Beijing-based information web site Chinabyte.com is aiming for a Nasdaq listing in the first half of next year, according to general manger Alex Wong. Launched in 1997, Chinabyte.com, was the first step in a $5.4m joint venture between Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and the world’s best-selling newspaper, the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece People’s Daily.
The timing of Chinabyte’s Nasdaq listing will depend on when other major Chinese portals such as Sina.com go ahead with their proposed listings, Wong said. Like other major Chinese portal companies Chinabyte.com is operating at a loss and has few tangible assets. This year advertising revenues are expected to hit $1m, according to Wong, and to the company expects to break even sometime next year.
