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Note 8 - Long-term Investments
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018
Notes to Financial Statements  
Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures Disclosure [Text Block]
8.
 Long-term investments
 
Equity method investments
 
As of
December 31, 2018
and
2017,
the Company beneficially owned
23.18%
and
25.5%
equity interest in ShenZhen City Mingshan Network Technology Co., Ltd. (‘Shenzhen Mingshan”) and Zhao Shang Ke Network Technology (Hubei) Co., Ltd. (“Zhao Shang Ke Hubei”), respectively. The Company accounted for its investments in these companies under equity method of accounting. Based on the facts of the significant decline in level of business activities from
2015,
insufficient amount of working capital and the lack of commitment from majority shareholders, these
two
investment affiliates had become dormant and the possibility of the business recovery is remote. As a result, the Company reduced the carrying value of these investments to
zero
as of
December 31, 2015.
 
Other ownership interest investments
 
As of
December 31, 2018,
the Company beneficially owned a
19%
equity interest in both Guohua Shiji and ChinaNet Chuang Tou (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. (“ChinaNet Chuang Tou), a
15%
equity interest in ChinaNet Online Holdings Korea (“ChinaNet Korea”), a
10%
equity interest in Beijing Saturday Education Technology Co., Ltd. (“Beijing Saturday”) and a
4.9%
equity interest in Local Chain (Xi’an) Information Technology Co., Ltd. (“Local Chain Xi’an).
 
The following table summarizes the movement of the Company’s other ownership interest investments for the
two
years ended
December 31, 2018:
 
    ChinaNet
Chuang Tou		   Guohua
Shiji		   Beijing Saturday   Total
    US$(’000)   US$(’000)   US$(’000)   US$(’000)
                 
Balance as of January 1, 2017    
1,297
      
27
      
16
      
1,340
  
Cash investment returned during the year    
(459
 )    
-
      
-
      
(459
 )
Impairment on the investments    
-
      
(29
 )    
(17
 )    
(46
 )
Exchange translation adjustment    
80
      
2
      
1
      
83
  
Balance as of December 31, 2017    
918
      
-
      
-
      
918
  
Cash investment returned during the year    
(437
 )    
-
      
-
      
(437
 )
Impairment on the investments    
(437
 )    
-
      
-
      
(437
 )
Exchange translation adjustment    
(44
 )    
-
      
-
      
(44
 )
Balance as of December 31, 2018    
-
      
-
      
-
      
-
  
 
As of
December 31, 2017,
except for its ownership investment in ChinaNet Chuang Tou, the Company had reduced the carrying value of its investments in all other investee companies to zero, due to the business activities of these companies had become dormant. In
2018,
the Company disposed its investment in Chuangshi Meiwei for
nil
consideration.
 
Due to reduce of business scale in recent years, the shareholders of ChinaNet Chuang Tou decided to reduce the investment scale accordingly and had terminated the operation of this entity in
2018,
as a result, the Company received an
RMB3.0
million (approximately
US$0.4
million) investment return in cash in both
2018
and
2017
and recognized full impairment loss to against the remaining carrying value of this investment in
2018.
 
For the year ended
December 31, 2018,
the Company recognized approximately
US$0.45
million impairment loss associated with its investment in ChinaNet Chuang Tou. For the year ended
December 31, 2017,
the Company recognized approximately
US$0.04
million impairment loss associated with its investments in Guohua Shiji and Beijing Saturday.
 
In
October 2018,
the Company acquired a
4.9%
equity interest in a new entity, Local Chain Xi’an, upon incorporation of this entity. The registered capital of Local Chain Xi’an is
RMB5.0
million (approximately
US$0.73
million), the Company contributed its pro-rata share of cash investment to the entity of approximately
RMB0.25
million (approximately
US$0.04
million) in
January 2019.
As of
December 31, 2018,
Local Chain
X
i’an was still in
its start-up stage.