Among U.S. holdings, CIC declared a stake of $1.77 billion in Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and a previously unannounced $713.8 million holding in BlackRock Inc (BLK.N), the world’s largest independent money manager.

CIC disclosed stakes, mostly small, in more than 60 companies, including:

– $498 million in the U.S.-traded stock of Brazilian miner Vale SA (VALE5.SA);

– $29.8 million in Citigroup (C.N);

– $19.9 million in Bank of America Corp (BAC.N);

– $14.7 million in American International Group Inc (AIG.N);

– $9 million in Coca Cola Co (KO.N);

– $6.3 million in Apple Inc (AAPL.O);

– $4.1 million in News Corp (NWSA.O).

The complete SEC filing can be read here.

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Post tags: Apple, CIC, Coca-Cola, news corp, overseas investment
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Because sucking up to government bigwigs has served Murdoch very well on several continents, Dover writes, the tycoon believed that China’s hostility to Star, which he bought into in 1993, could be overcome. If he could sit down with the proper political leaders, he was certain he could reach an accommodation that benefited all.

But the powerful Chinese potentates routinely snubbed Murdoch, dispatching him and his underlings to speak with powerless junior officials. Dover writes that the “Chinese were well aware of his proclivity to involve himself in a nation’s politics if it were to the advantage of his business interests,” and they weren’t going to budge. The prospect of a Westerner beaming uncensored TV signals directly into Chinese homes appalled the country’s leaders.

- See a previous article on the book from The Economist, and an excerpt from the book here. An article in the New York Times last year looks at Murdoch’s relationship with China and interviews book author Bruce Dover.

UPDATE: Read also, via Danwei, a review of the book that was reportedly spiked by the Far Eastern Economic Review, now owned by Murdoch.

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Post tags: book reviews, foreign media, news corp, Rupert Murdoch, Wendi Deng
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The chairman of the Bank of East Asia has been told by US watchdogs he may face civil action for alleged breaches of securities laws, the bank says.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has contacted David Li amid a probe into potential insider trading of shares in Dow Jones. The SEC investgation is linked to News Corp ‘s $5bn (¬£2.5bn) bid for Dow Jones , where Mr Li is a board member. Mr Li denies wrongdoing, and said he would “defend himself vigorously”. [Full Text]

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Post tags: Dow Jones, news corp, SEC
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Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. has signed a deal to bring its popular online social networking site, MySpace.com, to China.

News Corp. and two venture capital firms agreed earlier this month to hire a former Microsoft executive to license the MySpace brand and technology in China in the hope of capturing market share in the world’s fastest-growing internet market. [Full text]

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Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., which is looking for a local partner as it aims to launch its popular MySpace Internet social network in China, is in early talks with prominent local blog companies Bokee.com and BlogCN.com, industry sources said on Sunday.

On a visit to Beijing in September, Murdoch’s wife Wendi Deng met with Bokee”one of China’s first and best-known blogging sites which commands 25 percent of the market”one source said.

MySpace co-founders Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe have also met Bokee and rival BlogCN several times, the sources said, though it remains unclear whether there will be a tie-up. [Full text]

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Now that Rupert Murdoch has proven that Western media companies can’t get ahead in China through flattery, nepotism and the back door, we at Danwei will have to have to find a new model for our business.

In case you didn’t know, Rupert is the world’s last true media mogul – his company, News Corp., owns everything from 20th Century Fox Studios to ultra-conservative Fox News to the tabloid New York Post. Last week, Rupert stunned the media world by ditching most of his stake in Hong-Kong based Phoenix TV. In dropping from 38% control of Phoenix to 18%, Rupert indicated that a recent string of failures has forced him to scale back his dream of extending his broadcast empire to China. [Full Text]

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News Corp. will sell a 19.9 percent stake in a China-focused broadcaster to the state parent of China Mobile Ltd., the companies said in a joint statement on Thursday.

The stake has a market value of US$185 million, based on the last shares price close.

After the transaction, News Corp’s STAR Group Ltd. would retain a 17.6 percent stake in the broadcaster, Phoenix Satellite Television , according to the statement.

[Full Text]

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In a new attempt to reassert control over popular culture, China has barred new foreign television channels and plans to step up censorship of imported programs.

China has greatly liberalized media markets over the past three years and satellite broadcasters such as News Corp. and Viacom have moved in.

But that’s prompted concern among China’s leadership about safeguarding “national cultural safety,” China’s Culture Ministry announced on its website on Wednesday.

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