Note 24 - Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2013

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

24. Commitments and contingencies

The following table sets forth the Company’s operating lease commitment as of December 31, 2013:

	Office Rental
	US$(’000)
Year ending December 31,
-2014		361
-2015		307
-2016		76
Total		744

For the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, rental expenses under operating leases were approximately US$512,000 and US$440,000, respectively.  

In October 2013, the Company entered into a contract to engage an unrelated third party to develop several software systems related to internet environment monitoring and system optimization to enhance the overall safety and efficiency of the Company’s network system. The total contract amount was RMB13 million (approximately US$2.1 million) and a first installment of RMB5.2 million (approximately US$0.85 million) was paid in the first fiscal quarter of 2014. The transaction as contemplated under the contract is expected to be consummated in 2014 and the remaining unpaid contract amount is expected to be paid in 2014.

Legal Proceedings

Business Opportunity Online, one of the indirect wholly owned VIEs of the Company, Handong Cheng, Chairman and CEO of the Company, and Jinbo Yao, Legal Representative of Beijing 58 Information Technology Co., Ltd. (the “Beijing 58”) have been named as defendants in a civil lawsuit filed in the PRC. The action was filed by Xuanfu Liu, an approximate 34% shareholder of the Company, on October 19, 2013, in the Xiaogan City Xiaonan District People’s Court in Hubei Province, China. The complaint alleges that Mr. Cheng abused operation and management rights and that Mr. Cheng’s disposition of equity interests that Business Opportunity Online held in Beijing 58 (the “Equity Interests”), without the consent of the plaintiff, was an act of infringement and in violation of the articles of association of Business Opportunity Online and Chinese corporate law. The complaint seeks a court order to declare the contract allegedly entered into by and between Mr. Cheng, on behalf of Business Opportunity Online, and Mr. Yao, null and void. The Company denies all of the allegations against the Company and intends to defend vigorously against the lawsuit. During the course of the civil litigation, Jinbo Yao, the defendant, filed an objection to remove this case from the Xiaogan City Xiaonan District People’s Court to a Beijing court.  Xiaogan City Xiaonan District People’s Court denied the defendant’s objection to remove the case.  Jinbo Yao then filed an appeal of that decision to the Intermediate People’s Court of Xiaogan.  On March 10, 2014, the Intermediate People’s Court of Xiaogan rendered a final ruling holding that the dispute shall be transferred and heard by the Haidian District People’s Court of Beijing. Business Opportunity Online is awaiting a hearing date from the Haidian District People’s Court of Beijing. The Company currently cannot estimate the amount or range of possible losses from this litigation.

Rise King WFOE, the indirectly wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, Handong Cheng, Chairman and CEO of the Company, Zhige Zhang, CFO of the Company and Xuanfu Liu, have been named as defendants in a civil lawsuit filed in the PRC. The action was filed by Shanghai Pan Gu Investment Management Co., Ltd. (the “Shanghai Pan Gu”), on December 17, 2013, in the Haidian District People’s Court of Beijing, China. The complaint alleges that the defendants breached a consulting agreement entered into on April 22, 2011 by and among Shanghai Pan Gu and the defendants. The complaint seeks a court order for liquidated damages in the amount of RMB0.56 million (equal to approximately US$92,100) under the consulting agreement. The Company denies all of the allegations against it and intends to defend vigorously against the lawsuit. The Company currently cannot estimate the amount or range of possible losses from this litigation.