CRI听力:Discussion on corporate news of the week

Story 1: Credit Card Management App 'U51.com' Wins USD 84 Mln Series C+

Chinese credit card management app U51.com has won 84 million U.S. dollars in Series C+ funding from Harvest Fund Management and Chinese department store chain Intime Retail.

Combined with the previous 310 million dollars in Series C funding, U51. com has raised around 400 million dollars.

Company officials say the money will be used for mergers and acquisitions.

1. It's being reported that one of the U51.com's goals is to build a credit card finance ecosystem. What does that mean and why is it so important?

2. In terms of mergers & acquisitions - what would the logical targets be for a company like U51.com?

Story 2: Li Ka-shing companies sell Shanghai development for 20 billion RMB

Two companies owned by billionaire Li Ka-shing have agreed to sell a Shanghai commercial development for 20 billion yuan, or nearly 3 billion U.S. dollars.

The deal marks another asset sale in China by the tycoon, who has sold commercial buildings, supermarkets and energy companies worth more than 100 billion yuan over the past three years.

1. What is the business rationale behind this latest move by the tycoon?

2. Reports say Li Ka-shing has been increasing the pace of overseas acquisitions, particularly in infrastructure, telecoms and retail businesses in Europe. Does this mean that Li is changing his investment structure?

Doug Young, associate professor at Fudan University and former China company news chief at Reuters.