Baidu still gets most of its revenue from advertising, but cloud services are driving growth and its plays on AI could pay off in a few years.
Ant Group-backed MediTrust Health secures $300 million Series C
MediTrust Health, a Shanghai-based online healthcare payment and pharmacy platform, secured RMB 2 billion ($300) in Series C as the company plans for an IPO by the end of this year. Boyu Capital, Lillly Asia Ventures, and CICC participated in the round. The funding round came five months after the company raised RMB 1 billion in Series B, in which Ant Group and Sinovation Ventures participated. [KrAsia]
Tencent makes more NFT and blockchain moves: Blockheads
Tencent Music to release “digital collections” built with non-fungible token (NFT) technology.
No ByteDance job for Alibaba #MeToo manager
A former Alibaba manager at the center of China’s latest #metoo case was in the process of applying for a job at ByteDance.
Sogou to complete merger deal with Tencent by 2021
Chinese search engine company Sogou said Monday it expects to complete a merger with Tencent in the second half of this year. According to the merger deal agreement, a subsidiary of Tencent named TitanSupernova will buy out all Sougou’s shares from its current controlling shareholders. After the merger, Sogou will become a private firm owned by Tencent and delist from the New York Stock Exchange. Initiated last September, the deal is worth $3.5 billion and cleared by Chinese market regulators in July. [Sogou]
Alibaba faces public outrage for alleged employee sexual assault case
The case in Alibaba rekindled a public discussion on the difficulties and danger Chinese women often face at work.
NetEase’s Cloud Village delays Hong Kong IPO
Cloud Village Inc, NetEase’s music streaming unit, will postpone a listing in Hong Kong “due to volatile trading in China’s major tech companies,” according to Reuters. A NetEase spokeswoman declined to comment when reached by TechNode on Monday. The company was approved for listing in Hong Kong on Aug. 1 and was expected to raise about $1 billion. [Reuters]
OTEC-Emerge Tech Summit postponed until further notice
We apologize for the inconvenience caused by this postponement.
Antitrust regulator may fine Meituan around $1 billion: report
China’s top antitrust regulator, State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), is weighing a roughly $1 billion fine on food-delivery giant Meituan for allegedly abusing its dominant market position, the Wall Street Journal reported citing sources. The Hong Kong-listed company could be required to revamp its operations and end practices like “forced exclusivity,” said the report. [WSJ]
Semiconductors | If you can’t buy Magnachip, what can you buy?
Chinese semiconductor acquisitions are facing more resistance overseas, as deals to buy NWF and Magnachip are likely to be blocked.
