of Chinese online advertising market share, Beijing research firm Analysys International says Alibaba has overtaken Google for second place behind Baidu thanks in large part to its online shopping unit Taobao."

    Then Fletcher continued, "Alibaba now owns a 9.3% market share and the number two spot in China’s online ad market, according to Analysys International (Word doc).  Meanwhile, Analysys says, Google’s share fell 2 percentage points from the second quarter, when it held the number-two spot, to 8.9% in the third quarter."

    For its part, Baidu ended the third quarter with a market share of 30.1 percent.

    Google wasn’t much luckier in the search market, either as its market share fell from 24.2 percent to 21.6 percent while Baidu’s share rose to 73.0 percent.

    That’s bad news for the search giant, which has by and large begun to play by China’s rules since it backed down on its threat to leave the country.  The attraction of 1.3 billion potential users was huge, to be sure, but if Google compromised its morals and fails to make much money, the situation becomes lose-lose.

  • Google Exec: China “Heart Of The Future Of The Internet”

    Despite hacking incidents, harsh criticisms, various threats, and all other sorts of unpleasantness, Google still has high hopes for its operations in China and the country in general.  One exec described it today as "the heart of the future of the Internet," and another revealed that the company’s revenue in China has increased.

    Alan Eustace, Senior Vice President of Engineering Research – and one of only nine people classified as "Executive Officers" on Google’s main "Management team" page – was the man who provided the big compliment.  He’s not an official spokesperson, then, but this comes from pretty high up in the organization.

    So on to the quotes.  According to Bloomberg, Eustace said that the Internet "can be a huge force for good in the world."  Then he said, "We’re at the very beginning and China, in my opinion, will lead much of that revolution."  Eustace also called China "the heart of the future of the Internet."

    As for the financial info, it comes courtesy of Daniel Alegre, Vice President of Asia Pacific and Japan at Google.  Bloomberg reported, "Combined revenue in the country from display ads, online search and Chinese companies marketing on Google’s global sites has increased this year, Alegre said, without giving details."

    Together, these comments may signal that Google’s trying to make up with the Chinese government.  That would frustrate many human rights activists, but perhaps please shareholders who don’t want to see the company cut itself off from over 1.3 billion potential users.

    As always, we’ll be sure to report any significant updates.