14 must-read news stories from China last week

Missed out on China news last week? Fear not, here’s our roundup for your weekend coffee reading.

1. OKCoin, now China’s largest Bitcoin exchange, gets $10 million investment

The company is already seeking a Series B round to expand overseas, according to its vice president. Other Chinese exchanges haven’t shown any interest in going international, but it’s unclear what distinct advantages OkCoin has over other exchanges.

2. China Unicom finally rolls out 4G, but confusion reigns over dual LTE strategy

The telecom looks set to roll out two protocools – TD-LTE and FDD-LTTE – and it’s not really clear as to why.

3. Beijing-based mobile game company FunPlus raises $74 million in funding

FunPlus isn’t as well-known internationally as media darlings like King.com or Supercell, but it’s worth keeping an eye on if you’re following the mobile games industry. The company has seen strong traction with its “Family Farm” titles in many markets around the world.

4. Tencent invests in a mobile commerce site for low-income feature phone owners

You’ve probably never heard of Maimaibao.com, a website that’s specially designed for mobile commerce on sub-3G phones. Tencent’s a believer, and just sealed the deal on a $100 million investment for the company with some help from Sequoia Capital and MediaTek.

5. WeChat sees resurgent growth, now has 355 million active users

If you’re keeping track of MAU’s for messaging apps, China’s WeChat is at 355 million. No updates yet on international users – early last year that number was at 100 million registered users… so with no further news on that front, we’ll continue assuming WeChat (or Weixin, as its known domestically) is a ‘China-only’ joint.

6. Tencent: $3.15 billion in profit in 2013 as company shifts focus to mobile, ecommerce

Tencent reported during its earnings call for the year 2013 that ecommerce revenues made up 19 percent of its Q4 revenues. The company admitted the spike was due to China’s 11/11 annual sales blitz, and not due to WeChat’s slow foray into ecommerce. Even so, for future earnings calls, watch this data point – as WeChat retail starts picking up speed, expect ecommerce revenues to even out with Tencent’s revenues from PC gaming.