eLong Inc. (Nasdaq: LONG | PowerRating), a leading online travel agency, have made profits for six consecutive quarters since the first quarter of 2009 and its second-quarter operating profits are equivalent to the gross profits of last full year, disclosed its CEO Cui Guangfu.
Particularly, in the period, the sales growth of the hotel operations under eLong overtook that of archrival Ctrip.com International Ltd. (Nasdaq: CTRP | PowerRating), which hit 34%, for the first time since 2006, thanks to the former’s coverage of low-end hotels.
eLong has reached agreement with GreenTree Inn, according to which they …

In an apparent bid to extend its control over the Internet and cash in on the rapid growth of mobile devices, Chinaplans to create its own government-controlled search engine.
The new venture would be fresh competition for Baidu.com, a private company that runs China’s dominant search engine. Baidu has seen its market share grow since Google retreated from the mainland earlier this year.
State-owned China Mobile — the world’s biggest cellphone carrier — and Xinhua, China’s official state-run news agency, signed an agreement Thursday to create a joint venture called the Search Engine New Media International …

Strong demand for business and leisure travel again boosted the results of Ctrip CTRP in the second quarter. As the largest travel agent in China, Ctrip saw a 46% year-over-year increase in quarterly net revenue, which totaled CNY 695 million, thanks to significantly higher volume in air travel and hotel room bookings. These two segments account for close to 90% of total sales. With most of its revenue from domestic travel, Ctrip attributed its growth to a robust economy in China. Its efforts since last year to penetrate more second- and …

Chinese Internet giant Baidu Inc’ joint venture RakuBai on Friday said it expects nearly 100 million users to utilize its e-commerce site for online shopping over the next three years.
That in turn may help the company in a long term influence dominate position of Alibaba.com’s e-commerce company Taobao in China’s online shopping services market, said experts.
“We anticipate the Chinese online users to surpass the Japanese numbers within three years after our services go online,” said Koichi Nakamura, chairman and chief executive of Beijing …

From Synovate China Media Atlas; Chinese activity by income levels.

Upper income leveled Chinese lead digital engagement; with top information searched being financial this gives insight into China’s psychographic priorities.

From Synovate China Media Atlas; channel preference of higher income’d Chinese.

Higher income’d Chinese tend to prefer Internet channels vs. all other available channels. While outdoor and TV are strong, expect offline channels to lose ground to digital communication medium; primarily due to low-cost and easy access vs. other channels.

A leading Chinese Internet regulator has vowed to reduce anonymity in China’s portion of cyberspace, calling for requirements that people to use their real names when buying a mobile phone or going online, according to a human rights group.
In an address to the national legislature in April, Wang Chen, director of the State Council Information Office, called for perfecting the extensive system of censorship the government uses to manage the fast-evolving Internet, according to a text of the speech obtained by New York-based Human Rights in China.
China’s regime has a …

TravelDaily (www.traveldaily.cn), China’s leading online publisher and event organizer with emphasis on distribution, marketing and technology in the travel and tourism industries, announced today it will partner with PhoCusWright to host the 2010 China Travel Distribution Summit in Beijing from Sep. 15 to 16, 2010.
The China Travel Distribution Summit 2010 will bring together some of the world’s and China’s most influential travel industry leaders and executives to discuss core issues affecting travel.
“Despite a global downturn that has been impacting the world economy since late 2008, China remains the hotspot …

The Internet has transformed the lives of millions while disrupting and displacing the business models of traditional media channels around the globe. But what impact does the Internet have on how people live? How important a role does it play in their decisions? Does that role vary from country to country, or are users’ experiences universal? Will concerns about such issues as privacy and security dampen consumers’ digital enthusiasm, or will new media continue to play an expanding role in their lives?
These are critical questions. The Digital Influence Index has …

Posting negative comments on the Web about products and services is fast becoming the most popular channel for Chinese consumers to vent their spleen. Yet, behind this veneer of free expression lies a murky world of cyber bullies and unscrupulous webmasters who are manipulating the media to either promote or smear a company’s image for profit.
In a country with nearly 400 million Web users, online marketing has become a big business and has spawned a legion of Internet public relations agencies. Their services include not only getting a product seen …

Agreement with China a Great Opportunity for Canada’s Tourism Industry

Ottawa, June 24, 2010 – With today’s official signing of the Approved Destination Status agreement with China, Canada’s tourism industry is now presented with an excellent opportunity for growth.

“This is a great day for tourism in Canada, and a great day for travelers from China,” said David Goldstein, President and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC). “This agreement will create a greater openness between our countries, allowing Chinese visitors greater access to all of Canada’s iconic attractions …

Potential customers check tour information at a travel agency. Travel service websites are hot with a strong demand for tourism from residents. CHENG NING / FOR CHINA DAILY

Can foreign entrepreneurs successfully run Internet companies in China?
Yes, if you ask Fritz Demopoulos: “I don’t think I am an anomaly. What it takes to be successful in the Chinese market is the same stuff it takes to be successful in other markets. We forget that here.”
Anomaly or not, Demopoulous’ name is one that often comes up in Beijing’s tech circles as a …

From Synovate China Media Atlas; measurement of China’s top media channels.

Clear preference for digital via internet and mobile. TV continues to hold on, but expect this to decrease as future generations split their time across engaging digital medium vs. passive TV entertainment.
From Synovate China Media Atlas; measurement of China’s top portal popularity by city tiers.

Tier1 and Tier3 cities lead the pack in internet usage across China’s major portals.
From Synovate China Media Atlas; how different income levels interact online.

Higher income level netizens lead interaction across China’s web. This is quite interesting; as targeting the more intelligent, …

Something rather unusual is happening in China. Hundreds of porn sites, as well as a Twitter client and a video-sharing site, have all been released for public viewing and no one knows why.
China is virtually in the middle of a one-year scraping of the Internet, forcefully removing any content that censors find “vulgar” so decent people can surf the net without stumbling across images of bottoms.
So it was quite a surprise when not only scores of Western porn sites were opened once more …

China Tuesday published a white paper on its internet policy, stressing its commitment to freedom of speech on the internet.
The white paper, released by the State Council Information Office, introduced facts of the development and use of the internet in China.
Coming three months after the very public dispute with Google, which resulted in the shutdown of Google’s China-based portal, the paper offers a revealing look back on Chinese Internet history as well as where the country stands today.
Not surprisingly, China still supports the so-called “Great Firewall” approach to controlling and censoring …

Internet users in China spend about 1 billion hours online each day, more than double the daily total in the United States—and that number will grow to well over 2 billion hours a day by 2015, according to a new report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). This report, titled China’s Digital Generations 2.0: Digital Media and Commerce Go Mainstream, offers a comprehensive study of online behavior in China based on quantitative data as well as interviews with nearly 2,000 people from 12 cities in 11 of China’s 22 provinces. …

June 4th 2010 marked the 21st anniversary of the massacre of 3000 students and protesters carried out by the Chinese government at Tiananmen Square. Discussion of the bloody incident is strictly prohibited on mainland China and the ban extends to the internet.
But China on Friday blocked Web service Foursquare, which lets users alert friends to where they are through their cell phones. The reason was not known, but many users had been “checking in” from Tiananmen Square to mark the anniversary of a bloody 1989 government crackdown on student-led pro-democracy …

China has banned Internet maps because the government considers them a threat to state security.
New regulations will ban what the government considers to be “illegal” online maps of the country. The prohibition includes all maps downloaded or copied from the Internet onto mobile devices.
Chinese officials say they fear that some uploaded satellite maps and images could show sensitive military locations. The authorities are updating current policies to require all Internet map servers to store map data inside the country and provide public IP addresses. There will be tighter supervision of …

China’s Internet users increased 20 million in the first quarter of this year, hitting the 404 million mark, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said on Thursday, the Shanghai Securities News reported.
With the fast increase of Internet users, China’s current Internet protocol (IP) addresses will run out in the next 2 to 3 years, and the country has to speed up the deployment of the new generation IP addresses – IPv6, said Zhu Jun, deputy director of the ministry’s telecom development department.
But until now, the country still does …

Given a population of over 1 billion, China is one of the largest tourism market in the world. Thanks to the increasing in income and public holidays, Chinese now have both money and time to make a trip.
Stocks mentioned in this report include Ctrip.com (NASDAQ:CTRP), Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE), eLong Inc. (NASDAQ:LONG), China CYTS Tours Holding Co., Ltd (SHA:600138), China United Travel Co., Ltd. (SHA:600358), and Emei Shan Tourism Company Limited (SHE:000888).

1. Market Size
l Total Revenue of Travel Industry of China in 2008 was RMB1,160 billion ($170 billion), increased by 5.8% compared that in 2007, (China …