China's retail sales up 23% in June

China's retail sales hit 864.2 billion yuan ($126.7 billion) in June, showing a 10-year-high growth rate of 23 percent year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.

The growth rate was 7.0 percentage points higher than a year earlier and 1.4 percentage points higher than in May.

Adjusted for inflation, the June growth rate was 14.8 percent, the bureau said.

Zhuang Jian, senior economist with the Asian Development Bank PRC Resident Mission, attributed the faster growth rate to several factors. These included workers' expectations of rising incomes, more allowances for low-income earners as a result of the new labor contract law and efforts by local governments to raise welfare payments to the needy.

Retail sales stood at 5.1 trillion yuan nationwide during the first half, up 21.4 percent, or 12.9 percent in real terms.

Insurance opportunities

RSA is carefully watching China's construction and engineering insurance sector, the company said yesterday.

The insurer is checking business opportunities among China's booming metro, high-speed railway and power plant constructions which trigger demand for insurance, said Ringo Ho, leader of construction and engineering, RSA North Asia, yesterday in Shanghai .

Chinese mainland's construction and engineering insurance grew 27 percent year on year in terms of premiums to 3.1 billion yuan (US$454.5 million) last year. RSA grew faster than the market average, Ho said. RSA grew by 58 percent in the sector in the key markets of Asia and the Middle East in 2007. The insurer has a long-term commitment in China and puts profitability ahead of growth, said Zhou Haoming, head of construction and engineering, RSA Asia and Middle East.

Court rules against Fiat

The Great Wall Motor Co, China's largest maker of sports utility vehicles, said yesterday that a local court had dismissed a claim that it had copied a Fiat model, contradicting an earlier ruling by an Italian court.

Great Wall's GWPeri contains "remarkable differences" on the front view, left view and right view from Fiat's patent, the Shijiazhuang Intermediate People's Court said in a ruling last Monday, according to a statement filed to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange by the Chinese auto maker. Fiat was ordered to pay 8,800 yuan (US$1,300) in costs, Bloomberg News said.

Earlier this month, Fiat won a ruling in Turin, its home town, banning Great Wall from selling the GWPeri in Europe because of similarities to its Panda.

Foreign auto makers are taking legal steps to defend patents as Chinese rivals look to boost sales by expanding overseas.

Baosteel Expo plans

Baosteel Group Corp, China's biggest steel maker, will shift a heavy-plate production line from Shanghai to the western region of Xinjiang as the city prepares for the 2010 World Expo.

Baosteel unit Xinjiang Ba Yi Iron & Steel Co will pay 109.9 million yuan (US$16 million) to buy part of the facilities in Shanghai from another Baosteel subsidiary.

Intime Lotte Opens Store In Beijing On August 1

Intime Lotte, a department store co-founded by the South Korean Lotte Shopping company and China Intime, will be formally opened on Wangfujing Street, Beijing on August 1.

Located on the north end of Wangfujing Shopping Street, the Intime Lotte covers a total area of 83,600 square meters, of which 42,900 square meters are for business use. The opening of this department store marks the South Korean department store's entry into the Chinese market and is a further sign of cooperation between Chinese department stores and international retail giants.

According to a representative from Intime Lotte, the department store is a joint venture of Lotte department store and Intime department store. Each party owns a 50% stake of Intime Lotte. The department store targets high-end consumers who have an international fashion taste. With the opening of the store, many Chinese and international fashion and cosmetics brands, including Gucci, Armani, Cartier, and Bvlgari, will be available to customers and it will be a new channel for products from South Korea and Japan to enter the Chinese market.

In addition Intime Lotte is said to combine the considerate and thoughtful Korean style of service with Chinese service and introduces facilities such as providing customers with a free shuttle service, packing service, and one-on-one private shopping assistant service. There are also membership services such as a creche and regular cultural activities and exhibitions.

China revises performing-arts rules for HK, Macao investors

The State Council (cabinet) introduced revised rules on performing arts in Beijing on Tuesday, allowing investors from the Special Administrative Regions (SAR) of Hong Kong and Macao to establish solely-funded broking companies and manage theaters in the mainland.

The conditions are contained in the "Regulations on the Management of Commercial Theatrical Performances."

Under previous rules, issued on July 20, 2005, funds from the two SARs were only permitted to set up cooperative enterprises or joint ventures in this sector.

The move is intended to accompany the fourth supplementary agreement to the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement among the mainland and the two SARs, approved on July 1, 2007. It allows Hong Kong and Macao investors to set up exclusively funded agencies on brokerage in the mainland.

Bank of China's UK unit buys 30% of Swiss fund group

The Bank of China said on Wednesday that its British subsidiary paid 9 million Swiss francs (8.7 million U.S. dollars) for a 30 percent stake in Switzerland's Heritage Fund Management (HFM).

The purchase, which has been approved by British and Swiss regulators, aims to help the bank's overseas private banking business.

HFM, established in Geneva in 2002, manages five funds valued at 362 million U.S. dollars. China-oriented funds account for half of the total.

Chinese import center opens in Zhuhai

The grand opening of a giant food-import center in the Southern China city of Zhuhai could be a boon to U.S. food sales in China.

The 74,300 square meter facility includes cold storage and freezer storage, 1,300 square meters of display space and laboratories to test for food safety. The facility, called a logistics center, is in an economic zone, which allows shippers to store products there without being taxed. Products aren't taxed until they are moved out of the zone.

Oregon Department of Agriculture Director Katy Coba, said, 'We've got to ship container loads (to amortize the cost of shipping product to China. But in China, it's a rarity that someone wants to purchase a whole container load. This facility addresses that, because you can ship a container, store it there and then buyers can come in and buy less than full container loads of product.'

7-ACA export maybe to increase

The export of ceftriaxone sodium would go down after India decided to levy antidumping tax of 55-77$/kg to Chinese ceftriaxone sodium. But maybe it is a chance to 7-ACA, Indian companies maybe will import more 7-ACA from China. (7-ACA is used to produce ceftriaxone sodium).

Chinese 7-ACA was exported to India prior to ceftriaxone sodium, but the export didn't expanded with fast speed. Now few Chinese manufactures just planned to expand the production capacity of 7-ACA, then it is a chance to expand market size of 7-ACA. Healthoo.com communicated with several key manufacturers of 7-ACA, who had similar opions.

China to Cap Japan's Stake in Gas Project, Tokyo Shimbun Says

China plans to limit Japan's stake in the Chunxiao natural gas field project in the East China Sea to 33.3 percent or lower to keep the initiative, the Tokyo Shimbun reported, citing unidentified officials in the two countries.

Japan expressed no objection to China's proposal about capping the investment, the report said. China and Japan in June agreed to jointly develop the field, ending a four-year argument between Asia's biggest energy consumers over who owns the reserves.

China to Cap Japan's Stake in Gas Project, Tokyo Shimbun Says

China plans to limit Japan's stake in the Chunxiao natural gas field project in the East China Sea to 33.3 percent or lower to keep the initiative, the Tokyo Shimbun reported, citing unidentified officials in the two countries.

Japan expressed no objection to China's proposal about capping the investment, the report said. China and Japan in June agreed to jointly develop the field, ending a four-year argument between Asia's biggest energy consumers over who owns the reserves.

Beijing providing normal registration for French companies

Beijing has been providing the normal registration for French companies and investment, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

Spokesman Liu Jianchao made the remark at a regular press conference when commenting on a report saying French companies and investment registration had been suspended in Beijing during the Olympic Games.

He said China and France had maintained good momentum on trade and economic cooperation in recent years.

Liu indicated the trade volume between the two countries hit US$18.26 billion in the first half, a 25.8 percent increase year-on-year. The figure was expected to exceed US$40 billion at year end.

Also in the first half, China approved 3,639 French-invested enterprises, and the French actual investment in China had reached US$8.53 billion, fourth highest among European Union nations.

He said Beijing approved 21 French enterprises in the same period, including five registered in June and July, a 31 percent increase compared with the same period last year. It also approved a capital increase and stock ownership transfer of 14 French companies.

Liu said China would work with France to enhance economic and trade cooperation and bilateral strategic partnership.

GDP growth, CPI to ease slightly in 3Q: experts

China's GDP will grow 10% and the CPI will rise 6.1% during the third quarter of this year, down 0.1 percentage points and 1.7 percentage points, respectively, from the second quarter, according to a consensus estimate by 17 Chinese and foreign institutes, state media reported. "The government's tight monetary policy is beginning to work to bring down inflation with the quickened pace of renminbi appreciation and a slowdown in money supply and GDP growth," forecaster and professor at Peking University, Lu Feng, said. China's central bank signaled that monetary policy will focus more on maintaining economic growth than on curbing inflation as the global slowdown hurts domestic business. The central bank's second-quarter monetary policy report omitted reference to the tight policy stance it adopted in December, saying instead it will work to "create a good monetary environment for steady and rapid economic growth."

CCB: Export growth could stay above 20%

China's export growth may remain above 20% in the second half of this year if the government adjusts policies to bolster the sector, said a research report by China Construction Bank, state media reported. However, the real pace of export growth was actually slowing down sharply once price increases and the rising Chinese currency were taken into consideration, the report said. China's exports gained 21.9% year-on-year in the first half of 2008, down 5.7 percentage points from the growth rate a year ago. China needs to create 24 million new jobs each year and foreign trade, where private companies concentrate, creates a large number of those vacancies. According to industrial statistics, more than 80 million people work in foreign trade.

China’s ASEAN trade soars

China recorded US$95.55 billion in trade with ASEAN members during the first five months of this year, up 26.9% over the same period last year, state media reported, citing the General Administration of Customs. The total included US$50.27 billion in import value, up 22.3%, and US$45.28 billion in export value, up 32.6%. China's trade deficit with ASEAN countries dropped by US$1.96 billion, or 28.2%, over the five-month period to US$4.99 billion.

Fund managers told not to hurt market stability

China's securities authority has warned fund managers not to say anything publicly that could harm the stability of the market, the Financial Times reported. The China Securities Regulatory Commission, which issued the notice, did not make overt reference to the Olympics, but local fund managers believe it is part of an effort to avoid market turmoil in the pre-Olympic period.

Shoe exports decline in first five months

China sold fewer shoes abroad in the first five months of 2008, due partly to reduced export-tax rebates, continuous renminbi appreciation, weaker demand from the United States and trade barriers such as anti-dumping lawsuits, state media quoted the General Administration of Customs as saying. Between January and May, China exported 3.39 billion pairs of shoes, a decline of 3.6% from the same period last year. But the export value rose 11.5%, to US$10.22 billion, as the average price per pair went up 15.8%, or US$3.

Singapore's Allgreen Properties to invest $267 million in China property development

Singapore property developer Allgreen Properties will invest about RMB1.83 billion ($267 million) in a hotel and residential development in Tangshin City in China's Hebei province.

Allgreen has a 25% share in the RMB7.3-billion project that will be developed with joint venture partners Kerry Properties, Shangri-La Asia and Kuok Brothers.

The site for the development was bought for RMB1.71 billion.

Kerry Properties will have a 40% share in the investment while Shangri-La Asia and Kuok Brothers will have 20% and 15%, respectively.

Allgreen intends to fund its share of the investment partly by debt.

China Shipping and Taicang Port sign cooperation agreement

July 11th, a cooperation signing ceremony for China Shipping (Group) Company (China Shipping) and Taicang Port was held in Taicang City, Jiangsu Province. Mei Zhengrong, Director of Taicang Port Administration Committee and Wang Daxiong, Deputy President of China Shipping both signed the agreement.

According to the President - Li Shaode - China Shipping will be committed to the cooperation agreement in pushing each task in a good order. Meanwhile, it is going to participate actively in port construction, trying to become one of the first to run direct cross-strait flights. Some involved sources disclosed that one of the focuses of this cooperation will be on the 2nd Taicang terminal construction project, where China Shipping will be involved specifically with terminals No. 5 to 8. However, both parties have provided little detailed information to this end.

China H1 new energy vehicle sales up 107%

Data from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) shows the first-half sales of new energy vehicles in the country reached 366 units, a 107.95 percent increase over the same period last year.

The association says new-energy vehicles include those powered by alternative liquid fuels, hybrid energy, natural gas, all-new fuel cells or electricity besides the fuel and diesel.

Total vehicle sales expanded by 18.5 percent to 5.18 million units from January to June from a year earlier, but the growth is 4.78 percentage points lower than the same period last year, CAAM said earlier this month.

China sold 3.61 million passenger vehicles in the first six months, representing a growth of 17.07 percent over the same period in 2007.

Half-year production also increased by 16.7 percent to 5.19 million units, compared to 22 percent a year earlier.

China Unicom may postpone development of mobile IM business

The new China Unicom formed after industry restructuring may postpone the development of its mobile instant messaging (IM) business as the technologies of IM products from China Unicom and CNC are not compatible.

Mobile IM business will be one of the value-added businesses in 3G era. But its development is very difficult, and the terminal equipment seldom supports this technique. It's hard to benefit from this business in short time, a source from CNC expressed.

In addition, factors like China Unicom's strategy, the development potential and the profit cycle of IM business will delay the development of the IM program.

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Foreign investors net sellers of 315.27 mln twd Taiwan shares today

Foreign investors were net sellers of shares worth 315.27 mln twd today, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said.

Local investment trusts were net buyers of shares worth 106.64 mln twd, and brokers were net sellers of shares worth 248.67 mln twd, it said.

China says collapse of WTO talks a 'tragic failure'

China said the collapse of World Trade Organization talks was a "tragic failure" and expressed disappointment over the inability of those involved to reach a consensus.

"This is a tragic failure," Commerce Minister Chen Deming said in a statement posted on his ministry's website.

China, like other countries, was "very disappointed", he said.

"Particularly in the face of a world economic downturn, serious inflation and imminent financial risks, the failure will have a major impact on the fragile multilateral trading system," he said.

China Railway group wins US$1.2 bil. contracts

China Railway Group, the nation's largest railway construction firm, said Tuesday it had
won two contracts worth 8.1 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion).

It said one of its units won a contract worth 7.6 billion yuan for an electrification project of the railway linking Beijing and Kowloon in Hong Kong, according to a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The project started this month and will be completed in June 2010, it said.

The other contract, worth 513.9 million yuan, is to build a 118-kilometer (73-mile) section of a highway in Ethiopia.

Yanzhou Coal shares rise after upbeat forecast

Shares of Yanzhou Coal Mining Co Ltd, China’s No. 3 coal producer, surged 6.24 percent or HK$0.84 to HK$14.30 early on Monday after the coal producer revised up its profit estimate for the first half of 2008.

Shares of Yanzhou Coal have fallen about 12.9 percent so far in 2008.

Yanzhou Coal said last Saturday that it expected earnings to jump by at least 220 percent in the first half of 2008 from the year-ago period as coal prices extended their rise.

It previously estimated net profit would increase by more than 100 percent, based on the coal price for the first quarter of the year. The company posted a net profit of 1.11 billion yuan in the six months.

China mulls consumption tax hike on autos

The Chinese government could raise its car consumption tax on luxury vehicles with high emissions, officials say.

Sources at the State Administration of Taxation say the agency has held multiple discussions on the consumption tax increase, Xinhua, China's state-run news agency, reported Saturday.

At a meeting this week, government officials met and called on the country's auto industry to curb gas consumption.

China Automobile Trading Co. Ltd. figures say from January to May 26, about 992 large-model cars were imported, while sport utility vehicle imports in the first five months surged 91.3 percent over the same period last year.

A Chrysler dealer in Guangzhou said the possible tax increased was aimed at pushing potential buyers to make their planned purchases.

China's mobile users top 600 million

The number of mobile users in China, the world's biggest cellphone market, now tops 600 million, the government said, as subscribers increasingly abandon fixed lines.

Mobile phone users in the country increased to 601 million at the end of June, up by 8.6 million from the end of May, the Ministry of Information Industry said in a statement posted on its website on Wednesday.

From January to June, the nation of 1.3 billion recorded 53.5 million new cellphone users, it said.

By contrast, fixed-line subscribers fell by 9.3 million in the first six months to 356 million, it said.

Mobile service is becoming more popular in the country after operators lowered tolls in March for making phone calls outside a user's registered local service area and cancelled charges for answering calls in some cities.

China has been leapfrogging into the age of mobile telephony because of the huge costs associated with installing fixed lines across a nation the size of the United States.

China now has 253 million internet users

China continues to lead the world’s internet users market with 253 million total users by the end of June.

This figure was revealed by the China Internet Network Information Centre in a report.

China took over from USA few months ago though they still have a low internet penetration rate.

The report said that the country added 43 million new users during the first half of 2008.

Women internet users accounted for 46.4 percent of all users.

The report added that around 28.9 percent of users used internet using a mobile device at some point or the other.

China's shoe exports down 3.6% in Jan.-May

According to statistics from China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC), China’s shoe exports decreased by 3.6% year-on-year to 3.39 billion pairs in the first five month of 2008, compared with a year-on-year increase of 11.1% in the same period last year.

The GAC ascribed the slide to reduced export tax rebates, weaker demand from the U. S. amid lingering subprime crisis, continuous RMB appreciation and trade barriers like anti-dumping lawsuits.

In the Jan.-May period, however, the value of exported shoes jumped 11.5% from a year earlier to US$10.22 billion, with the average price up 15.8% to US$3 per pair.

In May alone, China exported 690 million pairs of shoes, down 4.9% from the previous year. But the average price hit US$3.2 per pair, representing a record increase of 22.8% since last January.

China exported 880 million pairs of shoes to the U.S. during the period, accounting for 26% of the total and a 4.5% decrease from the same period of 2007. While shoes exported to the EU continued to enjoy a stable growth of 6.8% to 640 million pairs, accounting for 18.9% of the total.

The statistics also unveiled that the number of shoe exporters in China reduced 17.4% to 8,137, from 9,856 over the same period last year.

Taiwan computer engineer loses NT$13.86 mil. in internet fraud

A Taiwan computer engineer was swindled out of NT$13.86 million (US$440,000) when he was looking for a date on the Internet, Taiwan radio said.

The man, only identified by his family name, Huang, was looking for a one-night stand when he came across a girl, Yuan Yuan, who agreed to meet Huang, 38, for a certain charge, the Broadcasting Corp of China reported.

Looking for paid sex on the Internet is common in Taiwan, though illegal. The practice, called either yuan jiao, which means compensated dating, or enjo kosai, which means an exchange of sex for cash or gifts, originated in Japan but is now popular among adolescents in Taiwan.

After Huang had transferred the money to Yuan Yuan's bank account, he received a phone call from a man claiming that Huang had used the wrong procedure to wire the money and caused the bank's computer system to break down. He demanded Huang transmit NT$2 million in damages or he would be killed, the radio report quoted police as saying.

After the transaction, the man called again, accusing Huang of another system collapse, demanding more damages and claiming the bank accounts of several lawmakers had been destroyed and that would delay upcoming elections.

So Huang took out a mortgage on his apartment and transferred more money, only to receive another call, saying he had to pay more damages because he caused another computer breakdown, leading to trouble on the stock markets in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Wall Street. Within one month, Huang had wired NT$13.86 million before he reported the fraud to police in Hsinchu City in western Taiwan.

Hsinchu police cracked a four-man fraud ring but have not found Yuan Yuan, who they said probably does not exist.

Platinum on sale

THE base retail prices of platinum jewelry in Shanghai will decrease from 528 yuan (US$77.31) to 484 yuan a gram from today, said the Shanghai Gold and Jewelry Trade Association yesterday.

Some major local jewelry shops may sell the white metal at 512 yuan a gram, as the association allows a 3 percent range cap the set rates.

Gold profit jumps

ZIJIN Mining Group Co, owner of China's largest gold mine, said yesterday first-half profit rose 45 percent as it raised production and benefited from higher bullion prices.

Net income climbed to 1.74 billion yuan (US$254 million), or 0.13 yuan a share, from 1.2 billion yuan, or 0.09 yuan a year earlier, Zijin said in a statement to Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Lines of investment

BEIJING Double-Crane Pharmaceutical Co, China's biggest maker of intravenous solutions, said yesterday its will invest more than 90 million yuan (US$13.4 million) to expand its production lines of intravenous solutions in the Anhui and Hubei provinces.

China Unicom Signs Agreement To Transfer CDMA Network To China Telecom

China Unicom has announced that China United Telecommunications Corporation Ltd. and the operation companies of China Unicom signed a CDMA transfer agreement with the H-share company of China Telecom on July 27, 2008.

According to the agreement, China Unicom will transfer its CDMA business to the H-share company of China Telecom; China Unicom will transfer a 99.5% stake of its Unicom Vsens to the H-share company of China Telecom; and China United Telecommunications Corporation Ltd. and its subsidiaries will transfer their 100% stake of China Unicom (Macau) to the H-share company and the subsidiary companies of China Telecom. The transaction value is about CNY43.8 billion.

In the meantime, China Unicom and Unicom New Space signed a CDMA assets transfer agreement with China Telecom on the same day, which says China Unicom and Unicom New Space will separately transfer their CDMA-related assets to China Telecom. The transaction value for the assets is about CNY66.2 billion.

Electronics Product Distribution Agreement Benefits Juda Group

Chinese electronics retailer China 3C Group has signed a product distribution agreement with Juda Group, a Chinese consumer electronics goods manufacturer.

Under this agreement, China 3C will begin selling all of Juda Group's consumer electronics products as well as provide after-sales service support for these products at all China 3C stores located in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Revenues generated from Juda Group's products will benefit China 3C's Sanhe subsidiary.

Zhuang Bingwu, CEO of Juda Group, said, "We are delighted to establish this relationship with China 3C Group. This agreement marks our first entry into the eastern China market and we are honored to align ourselves with a retailer that has significant distribution capability and a strong 'store-in-store' presence in the Huadong region."

Juda Group is based in southern China. Its products include DVD players, high definition DVD players, home theater systems and stereo equipment.

Rizhao becomes largest iron ore import port in China

China Customs statistic shows that Chinese iron ore imports through Rizhao port reached 29.27 million tonne for January to June period, becoming the No 1 iron ore import port in terms of volume. The newly built 250,000 tonnes dock has provided more room for piling up iron ore. At the same time, it has strived to enlarge market share and the tonnages have jumped by 19.3% year on year in the first half of 2008.

Rizhao port is now concentrating on the construction of key project, including 2nd phase of iron ore yard, which is expected to be put into force in H2. The new projects are expected to further sharpen its edge over others.

China exports fewer shoes in first five months

China sold fewer shoes abroad in the first five months of this year, due partly to reduced export tax rebates, continuous RMB appreciation, weaker demand from the United States and trade barriers such as anti-dumping lawsuits, the General Administration of Customs said on Friday.

Between January and May, China exported 3.39 billion pairs of shoes, a decline of 3.6 percent from the same period of last year. This was in contrast with the 11.1 percent growth in the January-May period of last year.

But the export value rose 11.5 percent to 10.22 billion U.S. dollars, as average price went up 15.8 percent to three dollars per pair.

Of the total exports, 51.2 percent, or 1.74 billion pairs, were sold by private companies, down 1.8 percent.

Shoes exports to the United States went down 4.5 percent to 880million pairs, or 26 percent of the total, while those to the European Union increased 6.8 percent to 640 million pairs, or 18.9percent of the total.

Shinhan Bank upgraded to licensed bank in HK

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced Friday that it has upgraded Shinhan Bank's (SHB) restricted banking license to a banking license under the Banking Ordinance.

The upgrade took effect on July 24, 2008, the authority said.

SHB is incorporated in South Korea and has operated a branch in Hong Kong under a restricted banking license since November 2006. According to the July 2007 issue of The Banker, SHB is the 3rd largest bank in South Korea and the 76th largest bank in the world in terms of tier one capital.

After the upgrade of SHB, the number of licensed banks in Hong Kong has increased to 146 while the number of restricted license banks in Hong Kong has decreased to 28.

Indian ecommerce provider allies with Baidu

Northgate Technologies, an Indian technology, ecommerce and online advertisement solutions provider, has formed partnerships with Chinese advertising giants Baidu, the company said in a statement released on Thursday.

The statement said that Globe7 HK Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Northgate Technologies, has formed partnerships with Chinese advertising giants Baidu, Alimama and Allyes, which will build Chinese advertising exposure to its products Globe7.com, Egglad.com, Ziddu.com and Longhaier.com.

The partnership with Allyes, one of China's largest online agencies, allows the exchange of advertising on Allyes' SmartTrade with Axill China, Globe7's recently launched advertising platform for the Chinese-speaking market.

Air France and China Southern freight jv plans 93 flights a week in 2010

Air France-KLM and China Southern Airlines are planning to run 93 flights a week in the spring of 2010 under their planned cargo joint venture, La Tribune reported, citing unnamed sources.

According to the newspaper, the joint venture will operate from the airports of Tianjin, Shanghai and Canton, and aims to have 10 aircraft by Aug-09, increasing to 12 in Jul-10. Air France-KLM and China Southern said last month they plan to reach an agreement on the cargo joint venture by the end of the year.

Air France-KLM is to take a 25% stake in the joint venture, which La Tribune said represents an investment of between EUR70 million and EUR75 million.

Overseas investments more than double in 1H

China's non-financial direct outward investment reached US$25.7 billion dollars in the first six months of 2008, 2.3 times the amount recorded in the first half of last year, AFP reported. The figure includes investment made overseas by Chinese companies other than banks, insurers and securities firms, and already exceeds the US$18.7 billion invested abroad in the full year 2007. Much recent outward investment has been focused on energy-related and commodities deals, including Chinalco's US$14 billion joint investment in Rio Tinto with US aluminum firm Alcoa.

Banks warned about real estate lending risk

China's banks have been warned to tighten their loan approval processes for fear of running into similar troubles to those beleaguering US mortgage agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Financial Times reported. Liu Mingkang, head of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, has been making the rounds of the state-owned banks, urging them to beware real estate sector risks. With property sales volume in cities such as Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen falling in recent months, it is feared that a sharp fall in housing prices could result in the banks holding a large portion of bad debt. "The only reason we haven't seen similar problems here is because property prices have continued to rise rapidly," said Yi Xianrong, an economist at the China Academy of Social Sciences. Although total household savings in China are five times the size of outstanding consumer debts, including mortgages, banks' lending criteria are said to be lax.

China's banks told to tighten mortgages

Chinese officials and government economists have warned domestic banks to tighten their mortgage lending criteria after the US government's action to prop up its giant mortgage agencies, the oddly named Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Liu Mingkang, China's top banking regulator, urged the country’s state-owned commercial banks to beware of risks in the real estate sector and ordered them to tighten loan approval processes.

Others among China's policy community have also begun to express concerns about the health of the country's banks amid signs a once-booming property sector has begun to slow.

Average house prices in China's 70 largest cities were up 10.2% from a year earlier by the end of June, according to official figures. But sales volumes in important cities, including Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen, have fallen precipitously in recent months. Some analysts fear steep price falls ahead.

A new word is needed to describe a situation where prices increase but sales go down. Stagflation does not cover it. Dropflation might just be better.

Yi Xianrong, a prominent economist at the China Academy of Social Sciences, said, 'If financial institutions of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae's calibre could get into such a bad situation, then what does that mean for Chinese financial institutions?'

Casinos play VIPs

Macau's casino revenues rose 48 percent in the second-quarter, driven largely by growth in VIP baccarat play.

The popular Chinese enclave's 30 casinos brought in 28.89 billion patacas (US$3.6 billion) in the three months through June, compared with 19.57 billion patacas in the year-ago period, the territory's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau revealed on its Website yesterday.

Bank of China issues renminbi prepaid card for Olympics

The Bank of China (BOC) announced in Beijing on Friday that it has started issuing a stored value bank card -- the "Great Wall Card" -- that can be used by visitors in Beijing during the Olympics.

They can purchase the card at any BOC branch in the capital and get a refund for any remaining value when they leave. The card is denominated in local currency.

The holder can withdraw cash from any China Unionpay automatic teller machine or pay at point of sales (POS) terminals in retail shops that display the Unionpay sign.

The cards will be issued from Friday till the end of the Games. As the exclusive banking partner of the Beijing Olympic Games, BOC was the first bank authorized to issue this type of card.

Foreign visitors need not carry a large sums around the city and don't need to sign when paying with card, the bank said.

BOC president Li Lihui said that the stored value card was not just a payment solution but could also be a good souvenir for visitors.

Established in 2002, China Unionpay is the country's largest bankcard association. It had 740,000 cooperating merchants and 1.18 million POS terminals nationwide as of the end of last year.

Everbright in profits

China Everbright Bank Co, the state-owned lender that got a capital injection last year in preparation for an initial public offering, said yesterday first-half profit more than doubled on higher fee income.

Net income climbed to 6.5 billion yuan (US$950 million) from a year earlier, Beijing-based Everbright Bank said on its Website yesterday.

Exim bank to finance 3 Indonesian power plant projects

The China Import-Export Bank is financing three projects of steam power plant in several provincial areas in Java Island, Indonesia.
"Negotiation with the bank will be in the final phase of the projects. Contract is expected to be signed next month," the Indonesian Business daily Thursday quoted the commissioner of the state owned power company (PLN) Alhilal Hamdi, as saying.

The three projects will be located, one in East Java and two in West Java, with a capacity of 2x330 MW and 2x315 MW respectively.

Term and condition of the loan, obtained from the bank is similar with the previous power plant in Indramayu West Java (170 km from Jakarta).

Nevertheless, there is a little rise of interest rate due to the escalative interest spreading throughout the global market.

Bolled over

As a major textile producer, China is the world's largest cotton importer, but its appetite for the fiber has been affected by weaker growth in textile exports, official statistics show. China imported 211,000 tons of cotton in June, down 16.4 percent year on year and down 12.1 percent month-on-month, the General Administration of Customs reported yesterday. First-half imports fell 52 percent to 1.18 million tons.

Shifts alloy

Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel Co, China's biggest maker of the rust-resistant alloy, said yesterday second-quarter profit was "much better" than the first quarter after it shifted products mix and the cost of nickel fell.

Profit improved even as it cut output in May, Chief Accountant Han Zhentang told investors online.

Cards get accepted

China UnionPay cards can be used in 368,000 automatic teller machines in 45 overseas countries or regions, UnionPay said yesterday.

The acceptance of UnionPay cards at ATMs in Singapore, Japan and Switzerland is already higher for international card companies.

Back-up in place

The Bank of Communications has completed testing on a back-up database to strengthen the protection of data security, the bank said.

Tests on shifting from normal to back-up systems occurred at the weekend and all systems run smoothly, it said.

ADBC's rural loans grew 50 bln yuan in first half

The Agricultural Development Bank of China (ADBC) offered loans of 49.8 billion yuan (7.3 billion U.S. dollars) for rural infrastructure in the first half of 2008, the bank said on Tuesday.
The loans covered 574 road, farming, irrigation, water, energy and environmental protection projects.

ADBC loans have supported the building or reconstruction of 13,300 km of roads, and about 11 million farmers got suitable water for drinking and irrigation through ADBC-funded water-supply projects. The bank said it had also extended funding to 34 projects that increased the areas of grasslands by 10.7 hectares.

The ADBC said its loans to leading agricultural enterprises had risen by 8.43 billion yuan in the first half. In 2007, the ADBC made loans of 146.8 billion yuan to leading agricultural enterprises.

The ADBC was established in 1994 by the central government to promote rural and agricultural development. Now it has 2,000 branches in 30 provincial areas.

Small loans grow

Small enterprises loans grew 10.19 percent to 28.96 billion yuan (US$4.25 billion) in the first half at the domestic banks in Shanghai, the Shanghai Bureau of the China Banking Regulatory Commission said yesterday.

The growth is 1.04 percentage points higher than the total lending growth in Shanghai.

Urban housing prices up 9.2% in Q2

Second-quarter housing prices in 70 large and medium-sized Chinese cities rose 9.2 percent year-on-year, said the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday.

The rise was 1.8 percentage points less than in the first quarter.

Rentals rose 2.2 percent, or 0.1 percentage point more than in the first quarter.

Land transaction costs climbed 10.8 percent, or 5.7 percentage points less than in the first quarter.

Urban housing prices up 9.2% in Q2

Second-quarter housing prices in 70 large and medium-sized Chinese cities rose 9.2 percent year-on-year, said the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday.

The rise was 1.8 percentage points less than in the first quarter.

Rentals rose 2.2 percent, or 0.1 percentage point more than in the first quarter.

Land transaction costs climbed 10.8 percent, or 5.7 percentage points less than in the first quarter.

Companies pay out millions after earthquake

China's insurers have paid out a total of 386 million yuan (US$56.6 million) in claims resulting from the May 12 earthquake, the industry regulator said yesterday.

Insurers received about 96,000 claims in total and inquiries from 147,000 clients, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission said on its Website yesterday.

Insurers also pre-paid 116 million yuan for claims which had not yet been completed, it said.

About 86.5 percent of the claims have been completed, the regulator said.

The devastating earthquake had damaged 1,527 insurers' outlets.

Insurers including China Life Insurance Co, Ping An Insurance, China Pacific Insurance and Taikang Insurance opened 24-hour hotlines for claims, sent relief teams led by senior management to the earthquake areas and streamlined indemnity procedures for claims related to the Sichuan earthquake.

Lou to head Huijin's board of directors

China Central Huijin Investment Corp, the subsidiary of the nation's sovereign wealth fund, formed a new board of directors on Friday, appointing Lou Jiwei, former finance vice-minister, as its chairman.

Central Huijin was established in 2003 to recapitalize State-owned commercial banks. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of China Investment Corp (CIC), the $200 billion sovereign wealth fund, last year. Lou, 57, is also chairman of CIC and oversaw the fund's high-profile investments in US private equity firm BlackStone.

Broker buys stake

HAITONG Securities Co, China's biggest brokerage by market value, bought a 26.6-percent stake in Shanghai Pudong Road & Bridge Construction Co after failing to sell the contractor's shares in an equity offering.

Haitong paid 980 million yuan (US$142.8 million) to buy more than 92 million shares, or 77 percent of the 120 million shares pledged to the market by Pudong Road in the additional offering, according to a statement filed by the contractor yesterday to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

PICC premiums up 68% in first half

The People's Insurance Company of China (PICC) said first-half premium income rose 68 percent year-on-year to 86.4 billion yuan (12.5 billion U.S. dollars).

PICC became the second-largest insurer by premium income, second only to the China Life Insurance.

Premium income for property insurance was 58.9 billion yuan, up19 percent, while that for life and health insurance surged 15 times to 27.4 billion yuan, the company said here on Friday.

Total assets under management rose 82 percent during the first half. At the end of 2007, total assets stood at 147.1 billion yuan up 33 percent for the full year.

Insurance alliance

Citibank (China) Co yesterday teamed up with United MetLife Insurance Co and Sino-US MetLife Insurance Co to launch individual annuities in Shanghai and Beijing. Citibank has a full array of banc-assurance with the products including unit-link insurance and junior insurance.

Sinotrans and CRCT Signing Framework Agreement

Sinotrans signed a framework agreement on strategic cooperation with CRCT in Beijing on June 25th, 2008. Sinotrans Board Chairman Miao Gengshu, and CRCT General Manager Zheng Mingli addressed the signing ceremony. Sinotrans Vice President Dong Jianjun and CRCT Deputy General Manager Wang Qingyu signed the agreement.

At the ceremony, both sides agreed Sinotrans and CRCT are positioned to capitalize on their time-honored collaboration history, extensive distribution of branch offices and advantageous resource abundance, and that the signature of the agreement marks the beginning of a new stage of cooperation between the two companies. Both companies are bound to usher in a new era of greater development by benefiting from their cooperation and mutual complementation. Mr. Zheng Mingli also expressed his hopes for setting up a model in China's modern logistics industry through close collaboration and building a new landmark for future development of both sides.

COSCO LYG and COSCO Shipyard sign cooperation agreement

Lianyungang Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO LYG) and Lianyungang Shipyard Co., Ltd. (COSCO Shipyard) signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement. The two sides will establish a comprehensive and strategic cooperation in a wider range covering ship repairing, ship spare parts manufacturing, ship supply, agents, production safety, personnel exchange and training, information exchange and so on.

This strategic cooperative partnership will be conducive to the development of each individual enterprise. In line with the COSCO Group's overall strategy upon Lianyungang, cooperation will also be a necessary component.

COSCO LYG is a wholly owned subsidiary of COSCO's Qingdao Ocean Shipping Co., Ltd., a large integrated company based on shipping and with supplementary onland business.

China State Shipbuilding to sell Wenchong Shipyard

China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC), the country's largest ship-building group, has put its Wenchong Shipyard up for sale on the Beijing Equity Exchange for RMB3.04 billion (USD443 million).

CSSC stipulated that the buyer must be in the shipbuilding business, have earned more than RMB300 million in net profit each year from 2005 to 2007, and have built ships with a total of at least 500,000 dead weight tonnes in fiscal year 2007.The buyer would also have to be state-owned or state-controlled, with total assets of no less than RMB10 billion at the end of 2007.

Balancing act ahead for China

China should strike a delicate balance between the fight against inflation and healthy economic development, Morgan Stanley economist Wang Qing said yesterday.

"The Chinese authorities are walking a fine line between avoiding significant economic slowdown and tackling inflation," Wang said.

The government raised domestic fuel prices by 18 percent last month - a hard decision when the global economic slowdown posed a threat to China's growth and the country was battered by higher food prices.

Wang said normalizing energy prices in China would likely replace currency appreciation as the primary driver in helping China's growth to rebalance in the next 12 months.

"Unlike yuan appreciation that tends to be disinflationary, energy price normalization is inflationary, so the policy challenge is to strike a delicate balance between supporting growth and preventing the second-round effect of 'cost-push' inflation by successfully anchoring inflation expectations," Wang said. He anticipated no major shift in exchange rate policy.

China Southern to launch fund in HK

CHINA Southern Oriental Patron Asset Management Co, the first overseas joint-venture fund on the mainland, has applied for approval from Hong Kong Exchanges to launch its asset-management business.

China Southern Fund Management Co holds a 70-percent stake in the HK$200-million (US$25.6 million) company and Oriental Patron Financial Group has the balance, China Southern Fund Management said on its Website yesterday.

Initially, CSOP Asset Management will manage the Hong Kong-listed stock portfolio for China Southern's Qualified Domestic Institutional Investors fund.

Set up in 1998, China Southern is among China's biggest fund companies and was the first to sell products under the QDII scheme in 2007.

Oriental Patron was set up in 1993 and currently manages assets worth several billion US dollars.

The new venture aims to be a gateway for institutional investments flowing into and out of China. It will advise or partner with international investors in China as well as seek overseas opportunities for domestic investors.

Chang Huifeng, CEO of CSOP Asset Management, said the company will manage a series of private equity funds and public offering funds in the future. Later this year, it plans to seek overseas investment products such as hedge funds and private equity funds for domestic institutional investors.

Chang had worked at Citigroup's headquarters in New York before heading CSOP Asset Management.

Poly Real Estate profits surge

POLY Real Estate Group said first-half profits may have surged by between 220 and 270 percent from a year earlier.

Net income for the first half of 2007 was 278 million yuan (US$40.6 million), the company said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday.

China Boosts Audi

CAR maker Audi AG said yesterday it sold more than 516,000 vehicles globally from January to June, led by demand from Chinese buyers.

Ingolstadt-based Audi, part of Volkswagen AG, said the 1.4 percent increase in sales compared with the first six months of 2007 led to a new sales record for the company.

German teddy bear firm to quit China

Steiff, the firm that has made teddy bears for over a century, said Wednesday it planned to move production back from China to Germany because poor standards there left some of its stuffed toys in a sorry state.

"If one of the glass eyes is even a millimeter off, it means the adorable devoted look on the teddy bear's face ends up looking more like some kind of a stupid stare," managing director Martin Frechen told the Stuttgarter Zeitung newspaper.

He told ZDF television the company had found it difficult during four years in China to maintain the quality of its expensive stuffed animals, toys and dolls because of high staff turnover.

"We had to keep training new people all the time, especially lately," Frechen said. "More and more of the products were rejects."

ICBC sees H1 profit to rise over 50%

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd, the world's biggest by market value, said it expects first-half profit to rise by more than 50 percent as China's economic growth boosts demand for loans.

"Income from various businesses such as net interest income and net fee and commission income recorded rapid growth," the Beijing-based bank said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday. ICBC's profit was 40.84 billion yuan (US$5.96 billion) in the first half of last year, based on Chinese accounting standards, the company said.

China Sunergy Looks To Europe For Silicon Wafer Supply

China Sunergy Co.,Ltd., a specialized solar cell manufacturer based in Nanjing, has announced that it has entered into a supply agreement with the European wafer provider REC Wafer for a high quality supply of monocrystalline 156-millimeter wafers for the seven years from 2009 through 2015.

The scheduled shipments are expected to begin in early 2009 and be completed at the end of 2015. Both amount and price are fixed according to the thickness of wafer and the year of shipment, with some flexibility on amounts within certain limits. Total purchases of wafers by China Sunergy from REC Wafer are expected to exceed $400 million over the life of the Agreement.

China Sunergy believes that, by partnering with its new supplier, it is reducing its reliance on the spot market, and it believes that the cost savings involved will ease the pressure it has recently seen on its margins.

China Sunergy manufactures solar cells from silicon wafers utilizing crystalline silicon solar cell technology. The company sells solar cell products to Chinese and overseas module manufacturers and system integrators, who assemble solar cells into solar modules and solar power systems for use in various markets.

Big increase in Russian tourism in China in first quarter

Data concerning Russian people travelling abroad in the first quarter of this year, according to the Russian National Group, shows that China has become the preferred overseas destination for Russian travelers; and nearly twice the number of tourists came from Russia to travel in China in the first quarter.

A spokesperson from the Russian National Group said that the doubling of Russian tourist travel to China is an unprecedented phenomena. He believes that the main reasons for this are the lack of visa restrictions; travel agencies are marketing tourism products well; for Russia, China is the new travel destination; and China offers good travel services.

Taiwan to relax China investment restrictions

Taiwan's government will relax restrictions governing mutual fund investment in China-related stocks, the Wall Street Journal reported. Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou's cabinet agreed to allow mutual funds sold in Taiwan to invest as much as 10% of their assets directly in stocks listed in China, up from the current 0.4% limit. The cabinet will also remove a 10% ceiling on mutual funds' investments in H-shares and red chip companies. No details were provided as to when the changes would take effect. The move is part of an effort to develop Taiwan into a regional asset-management hub, the paper said.

Brazil seeks to triple trade with China

Brazil wants to triple its exports to China, AP reported, citing Brazilian officials. Speaking in Brasilia at the launch of Agenda China, an initiative aimed at boosting Brazil's trade presence in China, Brazilian Foreign Trade Secretary Welber Barral said the organization will seek to boost sales to China of a wide range of Brazilian products, including pharmaceuticals, chemicals and shoes. Trade between Brazil and China rose tenfold from 2000-2007, according to Brazilian government figures. Brazil's exports to China stood at US$10.7 billion at the end of 2007, 74% of which were low-value commodities such as soybeans. Imports from China in 2007 stood at US$12.6 billion, 96% of which were high-value manufactured goods.

BGF China fund commences investment

BlackRock, one of the world's largest publicly traded investment management firms, announced Wednesday it has launched BGF China fund, promising to maximize total returns.

The fund, part of the BlackRock Global Funds (BGF) umbrella headquartered in Luxembourg, invests at least 70% of assets directly in Chinese equities. BlackRock Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer Nick Scott is responsible for overseeing management of the China Fund, which is co-managed by Jing Ning and Alan Wang, based in Hong Kong.

The timing is perfect for BlackRock to introduce BGF China Fund, as China's economy is being transformed into a consumer society, from being an export-oriented economy characterized by low margins and low labor costs but energy intensive exports, say BlackRock officials.

The fund will be benchmarked against the MSCI China 10/40 Index. The fund is available in Hong Kong and the U.K.

China may raise tax rebate on textile exports

China plans to increase tax rebates on textile exports in a bid to support the textile industry, the Beijing Morning Post reported, citing sources.

Export tax rebates may be raised to 13 pct from 11 pct, while rebates on exported clothing will rise to 15 pct from 11 pct, the report said.

A final decision on the rebates is pending, the report added.

Starting in July 2007, the government cut the industry's rebate to help contain the trade surplus. Since that time, however, Chinese textile firms' profits have been falling because of weaker global demand and intense competition, the report said.

In May, China's clothing exports grew 1.1 pct from a year earlier, the slowest rise so far this year, the report said.

China June CPI growth slightly lower vs May

China's consumer price index (CPI) rose at a slightly slower pace in June than the May level, the Oriental Morning Post reported, citing an unidentified official at the central bank's research department.

The official did not give a specific figure for June or the first half of the year, the report said.

But he was quoted as saying that CPI growth is "very likely to rebound in the second half."

China's CPI grew 7.7 pct year-on-year in May, against 8.5 pct in April. Inflation for the first five months of the year stood at 8.1 pct.

The National Bureau of Statistics will release June and first-half economic data on July 17.

LCD makers AU, Chi Mei may cut production after recent fall in panel prices

AU and Chi Mei, Taiwan's top two LCD makers, are closely watching their inventories and are not ruling out production cuts after recent falls in panel prices, a local newspaper said Wednesday.

The Chinese-language Commercial Times quoted AU Optronics Vice President Paul Peng as saying that some of AU's clients have high stockpiles and the company would monitor market conditions in the next month, possibly cutting production to adjust inventories. Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. is mulling a similar move but the paper quoted the firm's President Ho Jau-yang as saying that it was normal to scale back output during the industry's slow manufacturing season.

AU and Chi Mei officials were not immediately available for comment. The paper said AU and Chi Mei reduced panel production in the last downturn in 2006, easing pressure on the supply side.

Worries over lower panel prices and a possible supply glut next year have promoted foreign brokerages such as Merrill Lynch to cut their investment ratings on AU and Chi Mei, which supply liquid crystal displays to top PC and TV vendors.

Computer memory prices to rise 20%: Dramexchange

Global computer memory-chip prices will probably rise by 10 percent to 20 percent from the second quarter, according to the operator of Asia's largest spot market for semiconductors.

Prices of computer chips known as dynamic random access memory will resume their "upward swing" in the third quarter after falling 8.4 percent by the end of last month from US$2.15 on June 10, the peak for the second quarter, Taiwan's Dramexchange.com said in an e mailed statement yesterday.

The benchmark 1-gigabit DDR2 chip currently trades at US$1.92.

Toyota to boost SUV, CV capacity at Chengdu facility

Toyota Motor Corp. has announced its plans to boost its output capacity for large sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and small commercial vehicles (CV) by more than 50% at its joint venture facility in China's western city of Chengdu, said Asia In Focus today.

Sichuan FAW Toyota Motor Co., one of the Japanese carmaker's joint ventures in China, produces the Land Cruiser Prado SUV and the Coaster small bus at a facility opened in the city in 2000. The factory had a two-week production suspension after areas near the city were devastated by a 8.0 magnitude earthquake on May 12, which has left at least 70,000 people dead and more injured.

The venture operation will be relocated to another part of the city in 2010 as part of a redevelopment project. The new facility will start with the same production capacity of about 13,000 units as now, but its annual output will be finally raised to as much as 30,000 units step by step.

India, China propel internet audience growth in Asia-Pacific region

The Asia-Pacific internet audience grew 14 percent to 319 million visitors in April from 280 million visitors in the previous year, according to a report by ComScore. The strongest growth occurred in India, which surged 27 percent to more than 28 million internet users, followed by China which grew 14 percent to more than 102 million visitors.

Taiwan, Malaysia and New Zealand also achieved double-digit growth. More developed internet markets such as Japan and Singapore experienced modest gains of 3 percent and 4 percent, respectively. The study revealed that though each of the top ten global properties is based in the United States, each one sources the majority of its audience from outside the US. Half of the top twenty properties in the Asia-Pacific region are locally-owned entities. Google Sites and Yahoo! Sites combined to capture the majority of search share in the Asia-Pacific region, while five of the top ten search properties are regional engines, including China's Baidu.com and Korea's NHN.

Internet users in Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Australia spend the most time online in the region, but still spend less time than the worldwide average. Facebook.com is the leading social networking site worldwide and Friendster.com is the top social networking site in the Asia-Pacific region.

Foreign investors net sellers of 13.85 bln twd Taiwan shares today

Foreign investors were net sellers of shares worth 13.85 bln twd today, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said.

Local investment trusts were net buyers of shares worth 1.06 bln twd and brokers were also net buyers, with net purchases worth 1.11 bln twd, it said.

China May consumer confidence index rises to 94.3 vs 94.0 in April

China's consumer confidence index rose to 94.3 points in May from 94.0 in April, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

The index was at 94.5 in March and 94.3 in February, the bureau said in a statement published on its website.

The sub-index representing consumer satisfaction with current economic performance increased slightly to 90.2 in May from 90.1 in April.

Meanwhile, the consumer expectations index, which focuses on the economic outlook, also rose to 97.0 in May from 96.6 a month earlier.

China's Huawei to deploy commercial WiMAX network in Pakistan

China's Huawei Technologies said it has been selected by Mobilink, the largest GSM operator in Pakistan and a subsidiary of Orascom Telecom, to deploy a commercial WiMAX 16e network.

In a statement, Huawei said the network will cover central business districts and hot spots in Islamabad, Karachi, Sialkot, Lahore, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi.

Under the terms of the contract, Huawei will provide Mobilink with a WiMAX solution to help the company meet Pakistan's increasing broadband needs.

To date, Huawei has won 19 overseas commercial WiMAX contracts.

Chinatrust to increase bad debt provisions

Taiwan's Chinatrust Financial said Tuesday its banking arm plans to put aside an additional NT$1 billion (US$33 million) to its bad debt provisions after one of its clients bounced a check.

Everskill Technology and its affiliates have a combined debt of about NT$2.5 billion to Chinatrust Commercial Bank, Chinatrust Financial said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.

The news came after the Taipei stock market closed Tuesday. Chinatrust Financial shares slid 7 percent to their daily limit, worse than the main TAIEX index's 1.5 percent drop.

Chinatrust Financial, Taiwan's top credit card issuer, has said it expected its bad debt provisions in 2008 to rise about 2 percent from NT$9.914 billion in 2007.

China Steel June sales rise 35% to NT$23.9 bil.

China Steel Corp., Taiwan's largest maker of the metal, said sales climbed 35 percent in June from a year earlier.

Sales rose to NT$23.9 billion, the Kaohsiung, Taiwan-based company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday, without providing a comparative figure.

ICBC offers RMB 8.06 bln in loans for rebuilding

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Co. (ICBC) announced yesterday RMB 8.06 billion (US$1.17 billion) have been offered in loans to companies and public utilities for reconstruction in the aftermath of the May. 12 earthquake which hit Sichuan Province.

The country's largest lender has signed a financing agreement with Chengdu municipal government for supporting reconstruction projects. China's financial institutions had provided RMB 52.95 billion in reconstruction loans for quake-hit areas by Sunday, of which RMB 44.6 billion went to Sichuan.

The earthquake has caused severe damages to industrial companies and public utilities. The State Council has promised a six-month extension of all loan repayments in arrears due to the quake. Affected companies would be given priority in applications for initial public offerings on the stock market or refinancing plans if already listed. They would also be encouraged to raise funds for reconstruction on the bond market, according to the State Council's announcement yesterday.

Foreign investors net buyers of 5.58 bln twd Taiwan shares today

Foreign investors were net buyers of shares worth 5.58 bln twd today, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said.

Local investment trusts were net sellers of shares worth 231.02 mln twd while brokers were net buyers of shares worth 726.44 mln twd, it said.

China's Giant Interactive to acquire 25 pct stake in 51.com for 51 mln usd

Giant Interactive Group Inc, a Chinese online gaming company, said it has agreed to buy a 25 pct stake in social networking site 51.com for around 51 mln usd.

The acquisition is the company's first strategic investment after Giant listed on the New York Stock Exchange, chairman Shi Yuzhu said.