cvn

China's Changing Labor Scene

Filed in archive News on July 9, 2010

Nanchang's centeral square
© Stas Kulesh


The China Law Blog had a good piece recently on how the labor scene in China is changing. It's not really an in-depth analysis; it's more of a statement of the simple facts...

A clear statement of the facts on labor in China seems necessary because China's labor scene really is changing. The stereotype of a huge Yellow Horde of cheap and abundant labor is still around as a stereotype - but it hasn't been true for a while now.

While China's labor pool may still be huge, it's also busy. And there is a more work to do than labor to do it in China now. In other words, China has a labor shortage. And the laws of supply and demand being what they are, labor is no longer cheap. Labor costs are going up in the manufacturing sector and in major cities because of the labor shortage and because of the new labor laws.

To find a reasonable labor pool if you're setting up shop in China, you need to be in the second-tier cities - places like Guilin, Changsha, Zunyi, or Nanchang. There are dozens of such cities in China's interior. But the idea that you're going to find the workers you need at affordable wages in Guangzhou or Shanghai makes you, well, delusional...

comment!
(0)
vote!
(6.0/10)
e-mail!
Bookmark
img Addthis
img Ask
img Blinklist
img del.icio.us
img Digg
img Fark
img Facebook
img Google
 img Lycos
img Ma.gnolia
Add this page to Mister Wong Mr Wong
img Netscape
img Netvousz
img Newsvine
img Reddit
img StumbleUpon
 img Slashdot
img Tailrank
img Technorati
img Wink
img Yahoo

Shanda's Investors Are Gloomy

Filed in archive Internet on June 16, 2010



We recently talked about the fact that game company Zygna had moved into China. So it seems appropriate to comment on reports that Chinese game giant Shanda is facing a drop in investor enthusiasm.

Xiaofan Zhang wrote back in April about problems with investor sentiment in China's gaming industry. He attributed the mood among investors to a slowdown in revenue growth, reduced profits and regulatory uncertainty in the online games industry in China (with the Ministry of Culture raising questions about some business models).

More recently Zhang looked specifically at Shanda, which is facing many of those same investor attitude issues. He's puzzled at the attitude of investors because Shanda has more paying accounts than ever before and the average revenue per paying user is also up.

If you confine your analysis to Shanda's massive roleplay games, user spending has declined. But in Zhang's view, Shanda has adapted well to that, improved the quality of user experiences, and created a sustainable revenue model.

We'll see whether investor sentiment remains pessimistic over the long run - and what impact that has on industry growth.

comment!
(0)
vote!
(7.0/10)
e-mail!
Bookmark
img Addthis
img Ask
img Blinklist
img del.icio.us
img Digg
img Fark
img Facebook
img Google
 img Lycos
img Ma.gnolia
Add this page to Mister Wong Mr Wong
img Netscape
img Netvousz
img Newsvine
img Reddit
img StumbleUpon
 img Slashdot
img Tailrank
img Technorati
img Wink
img Yahoo

Zygna Moves Into China

Filed in archive News on June 2, 2010

flickr_3980153211.jpg
© sabrina.dent


I guess it was bound to happen eventually. US games developer Zygna (famous for Farmville and Mafia Wars) has acquired a Beijing-based social gaming company: XPD Media (see TechCrunch here and here, and Gamasutra).

China has been fertile ground for online social gaming and MMORPGs over the last decade. And the venture capital industry has invested a lot of money into gaming in China. Zygna's move into Beijing may have been unanticipated, but it's far from surprising.

Zygna has been expanding in a variety of way. The move into Asia is a geographic expansion. But Zygna has also recently moved beyond Facebook, into a major partnership with Yahoo. And it has expanded its real world marketing efforts with a five year deal with the 7-Eleven store chain.

(In the interest of full disclosure I should mention that I've achieved level 70 - the highest level in the game - in Farmville.)

comment!
(0)
vote!
(7.0/10)
e-mail!
Bookmark
img Addthis
img Ask
img Blinklist
img del.icio.us
img Digg
img Fark
img Facebook
img Google
 img Lycos
img Ma.gnolia
Add this page to Mister Wong Mr Wong
img Netscape
img Netvousz
img Newsvine
img Reddit
img StumbleUpon
 img Slashdot
img Tailrank
img Technorati
img Wink
img Yahoo

Seen that? - Venture Investments Boost China Biotech Industry

Filed in archive Best of on May 29, 2010

Venture Investments Boost China Biotech Industry China Venture News

Seen that? - Venture Investments Boost China Biotech Industry
With little or no fanfare, China is assuming an influential role within the global biotech industry. For example, Bio Veda Capital's announced formation of its new Bio Veda China Fund provides another valuable lift to biotech investing despite widely held industry views that the industry is still its infancy. Most of the Biotech venture critics claim that in comparison with Singapore and Taiwan, mainland China still lacks the trained management, [...] Read More


Venture Capital Investments Increase in Western China China Venture News

News is slow coming out of China during the best of times. During Chinese New Year in the "Year of the Dog," make that at a complete standstill. A survey by the influential China Venture Capital Research Institute located in Hong Kong and administered by the capable, Dr. Gongmeng Chen, indicates that China's venture capital size will continue to expand, but the chasm between domestic and foreign venture capital firms [...] Read More


VCs Continue to Bolster an Expanding Wireless China China Venture News

It's no surprise that venture capitalists continue their gold rush into China's broadband and wireless market. With more than 350 million mobile subscribers- the delivery of broadband content across 2.5 and 3G networks can only grow exponentially. According to Digital Media Asia, Wireless China, a mobile content services firm based in Beijing, has raised a $1.2 million seed round of funding. The round was co-led by Shanghai-based Dragonvest Partners and U.S.-based [...] Read More


Biotech Still Attract VC Investors The Biotech Weblog

According to the national venture capital association, venture capital investing in the biotechnology arena continue to be robust. Biotechnology had $1.1 billion going into 99 deals in the third quarter, Heesen told BioWorld Today. VCs invested $1.2 billion in biotech in 124 deals in the second quarter, and in the first quarter, "the strongest quarter ever recorded for the amount of money" for biotech, VCs invested $1.5 billion in 106 deals, [...] Read More


Will China Be the Next Big Biotech Player? The Biotech Weblog

China's pharmaceutical industry is booming, and there are speculations that, given its aggressive growth, China's biotech industry is on its way to becoming a world player. For their study, Singer and his colleagues selected 22 small- and medium-sized biotech firms from literally thousands operating in the health sector for close scrutiny. They looked for companies that were innovative, both scientifically and in business. The portrait that emerged is of a dynamic sector [...] Read More

comment!
(0)
vote!
(9.5/10)
e-mail!
Bookmark
img Addthis
img Ask
img Blinklist
img del.icio.us
img Digg
img Fark
img Facebook
img Google
 img Lycos
img Ma.gnolia
Add this page to Mister Wong Mr Wong
img Netscape
img Netvousz
img Newsvine
img Reddit
img StumbleUpon
 img Slashdot
img Tailrank
img Technorati
img Wink
img Yahoo

Seen that? - China Venture Capital Forum Reinforces Industry Standards

Filed in archive Best of on May 19, 2010

China Venture Capital Forum Reinforces Industry Standards China Venture News

Seen that? - China Venture Capital Forum Reinforces Industry Standards
This posting is an abstract from a recent broadcast held on the development of Chinese venture capital at the ABP (Advanced Business Park) in the Zhongguancun high-tech district of Bejing. The forum held last month does illustrate the high priority now given to the development of venture industry. Xu Weiping, executive director of Dauphin International Group, the developer of the science business park, hosted the venture forum and some of the [...] Read More


In Beijing: China Venture Capital Semi-Annual Forum China Venture News

If you happen to be in Beijing this week, the China Venture Capital Semi-Annual Forum is being hosted there by the Hong Kong-based Zero2IPO Group. Registration for the conference starts at 3PM at The Great Wall sheraton Hotel Beijing. There is an invitation only cocktail reception Tuesday night. The actual conference begins Wednesday morning (July 11) and you can register then, as well, on the hotel's 2nd floor from 8AM to [...] Read More


Red Hot China Venture Capital Forum Strikes Reform Gong China Venture News

China's venture capital's emerging industry has struck the gong for much needed reforms for domestic venture firms at the sell out China Venture Capital Forum now being held in Shenzhen with over 1000 attendees. Sure, this discussion does reaffirm the purpose of this blog to educate and inform more global investors on these prescient trends: China's policy drivers have full intentions to reform its nascent venture capital industry, liberalize the listing [...] Read More


The REAL Condition of the Venture Capital Industry TJ's Weblog

Bill Gurley has a long-but-interesting article online at the moment about what's really going on in the venture capital industry. And since I like people with the guts to stand up and say that they can cut through the crap and tell you what's really going on, I thougth I'd give him a plug here. I love Gurley's before-and-after graphic. The Venture Capital industry was an overweight couch potato; now [...] Read More


The 2009 Outlook for Venture Capital (from the National Venture Capital Association) TJ's Weblog

Nine out of ten venture capitalists expect a decrease in VC investment in 2009. That, according to a recent survey conducted by the National venture capital Association. The survey, conducted in late November and early December, asked more than 400 VCs about the outlook for next year. Some 92 percent of them forecast decreased investment (measured in dollars, but not necessarily in deals) for 2009. While there may be less [...] Read More

comment!
(0)
vote!
(8.8/10)
e-mail!
Bookmark
img Addthis
img Ask
img Blinklist
img del.icio.us
img Digg
img Fark
img Facebook
img Google
 img Lycos
img Ma.gnolia
Add this page to Mister Wong Mr Wong
img Netscape
img Netvousz
img Newsvine
img Reddit
img StumbleUpon
 img Slashdot
img Tailrank
img Technorati
img Wink
img Yahoo
Share It
Popular posts from our other blogs:
RSSrss
See all blog subscribe options
Google google
What is RSS?
Yahoo! yahoo
Addthis Subscribe using any feed reader!
Bloglines Bloglines
TwitterFollow us on Twitter!