China news / analysis in brief

Details:

• eLong (ticker: LONG), a Chinese online travel service provider announced it would acquire Sina.com's (ticker: SINA) hotel booking service unit. This comes only a year and a half after Sina bought Fortune Trip, which covers 1,600 hotels and booked 250,000 hotel rooms in 2004. Sina and eLong will operate a co-branded online hotel booking channel and eLong
  will become Sina's exclusive hotel booking partner in China for
  three years after the sale closes. Despite terms of both deals not being disclosed, eLong shares have rallied over the last couple of days.

• CDC Corporation (ticker: CHINA) a Chinese enterprise software and solutions provider rallied sharply on heavy volume on Wednesday despite no news.

• Hurray! (ticker: HRAY) announced it launched the first mobile album in China which
  users can download or listen to through their mobile phones.

• Sohu (ticker: SOHU) closed its acquisition of Go2Map which will help enhance the company's local search capabilities and provide more differentiated content. Shares of Sohu have risen 11% over the last 5 trading days.

• According to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) China's continuing zeal for controlling foreign
  programming could thwart the rollout of new Internet-TV services
  connecting with the country's 300 million-plus television sets.

• China Mobile (ticker: CHL) will reportedly invest approximately $930 million in
  expanding its presence in China's rural West.

• Shanda (ticker: SNDA) will reportedly launch an instant messaging software.

• The Shanghai Index posted its lowest close in 8 years on Thursday. More from The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) here.