media - Tom Group drops all mainland print deals

Danwei picked up this interesting piece from internet portal Netease. After the Tom Group lost a bid for the Shanghai bookstores of Xinhua in November, it lost its appetite for all print media in China. From a translation:

"We have basically stopped contact with Mainland media, inclusive Xinhua bookstores," said Tom Group CEO Wang Cheng during a press conference [held last
week] to announce the Group's 2004 results.

It is not the first media company to lose its confidence in the Chinese market. And it will not be the last one.