Last week, the BBC blasted this headline:
Microsoft shutting down LinkedIn in China
Well, actually, Microsoft's LinkedIn is leaving China, sort of.
Sure the company is blaming a "significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements." Still, the company just said it would switch to a new site developed specifically for the local market, where it will be a jobs board.
LinkedIn will launch a jobs-only version of the site, called InJobs, later this year.
And the firm said in a statement: "We will continue to have a strong presence in China to drive our new strategy and are excited to launch the new InJobs app later this year."
The brand is staying in China - an important data point.
Plus, despite more than 50 million LinkedIn users, the country only contributes about 2% to Microsoft's revenues, so "leaving" China appeases China hawks in DC but will do little to the company's bottom line.
While this was happening with LinkedIn, Walmart and McDonald's continued to expand in China.
Though not as sexy and certainly not generating the same headlines, Walmart and McDonald's made big moves recently.
Check this - Walmart just opened the world's biggest Sam's Club in Shanghai.
The new China flagship store is a 70,000 square meter space that houses a restaurant, a health club, and a VR hub.
For history, Walmart opened its first Sam's Club in Shenzhen back in 1996 and now boasts 28 across China as a whole, including two smaller outlets in Shanghai. The following two will open in Hangzhou and Wuhan, with a plan for a national network of 45 stores by the end of 2022.
Also, McDonald's is a pioneer for China's digital currency.
Chinese regulators have been pushing the fast-food chain to accept payment in the central bank's digital yuan. The plan is to get the currency circulating more widely ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics next year.
McDonald's already allows customers to use a digital renminbi wallet in 270 restaurants in Shanghai, but the government wants more diners to pay with digital yuan around the country.
China is complex for America and for Wall Street; the headlines often fail to capture this.
