8 HK | BUSINESS Friday, June 22, 2018 CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION HK talents eye greener pastures in Bay Area

Guangdong cities prime the pump as One major SAR startups head north for a future goal of the plan (the Greater By CHAI HUA in Shenzhen Now, they’ve managed to get Bay Area) is to allow [email protected] hold of a plot of land about 20 times bigger than that Lo had at Hong Kong and With the the university and on which he blueprint has hinged his career. Macao to be bet- for the high- Lo aspires to be a farmer with ter integrated with profi led a diƒ erence — using technol- Guangdong- ogy and planting by computer. Guangdong’s indus- Hong Kong- To be specific, the trio eyes Macao building the largest and most trial chains.” Greater Bay advanced aquaponics produc- Wang Fuqiang, director of the Area set in motion, member tion base in China. department of industrial planning cities of the Pearl River Delta Aquaponics — a novel and at the China Center for Interna- (PRD) cluster have emerged green farming technique their tional Economic Exchanges as potential fertile grounds for startup is developing — refers Hong Kong entrepreneurs from to the combination of aquacul- tural diƒ erences. But, with the a wide spectrum of the city’s ture (raising fi sh) and hydro- national planning of the Bay budding industries. ponics (the soilless growing of Area in top gear, an improve- Victor Lo, Fung Leung and plants). The environmentally- ment in the situation may well Mandy Tam are all young entre- friendly and sustainable pro- be on the horizon. preneurs born in the 1990s. duction method could realize Wang Fuqiang, director of They grew up in metropolitan a natural ecosystem and boost the department of industrial Hong Kong, but have opted for traditional farming e› ciency. planning at the China Center one of the most unlikely careers The mainland, naturally, looks The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, comprising nine cities in Guangdong province and the two SARs, has been an for International Economic in such a monstrous concrete the logical choice as far as loca- enduring growth pole for luring talents and Hong Kong entrepreneurs to conduct business there. JUSTIN CHIN / BLOOMBERG Exchanges, who took part in jungle — farming. tion is concerned for such a big planning the Bay Area, said It all came about when Lo farming enterprise. “After fail- a three-hour drive from Hong upgrading technology and exchange activities, to polish GDP growth rate still hovered one major goal of the plan is to was still an undergrad at the ing to fi nd a right place in Hong Kong. Jiangmen is among the management methods so that up its name for entrepreneurs around 7 to 8 percent last year. allow Hong Kong and Macao greenery encroached Chinese Kong, we decided to try our luck nine-city cluster in Guangdong more people can aƒ ord green from both Hong Kong and More importantly, they offer to be better integrated with University of Hong Kong, on the mainland with its vast province that, along with the food,” said Lo. He hopes Hong Macao who are still relatively land and resource assets that Guangdong’s industrial chains. attending to a 20-square-meter land resources,” said Tam. special administrative regions Kong people could be the fi rst unfamiliar with the inner land are instrumental for various “To achieve that goal, we vegetable garden right in front In 2016, the trio visited an of Hong Kong and Macao, to taste the vegetables that are city that has trailed well behind industries, attracting many need to solve the problem of of his dormitory — a project agriculture innovation cen- make up the Bay Area geared “grown by Hong Kong youths” other Guangdong cities, nota- Hong Kong investors. hardware and software inter- he and his two partners have ter in Jiangmen, a city on the to rivaling the bay areas of New on the mainland. bly Guangzhou, Shenzhen and As early as 2012, Hong Kong connection,” he said in an inter- never given up. west bank of the PRD and just York, San Francisco and Tokyo Their story has been an inspi- Zhuhai, in terms of investment, Science and Technology Parks view with Guangzhou Daily. when in full swing. ration for many Hong Kong infrastructure development or Corporation had set up an Upcoming mega infrastruc- The Jiangmen plant, which youths. Students from the Hong social amenities. Guangzhou, incubator jointly with the local ture projects, such as the Hong happens to be working on soil- Kong University of Science and Shenzhen and Zhuhai have government of Foshan, a small Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge less planting and seeking more Technology, Heung To Middle attracted scores of Hong Kong manufacturing center. Foshan is and the Guangzhou-Shenzhen- modern farming projects, pro- School and several other educa- startups on the strength of pref- currently building “Hong Kong Hong Kong Express Rail Link, vided the Hong Kong startup tional institutions have visited erential policies in their free and Macao towns” to lure more which are slated to open later a land parcel of 400 square their project. trade zones — Nansha, Qian- startups from the two SARs, this year, will pay an instrumen- meters for free and an initial Moreover, 15 startups from hai and Hengqin — which have with a 200-million-yuan fund tal part in facilitating people-to- fund of 50,000 yuan ($7693.75). Hong Kong and Macao had played a key motivating role. planned to be plowed into Hong people exchanges, and the Bay The center also has a fully decided or were planning to Although other cities in Kong projects in three years. Area could further strengthen equipped laboratory where Lo move to Jiangmen to further Guangdong’s Bay Area cluster Compared with Guang- logistics and fi nancial links and and his team could conduct incubate by late last year, — Foshan, Zhongshan, Dong- dong’s free trade zones, hurdles bring about taxation reform and The impending opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge will all kinds of tests. “Our goal is according to local government guan, Zhaoqing and Huizhou to starting a business in these equal treatment for Hong Kong further strengthen exchanges in the Bay Area and boost the region’s to bring down the cost of pro- officials. Jiangmen has gone — are also not as developed as cities remain, such as dispa- and Macao residents living and economic growth. D.J. CLARK / CHINA DAILY ducing organic vegetables by to great lengths, with years of Guangzhou or Shenzhen, their rate taxation systems and cul- working in the Bay Area.

The patent dispute between Coolpad and Xiaomi just sheds IP rights in focus as giants fi ght it out some light on the lengthy and rough By LUO WEITENG in Hong Kong last month. den LeEco, which sold oƒ 18 ging smartphone manufac- battle, which should be the last road that patent owners have to take to in Hong Kong The plaintiƒ accuses Xiaomi percent of its 29-percent stake turer, said earlier the company thing that Coolpad wants to see,” [email protected] of having infringed on four of in Coolpad in January, the com- has more than 10,000 mobile said Qu Sanqiang, professor and protect their rights.” its patents, including patented pany suspended trading in its business-related patents, many dean of the Law School at the Qu Sanqiang, professor and dean of the Law School at the Beijing The story of “if you can’t beat multi-simcard design and other shares in March last year when of which are being infringed on Beijing Institute of Technology. Institute of Technology them, sue them” has moved to technologies relating to user it delayed revealing a loss of by other smartphone brands. It By fi ling a request to declare China. interface. Two patents, claimed HK$4.38 billion for the 2016 just does not have enough mon- Coolpad’s patents invalid, Xiao- into the money-losing company. By the end of March this year, Chinese mainland smart- to be “ahead of its time”, were year due to audit problems. ey to take further legal action, at mi essentially kicks the can Riding high on the under- Xiaomi had more than 7,000 phone maker Coolpad has granted in 2006 two years The Shenzhen-based enter- least for the time being. down the road to the SIPO’s takings to clamp down on IP patents to its name and 49 per- taken technology behemoth before the Android system was prise was unable to report its Coolpad has placed its hopes Patent Reexamination Board, infringement, economic com- cent of them are trademarked Xiaomi to court over alleged released. One patent, in par- 2017 annual financial results on a $300-million funding in which has the fi nal say in the pensation for patent litigation outside the Chinese mainland. patent infringement in a sign ticular, had been awarded the on time as losses from its January to help take it back to request for patent reexamina- on the mainland, though vary- The company also had over of its determination to time the Chinese Outstanding Patented struggling business continue a growth trajectory. The new tion and invalidation, said Qu, ing from case to case, has been 16,000 pending applications, litigation with a nation-wide Invention & Industrial Design to pile up and sees no sign of investment is led by Chinese who is also executive vice-pres- on a tear today, said Li Yang, according to its prospectus. intellectual property (IP) rights by the State Intellectual Proper- its shares resuming trading in property mogul Chen Hua, ident of the Beijing Intellectual professor of Law School at Sun Besides the patent dispute protection campaign. ty O› ce (SIPO) and the World the near future. “The hard fact founder and head of KingKey Property Law Society. Yat-sen University. A case in with Coolpad, Xiaomi is also The case comes as Xiaomi, Intellectual Property Organiza- is Coolpad could barely aƒ ord Group, through family trust Such a process may take point includes Samsung, which caught up in a major on-going which aims to take on global tion. to wage a long and potentially Power Sun Ventures. quite a time before the baton is was ordered by a Chinese court litigation with Swedish telecom- tech greats Apple and Sam- Coolpad subsidiary Yulong costly legal battle. As far as I’m Liu Mingzhuo, vice-president eventually passed to the court last year to pay 80 million yuan munications giant Ericsson in sung, began putting the fi nish- Computer Communications concerned, the cash-strapped of Coolpad, said the company to determine whether the pat- ($12.5 million) to Huawei aris- India — a dispute that has lasted ing touches to its mega initial Technology (Shenzhen) took company does not have even plans to launch four smart- ents are infringed on or not. ing from a patents row. more than three years to date. public oƒ ering in Hong Kong Xiaomi to court in Shenzhen a penny in its pocket to pay for phones this year and beef up “The patent dispute between Dismissing the idea that Cool- To be sure, the company has in what could be the world’s in January this year. In May, it the court fi ling fees,” a person its presence in the US. It’s also Coolpad and Xiaomi just sheds pad aims to squeeze some hush bankrolled a big eƒ ort in build- largest fl otation since Alibaba’s asked the Shenzhen court to ban familiar with the matter told seeking a comeback in the Chi- some light on the lengthy and money from Xiaomi on the eve ing up its IP portfolio. As the $25-billion deal in 2014, and the the production and sale of eight China Daily. Such remarks were nese mainland market. rough road patent owners have of its blockbuster Hong Kong prospectus showed, it posted biggest in the SAR since AIA’s of Xiaomi’s devices on the Chi- refuted by Coolpad, which reit- In a move that appears to play to take to protect their rights,” listing, Zhang said the litigation a value increase of $32 million $16.6-billion IPO in 2010. nese mainland, including Mi 6, erated the company does not down the copyright infringe- Qu observed. “Normally, such just fi ts in well with a growing for “trademarks, patents and Beijing-based Xiaomi — the Mi Max 2, Mi Note 3 and Redmi have any funding problem in ment lawsuit, Xiaomi said it a bumpy ride will take three focus that mainland policymak- domain names”, mainly due to world’s fourth-largest smart- Note 5, before upping the stakes an email replied to China Daily. has filed a request to declare to fi ve years and even up to 11 ers have placed on IP rights pro- its acquisition of certain pat- phone maker by shipments — is by suing Xiaomi in Nanjing, Zhang said last month the Coolpad’s patents invalid, add- years to reach a conclusion.” tection and enforcement. ents, in the 2016 calendar year. seeking to raise $6 billion in Jiangsu province, for using its potential legal costs proved ing that its business remains Despite twists and turns The lawsuit itself may not Xiaomi had executed patent Hong Kong — down from an patent without authorization. to be “manageable” at the well run and its products are ahead, a court battle may pay steal the thunder from or cast assignments with Casio and earlier estimate of up to $10 In the belief that “the law moment, and Coolpad has tried well sold. “Apparently, Xiaomi off. For Coolpad, the lawsuit a long shadow over Xiaomi’s Intel for 59 and 332 patents, billion. The share sale opens in does not protect those who its best to minimize them. is stalling for time to make the oƒ ers a beacon of hope of plow- Hong Kong listing. But, it does respectively, in the US in 2016. the SAR on June 25 and Xiaomi sleep on their rights”, Zhang Jiang Chao, CEO of the fl ag- dispute a long drawn-out court ing some much-needed cash bear the imprint of a big trend In the realm of mobile busi- aims to start trading on July 9. said Coolpad would spare no that Xiaomi should sit up and ness, the smartphone maker Having targeted a valuation eƒ orts in seeking justice before take note of both at home and has a cluster of major license of up to $100 billion, but with the courts. She refused to reveal abroad. agreements in place with Qual- investors having trimmed it all the economic losses that Cool- For years, Xiaomi has built comm, Microsoft and Nokia. the way down to between $60 pad is estimated to have suf- up its business selling innova- All in all, the trade hurdle billion and $70 billion, Xiaomi fered from the alleged infringe- tive products at dirt cheap pric- between Xiaomi and Coolpad will have a roadshow late this ment, emphasizing that the es on the mainland, and didn’t comes as a vivid footnote for month in its quest to persuade court will have the fi nal say on bother to worry too much about a national IP protection cam- US and European institutional how much Xiaomi should be patents. It was once the coun- paign across the world’s second- investors to value the company compensated for. try’s largest vendor in 2014 and largest economy at a time when at no less than $70 billion. Founded 25 years ago and 2015 before domestic sales stag- the country is under fi re over Coolpad, formerly known as listed in Hong Kong in 2004, nated over the next two years lack of IP protection amid its China Wireless Technologies, Coolpad was once the nation’s amid cut-throat competition trade row with the US. charted the course of safeguard- fl agship handset manufactur- and global expansion appeared As China steps up its pres- ing its interests back in 2014 er, enjoying equal fame with to be the way out. ence on the world stage and in when it began sending warn- Huawei, Lenovo and ZTE. It As the company extends its the global business arena, the ing letters to Xiaomi, hoping fell from grace in an intensely bets on new markets, including issue of IP protection will come to seek a settlement over the competitive domestic market India, Brazil, Russia and Mexi- into greater focus. Likewise, alleged infringement, but has so currently dominated by key co, it has become a real issue to for Xiaomi, such disputes may far got no response from Xiao- players like Huawei, Xiaomi, stack up relevant patents and become common episodes in mi, Coolpad chief intellectual Oppo and Vivo. A Xiaomi logo is displayed on a smartphone model. Chinese mainland smartphone maker Coolpad has taken dig into the global intellectual its path to run a sprawling busi- property o› cer Zhang Na said Once controlled by debt-rid- technology titan Xiaomi to court for allegedly using its patents without authorization. ANTHONY KWAN / BLOOMBERG property pool. ness empire with more patents.