First-hand account: my observations on China’s return to work May 1, 2020 Emerging markets analyst Shuyu Gao provides a personal account of virus containment measures on her return to China, and reviews the recovery in activity. Amid the global spread of Covid-19, with lockdowns necessitating working from home more broadly, I decided to return to China and work from my family home in Nanjing. At the time, [...]
Flying taxi startup Lilium raises $240m in funding round March 23, 2020 German flying taxi firm Lilium has raised an extra $240m (£207m) in funding from backers such as Chinese tech firm Tencent. The new funds mean that the startup has now raised more than $340m, which it will use for further development of its prototype jet as well as preparing its facilities to begin production. The [...]
Tencent posts rise in profit as pandemic drives surge in Wechat use March 18, 2020 Tencent today said the coronavirus outbreak had driven a huge surge in usage for its social media platform Wechat. The Chinese tech giant said Wechat had racked up 8bn visits since February as people logged in to access so-called health codes that allow them to travel during the outbreak. It came as Tencent posted fourth [...]
UK artists pull in record £87m in overseas music royalties February 7, 2020 British artists pulled in a record-breaking £86.7m in overseas royalties last year as the UK boosted its status as a global music powerhouse. The figure hit a record high in 2019 and is up 22 per cent on the total reached in 2018, according to new figures from licensing body PPL. The surge was driven [...]
Burberry raises full year guidance after sales rise January 22, 2020 Designer brand Burberry this morning raised its guidance for the year after a quarter in which the luxury brand saw revenue rise three per cent. Revenue in the third quarter hit £719m, up from £711m twelve months ago, as the firm’s focus on the far eastern market looked to be paying off. In response Burberry [...]
Vivendi sells Universal Music Group stake to Tencent consortium December 31, 2019 Vivendi has sold a 10 per cent stake in Universal Music Group to a Tencent-led consortium, in a deal valuing the label housing Lady Gaga, The Beatles, and Taylor Swift at €30bn (£25.5bn). The deal allows both companies to expand in the recovering global music market, giving Chinese conglomerate Tencent more access to US artists, [...]
Tiktok accused of secretly sending US user data to China December 3, 2019 Chinese social media platform Tiktok has been accused of transferring “vast quantities” of user data to China, despite its assurances that all data was stored in the US. A class-action lawsuit filed in California said Tiktok “clandestinely has vacuumed up and transferred to servers in China vast quantities of private and personally-identifiable user data”. Read [...]
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 [...]
UK music industry brings £5bn to economy thanks to boom in live shows November 20, 2019 The UK music industry contributed £5.2bn to the economy last year, boosted by sell-out live performances by hit acts such as Stormzy, Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa. The live music sector contributed £1.1bn of this sum, up 10 per cent on the previous year, according to figures published today by industry body UK Music. Read [...]
Alibaba to raise up to $12.9bn in landmark Hong Kong listing November 20, 2019 Alibaba is set to raise up to $12.9bn (£10bn) from its record-breaking second listing in Hong Kong, pricing its shares at a 2.8 per cent discount to their New York close. The Chinese e-commerce giant is set to officially announce the terms of the deal later on Wednesday, but investors have been told 176 Hong [...]