Archives April 2008

Sina Chairman Yongji Duan Exits Board

NEW YORK – Chinese Internet portal operator Sina Corp. said Monday that its board chairman, Yongji Duan, departed from the board, effective immediately.

Duan is no longer a director and is also no longer on the company’s compensation committee.

The company did not disclose a reason for Duan’s departure.

Sina said it named the Yan Wang, who had been the vice chairman of its board, as acting chairman, effective immediately.

Sina shares fell 49 cents to $35.03 in afternoon trading.

Key Datang Mobile Employees Migrate to China Mobile

Datang Mobile VP Yang Guiliang has handed in his resignation and will soon leave the company. He is the third executive to leave the firm, with former president Yang Ru’an having quit last November.

A number of executives and key employees have left the firm, including VP Cai Luwu, VP and Chief Engineer Li Feng, Strategy Department GM Ge Sijing and Partnership Department GM Zhao Sen. One reason for the departures is changes in IPO plans for the Datang Group, which means these employees will not receive incentives.

A source close to Datang Mobile said that Zhao has moved to the TD-SCDMA Alliance, while most of the other departed employees will go to China Mobile’s (NYSE: CHL; 0941.HK) TD-SCMDA department, saying that “China Mobile is currently recruiting TD-SCDMA personnel, with twenty employees from Datang Mobile’s Beijing office alone moving to China Mobile.”

Rochester Nixon Peabody Opens Office in Shangai, China

By Elizabeth Stull

The law firm of Nixon Peabody LLP on Monday announced the opening of its Shanghai office, the firm’s first office in Asia and its second office overseas.

Scott Turner, managing partner of Nixon Peabody’s Rochester office, said the Shanghai location will benefit Upstate companies interested in China, and Chinese companies interested in coming to Upstate New York

“For Upstate clients it means a whole lot, because we’ve found a huge interest in our Chinese marketplace,” particularly among optics companies,” Turner said.

The new office is located on the 18th floor of the Bund Center, a distinctive luxury commercial skyscraper completed in 2002 and flanked by Westin luxury hotels on Yan An East Road, near Shanghai’s historic commercial Bund area.

Nixon Peabody plans to staff the office with a rotating team of two West Coast U.S. partners, James C. Chapman and Daniel Deshon. Chapman is a partner in the firm’s Silicon Valley office who represents companies conducting business in China. Deshon, of San Francisco, was managing partner of O’Melveny & Myers LLP’s Hong Kong office from 1999 to 2003. Nixon Peabody plans to add permanent legal staff in Shanghai in the near future.

Lori Green, a corporate transactional partner in Rochester, said a dozen U.S. attorneys regularly work with the China group, either on “inbound or outbound work” for companies looking to work inside or outside of China. Partners Harry P. Trueheart III (Nixon Peabody LLP chairman), Peter H. Durant, Jean H. McCreary and Richard A. McGuirk are among this group.

“China has one of the most dynamic economies in the world today,” Truehart said. “Our new Shanghai office offers unique opportunities for our clients’ growing business needs as we help U.S. companies understand and navigate the complexities of doing business in China.”

Nixon & Peabody’s China group advises clients on how to structure venture capital and private equity investments in China, resolve business and trade disputes, protect and enforce intellectual property rights, and structure and document acquisitions of Chinese domestic companies.

HSBC plans more staff and growth in China

HSBC Bank does not see its business on the Chinese mainland being affected by the United States subprime credit crisis as it will increase staff numbers by up to 50 percent and has eyes set on expansion.

“There won’t be any lessening of commitment to grow our business here in China,” said Richard Yorke, president and chief executive officer of HSBC Bank (China) Co, yesterday in Shanghai. “We have been here for 143 years, and I expect that we will be here for another 143 years but significantly longer beyond that.”

The bank targets to hire 2,000 to 2,500 new employees this year to add to its current 4,900, he said.

HSBC Group Chairman Stephen Green was on a five-day trip to China last week, and he encouraged Yorke’s team to continue to grow the business quickly, Yorke said.

He also said the bank “will continue to grow very, very strongly in this business,” declining to be more specific.

The bank yesterday announced the launch of its private banking business in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou to woo the growing number of millionaires on the mainland.

The bank targets high net worth clients with assets of more than US$10 million and with investable assets of US$3 million. To open accounts, a minimum deposit of US$1 million is required.

The bank got the go-ahead from the regulator to open the business in Guangzhou on February 4 and for the Beijing and Shanghai operations on March 18.

The bank is “comfortable” with the lending growth amid the current tight monetary policy in China, Yorke said.

HSBC China posted strong growth in 2007 on the country’s booming economy and the opening up of the banking market to overseas players. The bank’s operating income grew 44.2 percent to US$451 million. Its pre-tax profit grew 28.7 percent to US$165 million.

HSBC, Citigroup, Standard Chartered Bank and Bank of East Asia, locally incorporated in April 2007 so as to be able to offer unlimited yuan services to mainland residents.