China Business Headlines
 Company in Action
 China by the Numbers
 Quotes of the Month
 Did you know?
November 2001 
    COMPANY IN ACTION
DragonVenture to Co-Manage Fund with SZVC - the Largest VC in China


SHENZEN, CHINA. Oct. 16, 2001 — Silicon Valley based cross-Pacific venture capital firm DragonVenture, Inc. (www.dragonventure.com) announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement with China’s largest venture capital firm Shenzhen Venture Capital Co., Ltd. (www.szvc.com.cn) to co-manage a $500 million RMB (equivalent of US$60M) venture capital fund. Half of the fund will be raised mainly in China in an effort spearheaded by Shenzhen Venture Capital; for the other half, DragonVenture may take in additional limited partners from the U. S. to round out the investor roster. Investment of the fund will focus primarily on IC design and related software and high technology companies in China. For diversification purposes, portion of the fund will also be invested in areas of telecommunications and Internet infrastructure.

The signing ceremony took place at the annual China High-Tech Fair with many dignitaries in attendance including Shenzhen Mayor Yu Yiu Jun. K. Bobby Chao, chairman of DragonVenture, and, Kan Zhi Dong, President of Shenzhen Venture Capital, were on hand to sign the agreement.

From L-R: Kan Zhi Dong, President of Shenzhen Venture Capital and Bobby Chao, chairman of DragonVenture.

DragonVenture, a Silicon Valley headquartered firm, has established itself in the last 18 months as a premier cross-Pacific venture capital and consulting company. DragonVenture has made investments in 8 startups in the U. S. from the first fund it manages. In addition, DragonVenture is working closely with numerous U. S. firms on their China strategy while assisting a handful of Greater China companies to expand business horizons into North America.

“We are excited at the myriad of opportunities before us today in China." said K. Bobby Chao, chairman and co-founder of DragonVenture, “By joining forces with the largest venture capital firm in China and focusing on China’s growing IC and semiconductor sectors, we will be combining Silicon Valley experience and knowledge with locally managed venture capital to help trigger the next generation of entrepreneurial success stories in China" Mr. Chao is one of the original founders of Cadence Design Systems (NYSE: CDN), the largest electronic design automation software developer and vendor in the world today.

“Shenzhen Venture Capital very much looks forward to this newly established relationship to bring in international venture capital experience and funds to help nurture the growth of China high technology companies" said Kan Zhi Dong, President of Shenzhen Venture Capital, “together with SZVC’s established reputation and strong foothold in China, and DragonVenture’s experience-packed team of venture capitalists and technology experts, this new fund can potentially be behind many well-known high tech companies in China for years to come"


About DragonVenture, Inc.

DragonVenture, Inc. is a premier cross-Pacific venture capital, consulting and soft incubation company specializing in bridging the U.S. and Greater China marketplaces. DragonVenture manages funds that invest in emerging companies in the areas of telecommunications, Internet infrastructure, IC & Semiconductor, and Linux. The company provides cross-Pacific consulting services and facilitates cross-Pacific strategic alliances and/or partnerships, and mergers and acquisitions through DragonVenture's M&A Fund. DragonVenture, Inc. is located at 20 Great Oaks Blvd. Suite 130, San Jose , CA 95119 and also has a branch office in Beijing , China . For more information visit www.dragonventure.com.


About Shenzhen Venture Capital Co., Ltd.

Incorporated in 1999, Shenzhen Venture Capital Co., Ltd.(SZVC) is the government-backed leading venture capital firm in China with total paid-up capital of RMB1.6bio. SZVC is primarily engaged in making equity investment in technology-related high-growth companies and management of venture capital funds. With total capital under management exceeding RMB3bio, SZVC is now ranking as the largest venture capital firm in China.

With a team of professionals that possess years of working experience in industry knowledge, financial expertise and investment discipline, SZVC is committed to help nurture the growth of small-cap hi-tech companies in China and to share the rewards of investment with business partners from home and abroad. For more information visit www:szvc.com.cn

 

Emerson buys Huawei unit for US$750 million

(22 October 2001) In an unusually large buyout of a Chinese company, Emerson Electric Co., a St. Louis, Mo.-based firm, has paid US$750 million for Avansys Power Co. of Shenzhen.

Sina.com reported that Avansys is the network power supply unit of Huawei Technologies, one of China’s largest telecom equipment manufacturers with sales last year of US$2.66 billion.

"What makes the deal rare is the amount of money involved," Wang Zhangqiang of Guotai Junan Securities told the Reuters news agency.

Avansys, which was established in 1996, has 1,500 employees and reported sales in 2000 of 2.65 billion yuan (US$320.55 million). Emerson has 10,000 employees in China in both wholly owned and joint venture operations.

In a press release, Emerson said the deal "would provide significant cost synergies through engineering, manufacturing and distribution resources in China, enabling Emerson’s entire network power business to more efficiently serve Asian and other markets."

Emerson reported fiscal 2000 sales of US$15.5 billion, of which US$1.3 billion were from Asia. Shares in the company closed Friday in New York at US$48.89, up 1.1 percent.

AOL Time Warner Signs Agreement With China's State Television Network
(23 October 2001) BEIJING -- AOL Time Warner Inc. said it has signed a cable-television agreement with China's state television network.

The exchange lets AOL Time Warner break into a fast-changing Chinese market where nearly every home owns a television and viewers number in the hundreds of millions.

Communist authorities regard television as a key propaganda tool and carefully control it, though millions of Chinese watch television from abroad with illegal satellite dishes. Officials appeared to be willing to relax restrictions slightly in exchange for access to American audiences. AOL Time Warner is the first foreign broadcaster given direct access to Chinese audiences.

AOL Time Warner said broadcasts of its Chinese-language CETV channel would begin next year on cable systems in Guangdong province, a prosperous part of China's southeast.

In exchange, China Central Television's English-language Channel 9 will be carried by Time Warner cable systems in New York City, Los Angeles and Houston, said Tricia Primrose, a spokeswoman for the company in New York.

No financial details of the deal were released.

China's huge audience and potential advertising market have attracted interest from other foreign broadcasters. News Corp. of Australia is trying to negotiate a deal similar to AOL's.

The agreement Monday is a "significant step in the growing relationship between AOL Time Warner and the people of China," the company's chief executive officer, Gerald Levin, said in a statement. It quoted Zhao Huayong, president of China Central Television, as calling the deal a "milestone, which has turned a new page in China's TV industry."

Chinese officials weren't available for comment late Monday.

The Chinese programming that American audiences will see on CCTV-9 resembles a slower, less adventurous version of U.S. educational television, with a mix of news, music and cooking shows, documentaries on nature and travel, Chinese lessons and sports.

Broadcasting officials express hope that showing it in the U.S. will change American attitudes about China.

Yet CCTV-9 will have difficulty competing for attention with scores of American cable channels. Its programs can be interesting -- especially nature and travel documentaries -- but production quality is uneven and shows are staid compared with U.S. television.

The exchange gives AOL Time Warner access to one of the most affluent areas in China, while minimizing the impact on official controls.

The channel is to be carried on cable systems in the Pearl River Delta northwest of Hong Kong, said Ms. Primrose, the AOL spokeswoman. She said she didn't know how many households those systems serve.

Viewers there already can watch television from neighboring Hong Kong. The former British colony isn't covered by central government censorship, and its television stations are livelier -- and their news reporting more aggressive -- than state-run mainland media.

CETV's programming is a mix of entertainment, cartoons, game shows, movies and sports, according to Ms. Primrose. She said it has no news programs.

Ms. Primrose said she had no details on whether the agreement includes provisions for Chinese censorship of CETV programming.

The six-year-old channel is received by some 80 million households in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia and the Middle East, Ms. Primrose said.

Other broadcasters also are trying to break into the mainland Chinese market.

Hong Kong-based satellite broadcaster Phoenix television says its Chinese-language programming is seen by some 42 million Chinese households.

On Friday, the company was granted the official right to broadcast to the Pearl River Delta, the same area that AOL Time Warner's channel is to serve.

News Corp. owns a Hong Kong-based satellite broadcaster, Star Television, which holds a major stake in Phoenix.

Changhong TV Selects Cadence PCB Tools for High-End Consumer Designs.ht
CHENGDU, People's Republic of China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 23, 2001--Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NYSE:CDN - news), the world's leading supplier of electronic design products and services, today announced that China's largest TV manufacturer, Sichuan Changhong Electric Co. Ltd., has selected Cadence® high-speed printed circuit board (PCB) tools to design its next-generation, high-end consumer electronics product line.

The Cadence high-speed PCB and field programmable gate array (FPGA) design solution includes the SPECCTRAQuest(TM) Design and Analysis Environment and the Allegro®-based PCB Design Expert. The solution allows designers to perform signal integrity analysis prior to board design and sets design constraints to drive PCB layout on a common platform.

Changhong made the decision to integrate Cadence tools during a recent technical revamping of operations as it moves to deal with design challenges of producing digital audio-visual products and high-definition digital television.

``Our designers are confronted with the problems high-speed and high-density PCB design bring - cross talk, signal-to-noise ratio, and EMC. We chose the Cadence environment because we are satisfied with the signal integrity analysis function of SPECCTRAQuest and we hope with Cadence service and support we can expedite our design process,'' said Mr. Zheng Guangqing, vice president of Changhong in charge of corporate technology. ``We also hope a foundation will be laid for our further cooperation on application-specific integrated circuit and system-on-chip designs through this initial relationship with Cadence.''

According to Allen Yeung, Asia Pacific sales director for the Cadence PCB Systems Division, the consumer electronics sector has transitioned from primarily analog design to mixed-signal design. Eventually, he predicts, the industry will move to primarily digital design. ``At Cadence, we pay close attention to changes in the industry and the technical challenges associated with them. I would compare the current move from analog to digital to the video game industry's move from 8-bit to 16-bit to 64-bit machines. As we learned then, companies who master new technology first are the winners in the new markets. We are delighted Changhong has selected Cadence for its next generation high-end, digital product development platform.''

About Cadence

Cadence is the largest supplier of electronic design automation products, methodology services, and design services used to accelerate and manage the design of semiconductors, computer systems, networking and telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics, and a variety of other electronics-based products. With approximately 5,700 employees and 2000 revenues of approximately $1.3 billion, Cadence has sales offices, design centers, and research facilities around the world. The company is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CDN. More information about the company, its products, and services is available at www.cadence.com.

About Changhong

Sichuan Changhong Electric Co. Ltd., headquartered in Mianyang, Sichuan, is the biggest electronics company in China, with sales of RMB(Y) 20 billion in 2000. Changhong manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including TV, air conditioners, network products, washing machines, electronic-magnetic ovens, batteries, and components. Changhong has three subsidiaries in China, and has a presence in a dozen countries including Australia, Indonesia, and Russia. With more than 30,000 employees, Changhong is dedicated to commercializing the electronics technology to help people enjoy a more comfortable and convenient life. For further information, please visit http://www.changhong.com.

Note to Editors: Cadence, the Cadence logo, and Allegro are registered trademarks of Cadence Design Systems, Inc. and SPECCTRAQuest is a trademark. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Sybase Wins One of China's Largest Telecom Billing Contracts

Sybase, Inc. today announced that it signed a contract with China Unicom
CDMA to provide Sybase Adaptive Server(R) Enterprise (ASE) to support China Unicom's billing system across 31 provinces and municipalities in China. EMERYVILLE, Calif., Oct. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Sybase Inc. (NYSE: SY) announced that it will provide the database management software to support the billing system for one of the largest telecommunications providers in China, China Unicom's CDMA (Call Division Multiple Access). The award of this contract strengthens Sybase's leadership position and increases its market share in the telecom industry. This win also advances Sybase's goal of increasing its investment in China, and provides more services to its Chinese customers.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001013/SYBSLOGO)

By the first half of 2001, China Unicom serviced over 20 million GSM
(Global System for Mobile Communications) mobile phone subscribers and has the only license from China's government to provide next generation CDMA service, which is expected to grow very fast. As the only telecom carrier to receive the CDMA license from China's government, China Unicom is also an important service provider of long distance calling, Internet and IP services, telecom value-added service and other related services. In February, China Unicom announced that it would construct one of the world's largest and most advanced CDMA networks. This project will be completed by thicom is expecting to have over 50 million CDMA subscribers in three years.

Upon completion of this project, China Unicom will possess both GSM and CDMA mobile communication networks, providing the flexibility to switch to the Third Generation (3G) mobile services. It is anticipated that once the first phase is completed it will increase the subscriber capacity by 10 million a year. China Unicom needed a highly efficient solution for its billing system and chose Sybase's best-in-class database management system. Sybase Adaptive Server(R) Enterprise will be used in the 33 locations covering 31 provinces/municipalities throughout the country and the China Unicom headquarters.

Sybase's flagship database product -- ASE -- played a significant role in winning this deal. Many projects in China in 2001 are already running on ASE, such as Shandong Telecom's billing system, Zhejiang telecom's network management system, Heilongjiang telecom's network management system, Shaanxi Mobile's billing accounting, Sichuan mobile GPRS billing system and China Unicom's VOIP system in 123 cities.

ASE supports the traditional mission-critical applications, as well as Internet applications. It manages all of the information requirements of the customer's applications, providing database reliability, integration and high performance. The multi-engine structure of ASE with internal parallel mechanisms and effective query optimization technology gives it outstanding performance and scalability. It also provides leading enterprise-level integration, powerful data access and mobile data technology. ASE supports distributed operations and queries that cross over remote Sybase and non- Sybase databases. These functions can be fully integrated with China's Unicom's CDMA system for accomplishing remote data transfer and synchronization, rapid data analysis, summarization as well as application integration. ASE helps China Unicom to complete seamless business integration and transition of system operations, while providing powerful support for future growth.

"We are very excited to have the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with
China Unicom, which demonstrates our strength and determination to participate in national telecommunications projects. This marks a milestone in Sybase's development in China," said Mr. Danny Fung, managing director of Sybase Software (China) Company Limited. "Winning this project is a strategic move for Sybase in continuing to be the provider of world-class technology and services, and will solidify our partnerships with other system integrators."

About Sybase, Inc.

Sybase provides enterprise-class software solutions that fuel e-Business and enable access to information anytime, anyplace. With its industry-leading
Enterprise Portal (EP), mobile and wireless, and vertical market solutions,
Sybase is one of the largest global independent software companies in the world. For more information, visit the Sybase Web site:
http://www.sybase.com

About Sybase Software (China) Company Limited

Sybase, Inc. entered the Chinese market in December 1991, and established the Sybase Software (China) Company Limited in 1993. Sybase China employs more than 200 people and currently has a broad customer base of more than 1,000 enterprises ranging from financial institutions, telecommunications, railways, electricity, water supply, environmental protection, petroleum chemical, military to export trading. Sybase China is one of the fastest growing overseas offices. In order to provide the first-class technical support and services to Chinese customers, Sybase China has opened branch offices in Shanghai, Chengdu, Nanjing and Guangzhou, with a comprehensive network of partners throughout China. Sybase China always sees the true value of software in its applications.

Sybase China believes in the business philosophy that customers and service comes first. By implementing corresponding strategy, Sybase is able to grow with the users, and to empower them with advanced technologies as well as successful deployment of applications which, in turn, facilitate the healthy development of database market in China.

NOTE: Sybase and Adaptive Server Enterprise are registered trademarks of Sybase, Inc. or its subsidiaries. All other company and product names mentioned may be trademarks of the companies with which they are associated.

Special Note: Statements in this release concerning Sybase, Inc. future growth, future earnings and operating results, and future prospects, are forward looking statements that involve a number of uncertainties and risks.

Factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially include sales productivity; possible disruptive effects of organizational or personnel changes; shifts in customer demand; market acceptance of the Company's products and services; customer and industry analyst perception of the Company and its technology vision and future prospects; rapid technological changes; competitive factors; unanticipated delays in scheduled product availability dates interoperability of the Company's products with other leading software application products; general business conditions, and market growth rates in the client/server and Internet software markets; and other factors described in the Company's reports filed with the Securities Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000.