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    Trending in China: Co-Founder of Ailing Skincare E-Commmerce Company Jumei Resigns

    Today on social media, Chinese consumers are talking about the resignation of Jumei's co-founder and Shiseido's surprise sunscreen recall.
    Jumei founders Leo Chen and Photo: VCG
    Yiling PanAuthor
      Published   in Finance

    Today on social media, Chinese consumers are talking about a product recall by Shiseido, real estate tycoon Li Ka-shing's HK$14.5 billion sell-off, the resignation of Jumei's co-founder and the country's No.1 profit-losing company, JD.com:

    Co-founder of Jumei resigns for personal reasons

    The U.S.-listed, Chinese cross-border cosmetics e-commerce company Jumei.com announced on July 26 that its Co-founder and Vice President Yusen Dai resigned for personal reasons. The internet users are speculating on where he will go next and what his resignation means for the e-commerce company. Led by the Stanford graduates Leo Chen and Dai, Jumei.com had its heyday back to 2012, culminating in its 2014 IPO in the United States. However, the company has since then been riddled with counterfeit issues and targeted by short sellers on Wall Street. It had to be delisted in 2016. Many Weibo commenters believe Dai's leave is not a good sign for Jumei.com and shows the disastrous potential of counterfeit issues.

    Netizen's comment: Jumei is totally not what it used to be. Now the question is, how can it survive?

    Photo: Sorbis / Shutterstock
    Photo: Sorbis / Shutterstock

    Shiseido voluntarily recalls three sunscreen products#

    It is no secret that Shiseido has a lot of loyal Chinese fans. So when the high-end cosmetics brand announced it was voluntarily recalling one of its trending sun protection products from the global market, Chinese consumers flocked to the internet to figure out why. The official statement released by Shiseido shows that it recalled three types of sunscreen products, including the Anessa line that is highly popular in China, for uncomfortable granular texture that might cause itchy skin. Though initially confusing, it seems, from the comments, that they handled the situation right.

    Netizen's comments: At least they admitted and recalled! Shiseido's a responsible enterprise.

    Photo: Bobby Yip
    Photo: Bobby Yip

    Property tycoon Li Ka-shing sold telecom business for HK$14.5 billion#

    Following a series of recent asset offloads by Wanda's Wang Jianlin, and believing that Wang's destiny signals the future of other Chinese billionaires, China's online community seems to be weighing who the Chinese government's next target might be. Thus, when reports emerged that Hong Kong real estate tycoon Li Ka-shing sold his Hutchison Telecommunications fixed-line phone business for HK$14.5 billion ($1.86 billion) to an American private equity firm, many people on social media started to speculate about the reasons for the sale. Most of the commenters believe that Li's departure was a swift and prompt reaction to Wang's imbroglio while signaling that the Chinese economy is getting worse.

    Netizen's comment: Li Ka-shing is really smart. Look at Wang Jianlin now, I bet he can't sleep.

    JD.com is among the top loss-making firms in China. Photo: Aly Song/VCG
    JD.com is among the top loss-making firms in China. Photo: Aly Song/VCG

    Ranking reveals JD.com as one of the top loss-making firms in China

    Believe it or not, e-commerce giant JD.com is among the top loss-making Chinese companies named by Fortune magazine this year, along with some state-owned enterprises like Sinopec and Cosco. The company reportedly lost 3.8 billion yuan over the past year. Many social media commenters found JD's results highly counterintuitive since the e-commerce industry has been highly lucrative in recent years.

    Netizen's comment: Now I see that the gap between JD.com and Alibaba is huge!

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