I disagree that WSJ Chinese is losing money although the numbers are
basically right because the Chinese site is run with considerably low
cost by a very small team of 5 people. Of the 5, three editorial guys
also work for Dow Jones Chinese Newswire, which probably makes a small
profit. The key point for WSJC is growth. They are tied with themselves.
A news site can hardly attract enough registers or advisers if it only
updates about 10 stories on daily basis. It is very hard for WSJC to add
more stories because many of its online stories are also included in DJ
Chinese Newswires that sells to subscribers. Too much free content on
WSJC will kill DJ Chinese Newswires for sure, that is why it hasn’t
grown much over the past 4 years. Of course, they can add more stories
translated from the English online edition. That will surely make them
lose money.

FT Chinese is in red with no doubt because it has to maintain a team of
more than 30 people, while advertising revenue at this stage and
foreseeable future can hardly turn them in black, because the ads rate
is not high enough. You can’t raise the rate till advertisers are
convinced that the exclusive content and it audience is worth the
premium. Will that happen? I doubt it, given that price wars are really
foul in China.