China´s leaders have announced that reform (and even merger) of state-owned enterprises are high on the political agenda. But at the same time, the central government does not want to lose control. Can both ambitions go together, wonders financial analyst Sara Hsu in the Diplomat. Mixed ownership does not mean an orientation on the market.Read More →
China´s farewell to double-digit growth is causing multinational companies headaches, also in the services industry where China is heading to, writes financial analyst Sara Hsu in the Diplomat. Now the downturn seems manageable, but she sees a rocky way ahead.Read More →
Chinese companies have often been blamed for copying Western innovation and patents. But now China takes the lead in mobile innovations, the argument seems to go the other way. Many of the features we know from WeChat we see now popping up at Facebook. Innovator William Bao Bean discusses whether Facebook has become a WeChat clone.Read More →
Many foreign companies fail when they try to enter the China market. According to William Bao Bean, a partner at Shanghai venture capital firm SOSV, dealing with over 120 startups per year, that is because they follow too often the instincts they take along from their home market. Wrong, he tells in the South China Morning Post.Read More →
Erasing the middle management and organizing competition internally: those are two features in new revolutionary corporate structures in China. Haier and Tencent have made big inroads. Innovation expert William Bao Bean discusses Tencent and how their organization works.Read More →
The purchase of the GE appliances section by Haier is part of a strategy to enter American homes, says IMD professor Bill Fischer, who studied Haier intensively to Bloomberg. How different is Haier from GE?Read More →
In Taipei the Mobile Only Accelerator (MOX) has launched and SOSV partner William Bao Bean has jumped over from Shanghai to support the operation, in PRunderground he explains what it takes to develop the next mobile apps for 4 million users.Read More →
Preparations for China´s New Years shopping spree has started, and Alibaba focuses on the previous under-served rural areas. But foreign firm have not reacted very enthusiastically on this move, says retail analyst Ben Cavender to Dow Jones, since it is a very long-term approach.Read More →
While competition can be fierce in China, another feature is even more remarkable. Competitors team up, like Ctrip and the Baidu-supported Qunar have swapped shares. Baidu communication director Kaiser Kuo explains in the New York Times why the companies together can serve better the travel market.Read More →
Tmall Global of Alibaba offers international sellers since 2014 a platform to sell their products directly to Chinese consumers, and offers advantages like lower import rates. But, warns retail analyst Ben Cavender in Fortune that does not mean selling in China has fundamentally become easy.Read More →
The surprise arrest of China´s Warren Buffet, Guo Guangchang, the chairman of Fosun international, has shocked the private sector, tells Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of the Hurun China Rich List at the International Business Times.Read More →
“Should I bother to come to China, people ask often, The answer generally is: No.” William Bao Bean talks to a group of Israeli startups in Tel Aviv. “When you use your gut feeling in China, you are mostly wrong. In China technology is not important, its about cash, friends or both.” Lessons from a seasoned investor, who says you can only succeed if you have an “unfair advantage”.Read More →