Wechat suspends new user registration amid China crackdown July 27, 2021 Chinese social media giant Wechat has temporarily suspended new user registrations as Beijing ramps up its crackdown on domestic tech firms. The messaging platform, which is owned by Tencent, said it was upgrading its security technology “to align with relevant laws and registrations”. “During this time, registration of new Weixin [Wechat] personal and official accounts [...]
Jack Ma’s Ant Group emerges as a steady ship amid China’s tech crackdown August 3, 2021 Fintech giant Ant Group, the brainchild of Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, has emerged a steady ship in its first-quarter amid a rocky political climate in China. Revenue rose to $31.8bn in the three months ending 30 June, a little below analyst forecasts. Following intense scrutiny from local regulators, the Chinese fintech giant has shifted into [...]
Gorillas on the hunt for fresh $500m funding injection March 27, 2022 Rapid grocery delivery firm Gorillas is looking for a fresh $500m funding injection to fuel its growth as investor cash continues to pour into the sector.
FTSE 100 today: London markets set to extend losing streak for third consecutive day June 27, 2024 Asian stocks fell and the yen slump triggered market intervention alerts. All eyes are on US economic data and the Biden-Trump debate.
China hands out new fines to tech giants in anti-monopoly crackdown November 20, 2021 Chinese tech giants including Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings have been fined for failing to report corporate acquisitions, adding to an anti-monopoly crackdown by the ruling Communist Party. The companies failed to report 43 acquisitions that occurred up to eight years ago under rules on “operating concentration”, according to the State Administration for Market Regulation. [...]
FTSE 100 continues rally as markets boosted by relaxing of China’s Covid measures May 30, 2022 London’s FTSE 100 hit its highest level in a month, buoyant by 0.4 per cent, as the relaxing of Covid restrictions in China boosts confidence across international markets. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index climbed to 7615.82, having closed at 7,585.46 on Friday. British Airways owner International Airlines Group led the charge with a three [...]
Social media lessons from TikTok, Tencent and Weibo December 2, 2019 The average consumer would be forgiven for not knowing their Tencent from their Sina Weibo. In fact, it’s unlikely that they have heard of either platform. Yet these are two of the biggest social media companies in the world, bringing in billions in revenue each year. From transferring money, playing games, and even booking doctors [...]
Return of lockdowns send Chinese shares tumbling March 15, 2022 The re-imposition of draconian lockdown measures in one of China’s main technology and manufacturing hubs to tame an outbreak in Covid-19 cases sent shares in Beijing and Hong Kong tumbling yesterday. China’s top index, the CSI 300, tumbled 4.57 per cent yesterday, taking total losses for the year to date close to 20 per cent. [...]
A little birdwatching: Are tech firms like Musk’s Twitter ready for regulation? November 16, 2022 ELON MUSK’s dramatic takeover of Twitter – complete with firing the entire management team and half the staff – has been the talk of, ahem, Twitter for the past week, as well as much of the rest of the world. It has also divided opinion amongst the most strongly politically engaged. Many on the right [...]
Why one San Fran fintech snubbed Nasdaq for the London Stock Exchange January 30, 2024 Boku is a San-Francisco founded fintech that bucked the trend to float in London in 2017. Charlie Conchie asks its new chief how life has been on the beleaguered London Stock Exchange.