Month: December 2021

Social media giant Weibo has made its Hong Kong stock market debut as Chinese technology firms come under intense pressure at home and abroad.

Weibo’s shares fell by more than 6% in the first few minutes of trading.

The firm joins other major Chinese technology companies, including Alibaba and JD.com, which are listed in both the US and Hong Kong.

It comes just days after Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi said it will move its listing to Hong Kong from the US.

Weibo raised $385m (£290m) from the secondary share listing in Hong Kong.

The company’s US-listed shares have lost around a third of their value in the last six months.

Why is Weibo listing in Hong Kong?
Trade tensions between Washington and Beijing that heightened significantly during the Trump administration show little sign of easing under President Biden.

Chinese companies that have their shares listed in the US have found themselves caught in the middle of the ongoing spat between the world’s two biggest economies.

In recent months, Beijing has increased its oversight of China’s biggest businesses with the technology industry coming under particular scrutiny.

Meanwhile, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has finalised rules that would mean US-listed foreign companies can be delisted if their auditors do not comply with requests for information from regulators.

Some Chinese firms are now looking for alternative sources of funding in case they have to take their shares off US stock markets.

“It will be disastrous if all Chinese companies are forced to delist from US exchanges. Despite the intense competition between the two countries, they need, must, and have to be interdependent financially, economically, technologically, socially, and culturally,” Nina Xiang, managing director of China Money Network in Hong Kong said.

US diplomats to boycott 2022 Beijing Olympics
Chinese app giant Didi plans US stock market exit
Weibo shares surge on US debut
Will Weibo follow Didi out of the US?
Last week, ride-hailing giant Didi Global said it it would take its shares off the New York Stock Exchange and move its listing to Hong Kong.

It raised $4.4bn from its US market debut at the end of June, but within days China’s internet regulator ordered online stores not to offer Didi’s app, saying it illegally collected users’ personal data.

Didi’s announcement that it was planning to delist in the US came just hours after the SEC announcement that it was moving ahead with its efforts to remove Chinese firms from US stock exchanges for not complying with new accounting rules.

Didi’s shares have fallen by more than 50% in the five months since they started trading in New York.

Ms Xiang believes Weibo should be safe, for now: “Much depends on if Chinese and American regulators can work through their differences to reach a solution on access to auditing documents.”

What is Weibo?
Weibo is the Chinese word for microblog and the firm is known as the country’s version of Twitter.

It launched in 2009 and now has more than 570m monthly users, compared to Twitter’s 211m users per month.

The company is China’s second biggest social media platform, after technology giant Tencent’s WeChat.

China is the world’s biggest social media market, with more than 900m users.

Major US platforms like Twitter and Facebook are blocked in China, meaning the country offers huge growth potential for domestic social media firms like Weibo.

Uber is to pay $9m (£6.8m) to settle a complaint over its sexual-assault and harassment reporting in California.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) had told Uber to hand over information about assault and harassments – but it did not do so.

At the time, Uber had argued it would be a “shocking violation of privacy” for victims.

The payment – reduced from an initial $59m fine – will help fund passenger-safety promotion, CPUC said.

The settlement between Uber, CPUC, and the Rape Abuse and Incest National Network (Rainn) brings to an end a dispute lasting almost two years, over whether Uber should hand over records about reported incidents involving its drivers.

Uber had argued that disclosing such records publicly could be traumatic for those who had been assaulted and might discourage reports in the future – particularly because CPUC was asking for the names of all “witnesses” – which would include those attacked.

Rainn had raised similar concerns about whether the California officials would be able to treat the sensitive information with appropriate care.

Why is it so hard to find a minicab?
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But the CPUC said it only needed the information “under seal” – meaning the details of each individual case would be kept secret. It suggested Uber’s response was an “effort to frustrate commission oversight”.

In December 2020, a year on, CPUC initially fined Uber $59m (£44.5m) for refusing to comply.

But following Uber’s appeal, it agreed this week’s settlement of $9m, as a result of which:

$5m will be spent on “victims of violence and sexual violence”, preferably those who were passengers
$4m will be spent on addressing violence in the “passenger carrier industry”
Uber will pay an extra $150,000 to the California state general fund
Uber will also provide reports to California officials from now on, using “unique identifiers”, rather than names, to protect the identities of individuals. It will also build an “opt-in” process for “survivors” who want to provide more information about what happened to state officials.

In a statement, Uber said it was “glad the full commission has adopted this agreement”, adding: “Most importantly, we can move forward with a solution that preserves the privacy and agency of survivors.”

CPUC said the reduction of the planned $59m fine was, in part, down to months of negotiations where “all parties gain advantages and give concessions”.

The ride-hailing app had been under pressure to disclose details about its safety record, and first published its US-based safety report in December 2019, with a promise to release a further report every two years.

The 2021 edition has not yet been published. But the first report showed that Uber had nearly 6,000 reports of sexual assault in 2017 and 2018 – a number the company pointed out was a tiny fraction of the more than two billion rides it provided in that time.

It is not the only such company facing such issues.

Lyft, another ride-hailing app popular in the US, reported more than 4,000 incidents of sexual assaults between 2017 and 2019 in its first safety report published earlier this year.

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global has announced plans to take its shares off the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and move its listing to Hong Kong.

The firm has come under intense pressure since its US debut in July.

Within days of the initial public offering (IPO) Beijing announced a crackdown on technology companies listing overseas.

Earlier on Thursday the US market watchdog unveiled tough new rules for Chinese firms that list in America.

“Following careful research, the company will immediately start delisting on the New York stock exchange and start preparations for listing in Hong Kong,” the company said on its account on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like microblogging network.

In a separate English language statement Didi said its board had approved the move, adding: “The company will organise a shareholders meeting to vote on the above matter at an appropriate time in the future, following necessary procedures.”

At the end of June, Didi – China’s answer to Uber – raised $4.4bn (£3.3bn) in its New York IPO.

However, trading was muted on the first day as investors weighed concerns over tensions between Washington and Beijing, and issues raised by US regulators over some Chinese firms’ financial reports.

Within days China’s internet regulator ordered online stores not to offer Didi’s app, saying it illegally collected users’ personal data.

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said it was investigating the firm to protect “national security and the public interest”.

In response Didi said in a statement: “The company will strive to rectify any problems, improve its risk prevention awareness and technological capabilities, protect users’ privacy and data security, and continue to provide secure and convenient services to its users.”

Didi also warned that the removal of its app from Chinese stores would have an adverse impact on its revenues.

Like many other Chinese technology companies Didi has also come under pressure from regulators in the US and Europe.

On Thursday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission said it had finalised rules that would mean US-listed foreign companies can be delisted if their auditors do not comply with requests for information from regulators.

The law was passed in 2020 after Chinese regulators repeatedly denied requests from US authorities to inspect the the accounts of Chinese firms that list and trade in the US.

Meanwhile in August, a company source told the BBC that it had halted plans to launch in the UK and continental Europe.

It had been planning to roll out services in Western Europe, including major British cities.

Japan’s SoftBank is Didi’s largest single investor with a stake of more than 20%. It is also backed by Chinese technology giants Alibaba and Tencent.

Uber also owns a stake in the firm as a result of Didi taking over Uber China in 2016.

Didi Global shares have lost more than 40% of their value since their US market debut.

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global has announced plans to take its shares off the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and move its listing to Hong Kong.

The firm has come under intense pressure since its US debut in July.

Within days of the initial public offering (IPO) Beijing announced a crackdown on technology companies listing overseas.

Earlier on Thursday the US market watchdog unveiled tough new rules for Chinese firms that list in America.

“Following careful research, the company will immediately start delisting on the New York stock exchange and start preparations for listing in Hong Kong,” the company said on its account on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like microblogging network.

In a separate English language statement it said its board had approved the move, adding: “The company will organise a shareholders meeting to vote on the above matter at an appropriate time in the future, following necessary procedures.”

At the end of June, Didi – China’s answer to Uber – raised $4.4bn (£3.3bn) in its New York IPO.

However, trading was muted on the first day as investors weighed concerns over tensions between Washington and Beijing, and issues raised by US regulators over some Chinese firms’ financial reports.

Within days China’s internet regulator ordered online stores not to offer Didi’s app, saying it illegally collected users’ personal data.

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said it was investigating the firm to protect “national security and the public interest”.

In response Didi said in a statement: “The company will strive to rectify any problems, improve its risk prevention awareness and technological capabilities, protect users’ privacy and data security, and continue to provide secure and convenient services to its users.”

Didi also warned that the removal of its app from Chinese stores would have an adverse impact on its revenues.

Like many other Chinese technology companies Didi has also come under pressure from regulators in the US and Europe.

On Thursday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission said it had finalised rules that would mean US-listed foreign companies can be delisted if their auditors do not comply with requests for information from regulators.

The law was passed in 2020 after Chinese regulators repeatedly denied requests from US authorities to inspect the the accounts of Chinese firms that list and trade in the US.

Meanwhile in August, a company source told the BBC that it had halted plans to launch in the UK and continental Europe.

It had been planning to roll out services in Western Europe, including major British cities.

Japan’s SoftBank is Didi’s largest single investor with a stake of more than 20%. It is also backed by Chinese technology giants Alibaba and Tencent.

Uber also owns a stake in the firm as a result of Didi taking over Uber China in 2016.

Didi Global shares have lost more than 40% of their value since their US market debut.

From Alibaba to Tencent, Chinese technology companies have been under scrutiny at home and abroad.

The country’s ride-hailing giant Didi has been at odds with Chinese regulators for months.

It shocked investors when Beijing removed Didi from app stores just a few days after the firm went public on Wall Street in late June, accusing it of violating data security rule.

Beijing has also announced rules to protect the rights of the millions of ride-hailing drivers, in a move aimed to underpin the sector’s growth.

But Chinese companies have also been closely watched by American regulators.

Didi said it is preparing to list in Hong Kong, and shareholders of its US listed shares will be able to convert their holdings to those on another stock exchange.

The company is also preparing to relaunch its apps in China by the end of the year.

Facebook owner Meta Platforms has removed more than 500 accounts linked to an online disinformation network primarily based in China.

The accounts had promoted the claims of a fake Swiss biologist called “Wilson Edwards”, who alleged the US was meddling in efforts to find the origins of Covid-19.

Edwards’ comments had been widely carried by Chinese state media outlets.

However, the Swiss embassy said that it was unlikely this person existed.

Meta said in its report the social media campaign was “largely unsuccessful,” and targeted English-speaking audiences in the United States and Britain and Chinese-speaking audiences in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Tibet.

Earlier in July, an account posing as a Swiss biologist called Wilson Edwards had made statements on Facebook and Twitter that the United States was applying pressure on the World Health Organization scientists who were studying the origins of Covid-19 in an attempt to blame the virus on China.

State media outlets, including CGTN, Shanghai Daily and Global Times, had cited the so-called biologist based on his Facebook profile.

However, the Swiss embassy said in August that the person likely did not exist, as the Facebook account was opened only two weeks prior to its first post and only had three friends.

It added “there was no registry of a Swiss citizen with the name “Wilson Edwards” and no academic articles under the name”, and urged Chinese media outlets to take down any mention of him.

Meta Platforms said in a November report that its investigation into the matter found “links to individuals in mainland China, including employees of Sichuan Silence Information Technology Co Ltd… and individuals associated with Chinese state infrastructure companies based around the world.”

Sichuan Silence Information’s website describes the company as a network and information security company that provides technical support to China’s Ministry of Public Security and CNCERT, the key team that coordinates China’s cybersecurity emergency response.

Facebook said it had removed a total of 524 Facebook accounts, 20 pages, four groups and 86 Instagram accounts after reviewing public reports that centred around the fake Swiss biologist.

The persona’s original post was initially shared and liked by fake Facebook accounts, and later forwarded by authentic users, most of which belonged to employees of Chinese state infrastructure companies in over 20 countries, Meta said.

It added that the operation used Virtual Personal Network (VPN) infrastructure to conceal its origin, and to give Edwards a more rounded personality. It also said that his profile photo also appeared to have been generated using machine-learning capabilities.

The investigation into the origins of Covid-19 have been a source of tension between the US, China and other countries, as the source of the virus remains murky almost two years after it was first discovered.