Forbes, the American magazine about getting and staying rich, has been publishing a Chinese edition since 2003.
The glossy monthly magazine is officially published in Hong Kong, but it is aimed at Mainland readers and advertisers. A nod and wink arrangement, common in publishing in China, allows Mainland readers to buy or subscribe to the magazine through the China National Publication Import and Export Group (中国图书进出口(集团)总公司) even though the rag is actually printed inside the borders of the Mainland.
Forbes China (福布斯) is operated by the Morningside Group under a licensing arrangement with Forbes Media. Morningside is an investment company with extensive interests in the Mainland. It is owned by the Hang Lung Group, controlled by Hong Kong brothers Ronnie C. Chan and Gerald L. Chan. (Hang Lung’s major business is real estate.) Morningside has made profitable investments in Sohu.com and in outdoor advertising companies in China. They have also invested in Facebook clone Zhanzuo, and in a company called Health Media that puts digital screens bearing advertising in hospitals — Focus Media for the diseased and injured.
Morningside has been struggling for the better part of a decade to make a dime from print magazines. They currently control the Chinese editions of Harvard Business Review, Information Week, and Forbes. But perhaps not for much longer.
There is a rumor about that Forbes Media is not going to renew Morningside’s license agreement, which expires in June 2008. IDG, perhaps the most successful foreign investor in print media in China, is apparently going to bag either the license for both print and online, or just online initially (i.e. Forbes would keep Morningside on board for print but split the online off). The rumor could just be bluster, but apparently Steve Forbes and IDG head honcho Pat McGovern are old buddies.