Baidu’s revenues up 25% in Q1

/

Beijing, 18th May: Earlier this week, Baidu, the leading Chinese language Internet search company, announced its financial results for the quarter ended 31st March 2021. Total revenues in the quarter were US$4.3 billion, which is an increase of 25% year-on-year. Net income in the quarter was US$3.9 billion, compared with a profit of just US$5.8 million in the first quarter of 2020.

Read More

Unstoppable Alibaba: revenues up 41%

/

Hangzhou, 13th May: Last week, China’s largest e-commerce company, the Alibaba Group, announced its financial results for the year ended 31st March 2021. Revenues were US$109 billion, representing year-on-year growth of 41%. Net income in the year was an incredible US$23 billion, in line with the previous year. Diluted earnings per share in the year were RMB 54.70 (US$8.35).

Read More

Quick takes

/

Jack Ma ventures out to company HQ

The Alibaba founder made a rare public appearance last week at the company’s Hangzhou headquarters. Ma has not been seen often since he irritated Beijing last October. He has made plenty of private trips though. The Financial Times published a good investigative account of his private jet travels since last October. (Hainan is apparently his favourite destination.)

 

Hamid to leave ICCA

Noor Ahmad Hamid, ICCA’s Regional Director in Asia, has announced that he will leave his role in June. This comes after having spent 12 years at ICCA, serving the association and supporting its members across the region’s meetings industry. No word on Noor’s next role, but BSG wishes him well.

 

Malaysia announces new restrictions

The Malaysian government has announced new restrictions known as “movement control orders” (MCO) beginning last week and lasting for 14 days. Interstate travel has been banned nationwide since January when the so-called “MCO 2.0” was announced. Under the new restrictions, the six districts placed under MCO will also not be allowed to travel inter-district, except for emergencies. Dining in and social activities will also not be permitted.

 

Asia Fruit Logistica cancels 2021 show

The organiser cited severe limitations on international travel during the global pandemic as the reason for cancelling the Hong Kong-based event. Held in September, the exhibition typically attracts 800 exhibitors and 12,000 visitors from 70 countries. Of course, this is not a good sign for the autumn trade fairs in Hong Kong.

 

Good news: Hong Kong and Thailand reduce quarantine

Thailand plans to end its mandatory quarantine for vaccinated visitors to Bangkok and other top tourist destinations as of October. Hong Kong has (finally) decided to ease its strict quarantine policy as of 12 May. Hong Kong will shorten mandatory quarantine for fully vaccinated visitors from low-risk countries to just seven days, down from 14 days.

Quick takes

/

Good news: An event launch

It is hard to find any good news these days. Koelnmesse has announced plans to launch an ASEAN version of Kind + Jugend, a baby and toddler product exhibition. The new event will be held in April 2022 at BITEC in Bangkok.

 

Setback in Singapore

Singapore is experiencing a minor surge in community-transmitted cases of COVID-19. The government has responded by implementing new restrictions. Capacity at public facilities and social gatherings in Singapore will be reduced between May 8 and 30 along with closures of high-risk facilities such as indoor fitness facilities.

 

Macau gathers steam

Gaming reviews were up over 1,000% in April 2021 compared with April 2020 (US$1 billion vs. US$94 million), but last month’s gaming revenue is still down 64% compared to April 2019. Meanwhile, Mix Meetings thinks the outlook for business events in Macau is decidedly upbeat.

Messe Frankfurt to launch e-commerce fair in Shenzhen

/

Shenzhen, 28th April: Messe Frankfurt plans to push ahead with a new event launch in the second half of this year. The China (Shenzhen) Cross Border E-commerce Fair (CBEC) will cover the entire e-commerce supply chain from product selection to platform providers to a range of other support services.

Co-organised by Messe Frankfurt (Shenzhen), China Merchants Exhibition Management (Shenzhen) Company and Beijing Talent-Expo Company, CBEC will be held at Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center running from 16th to 18th September 2021 and is expected to occupy an exhibition space of over 100,000 m2, attracting some 3,000 exhibitors.

Made-in-China.com posts Q1 profit

/

Nanjing, 30th April: Also last week, Focus Technology, operator of the B2B sourcing platform Made-in-China.com, reported revenues of US$49 million in the quarter ended 31st March 2021, representing year-on-year growth of 42% compared with the same quarter last year.

The company recorded net profits of US$2.97 million in the quarter, compared with a loss of US$2.86 million in the first quarter of 2020. Diluted earnings per share in the three-month period were RMB 0.06 (RMB 0.0091). The increase in revenues and net profits were attributed to organic growth on the Made-in-China.com platform.

Netsun’s revenues up 5.6% in FY2020

/

Hangzhou, 29th April: Last week, Shenzhen-listed Zhejiang Netsun announced its results for the year ended 31st December 2020. In the financial year 2020, the company generated revenues of US$58 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 5.6%.

Net profits in the year grew 5.7%, hitting US$5.7 million. Diluted earnings per share in 2020 were RMB 0.15 (US$0.023). The company attributed the growth to increased income from its chemical trading business and its B2B trading platform.

 

Bangkok limits in-person meetings

/

Bangkok, 26th April: Following a new spike in cases in Thailand, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has put a stop to exhibitions. The BMA has issued an order restricting in-person meetings and gatherings to 20 people or less for the next two weeks (until 9th May). The order could be extended beyond that date.

Read More

Quick takes

/

All digital UFI Asia-Pacific Conference in May

We missed getting together in 2020. In 2021, it will have to be a purely digital affair… but don’t miss out! There are already 70+ delegates registered along with a strong line-up of compelling speakers. Register at: www.ufiasia.org

 

Virtual Canton Fair concludes

According to The China Daily, the 129th edition of The Canton Fair ended this week – attracting 26,000 participating companies with 880,000 views of livestreamed programmes and over 35 million visits to the website during the 10-day event. This is the third virtual edition. The previous two did not receive particularly positive reviews from participants. It remains to be seen if this edition was an improvement.

 

Indonesian Motor Show goes ahead

The 2021 Indonesia International Motor Show (IIMS) was a hybrid event this year, but the physical exhibition appears to have been quite successful. The first physical IIMS since 2019, the event was organised by Dyandra Promosindo and held at JIExpo. The event ran from 15th to 25th April. Visitors were limited to 5,000 per day.

 

India exhibition venues care for ill

Messe Frankfurt, along with all other organisers, have had to indefinitely postpone events in May as key venues including the Bombay Exhibition Centre (BEC) have been converted into COVID-19 care centres and vaccination centres.