China's Sina.com to merge with its unit in Taiwan

China's largest Internet portal, Sina.com (新浪網), plans to merge its Shanghai and Taiwan operations in the hope of boosting advertising sales by concentrating more on the mainland, the firm and reports said yesterday.

By merging operations and creating new product channels via the portal, the Nasdaq-listed company is betting that advertising sales in eastern China, especially in Shanghai, will offset thinning revenues in Taiwan.

"The ad spending in this region has been growing significantly, while that in Taiwan is declining," Benjamin Tsiang (蔣顯彬), Sina.com's vice president and Taiwan office general manager, was quoted as saying by the Shanghai Daily.

"The growing income in this region has convinced consumer goods manufacturers to buy more advertisements online," he said.

Shanghai branch spokeswoman Ding Yang told reporters that 600,000 Taiwanese living in China's bustling eastern port city would create demand for Internet-related services and products across the Taiwan Straits.

Real estate and travel services were two of the new Internet channel options the company plans to offer in the next two months -- a reflection of Shanghai's growing disposable income.

Sina.com will add more sales staff in Shanghai -- bringing the number employees in the region to 40, Ding said.

In 2001, the group's revenues increased to US$2.6 million from US$1.4 million the year earlier.