Category: Finance

As the Super Bowl was broadcast to millions around the world last night, there was an unusual audience that some might not have expected. That’s the Chinese crowd who were watching the American game on their mobile devices and tablets after a huge push from the social media world. Chinese citizens were able to live stream the event on Sina Weibo and other similar platforms.

Certainly, with China’s 1.4 billion people, U.S. sports leagues and companies have their eye on this population. The NFL is working hard to build enthusiasm for this game about which Chinese people know very little.

Now, about 1.5 million people in China watch live NFL matchups each week on their digital devices according to Richard Young, the managing director for NFL China. Young reports that the NFL fan base has grown 1000% over the last five years.

The Super Bowl broadcast included Chinese graphics and announcers who explained the rules and plays in Chinese. The NFL has even had “boot camps” for Chinese commentators where they have helped them to learn more about football jargon.

Time will tell if the NFL and other sports sources will be able to transfer their love of the game to the Chinese audience.

Yes, as the Chinese New Year approaches, you can get just about anything you want in honor of this event. The Year of the Fire Rooster will start on January 28^th and will include many meaningful events (and many opportunistic ones from those with something to sell!). Here are some of those opportunities:

Goldfish: Fish tanks and goldfish are considered lucky. Most Chinese shops have fish tanks at the entrance and if you give seven gold-colored fish to a friend along with one black one, you’ll be bringing them good luck.

Jewelry: There are many types of jewelry that are considered good luck for the New Year. For instance, pendants with a Chinese zodiac sign symbolize a long life.

Bamboo plants: These plants are supposed to energize the environment in your home. The number of stalks that you give to someone shouldn’t be even. And never give four of anything to a friend, since the number in Chinese sounds similar to the word for death.

Small metal bells: These are placed outside the home and bring good news and fortune to the family.

Laughing Buddha: This is a symbol of prosperity in Chinese culture. Other symbols that are thought to bring luck are the jade horses, elephants and dragons.

Three-legged frog: If you give one of these, you’ll giving someone good fortune and longevity.

Chinese lanterns: These bring fortune, especially if they have Chinese animals on them. A lanter with a rooster on it will make the perfect give this New Year.

Red envelopes: If you give money to someone you should use a red envelope. These are used to give gifts.

In interesting news, Chinese e-commerce company JD.com Inc. has said that it’s exploring the idea of a spinoff of its internet finance unit. It hopes that this might facilitate the expansion of its home market business. In a statement on Tuesday, JD.com said that it is hoping to sell its whole stake in JD Finance to Chinese investors.

Their third-quarter losses have widended by 51% to $121 million from a year ago. JD Finance was first launched in 2013 and offers financial services and products to consumers and small businesses in China.

Learn more about this here.

In a fascinating new article from the New York Times, they address the changing nature of marriage in China and the financial impact that it’s having. Fewer Chinese people are getting married and this is creating a dramatic shift in China’s economic and social life. With less marriages, there are less appliance needs, less other family-related purchases and less spending. Businesses have started responding to this trend, focusing on things like cheap jewelry that a single woman might buy and on smaller appliances for a single person home. They are even seeing fertility services advertising the opportunity for women to freeze their eggs.

Read the full article and see how this one social decision is starting to have vast economic ramifications.

Envoys of the Group of 20 pledged a number of initiatives. They want to boost the sluggish global growth that we are witnessing at the moment and they want to defend against the shock waves that are bound to occur with Brexit.

The Group of 20 includes the US, China, Britain, Germany and other governments. They all met in Chengdu in western China and pledged to work together to strengthen communication and cooperation. They did not, however, announce any joint action, as some financial traders were hoping that they would.

Their statement said, “We are taking action to boost confidence and promote growth. They said that they hope to achieve “strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth objectives.” Learn more about the conference and get the full details about the Group of 20 and their plans.

Ford is creating some changes in China and India with its finance and business strategy teams. Stuart Rowley, who has been the vice president and controller is moving to be the vice president of strategy. John Lawler, the current vice president and CEO of Ford China, will now become the controller.

Ford’s operations in China will now be spearheaded by Dave Schoch and he will take on the title of CEO of Ford China. As Ford CEO Mark Fields explained in a statement,

“Stuart and John have played key roles in delivering Ford’s long-term growth strategy and strong financial performance. These moves are part of our commitment to continue developing our leadership team.”

Learn more details about these moves.

A major Chinese financial firm has just created a new partnership with startup R3CEV. Ping An Insurance Group is joining the group. As David Rutter, the CEO and founder of R3 said,

“The addition of Ping An is another important milestone for R3 as we develop our member network to represent the interests of banks and financial institutions operating in markets around the globe.”

One of the most notable things about this partnership is that Ping An operates within China. R3 already has members from Asia, Europe and North America but this addition is ground-breaking.

Learn more about the partnership and the influence it will have.

China Rapid Finance, which operates mainland’s fastest-growing online consumer lending platform, is looking for larger partnerships with internet companies and data firms. They want to cover the 500 million people who can’t borrow money from traditional financial organizations.

Zane Wang Zhengyu, the chairman and chief executive of China Rapid Finance, has called these outliers EMMA, China’s emerging middle-class. They are, as he says, mobile-active consumers who don’t have a formal credit history. As Wang explained, “With data from the digital footprints of these people from their internet and mobile usage, we can use our proprietary technology to establish credit scores.”

China Rapid Finance has 600,000 active borrowers. Last year, they partnered with Tencent Holdings to create a campaign to offer pre-approved low-cost and low-interest loands to almost 50 million users.

As Wang said,“We are very much interested in all data partners. We do not want to exclude anyone.”

Learn more about China Rapid Finance.

 

In recent news, Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. will be purchasing a buying control of AGTech Holdings Ltd. for $308 million. The goal is to boost the lottery business in China. Ali Fortune Investment Holdings Ltd. will end up owning about 59.45% of the company according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

AGTech runs lotteries in many provinces in China and it will now expand its games, hardware and distribution across the country.  Alibaba and its affiliate will be helping AGTech with cloud computing. Ali Fortune is 60% owned by Alibaba and 40% owned by Alipay-operator Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financing Services Group.

Read the whole story and all of the details here.