HONG KONG - With global trade troubled by lingering uncertainties, the special administrative region will staunchly support free trade, defend the multilateral trading system and help build bridges for different trading blocs, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau Tang-wah pledged on Tuesday. “The trade war benefits no one and so, we’ll support free trade and defend the multilateral trading system,” he told a breakfast panel discussion entitled “Hong Kong’s Role in the Changing Multilateral Trade Landscape” on the second day of the 2019 Asian Financial Forum, jointly organized by the Hong Kong SAR Government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. “We’ll also find ways to build bridges with other trading partners as we have concluded or signed new trade arrangements. We’re building a better environment for businesses,” said Yau. “Uncertainties in the China-US relationship will likely persist in the foreseeable future. These tensions and uncertainties would potentially impact global growth, disrupt trade corridors, and realign and redistribute global supply chains,” asserted Laurence Li Lu-jen, panel moderator and chairman of the Financial Services Development Council -- the government’s top-level advisory body to promote the city’s financial services industry. China and the US have begun three months of talks -- from December last year to the end of next month -- on thorny structural issues, such as intellectual property protection, technology transfers and reducing the US trade deficit with China. If no agreement is reached by March 1 this year, the US has warned it will raise its 10 percent tariffs on US$200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25 percent. As at November last year, the HKSAR has signed nine free trade arrangements with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Georgia, the Macao SAR, Australia and the Maldives. “Through FTAs, we’re assuring the market, creating certainty in the unpredictable environment and encouraging international businesses to use Hong Kong as the platform to promote global trade,” Yau added. Victor Fung Kwok-king, group chairman of Fung Group, said the global supply chain adjustment, due to trade corridor rearrangements and trade pattern changes, is not unfamiliar to Hong Kong. “The situation is like when the Chinese mainland is opening up its economy that is affecting global supply chains. Hong Kong is redefining its role to accommodate to the new pattern of trade flows,” he said. The Belt and Road Initiative can further create new opportunities for Hong Kong businesses, according to Fung, when the Chinese mainland’s small and medium-sized enterprises may mass relocate their supply chain networks to various countries along the BRI route. According to the World Trade Organization, Hong Kong was the world’s seventh-largest merchandise trade exporter in 2017. John Slosar, chairman of the Hong Kong-United States Business Council (Hong Kong Section), said Hong Kong enterprises can still employ their nimbleness amid the new environment in international trade. “Although the global trade spat leads to diversification of supply chains, the process, however, takes time so that Hong Kong businesses can adapt to the new situation just like when manufacturers were relocating their supply chains outside the Pearl River Delta region in the last decade,” said Slosar, who is also chairman of Hong Kong’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific Airways. Hong Kong International Airport has been ranked the world’s busiest airport for international cargos since 2011. The city was also ranked fifth globally in terms of container throughput in 2017. The change in consumption and trade corridors driven by the rise of the middle class on the Chinese mainland, emerging markets, global asset redenomination and the mainland’s capital account opening will reshape the international trade environment, panelists reckoned. Benjamin Hung Pi-cheng, Greater China and North Asia regional chief executive officer at Standard Chartered Bank, said Hong Kong can also play a role in facilitating investment flows into and out of the Chinese mainland.
2019-01-16For the last five years, the Asia Pacific has been the fastest growing market for impact investments. According to the Global Impact Investing Network, private investors have put in US$904 million through 225 direct deals, and development finance institutions have invested around US$11.2 billion in Southeast Asia alone since 2007. The total was estimated to have reached US$38.6 billion by the end of last year. The impressive amount being channeled into the region is helping impact investing grow in Asia. That has created both opportunities and challenges, both of which were the focus of a roundtable at the 2019 Asian Financial Forum. Co-organized by China Daily and the AFF, the goal of the “Unleashing Impact Investing in Asia” roundtable at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre was to discuss a topic that, at least in Asia, is often misunderstood. “With the erosion of capital and the slowing down of the economy, we want to look at the brighter side of things,” said Zhou Li, editorial board member of China Daily Group and editor-in-chief of China Daily Asia Pacific, in his welcome speech. IN PHOTOS: Roundtable: Unleashing impact investing in Asia “We want to throw the spotlight on the best possible tools of impact investments,” said Zhou, adding that he was happy to note that women made up the majority of the panel. Moderator Alfred Romann, managing director of Bahati Ltd and a contributing editor for China Daily Asia Pacific, kicked off the discussion with a question. “Asia is home to some of the greatest social needs and pools of capital in the world. The question is, how do we match the two?” he asked. Misconception about returns A key obstacle noted by the panelists was a misconception many investors have that sustainable investments do not provide good returns. Amy Lo, co-head of UBS Wealth Management Asia Pacific, recounts the time she spoke about that subject with a wealthy family. “When I brought up impact investing in our conversation, they tried to stop me and said they already have funds set aside for charity. I had to explain that impact investing is an investment strategy that considers environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria that would generate equal, if not better, returns,” she said. “Education is needed to make the distinction between charity and investment. Impact investment is the new kid in the region; it is getting good traction but more awareness is still needed.” Naina Subberwal Batra, chairperson and CEO of AVPN, concurs. “We take a very left and right brain approach to investment and sustainable causes. Philanthropy is very close to all of our minds; there isn’t anyone in this room who doesn’t want to do good. Yet, not enough are applying it to their portfolio,” said Batra. “In the long run, the returns on sustainable investments are actually much better. It’s important to break that boundary,” she added. Lo cited a study a study by UBS on 5,000 global investors, of whom 400 were in Hong Kong. “Two-thirds agreed that impact investing is an important topic. But only 30 percent invested as such. In Hong Kong, 85 percent of them were in agreement. Yet, less than one-third put their money in it,” said Lo. “Achieving any impact is a long-term investment because impact takes time. Investing in industries that either do no harm or are improving conditions is just good business sense. So it should provide the same returns,” said Batra. Geert Peeters, executive director and chief financial officer at CLP Holdings, said environmental, social and corporate governance reporting would help with awareness. “Communication and transparency is important, that’s why ESG matters. Data is the key to engaging others,” said Peeters. He also called for other metrics to measure the benefits of impact investments besides returns. Need for products, teamwork Ronie Mak, managing director of sustainable investment company RS Group, said her firm has been looking at socially responsible investing since its founding 10 years ago. “When we were looking for sustainable investments, we couldn’t find any here that met our requirements. So we had to look to the EU for that. What that means is a flow of capital out of Hong Kong. We need more products and solutions here or in the region that meet investor needs,” said Mak. “What investors need to see are existing funds and actual products with track records. We need product solution suites, not just talk,” she added. Mak stated that it was urgent for Hong Kong to embrace that. “Organizations in more mature sustainable investing markets are looking our way. It’s important that we do it before they do. We have our own unique culture here so let’s build sustainable investing our way.” Mak also responded to an audience member’s remarks about the need for cohesion between all investors and stakeholders. “We recognize the gaps in the ecosystem. Fragmentation is something we see in a lot of initiatives. Collaborations to do it holistically makes sense,” said Mak. She suggested a peer group for likeminded investors so they can learn alongside each other and even co-invest, as it needs to be done “for the world and sustainability”. Judy Chen, chairman of UNICEF Hong Kong, urged everyone to think of the next generation. “We are all parents, our children have to grow in this world we leave them. So let’s look at how we invest our wealth into it and create a better world for the next generation,” said Chen. Karen Ho, an audience member who works in financial products sales at Bloomberg, found the panel discussion “fantastic”. “It was spot on about Asian investors having different views and concerns about impact investing. I also agree with the ideas about collaborations because the market is very fragmented,” said Ho. “I particularly liked the point about building the sustainable investing ecosystem our own way with consideration to our needs and culture. A lot of existing guidelines are very US and EU-focused,” she added. Pindar Wong, chairman of VeriFi (Hong Kong) and chief architect of the Belt and Road Blockchain Consortium, also stressed the importance of impact investing. “If we don’t have impact investing, which encourages sustainable industries, we don’t have very much left. And, I think China has a great opportunity to lead,” Wong said. He believes that through his effective invention — a positive sum cryptocurrency — people can now uses measurements to evaluate the social impact. Wong added that, in the digital world, when talking about ideas, people do not have to play a zero sum game and can actually achieve a win-win situation. There are a lot of problems with negative social impact called “negative externality”. For instance, when a man pollutes (the air) with carbon dioxide, the cost is not borne by him — it’s borne by society. Now, the negative impacts that other people are putting their costs on society must be reduced.
2019-01-15HONG KONG - Hong Kong has seen significant development concerning awareness and interest in impact investing in the past year — a sudden uptick driven by the SAR government’s top-down push during the period — according to Ronie Mak, managing director of family office RS Group. Impact investing refers to investments with the intention to generate a measurable, beneficial social or environmental impact alongside a financial return. With impact investing as the theme of a roundtable panel discussion on the sidelines of the 2019 Asian Financial Forum on Tuesday, Mak believed it signals that the term has officially begun to enter the mainstream finance. With the Hong Kong SAR government launching the green bond move last year, the Securities and Futures Commission unveiled its strategic framework for green finance, and the Green Finance Association launched a comprehensive strategy focusing on upping the disclosure requirement of Hong Kong-listed companies. Thus, Hong Kong government officials were all on the same page, and it really has been a momentum driver along the course, said Mak. Due to the lack of investment opportunities on the Chinese mainland and in Hong Kong that could match RS Group’s needs a decade ago when it first deployed its capital, the company had to turn to US- and Europe-based independent financial advisors to transition their portfolio and find products as well as solutions. “It’s not by choice,” said Mak, recalling that people in Hong Kong and the mainland had hardly even heard of the term impact investing, when the group was founded a decade ago. With the HKSAR government ratcheting up efforts to spur the development of impact investing recently, Mak believed that private investors in Hong Kong have a big role to play in fostering the ecosystem. With the aim of lifting the player pool, Hong Kong-based RS Group launched a sustainable finance initiative in an attempt to build up the community for private investors, said Mak. “Instead of us doing it through another report, we want to do it through this platform.” Launched in June last year, RS Group has seen a lot of interest from private investors who are eager to start it but don’t know how, she noted. “The demand is there, and the issue is how you drive this demand in a way that will make the sector rise,” said Mak, adding that with a more robust market, the whole sector would improve in a more tangible way. For RS Group, the ultimate success is when the whole financial system functions and operates naturally in a sustainable way, she said. And in future, there would be no term for sustainable investing. “It’s just the way that finance is done.”
2019-01-152019年1月15日 香港:主題為“探索亞洲創效投資的發展”的專題研討會今日在香港舉行,本場研討會由中國日報與亞洲金融論壇合辦,吸引逾200名來自政府、金融業以及商界人士参加。 創效投資,也稱為社會價值投資或社會影響力投資。2007年,創效投資作為一種全新的投資形式被首次提出,摩根大通、洛克菲勒基金會和全球創效投資網絡(GIIN)於2010年共同發佈報告,將創效投資定義為一種新興的資產類別。此後,創效投資迅速引起了投資界和公益界的廣泛關注。 在過去五年,亞太地區一直是創效投資增長速度最快的市場。全球創效投資網絡發佈的報告顯示,自2007年以來,東南亞市場個人投資者通過225筆直接交易投資了9.04億美元,金融機構亦投資了112億美元。創效投資在亞太地區持續增長的規模,正為區域帶來新的機遇。 亞洲公益創投網絡主席兼行政總裁蘇萘娜、聯合國兒童基金會香港委員會主席陳晴、瑞銀財富管理亞太區聯席主管盧彩雲、RS 集團執行總監麥依敏,以及中電集團執行董事及財務總裁彭達思應邀擔任本場研討會的演講嘉賓,著重探討了最新的市場資訊、行業趨勢和發展,以在區域的發展進程中更好地定位創效投資。 作為亞太區內公益事業的一支重要力量,亞洲公益創投網絡對創效投資始終抱有熱情與積極態度,公司主席兼行政總裁蘇萘娜指出,需從中長期的角度看待創效投資,這些投資未必需要以犧牲收益為代價,投資可持續發展項目或綠色項目往往會產生更大效益。 作為聯合國兒童基金會香港委員會主席,陳晴在創效投資領域,更多關注的是未來投資。她認為,投資給下一代才是最好的投資,其中包括健康投資和教育投資。社會各界應把眼光放遠,從更廣闊的角度看待問題,互相合作,共同致力於為兒童提供更良好的成長環境。 “無論經濟形勢如何變化,我們的孩子總是需要成長與發展。為了追尋生命的真諦,我們必須謹慎思考應把時間與財富投資到什麼地方,”陳晴表示,“聯合國兒童基金願意與各方一道,為我們的下一代創造一個更美好的世界。” 瑞銀財富管理亞太區聯席主管盧彩雲同意陳晴的觀點。盧彩雲指出,我們其實是向下一代人“借”來了現在的居住環境,將來有一天我們要將這個世界還給他們,所以公營、私營企業等各方必須精誠合作,讓地球變得更宜居,這正是創效投資的意義所在。 盧彩雲亦十分提倡投資與慈善的結合。她亦表示,許多亞洲投資者仍非常務實,對他們來說收益十分重要。這一觀念需要糾正,因為可持續發展投資能夠帶來和常規投資一樣的經濟回報,卻可以產生更大的社會效益。 香港本地企業RS集團,多年來一直致力於推廣“經濟發展不應危及人類發展及環境可持續性”的重要概念,集團執行總監麥依敏認為創效投資正可實現這一願景。她在研討會上表示,香港需要發展創效投資,否則會降低香港的國際吸引力,投資者會將目光轉向海外其他市場;業界已在區內開始擴張,與我們展開競爭態勢;而亞洲獨有的文化和家庭價值觀,可為創效投資創造良好的發展空間和環境,“香港發展創效投資具有獨特優勢,”麥依敏說。 作為一家公共事業公司,中電集團的投資項目注重長期效益。集團執行董事及財務總裁彭達思指出,盡管關注長遠收益無可厚非,但絕不可僅僅如此,我們的投資必須可為社會作出貢獻。“充分的溝通以及信息的透明在這一進程中至關重要,”他補充說。 彭達思還透露,除個別特例外,中電集團已全面停止在煤電上的投資,目前的能源投資主要集中於風能、太陽能等二氧化碳零排放的可再生能源,讓人們投入更低碳的生活。 中國日報亞洲領袖圓桌論壇(www.cdroundtable.com)旨在搭建一個由亞洲國家和地區的政、商、學界領袖和社會精英參與的高端對話和交流平臺,圍繞亞洲地區經濟、商業、產業和社會發展等具有戰略影響的重要議題展開討論和分享見解,以增進中國與亞洲和西方國家的交流和理解。 中國日報是中國國家英文日報,創刊於1981年,擁有報紙、網站、移動客戶端、臉譜、推特、微博、微信、電子報等十餘種媒介平臺,全媒體用戶總數超過2億。截至2018年底,微博粉絲數超過4110萬,微信訂閱人數507萬,客戶端全球下載用戶超過1700萬,臉譜賬號粉絲數超過6300萬,位居全球媒體賬號粉絲數第二位,推特賬號粉絲數306萬。 媒體垂詢: 洪夢求 小姐 電話:(852)3465 5427 電郵:melody@chinadailyhk.com
2019-01-15HONG KONG - Although we come from a period where utilities were seen as part of the problem, the utility of tomorrow tends to be a part of the solution from an environmental friendly perspective, says Geert Peeters, executive director and chief financial officer of CLP Holdings. “Rather than being part of the past problem of carbon generation, we see ourselves now basically as part of the solution,” he told China Daily in an interview on the sidelines of the 2019 Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong. “So, the utility of tomorrow is that the digital technology will enable us to deliver decarbonized energy to deal with decentralization, to be directly engaged with our customers and to do all that dynamically.” CLP Holdings provides services in Kowloon, the New Territories and on Lantau Island. The objective of decarbonization, Peeters explains, is a commitment starting from Europe, spilling over into the world and now in Asia. For utility companies, it means a more complex system needs to be managed and operated on. Thanks to digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence and big data, those complex systems featuring low carbon and even zero carbon goals can be managed by human beings, he said. Thus, CLP has also devoted to projects and startups across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and in its secondary market, India, with an eye on the renewable energy blueprint. For the Bay Area, said Peeters, CLP plans to set its footprint in exploring more low carbon energy and other new energy, smart use of energy, as well as the energy efficiency. The company has already invested in Guangdong province with hydro plants and solar plants. It will also discuss with the SAR government to see if the city’s utility could import more low carbon or zero carbon energy from that region in future. Together with the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, CLP invested in En-trak — a Hong Kong energy management and smart lighting solutions provider — according to the company’s 2018 interim results announcement. “Part of the utility of tomorrow is also to help our customers to be smarter in their use and be more in control of their energy,” said Peeters. CLP is also collaborating with startups from the Silicon Valley and Tsinghua University in energy innovation. By teaming up with Caisse de depot et placement du Québec — Canada’s second-biggest pension fund — the Hong Kong-based utility company will make joint investments in India aimed at “providing clean and affordable energy there”, said Peeters. The commitment to reduce carbon emissions is now a common concept globally and Hong Kong is no exception. By 2020, the HKSAR government aims to increase the use of natural gas in its fuel mix for power production to about 50 percent from less than a quarter in 2012. “With the agreement we have with the city’s government, there’ll be a significant amount of investments that will be made in Hong Kong to lower the carbon intensity of our activity in the city,” Peeters said.
2019-01-15HONG KONG - The Hong Kong Committee for the United Nations Children’s Fund, commonly known as UNICEF, has urged governments, corporations and private investors to “co-create” novel investment projects for children. Judy Chen, chairperson of the organization, said the best investments would be in the health, education and caring sectors for our next generation, to be carried out together without boundaries. “‘Doing good’ is good business and now we need to do ‘good’ better,” she said. She made the remarks in an interview with China Daily during the 2019 Asian Financial Forum, which entered its second day on Tuesday. Chen said people harbor the impression that UNICEF usually works with governments but, in fact, it now has a diversified pool of partners, including governments, corporations and private donors. In 2017, three quarters of UNICEF Hong Kong’s revenue came from individual donations, while the percentage of corporate partnerships and annual fundraising events was about 15 percent. Besides large enterprises, such as HSBC and Cathay Pacific, Chen said UNICEF is working with some startups to jointly launch innovative projects, such as cryptocurrency donations and crowd-funding programs, to raise funds. For instance, the UNICEF Innovation (Venture) Fund helps to finance early stage startups of open-source technology that can help children. So far, the fund has raised about US$17.9 million. When conducting charity works with innovative methods, Chen stressed that supervision plays a significant role. She cited a project in which UNICEF and Montblanc co-designed a signature pen with a registered number on each product for donors. The code enables the owner to monitor the progress of the initiative and find out the many ways in which UNICEF is improving educational opportunities for children. “Though we’re now using diversified tools, the ultimate goal for me is the same, which is to see a ‘zero’,” Chen said, explaining the “zero” refers to no children starving, suffering from AIDS or dropping out of school. With a professional background in the banking industry, Chen has unique sensitivity for figures and offers insights from investment perspectives to provide better platforms for business partners. A graduate of Menlo College and Harvard Business School, she was a former banker who had held senior positions in various multinational companies, including as president of global wealth management and investment at Merrill Lynch (Asia Pacific). While she was working in private wealth management, numbers were equal to profit or investment returns but now, for her, it means how many children her team has saved from all kinds of adversity. Chen also urged Hong Kong to share its experiences and work in synergy with its Chinese mainland counterparts. “Charity has become a trend on the mainland but it still needs time to improve, especially on organizational structure and related policies,” she said.
2019-01-15Hong Kong has a unique role to play in promoting impact investing, but more efforts need to be made to narrow the “boundary”, business leaders and industry insiders said on Tuesday. They made the remarks at a roundtable forum organized by China Daily, entitled “Unleashing Impact Investing in Asia”, on the sidelines of the 2019 Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong. Impact investing has been gaining increased attention worldwide with growing awareness of social sustainability. The intention of the practice is to bring about positive social outcomes along with financial returns. However, despite growing recognition among investors, the “boundary” between making social benefits and making money remains an obstacle at present. “When doing investment, some may say 5 percent of my portfolio would do good for life for our children, but 95 percent of the portfolio is still making money. So how do we break the boundaries is important,” pointed out Naina Subberwal Batra, chairperson and chief executive officer of Asian Venture Philanthropy Network. But the good thing, she said, is that there’s a shift toward breaking the divide as more millennials and women become wealth holders and care about the issue. Her views were backed by Amy Lo, co-head of UBS Wealth Management, Asia Pacific. For Asian investors, Lo said, return is still important. “It is how we can get the concept right that you can also change the world via investment. We have to prove by some data points to show this kind of sustainable investing will generate similar return.” Batra added: “We have people here who have platforms to tell you that it’s a long run. Your money will probably do much better when you invest in sustainable sectors, or if you look into green investment.” Ronie Mak, managing director of RS Group, reckoned that for the sector to grow bigger, Hong Kong needs to play an active role. (From left) Alfred Romann, contributing editor of China Daily Asia Pacific; Naina Subberwal Batra, chairperson and CEO of Asian Venture Philanthropy Network; Geert Peeters, executive director and CFO of CLP Holdings; Amy LO, co-head of UBS Wealth Management; Judy Chen, chairman of Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF; and Ronie Mak, managing director of RS Group, attend a panel discussion during the China Daily Asia Leadership Roundtable at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong, Jan 15, 2019. (EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY) Noting that the SAR is in a “unique” position in promoting the development of impact investing, she said it’s important for the city to “capture the opportunity”. “Investors are asking for it. If the product resolutions here are not right, they may go overseas to other countries for it,” Mak warned. Geert Peeters, executive director and chief financial officer of CLP Holdings, believes that “communication” and “transparency” are two important factors in driving the sector’s growth. “We have to communicate as well on what our investments contribute to the society beyond just returns,” he said. Judy Chen, chairman of the Hong Kong Committee for the United Nations Children’s Fund, believes that “bridging the disparity” is the key to promoting impact investing. She also emphasized the importance of focusing on “the next generation”. “From our UNICEF perspective, we think the best investment is into our next generation, which is health and education,” she said.
2019-01-15China’s current intellectual property adaptation should stop aiming merely at growth volume, but make long-term plans to work on high-quality IP projects, a leading industry player said. Xie Guangcai, executive vice-president of ChineseAll Digital Publishing Group (CADP) — one of the Chinese mainland’s largest digital publishing companies — shared his views on the country’s future IP adaptation trend at the China Daily Asia Leadership Roundtable event on Thursday. IP adaptation in China comes mostly from online literature. CADP became the first listed digital publishing institution in the country in 2015, with 3.7 million signed writers, 4 million copyrights and 100,000 gigabytes of audio resources. Before 2006, the company’s business model was simple — selling its copyrights to studios and game companies. It had never been involved in the follow-up adaptation process, according to Xie. Recent years have seen the rapid development of IP adaptation in China, but problems have also arisen. Xie said CADP is not happy with the “reckless” adaptation of their works because the quality of the adapted works has fallen far short of expectations, and the lifespan of IP products in the market is short. Moreover, the studios that purchased the copyrights usually offer harsh contracts. They would often add more requirements, such as all future developments of the original works, but with no solid plans. “These platforms with big capital are draining the value of the original works. This oligopoly reminds us of what happened back in the old days when only State-owned TV stations on the mainland can produce TV series,” Xie recalled. The same thing is happening in the gaming industry. According to Xie, most online games in the market incredibly resemble each other in both content and form and, sometimes, they seem to simply keep the character settings by just having their names changed. Without the original storyline and gameplay, these mediocre games fail to attract users for long, said Xie, adding that all IP owners should shift their efforts to in-depth explorations of high-quality IPs. In the past few years, CADP had set up its gaming and film division, and it plans to do deep exploration of high-quality IPs, making use of its resources. In June this year, CADP and Wanda Media said they will cooperate fully in IP development. The two companies signed a 10-year contract that included three films, six TV series and a theme park ride, building on a popular fantasy novel Wu Song (the ode of sorcery). The original contents are from 17K — a novel network affiliated to CADP. After thorough research, Xie found that novels published on 17K, which targets mostly male readers, are better options to be adapted for gaming development. CADP will put in more resources and efforts in the new field, he said.
2018-12-10The lack of investors’ patience and a talent shortage are the top two challenges to the country’s fast-growing intellectual property industry, a pan-entertainment industry expert said. These are also the factors for an IP adaptation to become successful and sustainable both in profitability and audience satisfaction, said Leon Gao Shouzhi, president and founder of EntGroup — a big-data consulting company for the media and entertainment industry in China. According to statistics released by EntGroup, revenue for the whole entertainment industry is expected to exceed 650 billion yuan (US$94 billion) this year. And nearly half of it will come from customer subscription and payments for original IP content, which sets up the foundation of the IP industry. However, problems lurk in the prosperous market. One of them is the lack of patience from investors compared with their overseas counterparts like those in the Hollywood, Gao stressed. A mature IP usually takes a hatching cycle of 10 years. However, many mainland companies are eager to harvest profits before accumulating a big enough fan base, Gao said. “This made it impossible for the companies to sustain the profitability of the IP content.” And the capital poured into the newly evolving IP industrial chain in recent years aggravated the situation, he said. Many investors are eager to make fast money without paying due attention to the regular patterns of the industry, he added. Meanwhile, there is a talent shortage in the industry. While IP adaptation, a major part of the IP business is rapidly expanding into a whole industrial chain, the talent reserve may not be able to catch up. “Especially for those with creative ideas and skills, and talents equipped with high-tech expertise, which can’t be there overnight, are urgently needed in the industry,” Gao stressed. The industry observer took The Journey of Flower as one of the success stories of IP adaptations. The hot TV series was adapted from a web novel telling a love tale in ancient times. And its fantasy scenes also made special appeal to post-1995 audiences. The TV series broke many viewing records and became the first Chinese TV drama to attract over 20 billion views in 2015. Its success was extended to the gaming sector. The mobile game and other related products adapted from the same story were well received by the Chinese mainland market and were further distributed to other markets such as Taiwan. Not all big-hit stories, however, have the luck The Journey of Flower had, Gao said. “We see that many IP adaptations failed to attract the expected audience’s attention, and profits, too”, Gao told China Daily on the sidelines of the Business of IP Asia Forum. He cited as examples the films Gone With the Bullets (2014) and Aftershock (2010), both of which had box-office grosses exceeding 500 million yuan (US$73 million), but failed to achieve the same level of market acceptance with their mobile game adaptations. “These show that IP content compatibility has to be considered in the context of cross-media IP adaptations”, concluded Gao. Gao is still optimistic about the future of China’s IP industry. “I believe the prospects will become better,” he said. On the upstream, China has more locally created IPs, Gao said. The post-2000 generation grew up with home-made cartoons, unlike before, when Japanese manga and Hollywood cartoons were the most popular in the country, he elaborated. Downstream, there is a fast-growing market that saw more online users willing to pay for IP products. This means the market environment is more favorable for the industry, he said.
2018-12-10Content creators and game companies on the Chinese mainland must work harder for quality upgrade and innovations in the intellectual property adaptation business, industry insiders urged on Thursday. At a forum at the China Daily Asia Leadership Roundtable, themed “Maximising Benefits of Cross-media Collaboration”, they said creators and companies should not be concerned only about how much money they can make. Members of the audience had voiced disappointment over the poor quality of many IP-adapted games in China which, the panelists warned, would risk ruining the reputation of IPs. “To sustain profit growth, content creators need at least three to five years to develop a mature, well-made IP, and game publishers should not push them too hard,” said Xie Guangcai, executive vice-president of ChineseAll Digital Publishing Group — the first Chinese digital publisher to list on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2015. However, in China, many game companies are chasing after popular IPs for quick profit returns. The IP creators, on the other hand, are eager to sell the authorization right of their IPs once their IPs reach a viewership of more than 10 million, according to Leon Gao Shouzhi, president and founder of EntGroup — a research company specializing in the Chinese entertainment industry. The games produced in such a rush do manage to attract millions of users, many of whom are fans of the original IPs, in the early stages of the launch, but fail to sustain them due to the game’s poor quality. Unfavorable comments on such games can often be seen in the social media. Statistics from EntGroup show that in China, only 20 percent of IP fans are satisfied with the game adaptations, while the satisfaction rate with films and teleplays is between 50 and 70 percent, Gao said. He pointed out that views should not be the sole standard when considering adapting an IP into a game, since not all subjects of IPs are fit for games adaptation. He cited the game adaptation of the movie Aftershock, which was directed by Feng Xiaogang and based on the massive 1976 Tangshan earthquake that killed 240,000 people. Though the movie raked in US$78.47 million at the box office in China, the disaster and tragedy theme should not be entertained, Gao said. Sophia Xie Fei, chief executive officer and director of Shanda Game — the early market leader in the PC-based games era — said while selecting IP for adaptation, the theme must convey positive values if a classic is to be forged. As a company with a near 20-year history, Shanda commands a group of loyal players of its classic titles, such as The World of Legend, Dragon Nest (CN) and The Legend of Mir. “A game’s spiritual core, such as the brotherhood and the determination to protect the world’s peace, can keep users for more than 10 years,” Xie said. Touching stories Cartoon creators at the forum echoed Xie’s views, emphasizing that touching stories and positive images are crucial to their popularity. Leo Huang Weiming — the creator of two super IPs, Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf and Happy Heroes, and general manager of Creative Power Entertaining — said cartoons need to cater to audiences of all ages, and a positive story can be better promoted by word of mouth. “The leading role of Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf was not the ‘pleasant goat’, but the ‘lazy goat’ at the beginning,” Huang said. “We decided to let the former be the star as no parent would want their children to be lazy, while a pleasant, brave figure can be a good model,” he said. Xu Han, creator of “Ali the Fox” and founder of Dream Castle Culture, said IP authors should be responsible in the cultural cultivation. He urged IP creators to look for inspiration from the Chinese culture to “make the story and the figures more attractive and help increase our own cultural impact on future generations”. Since March this year, mainland authorities have stopped approving licenses for new games. Game companies could still launch their games, but for beta tests only, at no charge. A beta test is the second phase of software testing in which a sampling of the intended audience tries out the product. A report by research firm CNG showed that the Chinese game industry experienced the slowest first-half-year growth compared with the past five years. CNG was assigned by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television to compile a report on the country’s game industry. Many game companies are seeing huge losses because, on one hand, they could not produce new games and, on the other, their old games have lost customers. These may force them out of the market, warned Xie Guangcai. In his view, companies should give thought to how to keep customers longer rather than relying on just taking advantage of trendy topics. Sound performance Xie estimated that “the shutoff is temporal and license approvals will resume, but the quota will be limited”. Despite the stagnation in the game industry, China Mobile Games and Entertainment Group (CMGE) — the largest mobile game publisher in China — put up a sound financial performance in the first half of this year. The company’s net profit surged 66 percent to 162.7 million yuan (US$23.7 billion), according to Bloomberg. In September, the company applied for a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. CMGE has launched 61 games, 10 of which have managed to stay in the market for more than three years. Hendrick Sin, co-founder and vice-chairman of CMGE, told the forum the company is dedicated to developing original IPs of good quality. It is a major strategy switch for the company, whose entire revenue came from game publishing a year ago. CMGE said it will publish 50 new games by the end of next year. The themes will include Chinese fantasy, wuxia or martial arts, and adventures. Looking to the future, the panelists said there will be more possibilities in the form of game adaptations. With the aid of technologies that are pushing the boundary, such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence, game adaptations will bring more immersive experience to users and will be integrated closely with other kinds of spin-off products of IPs, Xie Fei said. No matter how far the advanced technology will take us, we mustn’t forget our cultural roots are where the core competitiveness lies, panelists concluded. The forum was co-organized by China Daily Asia Pacific and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council as part of the Business of IP Asia Forum held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
2018-12-10In the 10 years since the State Council issued the Outline of the National Intellectual Property Strategy, new industries related to IP, ranging from online literature and animation to games, have developed in leaps and bounds. In 2017, the value of China’s pan-entertainment industry — multilevel creative products developed from IP — exceeded 500 billion yuan ($72.5 billion), accounting for more than 20 percent of the total digital economy. The monetization rate of mobile games is the highest among all pan-entertainment industries, surpassing 200 billion yuan, with IP-based mobile games accounting for over 60 percent of the revenue, according to a report by Chinese gaming industry database Gamma Data Corp. In response to the industry trend, a China Daily Asia Leadership Roundtable event was held on Thursday during the first day of the two-day Business of IP Asia Forum (BIP Asia) in Hong Kong. Co-organized by China Daily Asia Pacific and BIP Asia, the panel discussion brought together industry leaders, content producers and investors under the theme Era of IP Convergence: Maximizing Benefits of Cross-media Collaboration. Movies and TV dramas are a major form of IP adaptation in China and this IP mostly comes from online literature, said Leon Gao Shouzhi, president and founder of EntGroup, a provider of information and intelligence for China’s entertainment industry. Data from EntGroup show that about 50 to 70 percent of people of all ages accept IP-based movies and TV dramas, while only 20 percent of people accept IP-based games. In 2017, direct revenue generated by IP-based movies and dramas was about 350 million yuan, in which 76 percent of this content was adapted from online literature. Meanwhile, games based on movies, reality shows and dramas tend to be more popular with audiences. “For example, games based on the animation film Boonie Bears, the drama The Journey of Flower and the reality show Running Man have all gained good results in the number of active users, with some of them reaching tens of millions of active users,” said Gao. But a short product life is a shared issue among various IP adaptations, said Gao. He said he would like to see the industry focus more on the characteristics and preferences of young audiences, in particular the post-1995 generation. “Many people are also rushing to monetize their IP once they have attracted tens of millions of fans … In Hollywood, it needs 10 years for an IP to grow mature enough,” said Gao, hoping the industry can be more patient in producing high-quality IP. Hendrick Sin, co-founder and vice-chairman of CMGE Technology Group, noted the importance of companies creating their own IP as popular titles can generate huge profits. “When we tried to get the franchise for our third One Piece game from our partners in Japan, the IP price was several times more than that of the first game,” said Sin. One Piece is a popular Japanese manga series that began in 1997. As one of China’s largest publishers of mobile games based on IP, SMGE became China’s first mobile game company listed on Nasdaq, in 2012. So far, the company has more than 200 million registered users. IP incubation might not be as difficult as people think, the forum heard. Leo Huang Weiming and his team took only 15 minutes to come up with Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, one of China’s most popular children’s cartoon shows. Today the brand spans 2,000 episodes, seven films and five stage plays. Its franchise business covers more than 10,000 products and a new film is being planned for the 2021 Spring Festival. On the back of the huge success of Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, Huang, general manager of Creative Power Entertaining Co, created the cartoon Happy Heroes, which also became a big hit in China. “We have also combined this IP with the hospitality industry by launching themed hotels in China, bringing the IP to a new business format,” said Huang. To him, no matter how the market and times change, content as the core value of IP will never change. Seize the trend IP promotion needs to be combined with the trendiest things in the market, said Xu Han, founder, chairman and CEO of Dream Castle. Xu is also the creator of Ali the Fox, a popular cartoon character with over 22 million fans in China. “Twelve years ago, when I just started to create Ali the Fox, people liked buying picture books, so that was how I promoted the cartoon character,” said Xu. “Today, people like to send emoticons on social networking apps, so we also launched emoticon packs. On WeChat alone, Ali the Fox emoticons have been downloaded over 100 million times and were shared over 1 billion times.” Noting the importance of diversifying the IP, Xu promotes Ali the Fox through a wide range of online and offline platforms, launching spin-off products and even an international collaboration with Kishi Station in western Japan, which became famous for its cat stationmaster. Sophia Xie Fei, CEO and director of Shanda Games, a domestic gaming industry leader backed by tech giant Tencent, said the adaptation of IP is no longer limited to pan-entertainment sectors. She cited tourism, hospitality, theme parks and even new retail as other areas that generate huge potential for IP collaboration. Noting that many people think popularity and monetization are benchmarks to judge the success of IP, Xie said the industry should plan for long-term development to create IP that will resonate with people. “By doing so, we can transform (even) a single hit IP into a classic,” said Xie. “China has a lot of good stories and cultures. We need to figure out how to spread that out by combining them with films, dramas, games and literature,” said Xie Guangcai, executive vice-president of Chinese All Digital Publishing Group, a leading Chinese digital publishing company. “When developing IP, it is important for us to continue our efforts in creating good stories, using them to show the value and culture of China,” he said. Shanda’s Xie said that technology cannot be neglected as it plays a key role in stimulating development and guiding the direction of the entire industry. “Whether it is because of the maturity of 5G and cloud-based technologies, or the wide adoption of artificial intelligence and virtual reality, we will see disruptive changes (in the future),” she said, citing the mobile game industry as an example. Li Yao, news editor of China Daily Hong Kong, moderated the session.
2018-12-062018年12月6日 香港:中國日報亞洲領袖圓桌論壇今天在香港舉辦題為“知識產權融合時代:跨界合作價值最大化”的專題研討會,吸引逾300名来自國內外的政、商、法律及學界的业界翹楚參會。 本場研討會由中國日報與亞洲知識產權營商論壇合辦。藝恩公司創始人兼首席執行官郜壽智先生;廣東原創動力文化傳播有限公司總經理及“喜羊羊之父”、“開心超人之父”黃偉明先生;中手游科技集團有限公司聯合創始人及副董事長冼漢廸先生;中文在線數字出版集團常務副總裁謝廣才先生;盛大遊戲首席執行官兼董事謝斐女士;以及“阿狸”原創作者及夢之城創始人、董事長兼首席執行官徐瀚先生受邀擔任本場研討會演講嘉賓。 近年來,在IP(知識產權)熱潮的影響之下,除了影視,遊戲、文學及動漫IP的開發熱度也不斷推高。IP原意為知識產權,是英文知識產權的縮寫,隨著內容產業的發展和粉絲經濟的火熱,IP內容正逐漸成為商業變現的熱門所在,各行業也已迅速意識到IP的強大吸金能力。對熱門IP進行遊戲、影視、文學的改編,曾打造出不少廣受大眾喜愛的成功案例。目前,騰訊、愛奇藝等知名公司也開始致力於打通IP全產業鏈,構建打通遊戲、文學、動漫、影視等多種文創業務領域的互動娛樂新生態。在如此趨勢下,本次研討會將聚焦於知識產權的內容延伸性,六位演講嘉賓將探索在跨界合作的過程中,如何才能長線經營,將知識產權價值最大化。 致力於整合、發展及推廣手遊生態系統,中手遊坐擁強大的IP合作資源,從影視到文學再到動漫,已然成為中國內地第一大全平臺發行方。冼漢廸表示,盡管IP難以孵化,但是仍然要著力於發展自己的IP,因為獲取他人IP的成本越來越高。中手遊通過投資手段,目前已經有“仙劍奇俠傳”系列、“大富翁”系列、“軒轅劍”系列等近七十個知名IP,這些都為企業的下一步發展打下了良好的基礎。 定位為以數據洞察為核心的平臺公司,藝恩公司對IP跨界改編產業有獨到的見解。其首席執行官郜壽智指出,電影、綜藝節目、電視劇、漫畫等改編成遊戲,確實可以取得比較好的用戶活躍度,有的甚至可以達到千萬級用戶規模,但是背後存在非常嚴峻的問題,即跨界改編的產品生命周期相對較短,題材泛濫亦分流了大眾的吸引力。一個成熟的IP,往往需要十年周期的積累,而目前許多IP企業,積累了一定用戶就急於收割變現。他續指,IP業界應審慎改編經典作品,積極考慮如科幻類等的較新題材;在改編電影時,亦應了解票房情況與一部電影是否適合改編並無直接關係。 盛大遊戲成立於1999年。作為中國內地老牌遊戲公司的首席執行官,謝斐表示盛大遊戲在IP發展方面有發言權。她說,IP產業的發展,已經從傳統的遊戲、影視、動漫、文學等泛娛樂範疇,滲透到文旅、酒店、主題公園、新零售等形態,這些都為今時今日IP產業的發展增加了厚度,亦為IP融合在更大範圍內制造機會與想象力提供了條件。 謝斐相信,遊戲產品的生命周期是有限的,但一個IP的生命周期應是無限的。她說,真正成功的IP應是一個凝聚正能量、溫度、快樂的信仰,而不僅僅局限於其用戶流量、變現能力或熱度;當這一可持續的信仰建立起來時,盈利也自然會來。 作為中文在線的創始人,謝廣才坦言,中國內地IP行業面臨的一個重要問題,就是缺乏IP的開發。他說,一部IP作品的成熟需要較長的周期,在產生影響力和傳播力之後,才應進行相應的開發,“應該把IP作品當孩子養起來。” “喜羊羊之父”及“開心超人之父”黃偉明認為,IP市場不斷變化,風口不斷改變,但核心是“內容”,一個好的IP必須擁有獨特的內容,“幽默”、“感人”、“正能量”是打造IP品牌的關鍵要素。他解釋說,幽默是永恒的收視保證,感人亦不需要講大道理,而正能量是成為品牌的必要條件。 談及什麼樣的IP才是好IP,著名卡通人物“阿狸”的創作者徐瀚認為,其標准就是“你是否願意拿這部作品給孩子看”,因此他希望他創作的“阿狸”可以成為孩子和家長之間的愛心紐帶。 徐瀚以繪本為例,指出不同國家出品的繪本都反映了自己的價值觀,目前市場上有很多歐美繪本,他希望中國內地和香港可以出品更多令人喜聞樂見的繪本,將中國文化和東方文化傳播出去。 中國日報亞洲領袖圓桌論壇(www.cdroundtable.com)旨在搭建一個由亞洲國家和地區的政、商、學界領袖和社會精英參與的高端對話和交流平台,圍繞亞洲地區經濟、商業、產業和社會發展等具有戰略影響的重要議題展開討論和分享見解,以增進中國與亞洲和西方國家的交流和理解。 中國日報社擁有報紙、網站、移動用戶端、臉譜、推特、微博、微信、電子報等十餘種媒介平臺。在海外,通過每月發行《中國觀察報》(China Watch),直達美國《華爾街日報》和《華盛頓郵報》、英國《每日電訊報》、法國《費加羅報》、泰國《民族報》、俄羅斯《俄羅斯報》、日本《每日新聞》等美、歐、亞主流讀者群。(完) 媒體垂詢: 洪夢求 小姐 電話:(852)3465 5427 電郵:melody@chinadailyhk.com
2018-12-06HONG KONG - With global trade troubled by lingering uncertainties, the special administrative region will staunchly support free trade, defend the multilateral trading system and help build bridges for different trading blocs, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau Tang-wah pledged on Tuesday. “The trade war benefits no one and so, we’ll support free trade and defend the multilateral trading system,” he told a breakfast panel discussion entitled “Hong Kong’s Role in the Changing Multilateral Trade Landscape” on the second day of the 2019 Asian Financial Forum, jointly organized by the Hong Kong SAR Government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. “We’ll also find ways to build bridges with other trading partners as we have concluded or signed new trade arrangements. We’re building a better environment for businesses,” said Yau. “Uncertainties in the China-US relationship will likely persist in the foreseeable future. These tensions and uncertainties would potentially impact global growth, disrupt trade corridors, and realign and redistribute global supply chains,” asserted Laurence Li Lu-jen, panel moderator and chairman of the Financial Services Development Council -- the government’s top-level advisory body to promote the city’s financial services industry. China and the US have begun three months of talks -- from December last year to the end of next month -- on thorny structural issues, such as intellectual property protection, technology transfers and reducing the US trade deficit with China. If no agreement is reached by March 1 this year, the US has warned it will raise its 10 percent tariffs on US$200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25 percent. As at November last year, the HKSAR has signed nine free trade arrangements with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Georgia, the Macao SAR, Australia and the Maldives. “Through FTAs, we’re assuring the market, creating certainty in the unpredictable environment and encouraging international businesses to use Hong Kong as the platform to promote global trade,” Yau added. Victor Fung Kwok-king, group chairman of Fung Group, said the global supply chain adjustment, due to trade corridor rearrangements and trade pattern changes, is not unfamiliar to Hong Kong. “The situation is like when the Chinese mainland is opening up its economy that is affecting global supply chains. Hong Kong is redefining its role to accommodate to the new pattern of trade flows,” he said. The Belt and Road Initiative can further create new opportunities for Hong Kong businesses, according to Fung, when the Chinese mainland’s small and medium-sized enterprises may mass relocate their supply chain networks to various countries along the BRI route. According to the World Trade Organization, Hong Kong was the world’s seventh-largest merchandise trade exporter in 2017. John Slosar, chairman of the Hong Kong-United States Business Council (Hong Kong Section), said Hong Kong enterprises can still employ their nimbleness amid the new environment in international trade. “Although the global trade spat leads to diversification of supply chains, the process, however, takes time so that Hong Kong businesses can adapt to the new situation just like when manufacturers were relocating their supply chains outside the Pearl River Delta region in the last decade,” said Slosar, who is also chairman of Hong Kong’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific Airways. Hong Kong International Airport has been ranked the world’s busiest airport for international cargos since 2011. The city was also ranked fifth globally in terms of container throughput in 2017. The change in consumption and trade corridors driven by the rise of the middle class on the Chinese mainland, emerging markets, global asset redenomination and the mainland’s capital account opening will reshape the international trade environment, panelists reckoned. Benjamin Hung Pi-cheng, Greater China and North Asia regional chief executive officer at Standard Chartered Bank, said Hong Kong can also play a role in facilitating investment flows into and out of the Chinese mainland.
2019-01-16For the last five years, the Asia Pacific has been the fastest growing market for impact investments. According to the Global Impact Investing Network, private investors have put in US$904 million through 225 direct deals, and development finance institutions have invested around US$11.2 billion in Southeast Asia alone since 2007. The total was estimated to have reached US$38.6 billion by the end of last year. The impressive amount being channeled into the region is helping impact investing grow in Asia. That has created both opportunities and challenges, both of which were the focus of a roundtable at the 2019 Asian Financial Forum. Co-organized by China Daily and the AFF, the goal of the “Unleashing Impact Investing in Asia” roundtable at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre was to discuss a topic that, at least in Asia, is often misunderstood. “With the erosion of capital and the slowing down of the economy, we want to look at the brighter side of things,” said Zhou Li, editorial board member of China Daily Group and editor-in-chief of China Daily Asia Pacific, in his welcome speech. IN PHOTOS: Roundtable: Unleashing impact investing in Asia “We want to throw the spotlight on the best possible tools of impact investments,” said Zhou, adding that he was happy to note that women made up the majority of the panel. Moderator Alfred Romann, managing director of Bahati Ltd and a contributing editor for China Daily Asia Pacific, kicked off the discussion with a question. “Asia is home to some of the greatest social needs and pools of capital in the world. The question is, how do we match the two?” he asked. Misconception about returns A key obstacle noted by the panelists was a misconception many investors have that sustainable investments do not provide good returns. Amy Lo, co-head of UBS Wealth Management Asia Pacific, recounts the time she spoke about that subject with a wealthy family. “When I brought up impact investing in our conversation, they tried to stop me and said they already have funds set aside for charity. I had to explain that impact investing is an investment strategy that considers environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria that would generate equal, if not better, returns,” she said. “Education is needed to make the distinction between charity and investment. Impact investment is the new kid in the region; it is getting good traction but more awareness is still needed.” Naina Subberwal Batra, chairperson and CEO of AVPN, concurs. “We take a very left and right brain approach to investment and sustainable causes. Philanthropy is very close to all of our minds; there isn’t anyone in this room who doesn’t want to do good. Yet, not enough are applying it to their portfolio,” said Batra. “In the long run, the returns on sustainable investments are actually much better. It’s important to break that boundary,” she added. Lo cited a study a study by UBS on 5,000 global investors, of whom 400 were in Hong Kong. “Two-thirds agreed that impact investing is an important topic. But only 30 percent invested as such. In Hong Kong, 85 percent of them were in agreement. Yet, less than one-third put their money in it,” said Lo. “Achieving any impact is a long-term investment because impact takes time. Investing in industries that either do no harm or are improving conditions is just good business sense. So it should provide the same returns,” said Batra. Geert Peeters, executive director and chief financial officer at CLP Holdings, said environmental, social and corporate governance reporting would help with awareness. “Communication and transparency is important, that’s why ESG matters. Data is the key to engaging others,” said Peeters. He also called for other metrics to measure the benefits of impact investments besides returns. Need for products, teamwork Ronie Mak, managing director of sustainable investment company RS Group, said her firm has been looking at socially responsible investing since its founding 10 years ago. “When we were looking for sustainable investments, we couldn’t find any here that met our requirements. So we had to look to the EU for that. What that means is a flow of capital out of Hong Kong. We need more products and solutions here or in the region that meet investor needs,” said Mak. “What investors need to see are existing funds and actual products with track records. We need product solution suites, not just talk,” she added. Mak stated that it was urgent for Hong Kong to embrace that. “Organizations in more mature sustainable investing markets are looking our way. It’s important that we do it before they do. We have our own unique culture here so let’s build sustainable investing our way.” Mak also responded to an audience member’s remarks about the need for cohesion between all investors and stakeholders. “We recognize the gaps in the ecosystem. Fragmentation is something we see in a lot of initiatives. Collaborations to do it holistically makes sense,” said Mak. She suggested a peer group for likeminded investors so they can learn alongside each other and even co-invest, as it needs to be done “for the world and sustainability”. Judy Chen, chairman of UNICEF Hong Kong, urged everyone to think of the next generation. “We are all parents, our children have to grow in this world we leave them. So let’s look at how we invest our wealth into it and create a better world for the next generation,” said Chen. Karen Ho, an audience member who works in financial products sales at Bloomberg, found the panel discussion “fantastic”. “It was spot on about Asian investors having different views and concerns about impact investing. I also agree with the ideas about collaborations because the market is very fragmented,” said Ho. “I particularly liked the point about building the sustainable investing ecosystem our own way with consideration to our needs and culture. A lot of existing guidelines are very US and EU-focused,” she added. Pindar Wong, chairman of VeriFi (Hong Kong) and chief architect of the Belt and Road Blockchain Consortium, also stressed the importance of impact investing. “If we don’t have impact investing, which encourages sustainable industries, we don’t have very much left. And, I think China has a great opportunity to lead,” Wong said. He believes that through his effective invention — a positive sum cryptocurrency — people can now uses measurements to evaluate the social impact. Wong added that, in the digital world, when talking about ideas, people do not have to play a zero sum game and can actually achieve a win-win situation. There are a lot of problems with negative social impact called “negative externality”. For instance, when a man pollutes (the air) with carbon dioxide, the cost is not borne by him — it’s borne by society. Now, the negative impacts that other people are putting their costs on society must be reduced.
2019-01-15HONG KONG - Hong Kong has seen significant development concerning awareness and interest in impact investing in the past year — a sudden uptick driven by the SAR government’s top-down push during the period — according to Ronie Mak, managing director of family office RS Group. Impact investing refers to investments with the intention to generate a measurable, beneficial social or environmental impact alongside a financial return. With impact investing as the theme of a roundtable panel discussion on the sidelines of the 2019 Asian Financial Forum on Tuesday, Mak believed it signals that the term has officially begun to enter the mainstream finance. With the Hong Kong SAR government launching the green bond move last year, the Securities and Futures Commission unveiled its strategic framework for green finance, and the Green Finance Association launched a comprehensive strategy focusing on upping the disclosure requirement of Hong Kong-listed companies. Thus, Hong Kong government officials were all on the same page, and it really has been a momentum driver along the course, said Mak. Due to the lack of investment opportunities on the Chinese mainland and in Hong Kong that could match RS Group’s needs a decade ago when it first deployed its capital, the company had to turn to US- and Europe-based independent financial advisors to transition their portfolio and find products as well as solutions. “It’s not by choice,” said Mak, recalling that people in Hong Kong and the mainland had hardly even heard of the term impact investing, when the group was founded a decade ago. With the HKSAR government ratcheting up efforts to spur the development of impact investing recently, Mak believed that private investors in Hong Kong have a big role to play in fostering the ecosystem. With the aim of lifting the player pool, Hong Kong-based RS Group launched a sustainable finance initiative in an attempt to build up the community for private investors, said Mak. “Instead of us doing it through another report, we want to do it through this platform.” Launched in June last year, RS Group has seen a lot of interest from private investors who are eager to start it but don’t know how, she noted. “The demand is there, and the issue is how you drive this demand in a way that will make the sector rise,” said Mak, adding that with a more robust market, the whole sector would improve in a more tangible way. For RS Group, the ultimate success is when the whole financial system functions and operates naturally in a sustainable way, she said. And in future, there would be no term for sustainable investing. “It’s just the way that finance is done.”
2019-01-152019年1月15日 香港:主題為“探索亞洲創效投資的發展”的專題研討會今日在香港舉行,本場研討會由中國日報與亞洲金融論壇合辦,吸引逾200名來自政府、金融業以及商界人士参加。 創效投資,也稱為社會價值投資或社會影響力投資。2007年,創效投資作為一種全新的投資形式被首次提出,摩根大通、洛克菲勒基金會和全球創效投資網絡(GIIN)於2010年共同發佈報告,將創效投資定義為一種新興的資產類別。此後,創效投資迅速引起了投資界和公益界的廣泛關注。 在過去五年,亞太地區一直是創效投資增長速度最快的市場。全球創效投資網絡發佈的報告顯示,自2007年以來,東南亞市場個人投資者通過225筆直接交易投資了9.04億美元,金融機構亦投資了112億美元。創效投資在亞太地區持續增長的規模,正為區域帶來新的機遇。 亞洲公益創投網絡主席兼行政總裁蘇萘娜、聯合國兒童基金會香港委員會主席陳晴、瑞銀財富管理亞太區聯席主管盧彩雲、RS 集團執行總監麥依敏,以及中電集團執行董事及財務總裁彭達思應邀擔任本場研討會的演講嘉賓,著重探討了最新的市場資訊、行業趨勢和發展,以在區域的發展進程中更好地定位創效投資。 作為亞太區內公益事業的一支重要力量,亞洲公益創投網絡對創效投資始終抱有熱情與積極態度,公司主席兼行政總裁蘇萘娜指出,需從中長期的角度看待創效投資,這些投資未必需要以犧牲收益為代價,投資可持續發展項目或綠色項目往往會產生更大效益。 作為聯合國兒童基金會香港委員會主席,陳晴在創效投資領域,更多關注的是未來投資。她認為,投資給下一代才是最好的投資,其中包括健康投資和教育投資。社會各界應把眼光放遠,從更廣闊的角度看待問題,互相合作,共同致力於為兒童提供更良好的成長環境。 “無論經濟形勢如何變化,我們的孩子總是需要成長與發展。為了追尋生命的真諦,我們必須謹慎思考應把時間與財富投資到什麼地方,”陳晴表示,“聯合國兒童基金願意與各方一道,為我們的下一代創造一個更美好的世界。” 瑞銀財富管理亞太區聯席主管盧彩雲同意陳晴的觀點。盧彩雲指出,我們其實是向下一代人“借”來了現在的居住環境,將來有一天我們要將這個世界還給他們,所以公營、私營企業等各方必須精誠合作,讓地球變得更宜居,這正是創效投資的意義所在。 盧彩雲亦十分提倡投資與慈善的結合。她亦表示,許多亞洲投資者仍非常務實,對他們來說收益十分重要。這一觀念需要糾正,因為可持續發展投資能夠帶來和常規投資一樣的經濟回報,卻可以產生更大的社會效益。 香港本地企業RS集團,多年來一直致力於推廣“經濟發展不應危及人類發展及環境可持續性”的重要概念,集團執行總監麥依敏認為創效投資正可實現這一願景。她在研討會上表示,香港需要發展創效投資,否則會降低香港的國際吸引力,投資者會將目光轉向海外其他市場;業界已在區內開始擴張,與我們展開競爭態勢;而亞洲獨有的文化和家庭價值觀,可為創效投資創造良好的發展空間和環境,“香港發展創效投資具有獨特優勢,”麥依敏說。 作為一家公共事業公司,中電集團的投資項目注重長期效益。集團執行董事及財務總裁彭達思指出,盡管關注長遠收益無可厚非,但絕不可僅僅如此,我們的投資必須可為社會作出貢獻。“充分的溝通以及信息的透明在這一進程中至關重要,”他補充說。 彭達思還透露,除個別特例外,中電集團已全面停止在煤電上的投資,目前的能源投資主要集中於風能、太陽能等二氧化碳零排放的可再生能源,讓人們投入更低碳的生活。 中國日報亞洲領袖圓桌論壇(www.cdroundtable.com)旨在搭建一個由亞洲國家和地區的政、商、學界領袖和社會精英參與的高端對話和交流平臺,圍繞亞洲地區經濟、商業、產業和社會發展等具有戰略影響的重要議題展開討論和分享見解,以增進中國與亞洲和西方國家的交流和理解。 中國日報是中國國家英文日報,創刊於1981年,擁有報紙、網站、移動客戶端、臉譜、推特、微博、微信、電子報等十餘種媒介平臺,全媒體用戶總數超過2億。截至2018年底,微博粉絲數超過4110萬,微信訂閱人數507萬,客戶端全球下載用戶超過1700萬,臉譜賬號粉絲數超過6300萬,位居全球媒體賬號粉絲數第二位,推特賬號粉絲數306萬。 媒體垂詢: 洪夢求 小姐 電話:(852)3465 5427 電郵:melody@chinadailyhk.com
2019-01-15HONG KONG - Although we come from a period where utilities were seen as part of the problem, the utility of tomorrow tends to be a part of the solution from an environmental friendly perspective, says Geert Peeters, executive director and chief financial officer of CLP Holdings. “Rather than being part of the past problem of carbon generation, we see ourselves now basically as part of the solution,” he told China Daily in an interview on the sidelines of the 2019 Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong. “So, the utility of tomorrow is that the digital technology will enable us to deliver decarbonized energy to deal with decentralization, to be directly engaged with our customers and to do all that dynamically.” CLP Holdings provides services in Kowloon, the New Territories and on Lantau Island. The objective of decarbonization, Peeters explains, is a commitment starting from Europe, spilling over into the world and now in Asia. For utility companies, it means a more complex system needs to be managed and operated on. Thanks to digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence and big data, those complex systems featuring low carbon and even zero carbon goals can be managed by human beings, he said. Thus, CLP has also devoted to projects and startups across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and in its secondary market, India, with an eye on the renewable energy blueprint. For the Bay Area, said Peeters, CLP plans to set its footprint in exploring more low carbon energy and other new energy, smart use of energy, as well as the energy efficiency. The company has already invested in Guangdong province with hydro plants and solar plants. It will also discuss with the SAR government to see if the city’s utility could import more low carbon or zero carbon energy from that region in future. Together with the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, CLP invested in En-trak — a Hong Kong energy management and smart lighting solutions provider — according to the company’s 2018 interim results announcement. “Part of the utility of tomorrow is also to help our customers to be smarter in their use and be more in control of their energy,” said Peeters. CLP is also collaborating with startups from the Silicon Valley and Tsinghua University in energy innovation. By teaming up with Caisse de depot et placement du Québec — Canada’s second-biggest pension fund — the Hong Kong-based utility company will make joint investments in India aimed at “providing clean and affordable energy there”, said Peeters. The commitment to reduce carbon emissions is now a common concept globally and Hong Kong is no exception. By 2020, the HKSAR government aims to increase the use of natural gas in its fuel mix for power production to about 50 percent from less than a quarter in 2012. “With the agreement we have with the city’s government, there’ll be a significant amount of investments that will be made in Hong Kong to lower the carbon intensity of our activity in the city,” Peeters said.
2019-01-15HONG KONG - The Hong Kong Committee for the United Nations Children’s Fund, commonly known as UNICEF, has urged governments, corporations and private investors to “co-create” novel investment projects for children. Judy Chen, chairperson of the organization, said the best investments would be in the health, education and caring sectors for our next generation, to be carried out together without boundaries. “‘Doing good’ is good business and now we need to do ‘good’ better,” she said. She made the remarks in an interview with China Daily during the 2019 Asian Financial Forum, which entered its second day on Tuesday. Chen said people harbor the impression that UNICEF usually works with governments but, in fact, it now has a diversified pool of partners, including governments, corporations and private donors. In 2017, three quarters of UNICEF Hong Kong’s revenue came from individual donations, while the percentage of corporate partnerships and annual fundraising events was about 15 percent. Besides large enterprises, such as HSBC and Cathay Pacific, Chen said UNICEF is working with some startups to jointly launch innovative projects, such as cryptocurrency donations and crowd-funding programs, to raise funds. For instance, the UNICEF Innovation (Venture) Fund helps to finance early stage startups of open-source technology that can help children. So far, the fund has raised about US$17.9 million. When conducting charity works with innovative methods, Chen stressed that supervision plays a significant role. She cited a project in which UNICEF and Montblanc co-designed a signature pen with a registered number on each product for donors. The code enables the owner to monitor the progress of the initiative and find out the many ways in which UNICEF is improving educational opportunities for children. “Though we’re now using diversified tools, the ultimate goal for me is the same, which is to see a ‘zero’,” Chen said, explaining the “zero” refers to no children starving, suffering from AIDS or dropping out of school. With a professional background in the banking industry, Chen has unique sensitivity for figures and offers insights from investment perspectives to provide better platforms for business partners. A graduate of Menlo College and Harvard Business School, she was a former banker who had held senior positions in various multinational companies, including as president of global wealth management and investment at Merrill Lynch (Asia Pacific). While she was working in private wealth management, numbers were equal to profit or investment returns but now, for her, it means how many children her team has saved from all kinds of adversity. Chen also urged Hong Kong to share its experiences and work in synergy with its Chinese mainland counterparts. “Charity has become a trend on the mainland but it still needs time to improve, especially on organizational structure and related policies,” she said.
2019-01-15Hong Kong has a unique role to play in promoting impact investing, but more efforts need to be made to narrow the “boundary”, business leaders and industry insiders said on Tuesday. They made the remarks at a roundtable forum organized by China Daily, entitled “Unleashing Impact Investing in Asia”, on the sidelines of the 2019 Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong. Impact investing has been gaining increased attention worldwide with growing awareness of social sustainability. The intention of the practice is to bring about positive social outcomes along with financial returns. However, despite growing recognition among investors, the “boundary” between making social benefits and making money remains an obstacle at present. “When doing investment, some may say 5 percent of my portfolio would do good for life for our children, but 95 percent of the portfolio is still making money. So how do we break the boundaries is important,” pointed out Naina Subberwal Batra, chairperson and chief executive officer of Asian Venture Philanthropy Network. But the good thing, she said, is that there’s a shift toward breaking the divide as more millennials and women become wealth holders and care about the issue. Her views were backed by Amy Lo, co-head of UBS Wealth Management, Asia Pacific. For Asian investors, Lo said, return is still important. “It is how we can get the concept right that you can also change the world via investment. We have to prove by some data points to show this kind of sustainable investing will generate similar return.” Batra added: “We have people here who have platforms to tell you that it’s a long run. Your money will probably do much better when you invest in sustainable sectors, or if you look into green investment.” Ronie Mak, managing director of RS Group, reckoned that for the sector to grow bigger, Hong Kong needs to play an active role. (From left) Alfred Romann, contributing editor of China Daily Asia Pacific; Naina Subberwal Batra, chairperson and CEO of Asian Venture Philanthropy Network; Geert Peeters, executive director and CFO of CLP Holdings; Amy LO, co-head of UBS Wealth Management; Judy Chen, chairman of Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF; and Ronie Mak, managing director of RS Group, attend a panel discussion during the China Daily Asia Leadership Roundtable at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong, Jan 15, 2019. (EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY) Noting that the SAR is in a “unique” position in promoting the development of impact investing, she said it’s important for the city to “capture the opportunity”. “Investors are asking for it. If the product resolutions here are not right, they may go overseas to other countries for it,” Mak warned. Geert Peeters, executive director and chief financial officer of CLP Holdings, believes that “communication” and “transparency” are two important factors in driving the sector’s growth. “We have to communicate as well on what our investments contribute to the society beyond just returns,” he said. Judy Chen, chairman of the Hong Kong Committee for the United Nations Children’s Fund, believes that “bridging the disparity” is the key to promoting impact investing. She also emphasized the importance of focusing on “the next generation”. “From our UNICEF perspective, we think the best investment is into our next generation, which is health and education,” she said.
2019-01-15China’s current intellectual property adaptation should stop aiming merely at growth volume, but make long-term plans to work on high-quality IP projects, a leading industry player said. Xie Guangcai, executive vice-president of ChineseAll Digital Publishing Group (CADP) — one of the Chinese mainland’s largest digital publishing companies — shared his views on the country’s future IP adaptation trend at the China Daily Asia Leadership Roundtable event on Thursday. IP adaptation in China comes mostly from online literature. CADP became the first listed digital publishing institution in the country in 2015, with 3.7 million signed writers, 4 million copyrights and 100,000 gigabytes of audio resources. Before 2006, the company’s business model was simple — selling its copyrights to studios and game companies. It had never been involved in the follow-up adaptation process, according to Xie. Recent years have seen the rapid development of IP adaptation in China, but problems have also arisen. Xie said CADP is not happy with the “reckless” adaptation of their works because the quality of the adapted works has fallen far short of expectations, and the lifespan of IP products in the market is short. Moreover, the studios that purchased the copyrights usually offer harsh contracts. They would often add more requirements, such as all future developments of the original works, but with no solid plans. “These platforms with big capital are draining the value of the original works. This oligopoly reminds us of what happened back in the old days when only State-owned TV stations on the mainland can produce TV series,” Xie recalled. The same thing is happening in the gaming industry. According to Xie, most online games in the market incredibly resemble each other in both content and form and, sometimes, they seem to simply keep the character settings by just having their names changed. Without the original storyline and gameplay, these mediocre games fail to attract users for long, said Xie, adding that all IP owners should shift their efforts to in-depth explorations of high-quality IPs. In the past few years, CADP had set up its gaming and film division, and it plans to do deep exploration of high-quality IPs, making use of its resources. In June this year, CADP and Wanda Media said they will cooperate fully in IP development. The two companies signed a 10-year contract that included three films, six TV series and a theme park ride, building on a popular fantasy novel Wu Song (the ode of sorcery). The original contents are from 17K — a novel network affiliated to CADP. After thorough research, Xie found that novels published on 17K, which targets mostly male readers, are better options to be adapted for gaming development. CADP will put in more resources and efforts in the new field, he said.
2018-12-10The lack of investors’ patience and a talent shortage are the top two challenges to the country’s fast-growing intellectual property industry, a pan-entertainment industry expert said. These are also the factors for an IP adaptation to become successful and sustainable both in profitability and audience satisfaction, said Leon Gao Shouzhi, president and founder of EntGroup — a big-data consulting company for the media and entertainment industry in China. According to statistics released by EntGroup, revenue for the whole entertainment industry is expected to exceed 650 billion yuan (US$94 billion) this year. And nearly half of it will come from customer subscription and payments for original IP content, which sets up the foundation of the IP industry. However, problems lurk in the prosperous market. One of them is the lack of patience from investors compared with their overseas counterparts like those in the Hollywood, Gao stressed. A mature IP usually takes a hatching cycle of 10 years. However, many mainland companies are eager to harvest profits before accumulating a big enough fan base, Gao said. “This made it impossible for the companies to sustain the profitability of the IP content.” And the capital poured into the newly evolving IP industrial chain in recent years aggravated the situation, he said. Many investors are eager to make fast money without paying due attention to the regular patterns of the industry, he added. Meanwhile, there is a talent shortage in the industry. While IP adaptation, a major part of the IP business is rapidly expanding into a whole industrial chain, the talent reserve may not be able to catch up. “Especially for those with creative ideas and skills, and talents equipped with high-tech expertise, which can’t be there overnight, are urgently needed in the industry,” Gao stressed. The industry observer took The Journey of Flower as one of the success stories of IP adaptations. The hot TV series was adapted from a web novel telling a love tale in ancient times. And its fantasy scenes also made special appeal to post-1995 audiences. The TV series broke many viewing records and became the first Chinese TV drama to attract over 20 billion views in 2015. Its success was extended to the gaming sector. The mobile game and other related products adapted from the same story were well received by the Chinese mainland market and were further distributed to other markets such as Taiwan. Not all big-hit stories, however, have the luck The Journey of Flower had, Gao said. “We see that many IP adaptations failed to attract the expected audience’s attention, and profits, too”, Gao told China Daily on the sidelines of the Business of IP Asia Forum. He cited as examples the films Gone With the Bullets (2014) and Aftershock (2010), both of which had box-office grosses exceeding 500 million yuan (US$73 million), but failed to achieve the same level of market acceptance with their mobile game adaptations. “These show that IP content compatibility has to be considered in the context of cross-media IP adaptations”, concluded Gao. Gao is still optimistic about the future of China’s IP industry. “I believe the prospects will become better,” he said. On the upstream, China has more locally created IPs, Gao said. The post-2000 generation grew up with home-made cartoons, unlike before, when Japanese manga and Hollywood cartoons were the most popular in the country, he elaborated. Downstream, there is a fast-growing market that saw more online users willing to pay for IP products. This means the market environment is more favorable for the industry, he said.
2018-12-10Content creators and game companies on the Chinese mainland must work harder for quality upgrade and innovations in the intellectual property adaptation business, industry insiders urged on Thursday. At a forum at the China Daily Asia Leadership Roundtable, themed “Maximising Benefits of Cross-media Collaboration”, they said creators and companies should not be concerned only about how much money they can make. Members of the audience had voiced disappointment over the poor quality of many IP-adapted games in China which, the panelists warned, would risk ruining the reputation of IPs. “To sustain profit growth, content creators need at least three to five years to develop a mature, well-made IP, and game publishers should not push them too hard,” said Xie Guangcai, executive vice-president of ChineseAll Digital Publishing Group — the first Chinese digital publisher to list on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2015. However, in China, many game companies are chasing after popular IPs for quick profit returns. The IP creators, on the other hand, are eager to sell the authorization right of their IPs once their IPs reach a viewership of more than 10 million, according to Leon Gao Shouzhi, president and founder of EntGroup — a research company specializing in the Chinese entertainment industry. The games produced in such a rush do manage to attract millions of users, many of whom are fans of the original IPs, in the early stages of the launch, but fail to sustain them due to the game’s poor quality. Unfavorable comments on such games can often be seen in the social media. Statistics from EntGroup show that in China, only 20 percent of IP fans are satisfied with the game adaptations, while the satisfaction rate with films and teleplays is between 50 and 70 percent, Gao said. He pointed out that views should not be the sole standard when considering adapting an IP into a game, since not all subjects of IPs are fit for games adaptation. He cited the game adaptation of the movie Aftershock, which was directed by Feng Xiaogang and based on the massive 1976 Tangshan earthquake that killed 240,000 people. Though the movie raked in US$78.47 million at the box office in China, the disaster and tragedy theme should not be entertained, Gao said. Sophia Xie Fei, chief executive officer and director of Shanda Game — the early market leader in the PC-based games era — said while selecting IP for adaptation, the theme must convey positive values if a classic is to be forged. As a company with a near 20-year history, Shanda commands a group of loyal players of its classic titles, such as The World of Legend, Dragon Nest (CN) and The Legend of Mir. “A game’s spiritual core, such as the brotherhood and the determination to protect the world’s peace, can keep users for more than 10 years,” Xie said. Touching stories Cartoon creators at the forum echoed Xie’s views, emphasizing that touching stories and positive images are crucial to their popularity. Leo Huang Weiming — the creator of two super IPs, Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf and Happy Heroes, and general manager of Creative Power Entertaining — said cartoons need to cater to audiences of all ages, and a positive story can be better promoted by word of mouth. “The leading role of Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf was not the ‘pleasant goat’, but the ‘lazy goat’ at the beginning,” Huang said. “We decided to let the former be the star as no parent would want their children to be lazy, while a pleasant, brave figure can be a good model,” he said. Xu Han, creator of “Ali the Fox” and founder of Dream Castle Culture, said IP authors should be responsible in the cultural cultivation. He urged IP creators to look for inspiration from the Chinese culture to “make the story and the figures more attractive and help increase our own cultural impact on future generations”. Since March this year, mainland authorities have stopped approving licenses for new games. Game companies could still launch their games, but for beta tests only, at no charge. A beta test is the second phase of software testing in which a sampling of the intended audience tries out the product. A report by research firm CNG showed that the Chinese game industry experienced the slowest first-half-year growth compared with the past five years. CNG was assigned by the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television to compile a report on the country’s game industry. Many game companies are seeing huge losses because, on one hand, they could not produce new games and, on the other, their old games have lost customers. These may force them out of the market, warned Xie Guangcai. In his view, companies should give thought to how to keep customers longer rather than relying on just taking advantage of trendy topics. Sound performance Xie estimated that “the shutoff is temporal and license approvals will resume, but the quota will be limited”. Despite the stagnation in the game industry, China Mobile Games and Entertainment Group (CMGE) — the largest mobile game publisher in China — put up a sound financial performance in the first half of this year. The company’s net profit surged 66 percent to 162.7 million yuan (US$23.7 billion), according to Bloomberg. In September, the company applied for a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. CMGE has launched 61 games, 10 of which have managed to stay in the market for more than three years. Hendrick Sin, co-founder and vice-chairman of CMGE, told the forum the company is dedicated to developing original IPs of good quality. It is a major strategy switch for the company, whose entire revenue came from game publishing a year ago. CMGE said it will publish 50 new games by the end of next year. The themes will include Chinese fantasy, wuxia or martial arts, and adventures. Looking to the future, the panelists said there will be more possibilities in the form of game adaptations. With the aid of technologies that are pushing the boundary, such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence, game adaptations will bring more immersive experience to users and will be integrated closely with other kinds of spin-off products of IPs, Xie Fei said. No matter how far the advanced technology will take us, we mustn’t forget our cultural roots are where the core competitiveness lies, panelists concluded. The forum was co-organized by China Daily Asia Pacific and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council as part of the Business of IP Asia Forum held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
2018-12-10In the 10 years since the State Council issued the Outline of the National Intellectual Property Strategy, new industries related to IP, ranging from online literature and animation to games, have developed in leaps and bounds. In 2017, the value of China’s pan-entertainment industry — multilevel creative products developed from IP — exceeded 500 billion yuan ($72.5 billion), accounting for more than 20 percent of the total digital economy. The monetization rate of mobile games is the highest among all pan-entertainment industries, surpassing 200 billion yuan, with IP-based mobile games accounting for over 60 percent of the revenue, according to a report by Chinese gaming industry database Gamma Data Corp. In response to the industry trend, a China Daily Asia Leadership Roundtable event was held on Thursday during the first day of the two-day Business of IP Asia Forum (BIP Asia) in Hong Kong. Co-organized by China Daily Asia Pacific and BIP Asia, the panel discussion brought together industry leaders, content producers and investors under the theme Era of IP Convergence: Maximizing Benefits of Cross-media Collaboration. Movies and TV dramas are a major form of IP adaptation in China and this IP mostly comes from online literature, said Leon Gao Shouzhi, president and founder of EntGroup, a provider of information and intelligence for China’s entertainment industry. Data from EntGroup show that about 50 to 70 percent of people of all ages accept IP-based movies and TV dramas, while only 20 percent of people accept IP-based games. In 2017, direct revenue generated by IP-based movies and dramas was about 350 million yuan, in which 76 percent of this content was adapted from online literature. Meanwhile, games based on movies, reality shows and dramas tend to be more popular with audiences. “For example, games based on the animation film Boonie Bears, the drama The Journey of Flower and the reality show Running Man have all gained good results in the number of active users, with some of them reaching tens of millions of active users,” said Gao. But a short product life is a shared issue among various IP adaptations, said Gao. He said he would like to see the industry focus more on the characteristics and preferences of young audiences, in particular the post-1995 generation. “Many people are also rushing to monetize their IP once they have attracted tens of millions of fans … In Hollywood, it needs 10 years for an IP to grow mature enough,” said Gao, hoping the industry can be more patient in producing high-quality IP. Hendrick Sin, co-founder and vice-chairman of CMGE Technology Group, noted the importance of companies creating their own IP as popular titles can generate huge profits. “When we tried to get the franchise for our third One Piece game from our partners in Japan, the IP price was several times more than that of the first game,” said Sin. One Piece is a popular Japanese manga series that began in 1997. As one of China’s largest publishers of mobile games based on IP, SMGE became China’s first mobile game company listed on Nasdaq, in 2012. So far, the company has more than 200 million registered users. IP incubation might not be as difficult as people think, the forum heard. Leo Huang Weiming and his team took only 15 minutes to come up with Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, one of China’s most popular children’s cartoon shows. Today the brand spans 2,000 episodes, seven films and five stage plays. Its franchise business covers more than 10,000 products and a new film is being planned for the 2021 Spring Festival. On the back of the huge success of Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, Huang, general manager of Creative Power Entertaining Co, created the cartoon Happy Heroes, which also became a big hit in China. “We have also combined this IP with the hospitality industry by launching themed hotels in China, bringing the IP to a new business format,” said Huang. To him, no matter how the market and times change, content as the core value of IP will never change. Seize the trend IP promotion needs to be combined with the trendiest things in the market, said Xu Han, founder, chairman and CEO of Dream Castle. Xu is also the creator of Ali the Fox, a popular cartoon character with over 22 million fans in China. “Twelve years ago, when I just started to create Ali the Fox, people liked buying picture books, so that was how I promoted the cartoon character,” said Xu. “Today, people like to send emoticons on social networking apps, so we also launched emoticon packs. On WeChat alone, Ali the Fox emoticons have been downloaded over 100 million times and were shared over 1 billion times.” Noting the importance of diversifying the IP, Xu promotes Ali the Fox through a wide range of online and offline platforms, launching spin-off products and even an international collaboration with Kishi Station in western Japan, which became famous for its cat stationmaster. Sophia Xie Fei, CEO and director of Shanda Games, a domestic gaming industry leader backed by tech giant Tencent, said the adaptation of IP is no longer limited to pan-entertainment sectors. She cited tourism, hospitality, theme parks and even new retail as other areas that generate huge potential for IP collaboration. Noting that many people think popularity and monetization are benchmarks to judge the success of IP, Xie said the industry should plan for long-term development to create IP that will resonate with people. “By doing so, we can transform (even) a single hit IP into a classic,” said Xie. “China has a lot of good stories and cultures. We need to figure out how to spread that out by combining them with films, dramas, games and literature,” said Xie Guangcai, executive vice-president of Chinese All Digital Publishing Group, a leading Chinese digital publishing company. “When developing IP, it is important for us to continue our efforts in creating good stories, using them to show the value and culture of China,” he said. Shanda’s Xie said that technology cannot be neglected as it plays a key role in stimulating development and guiding the direction of the entire industry. “Whether it is because of the maturity of 5G and cloud-based technologies, or the wide adoption of artificial intelligence and virtual reality, we will see disruptive changes (in the future),” she said, citing the mobile game industry as an example. Li Yao, news editor of China Daily Hong Kong, moderated the session.
2018-12-062018年12月6日 香港:中國日報亞洲領袖圓桌論壇今天在香港舉辦題為“知識產權融合時代:跨界合作價值最大化”的專題研討會,吸引逾300名来自國內外的政、商、法律及學界的业界翹楚參會。 本場研討會由中國日報與亞洲知識產權營商論壇合辦。藝恩公司創始人兼首席執行官郜壽智先生;廣東原創動力文化傳播有限公司總經理及“喜羊羊之父”、“開心超人之父”黃偉明先生;中手游科技集團有限公司聯合創始人及副董事長冼漢廸先生;中文在線數字出版集團常務副總裁謝廣才先生;盛大遊戲首席執行官兼董事謝斐女士;以及“阿狸”原創作者及夢之城創始人、董事長兼首席執行官徐瀚先生受邀擔任本場研討會演講嘉賓。 近年來,在IP(知識產權)熱潮的影響之下,除了影視,遊戲、文學及動漫IP的開發熱度也不斷推高。IP原意為知識產權,是英文知識產權的縮寫,隨著內容產業的發展和粉絲經濟的火熱,IP內容正逐漸成為商業變現的熱門所在,各行業也已迅速意識到IP的強大吸金能力。對熱門IP進行遊戲、影視、文學的改編,曾打造出不少廣受大眾喜愛的成功案例。目前,騰訊、愛奇藝等知名公司也開始致力於打通IP全產業鏈,構建打通遊戲、文學、動漫、影視等多種文創業務領域的互動娛樂新生態。在如此趨勢下,本次研討會將聚焦於知識產權的內容延伸性,六位演講嘉賓將探索在跨界合作的過程中,如何才能長線經營,將知識產權價值最大化。 致力於整合、發展及推廣手遊生態系統,中手遊坐擁強大的IP合作資源,從影視到文學再到動漫,已然成為中國內地第一大全平臺發行方。冼漢廸表示,盡管IP難以孵化,但是仍然要著力於發展自己的IP,因為獲取他人IP的成本越來越高。中手遊通過投資手段,目前已經有“仙劍奇俠傳”系列、“大富翁”系列、“軒轅劍”系列等近七十個知名IP,這些都為企業的下一步發展打下了良好的基礎。 定位為以數據洞察為核心的平臺公司,藝恩公司對IP跨界改編產業有獨到的見解。其首席執行官郜壽智指出,電影、綜藝節目、電視劇、漫畫等改編成遊戲,確實可以取得比較好的用戶活躍度,有的甚至可以達到千萬級用戶規模,但是背後存在非常嚴峻的問題,即跨界改編的產品生命周期相對較短,題材泛濫亦分流了大眾的吸引力。一個成熟的IP,往往需要十年周期的積累,而目前許多IP企業,積累了一定用戶就急於收割變現。他續指,IP業界應審慎改編經典作品,積極考慮如科幻類等的較新題材;在改編電影時,亦應了解票房情況與一部電影是否適合改編並無直接關係。 盛大遊戲成立於1999年。作為中國內地老牌遊戲公司的首席執行官,謝斐表示盛大遊戲在IP發展方面有發言權。她說,IP產業的發展,已經從傳統的遊戲、影視、動漫、文學等泛娛樂範疇,滲透到文旅、酒店、主題公園、新零售等形態,這些都為今時今日IP產業的發展增加了厚度,亦為IP融合在更大範圍內制造機會與想象力提供了條件。 謝斐相信,遊戲產品的生命周期是有限的,但一個IP的生命周期應是無限的。她說,真正成功的IP應是一個凝聚正能量、溫度、快樂的信仰,而不僅僅局限於其用戶流量、變現能力或熱度;當這一可持續的信仰建立起來時,盈利也自然會來。 作為中文在線的創始人,謝廣才坦言,中國內地IP行業面臨的一個重要問題,就是缺乏IP的開發。他說,一部IP作品的成熟需要較長的周期,在產生影響力和傳播力之後,才應進行相應的開發,“應該把IP作品當孩子養起來。” “喜羊羊之父”及“開心超人之父”黃偉明認為,IP市場不斷變化,風口不斷改變,但核心是“內容”,一個好的IP必須擁有獨特的內容,“幽默”、“感人”、“正能量”是打造IP品牌的關鍵要素。他解釋說,幽默是永恒的收視保證,感人亦不需要講大道理,而正能量是成為品牌的必要條件。 談及什麼樣的IP才是好IP,著名卡通人物“阿狸”的創作者徐瀚認為,其標准就是“你是否願意拿這部作品給孩子看”,因此他希望他創作的“阿狸”可以成為孩子和家長之間的愛心紐帶。 徐瀚以繪本為例,指出不同國家出品的繪本都反映了自己的價值觀,目前市場上有很多歐美繪本,他希望中國內地和香港可以出品更多令人喜聞樂見的繪本,將中國文化和東方文化傳播出去。 中國日報亞洲領袖圓桌論壇(www.cdroundtable.com)旨在搭建一個由亞洲國家和地區的政、商、學界領袖和社會精英參與的高端對話和交流平台,圍繞亞洲地區經濟、商業、產業和社會發展等具有戰略影響的重要議題展開討論和分享見解,以增進中國與亞洲和西方國家的交流和理解。 中國日報社擁有報紙、網站、移動用戶端、臉譜、推特、微博、微信、電子報等十餘種媒介平臺。在海外,通過每月發行《中國觀察報》(China Watch),直達美國《華爾街日報》和《華盛頓郵報》、英國《每日電訊報》、法國《費加羅報》、泰國《民族報》、俄羅斯《俄羅斯報》、日本《每日新聞》等美、歐、亞主流讀者群。(完) 媒體垂詢: 洪夢求 小姐 電話:(852)3465 5427 電郵:melody@chinadailyhk.com
2018-12-06