Piper Jaffray's senior analyst, Safa Rashtchy remains an ardent cheerleader on China's online gaming industry. This is certainly bolstered by new figures from iResearch, the online gaming market in China which anticipates expected growth by 28 percent over the next 12 months, with revenues reaching $970 million "Shanda has the potential to be one of three or four really big media companies in China," proclaims Rashtchy.

Even the China Shenzhen Capital Group (SCGC) has joined the investment chorus by taking a stake in the online games firm, Laizi.net, which specializes in an online version of the Chinese board game Mah Jong. With over 1.6 million users there's plenty of traction.

It's now wonder that Piper Jaffray is hosting next month's ChinaJoy Online Game Symposium and VC Conference.

The event will be jointly held by Piper Jaffray and Howell International Trade Ltd, the organizer of China Digital Entertainment Expo & Conference (ChinaJoy), China's premier online game trade show. The Symposium will be held during the opening day of ChinaJoy on July 28, 2006, at the Shanghai New International Exhibition Center (SNIEC) in Shanghai, China.

The Online Game Symposium will feature approximately 20 company executives, CEOs, industry analysts, government officials, plenty of venture capitalists for sure, and industry experts. Even Pacific Epoch's new report on the industry offers insightful information on over 80 Chinese online gaming companies.