Despite promises to expand press freedom in exchange for hosting the Olympics, China has resumed blocking certain foreign Chinese-language news web sites. The Chinese websites of Voice of America, BBC, and Hong Kong-based Ming Pao and Asiaweek have been inaccessible from the mainland China since early December, according to Reporters Without Borders, a press rights [...]
China’s top fuel refiners are preparing to cut production to its lowest level in 20 months due to excess inventory and weak demand. Twelve of China’s largest plants plan to reduce production by 5% in December, continuing the decline in production that started in November. Reuters cited state media as reporting that gas and diesel [...]
Spending for advertising time on China’s top television network next year suggests companies are confident Chinese consumption will remain robust despite the economic slowdown. Local and international advertisers pledged almost US$1.4 billion on Tuesday during CCTV’s live auction of prime-time slots. This was up by 15% from last year, though the numbers are not directly [...]
China’s largest online internet portal Sina Corp said it expects revenue in the fourth quarter to grow by more than 52%, year on year, to US$98-101 million despite the economic slowdown. The Beijing-based company’s third quarter revenues rose 68% to US$105.4 million due to strong performance during the Olympics. Net profit rose by 28% to [...]
Advertising expenditure in China during the Beijing Olympics was well below forecasts, citing market research group Nielsen. Previous Olympic hosts, such as Athens and Atlanta, saw local advertising spending increase by about 25% around the games. However, Nielsen calculated that spending in China during the Olympic month of August was only slightly ahead of the [...]
Air China posted a loss of US$277 million in the third quarter due to disruptions caused by the Olympic Games and poor hedging on fuel prices. It is the first time in seven quarters that China’s largest international carrier has recorded a loss. Sales fell 4% to US$2.03 billion as the Beijing-based airline was forced [...]
Hu Jia, a 35-year-old jailed Chinese dissident and advocate for environmental and HIV/AIDS causes was announced the winner of the Sakharov Prize, a human-rights award given by the European Parliament. Hu, who was also considered one of the main contenders for the Nobel Peace Prize this year, had used the internet to report and distribute [...]
China’s industrial growth in September hit a six-year low at 11.4% from a year ago, with economists anticipating further declines. The figure, which was below the 12.8% recorded in August, was caused by a manufacturing ban for factories near Beijing in the runup to the Olympic Games, as well as slackening global demand due to [...]
China Mobile’s third quarter net profit rose by 26% year-on-year to US$4 billion, but failed to meet analyst expectations as the Olympic games slowed demand from business clients. Revenues rose by 14% to US$15.4 billion. The network operator added 7.25 million users in September, for a third-quarter total of 66.8 million and a total subscriber [...]
Ex-vice mayor of Beijing Liu Zhihua has been convicted of corruption for taking US$1 million in bribes, and sentenced to death. Liu had been in charge of the body that oversaw construction projects for the city’s massive buildup in advance of the Olympics. He was stripped of his title in 2006. Liu’s sentence has been [...]