Hans Lombardo

Despite recent criticism in the press regarding its business performance, Chinese Web portal operator China.com Corp. [Nasdaq: CHINA] soared 300 percent over its initial pricing on the Nasdaq. The company sold 4.2 million shares at $20 raising $80.2 million. By midday, the stock rose to 60-15/16 and closed at 67 7/64 at the end of […]

Hong Kong’s Netvigator, China’s Netease, and Taiwan’s Kimo have formed a trilateral strategic partnership called the “The Greater China Portal Alliance” (GCPA). The avowed goals of the alliance are to promote Internet usage across borders in Greater China, help assess users’ online requirements for Chinese contents, and enable more effective Internet search across the region. […]

Following China.com’s expected IPO on the NASDAQ next week, there are several other Chinese Web properties that are waiting in the wings. Backed by serious venture capital, Sina.com is one of the most significant players. In May, Sina.com received US$25 million in financing from such heavy hitters as the Walden International Investment Group, Goldman Sachs, […]

An e-commerce bill will be submitted to Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) later this year, a Hong Kong government IT official said in a speech. K. H. Lau, the director of Information Technology Services, said on Tuesday that “a new bill entitled the Electronic Transactions Bill will be introduced later this year to provide the […]

To many pundits, China.com Corp.’s IPO on the NASDAQ will be a defining moment for Asia’s Internet industry. The success or failure of China.com will influence the prospects of other Asian Internet firms that follow the portal operator to Wall Street. As Asia’s first Internet IPO on the NASDAQ, the February share offering of Singapore […]

Time Inc. and Hong Kong-based publishing company CCI Asia-Pacific Ltd have launched an online edition of Fortune China. CCI has published the print version of Fortune China on behalf of Time since the Chinese language edition was launched in 1996. “Going online allows Fortune China to cater to the rapidly growing Internet community in China […]

Japan’s Softbank Corp. announced two significant Internet partnerships this week, one with French conglomerate Vivendi and one with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. Softbank formed a joint venture with News Corp’s Internet subsidiary epartners Capital, Ltd. that will facilitate the rapid market entry of U.S. Internet companies into the U.K, Australia, New Zealand and India. This […]

Venture capital firm, Hartcourt Companies, Inc. agreed to acquire 35 percent in UAC Stock Exchange On-LineCo Ltd, the pioneering operator of an online stock trading network in China. The UAC 162 Network is run on CHINAPAC, an intranet of packet switched data networks owned by China Telecom, and is designed to be a private, secure […]

Cable & Wireless HKT (C&W HKT), formerly know as Hongkong Telecom, has announced a HK$10 million (US$1.3 million) initiative to stimulate public interest in Internet applications. Hong Kong’s largest telecom will provide this amount for the first year of the scheme which is aimed at popularizing computer and Internet applications among the Hong Kong public. […]

Outdistancing Yahoo and other portals in China, Sina.com was voted China’s top Internet site by a survey organized by www.consult, a Sydney-based Internet research company. With around 15,000 Chinese Internet users participating, www.consult’s second annual “China Internet User Survey” examined demographic and preference data in several categories. In the preferred Internet destination category, Sina.com was […]

The Singapore government this week liberalized the provision of international Internet exchange services. Any company that meets certain conditions can apply to the Telecommunications Authority of Singapore(TAS) for a license to offer access to the global Internet backbone and exchange traffic. Singapore’s Minister of Communications and Technology, Yeo Cheow Tong, announced the new policy at […]

Singapore-listed Datacraft Asia has purchased the networking business of Chinese firm Net & Data (N&D) for US$5.4 million through its newly established wholly owned subsidiary, Datacraft Networks (China) Inc. The N&D is a leading system integrator in the eastern part of China that specializes in the enterprise sector. “N&D’s business is a good fit for […]