Note 6 - Other receivables, net

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Loans, Notes, Trade and Other Receivables Disclosure [Text Block]

6.   Other receivables, net

	March 31, 2012			December 31, 2011
	US$(’000)			US$(’000)
	(Unaudited)
Short-term loan for marketing campaign		3,004			2,985
Project development deposit		2,451			-
Staff advances for normal business purpose		178			279
Overdue contract execution deposits		739			891
Allowance for doubtful debts		(528	)		(524	)
Other receivables, net		5,844			3,631

Short-term loan for marketing campaign: for one of the major marketing campaigns, the Company made a marketing-related loan of RMB25,000,000 (approximately US$3,952,757) to a TV series of 36 episodes, called “Xiao Zhang Feng Yun”. This TV series was produced for the commemoration of “The Republican Revolution of 1911” (the Chinese bourgeois democratic revolution led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen which overthrew the Qing Dynasty). By participating in this TV series, the Company will be shown during the credit at the closing of each episode with its logo presented and also shown as a separate card during the closing before the credit screen. This TV series has been broadcasted on CCTV 8 and www.sina.com.cn from September 2011 and is continually selling its broadcasting rights to other provincial TV channels for additional exposure.  In November and December, 2011, the Company collected its first two repayments of RMB6,000,000 (approximately US$948,662) in the aggregate from the borrower. In accordance with the communication between the Company and the debtor, the Company has extended the term of this loan from December 31, 2011 to December 31, 2012, as this TV series had only completed its first round selling broadcasting rights. The Company will continue to assess the collectability of this loan and if an event occurs or circumstances change that could indicate that the collectability of this loan is remote, a full allowance of bad debts provision will be provided for the remaining outstanding balance of this loan.

As of March 31, 2012, the Company made a project development deposit to a third party project development and management company for the participation of the TMT (“Technology, Media and Telecom”) Zone development and management in Xiaogan City, Hubei Province, the PRC (the “Xiaogan TMT Zone”). This TMT zone is intended to become the headquarters for the SMEs, especially the small and medium sized franchising business, with all the supporting TMT services. The deposit is refundable subject to upcoming planning and further evaluation of the development of the Xiaogan TMT Zone. If after evaluation, further involvement in the development and management is not economical or efficient for the Company and the Company decides to exit, the deposit will be refunded within the current calendar year.

For all advertising resources purchase contracts signed by the Company with its resources providers, the Company is required to deposit contract execution guarantees, the contract execution guarantees will be used to offset the contact amount need to be paid for the resources provided in the last month of each contract period or refunded to the company upon expiration of the purchase contract. Overdue contract execution deposits represented the portion of the contract execution deposits, which related advertising resources purchase contracts had been completed as of each of the reporting dates. Based on the assessment of the collectability of these overdue contract execution deposits as of March 31, 2012, the Company provided approximately US$528,000 allowance for doubtful debts, which was related to the contract execution deposits of its TV advertising business segment. For the three months ended March 31, 2012, no additional allowance for doubtful debts was provided.