IDG, Oceanwide see great future in China growth

Boston-based International Data Group's founder, Patrick McGovern (1937-2014), once told his peers "the future is China, and so here we are", former IDG chairman Walter Boyd said.

Boyd, who worked with McGovern for 49 years, could not hide his excitement when he recalled how McGovern's vision came to fruition in the early 1980s, when China ComputerWorld was first published just six months after 40 staff members moved into a new building and got to work.

"It was a momentous accomplishment and one that made news around the world, and it has since grown into a very large group publishing some 60 joint venture publications," Boyd said.

IDG Capital's presence in China was another triumph that helped to write the history of venture capital in China, market insiders have claimed.

The group's long presence in China is a prominent success story between Chinese and US companies.

"Now the legacy continues," Boyd said with pride.

China Oceanwide Holdings Group announced in late March that it had acquired 90 percent ownership of IDG's operating businesses, including International Data Corporation and IDG Communications, with the remaining 10 percent held by IDG Capital and a minority shareholder in IDG Ventures.

Oceanwide's investment in the United States is another demonstration of the close ties between China and the US.

Last October, Oceanwide Holdings, a listed company under the group, spent a hefty $2.7 billion to acquire Genworth Financial Inc, the Fortune 500 insurance giant and one of the biggest long-term care insurance providers in the US.

But such a big-ticket investment was not the first step in Oceanwide's quest to the West.

Last December the company set its sights on the US real estate market and planned to build an Oceanwide Center, consisting of two iconic skyscrapers of premium apartments, large offices and luxury hotels such.

After the Oceanwide Center is launched, it will be the second-tallest building in San Francisco and the company's second-biggest real estate project in the US after Oceanwide Square in Los Angeles.

The company's presence in New York and Hawaii has also attracted worldwide attention.

Liu Bing, new president of IDG and vice-president of China Oceanwide, said Chinese enterprises will make more progress in their foreign journeys during the Belt and Road Initiative, and Oceanwide will consider investing in more areas, such as medicine, infrastructure and culture.

Contact the writers at yangcheng@chinadaily.com.cn and renxiaojin@chinadaily.com.cn