Asian Stocks

[ljk]

Hi, David. I looked it up, and found this news item, below. Why do you like HRCT.OB?

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030714/lam060_1.html

Hartcourt Purchased Additional 6 Percent of HuaQing
Monday July 14, 8:09 am ET

LOS ANGELES, July 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Hartcourt Companies, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: HRCT, Frankfurt: 900009), www.hartcourt.com , today announced that it has purchased an additional 6 percent of all outstanding shares of HuaQing Corporation Development Co. Ltd. and HuaQing Economics Development Co. Ltd., a major IT product marketer based in Shanghai, China. Together with the 45 percent purchased on Feb 14th, 2003, Hartcourt will own 51 percent of HuaQing Group, www.shanghaihuaqing.com.

In Q1 of 2003, HuaQing recorded sale revenue of 103 Million RMB (US$12.5 Million) and a net profit of 1.1 Million RMB (US$130,000). It was voted by IDG's Computer World (China) in 2002 as one of the Top 100 Computer Marketing Companies in China. HuaQing, founded in 1992 in Shanghai, has developed into a well-respected IT marketing and distribution company and a key marketing partner for Samsung Electronics in China.

Mr. Li ZhengZheng, Chairman and President of HuaQing comments: "Chinabyte, the leading IT magazine, described Hartcourt as 'China's Emerging PC Marketing Leader in China.' Apparently, our shareholders and management agreed with this assessment. We are proud to be under Hartcourt's leadership to expand aggressively our business operation, in coordination with other subsidiaries. This is also a vote of confidence in HuaQing as a result of our performance and growth despite SARS epidemic."

China has experienced explosive growth in PC sales for the last 10 years from 670,000 PC units sold in 1994 to about 10,310,000 units in 2003. IDC ( www.idc.com ) predicts China's PC sales will grow at 18-22% for the next 5 years, with sales reaching 19,800,000 PCs in 2006. Analysts with Gartner research firm ( www.gartner.com ) believe continuing economic growth, government IT spending and a maturing home PC market will be the three major driving forces for steady growth. Gartner pointed out that PCs are high on the lists of "must haves" after such basics as TV sets, refrigerators and washing machines for urban Chinese.

About Hartcourt

The Hartcourt Companies, Inc. is an investment holding and developing company specializing in the acquisition and development of private companies within high-growth industries in China. Recent acquisitions of Hartcourt included 4 major PC marketers in China that have combined revenue of US$194 Million and net profit of US$3.3 Million in 2002. Detailed information on Hartcourt can be obtained via the company's Web site: www.hartcourt.com .

Forward-looking statements

The statements made in this press release, which are not historical facts, contain certain forward-looking statements concerning potential developments affecting the business, prospects, financial condition and other aspects of the company to which this release pertains. The actual results of the specific items described in this release, and the company's operations generally, may differ materially from what is projected in such forward-looking statements. Although such statements are based upon the best judgments of management of the company as of the date of this release, significant deviations in magnitude, timing and other factors may result from business risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, the company's dependence on third parties, general market and economic conditions, technical factors, the availability of outside capital, receipt of revenues and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the company. The company disclaims any obligation to update information contained in any forward- looking statement