The Motion Picture Academy doesn’t work that way – China’s latest business and technology news

The Wall Street Journal has a story (paywall) on how Wang Jianlin 王健林, the once-richest man of China, dreamed of funding an Oscar-winning Hollywood movie, but that dream — along with almost all of Wang’s ambitions in Hollywood — died in China’s crackdown on outbound investment in recent months.

The Journal says that Wang’s company, Dalian Wanda, pursued two movies: 2015’s boxing drama Southpaw, and a legal drama called Arc of Justice, whose production stalled when Wang withdrew his planned funding of $12.5 million.

The failure of Southpaw to achieve any Academy Awards, despite favorable reviews, must have been hard on Wang — especially given his $30 million investment in the film. Sources familiar with that deal told the Journal, “Wanda wanted a guarantee that ‘Southpaw’ would receive an Oscar nomination or else the company would receive a payout,” adding, “Wanda was told the Motion Picture Academy doesn’t work that way.” 

• On-demand bikes
  Bike-sharing startups explore going electric / The Information (paywall)
  Mobike “hasn’t yet decided when to launch e-bikes, in part because many Chinese cities have tough regulations governing electric bikes and scooters.”
  Mobike dockless bikeshare coming to Silver Spring / Washington Post
• Monetary policy
  Whiff of easing sends China stocks to 2-year high / FT (paywall)
  “The People’s Bank of China announced on Saturday that it was cutting the required reserve ratio for banks that meet certain thresholds for small-business lending…investors appeared to interpret the move as an easing.”
• Food safety
  After hygiene hiccup, Haidilao reopens with kitchen webcams / Sixth Tone
• Internet companies
  Sina makes case for own board members, scorns activist investor’s nominees / Caixin