TELSTRA may increase its efforts to penetrate the world's most populous nation after naming Xiaowei Chen to lead its operations in China. Ms Chen, a former chief executive of Orange Sky Entertainment Group, will be based in Beijing and report to Telstra International managing director Tarek Robbiati.
"Xiaowei's in-depth knowledge of China's new media space and ability to adapt and deliver in the fast-moving online sector provides the experience required for Telstra's continued growth in China," Mr Robbiati said.
Telstra's main business in China was its 51 per cent interest in Chinese online property site SouFun, but it sold out of that business for a $US190 million ($175m) profit last year.
Including proceeds from SouFun, Telstra recorded a 16 per cent lift in revenue to $234m from its Chinese online businesses last financial year but that is likely to be much smaller in full-year 2011. The company has also suffered a regulatory setback in China with restrictions on the wireless application protocol market forcing it to write down the value of its Octave business earlier this year by about $133m.