The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition Ballard Power Systems proceeded cautiously in China, limiting the potential fallout when a deal eventually turned sour. The Globe's Iain Marlow writes chief executive officer Randy MacEwen said a Chinese firm, Azure Hydrogen, had failed to pay by multiple deadlines and was trying to renegotiate the terms of the deal without meeting back payments, something Ballard simply could not tolerate. On Jan. 2, after Azure missed a Dec. 31 deadline, Ballard announced it had terminated two licensing agreements for telecom backup power systems and zero-emissions buses. Ballard took a $4.5-million impairment charge and missed its 2014 guidance. Despite the deflating loss of the Canadian firm's first major contract in China's vast market, Mr. MacEwen said they remained optimistic about their chances in China, which is looking for greener options. He added that their experience held lessons for other Canadian firms. "As you go into these markets, you try to do the best due dilligence you can," Mr. MacEwen said. "But you never know what's going to happen." For Ballard, the curveball came when Azure was bought out by another Chinese firm anxious to get in on the market.