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AOL in new tie-up with China firm

4月17日 星期一 美国东部时间(夏令时)6:22

路透社上海电  传媒业巨头时代华纳集团旗下的网络部门——美国在线(AOL)周一表示，已经和中国第二大传媒企业建立了联系，这是自其2003年退出中国市场后的第一次类似合作活动。

在新的合作关系下，宽带内容商上海文广集团(SMG)会为AOL.com中文站点提供素材，其受众主要是在美国的中文使用者。SMG宽频会提供实质内容给美国的传媒地带公司(MediaZone)，AOL中文站点的合作伙伴之一。

SMG副总裁张大钟在新闻稿中表示：“这次合作只是一个开端，将来会有更加重要的合作成果。”。他还表示，一开始合作的焦点将在免费产品和免费服务的领域，不过双方希望将来能够合作开发收费服务。

AOL在近十年中，一会儿进入中国，一会儿又退出，正映射出了它发展的过程：其全球财富在20世纪90年代的网络经济繁荣的时候聚集，接着又在2000年以后，随着网络泡沫被挤爆而不断蒸发。在2001年全球扩展业务的过程中，AOL高调进入中国，同中国最大的个人电脑生产商联想集团推进一项价值2亿美元的合作项目。但是在两年后，双方的合作宣告失败，因为没有能够获得足够的发展。

AOL在2004年向路透社透露，它已经就重新进入中国而展开对话。中国拥有超过1亿网民，是世界第二大互联网市场。但是AOL没有公布任何的商业交易。

当AOL重新回到中国的时候，它会发现，市场竞争已经十分激烈，其竞争对手既有本地的新浪(Sina Corp.)和搜狐(Sohu.com Inc.)，同样还有国际网络巨头，像雅虎(Yahoo Inc.)和微软(Microsoft)MSN服务。

Original News

AOL in new tie-up with China firm

Mon Apr 17, 6:22 AM ET

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - AOL, the online unit of media giant Time Warner Inc., said on Monday it has formed a tie-up with China’s number two media company, one of its first such pairings since it withdrew from the Chinese market in 2003.

Under their new relationship, the broadband content arm of Shanghai Media Group (SMG) will provide material for a Chinese language version of AOL.com aimed at Chinese speakers in the United States.

SMG Broadband will provide the actual material to U.S. firm MediaZone, which is a partner in the AOL Chinese language site.

“This partnership is just a beginning, with the major fruits still to come in the future,” said SMG Vice President Zhang Dazhong at a news briefing.

He said the initial focus will be on free products and services, but the companies hope to further cooperate to develop fee-based services in the future.

AOL has had an on-again-off-again relationship with China this decade, mirroring its global fortunes as it boomed during the dot-com bubble of the 1990s only to fade during the crash that followed starting in 2000.

The company charged into China in 2001 amid a broader global expansion, launching a $200 million venture with much fanfare with Lenovo Group Ltd., China’s largest PC maker.

But the pair scrapped the venture two years later after it failed to gain steam.

The company told Reuters in 2004 it was back in discussions to re-enter China — the world’s second biggest Internet market with more than 100 million Web surfers — but no deal was ever announced.

If it returns to China, AOL will find itself in a crowded market where local players like Sina Corp. and Sohu.com Inc. compete alongside global Web giants like Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft’s MSN service.