China Business Briefs 29/1/14

I will be travelling over the next two days and might be unable to blog during that time. My visit to Beijing has generally been very pleasant. Will be back in three months.

ECONOMY

China’s retail investors are leading grassroots financial reform | China Economic Review Grassroots movements bring to mind angry petitioners on the streets or the little man fighting against the big, ugly institution. It doesn’t conjure images of investors handing over their cash to bankers, who then pile that money into real estate or coal projects.

But in China, a grassroots financial movement fomenting off the balance sheet involves just that. And in some ways, it too is the story of a marginalized group of people, depositors, pushing back against an almighty, unmovable force, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC).

Micro-credit firms lent RMB227bn last year: People’s Bank｜WantChinaTimes.com China had 7,839 micro-credit firms by the end of last year, which made 227 billion yuan (US$37 billion) in new loans, according to the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank.

The total loan balance reached 819.1 billion yuan (US$135.4 billion), according to central bank figures.

China trust deal raises thorny questions – FT.com The last-minute rescue raises a thorny question for the future of the Chinese economy. Has the deal confirmed the widespread belief that the government will do whatever it can to stave off trouble, hence fuelling more risk-taking? Or has the near-default taught investors that high yields come with high risks?

China’s Rescue of Troubled Trust May Stoke Risk-Taking – Bloomberg China’s eleventh-hour rescue of wealthy investors in a high-yield trust threatens to drive more money into the nation’s $6 trillion shadow-banking industry, undermining regulators’ efforts to deter excessive risk-taking.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the nation’s largest lender, yesterday told customers who had invested in the 3 billion-yuan ($496 million) trust product that they can sell their rights to unidentified buyers to recoup the principal. Some clients plan to visit ICBC branches to demand more interest ahead of tomorrow’s 5 p.m. deadline for accepting the offer, according to Du Ronghai, a Guangzhou-based investor.

China Industrial Profit Growth Further Declines in December: NBS-Caijing Total profits of China’s industrial companies rose 6 percent year-on-year to  CNY942.53 in December, compared with a growth of 9.7 percent a month ago and 17.3 percent a year earlier.

For the full year of 2013, industrial profit rose 12.2 percent year-on-year  to CNY 6.28 trillion, compared with a growth of 5.3 percent in the previous  year.

China’s ‘invisible man’ quits forex role – FT.com Zhu Changhong had been the chief investment officer for the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the agency that manages China’s $3.8tn mountain of foreign exchange reserves. He left a starring role at Pimco, the world’s largest bond house, to join SAFE in late 2009 and is now expected to return to the private sector, according to two people familiar with his decision.

Trained as a physicist, Mr Zhu earned the “invisible” moniker for his extreme reluctance to make public appearances. He has never given any media interviews, and the only photos of him online are a grainy picture from his student days and an unidentified shot from the time of his return to China.

China yuan weakens to 6.1073 against USD Wednesday – Xinhua | English.news.cn The Chinese currency Renminbi, or the yuan, weakens 20 basis points to 6.1073 against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trading System.

China Further Eases Foreign Exchange Control over Capital Accounts | China Briefing News The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) of China promulgated a circular on January 24 to improve and further ease the administrative control over capital account foreign exchange items (Huifa [2014] No.2, hereinafter referred to as “Circular 2”). Circular 2 will enter in to effect on February 10.

The approval procedure for profit repatriation will be simplified and banks will no longer review any transaction documents if the remittance amount is under US$50,000. For remittance of profit over US$50,000, banks in principle do not need to review the audit report and capital verification report; however, they will still check the board resolution on profit distribution and the original tax record-filing documents to verify the authenticity of the transaction.

The Misfortunes of the Big Four in China Overall, the judge’s 112-page ruling on the audit work of the Big Four in China makes for interesting, and at times damning, reading. You can click here to access it.The judge’s decision should probably be required reading for anyone working in Chinese private equity and capital markets transactions with Chinese companies. Investments in Chinese companies worth many tens of billions of dollars rely, at least to some extent, on the accuracy and reliability of Big Four audits. That audit bedrock looks shakier now than it did a week ago.

H7N9 bird flu: Chinese provinces halt live poultry trade | World news | theguardian.com Authorities in eastern China have banned live poultry sales after an increase in the number of people infected with the H7N9 strain of bird flu, state media has reported as the busy Chinese new year travel period gets under way.

So far this year H7N9 has killed 19 people in China and infected 96, according to the official Xinhua news agency, which cited the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

Chinese firms dominate Arab Health Congress 2014｜WantChinaTimes.com Chinese companies are the biggest participant in the ongoing Arab Health Congress 2014, the largest health fair in the Middle East and North Africa that started in Dubai on Monday.

Among the 3,900 companies participating in the four-day congress, 510 are from mainland China, 29 are from Hong Kong, while 107 are from Taiwan.

China ends 2013 with a total of 417 million 3G subscribers China’s grand total on 3G at the end of 2013 is a whopping 417.3 million, up from 233.5 million in December 2012; that’s a 78.7 percent rise. Check out the growth from 2010 to the most recent number:

Beijing Urges Steelmakers to Pursue Overseas Iron-Ore Assets – WSJ.com China is urging its steel companies to buy more iron-ore assets abroad amid signs that many have been losing their appetite for such investments.

The National Development and Reform Commission this week said Chinese steelmakers should keep building up stakes in global iron-ore assets in the interests of China’s strategic security and “speaking rights,” or influence, in global trade. China’s ore imports rose 10% last year to a record 819 million metric tons, according to customs data.

Chart Of The Day: How China’s Stunning $15 Trillion In New Liquidity Blew Bernanke’s QE Out Of The Water | Zero Hedge You read that right: in the past five years the total assets on US bank books have risen by a paltry $2.1 trillion while over the same period, Chinese bank assets have exploded by an unprecedented $15.4 trillion hitting a gargantuan CNY147 trillion or an epic $24 trillion – some two and a half times the GDP of China!

UK embraces Chinese investment Chinese interest appears to lie in the future of high speed rail in the UK. China currently has the world’s largest and fastest growing high speed rail network of its own, boasting nearly 6000 miles of track, and may now be turning its attention to the UK’s own aging and oversubscribed railway network. Although Chinese investors will not be placing any direct financing into the construction phase of the new £50bn ‘HS2’ line, Chinese bidding for the concession to operate the new railway or invest in schemes around the route and its stations seems likely. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang noted, following talks with Mr Cameron, that “The two sides have agreed to push for a breakthrough and progress in co-operation in the areas of nuclear power and high speed railway.”

Norway’s sovereign fund halves coal exposure | Reuters Norway’s $817 billion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, has halved its exposure to coal producers, with most of its remaining interest in the sector in Chinese companies, its chief executive said on Tuesday.

COMPANIES

Citic Group Unit May Invest in Trust Product, Morning Post Says – Bloomberg A unit of Citic Group Corp., a Chinese state-backed conglomerate, may take part in bailing out investors in a troubled 3 billion-yuan ($496 million) trust product, Oriental Morning Post reported.

The transaction is under way, the newspaper reported yesterday, citing a person close to Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (601398) The person declined to give the name of the unit or the amount it plans to invest, according to the report.

China’s Tencent WeChat App Launches Electronic Hongbao – China Real Time Report – WSJ When China celebrates the Lunar New Year on Friday, millions of red envelopes stuffed with cash are expected to change hands among families, friends and colleagues. But this year, there’s a new spin on this old tradition, with the gift-giving happening right on people’s smartphones.

On Tuesday, Wechat, the social networking and messaging app from Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings, launched a new feature that allows users to send these envelopes of money to each other electronically. Givers must first link the app to their bank accounts, then they can send specified amounts of money to their Wechat contacts through a personal message or to put the cash up for grabs in chat rooms full of friends. Receivers can transfer the funds back into their own bank accounts. (This reporter successfully grabbed three this morning.)

Alibaba Posts Profit on Demand Ahead of Potential IPO – Bloomberg Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders was $792 million in the three months ended September, up from a loss of $246 million a year earlier, according to a presentation from Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO), which owns a 24 percent stake in China’s largest e-commerce company. Revenue rose 51 percent to $1.78 billion.

Weibo’s value shrinks by US$500m after market report｜WantChinaTimes.com The stock price of Sina Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, fell by 11.32% from US$84.60 on Jan. 15 to US$75.02 on Jan. 17, which was a result of a recent Chinese report, according to Beijing’s Economic Observer.

The China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) released a report on Jan. 16 in which it said that the number of Weibo users had dropped by 9.2%, or 27.83 million last year. The market misinterpreted the Weibo or microblog users mentioned in the report as Sina Weibo users, as a result of which Sina Weibo’s market value shrunk by US$500 billion after the report’s release.

PetroChina: Discounted Growth Play With Significant Upside – Seeking Alpha PetroChina (PTR), China’s only super major, has a history of strong financial growth and is well positioned to take advantage of China’s growing demand for diversified energy sources. Currently trading at only 9.3x earnings, the PTR stock looks like the rare gem that offers growth at a value price.

Wal-Mart to upgrade China vendor compliance after state TV criticism | Reuters U.S. retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) said on Wednesday it will upgrade its vendor compliance process in China, requiring more documentation and making use of a computer-based system to help suppliers manage associated paperwork.

The announcement came after state-owned China Central Television (CCTV) criticized the world’s No. 1 retailer for circumventing its quality control process and fast-tracking some products with higher profit margins.

Shipping lines shed assets to offset poor performance – Business – Chinadaily.com.cn China Shipping Container Lines Co, a main subsidiary of State-owned China Shipping (Group) Co, has forecast a net loss of 2.63 billion yuan ($435 million) for 2013, as the company underwent a shrinking global shipping market, aggravated by the challenges of overcapacity and international competition.

To avoid financial loss, CSCL began to sell its quality assets in the second half of 2013. However, the company only managed to complete a 49 percent share sales of Lianyungang New Oriental International Container Wharf with Singapore’s port operator PSA International Pte Ltd within the year, gaining 260 million yuan in sales profit.

Huawei, Lenovo poised to close gap with smartphone leaders | South China Morning Post Huawei Technologies and Lenovo are expected to intensify competition in the global smartphone market after both companies recorded strong unit shipment growth last year.

Data released yesterday by technology research firm IDC showed the two Chinese technology giants captured a combined 9.4 per cent market share last year, when total industry shipments topped 1 billion units for the first time.

Why Baidu Acquired Renren’s Group-Buying Site By acquiring the remaining shares in Nuomi, Baidu actually does something rare, as the company is well-known for buying only controlling stakes. At the same time, by selling all of its stake in Nuomi, Renren –which has been largely overtaken by Sina‘s Weibo and Tencent‘s WeChat in the past two years– may be trying to make its portfolio of services more compact. The social network company may focus more on improving user and monetization metrics of its promising game business, rather than releasing new services.

Hong Kong Property Tycoons Settle Family Feud – China Real Time Report – WSJ A yearslong feud involving the family behind one of the world’s biggest property empires appears to have come to a happy ending, with a deal reached to equally divide family-owned shares in Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. to the three Kwok brothers and their families.

The agreement in essence restores eldest brother Walter Kwok as a beneficiary of the family trust that controls the property company, commanding a market capitalization of 260 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$33.5 billion).

CICC, Qianhai Financial Plan $3.3B Joint Cross-Border Fund Beijing-based China International Capital Corporation (CICC) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Qianhai Financial Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Administrative Bureau of Qianhai Economic Zone in Shenzhen, to establish a joint development fund, according to an announcement.

The CICC Qianhai Development Fund will target to raise a total of RMB20 billion ($3.3 billion). It plans to complete first closing of RMB5 billion ($833 million) before June 30 this year.

Toyota Supplier Sees China Sales Doubling on Orders From VW, GM – Bloomberg Tsubakimoto Chain Co. (6371), a Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) supplier, forecasts China auto parts sales to more than double in four years as carmakers including Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co. raise orders to diversify supply chains.

The maker of transmission chains and gears expects sales to jump to more than 12 billion yen ($117 million) by March 2018, Toru Fujiwara, managing executive officer, said in a Jan. 27 interview. The board has approved plans for a new plant in China as early as this year, he said.

China Money Network − KPCB-Backed Chinese Group-Buying Site ManZuo.com Sold To Suning Nanjing based Chinese home appliance retailer Suning Commerce Group Co. says it has acquired Chinese group-buying site ManZuo.com for around $10 million, according to media reports.

Kingsoft to Take Security Software Business KIS and List it on U.S. Market Kingsoft Corporation (SEHK: 3888), a leading applications and entertainment software developer in China, announced today that it planned to spin off security software business and list the sector on NASDAQ or New York stock exchange. Kingsoft has filed to Hong Kong Stock Exchange for the spin-off.

Kingsoft’s security software business is operated by Kingsoft Internet Software Holdings Limited (KIS), also known as Kingsoft Network in China. The company is principally engaged in development and operation of security software and web browser Liebao, as well as cross-platform value-added services and online advertising.

Noble Group Limited (via noodls) / NOTIFICATION ON SUBSIDIARY Noble Group Limited (the “Company”) wishes to announce that on 23 January 2014, the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Noble Clean Fuels Limited (“NCFL”), has subscribed for a 51% shareholding interest in Watt Power Limited (“WPL”), a company incorporated in the United Kingdom.

Moody’s assigns A1 to China Shipping Overseas Finance 2013 Limited’s bonds Moody’s Investors Service has assigned a definitive A1 rating to the credit enhanced bonds issued by China Shipping Overseas Finance 2013 Limited (unrated).

The bonds are supported by an irrevocable standby letter of credit from  the Bank of China Limited (BOC, A1/P-1/D, stable),  Macau Branch.

RPT-UPDATE 2-Shaanxi Coal debut hit by volatility in China’s reopened IPO market | Reuters Shares of Shaanxi Coal Industry Co Ltd jumped in their Shanghai debut but came off earlier stratospheric highs in a roller coaster day as China’s newly reopened initial public offering market drew out aggressive punters.

Shaanxi Coal, which raised $660 million in the biggest mainland China listing since 2012, had soared by its daily limit of 44 percent in early trade. That triggered a suspension until five minutes before the market’s close and prompted an announcement from the exchange that it had taken measures against two retail investors who had driven the price up aggressively.

KWM advises Agricultural Development Bank of China on RMB bonds issuance | Firm News | The Lawyer King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) has advised the Agricultural Development Bank of China (ADBC) on the successful issuance of RMB bonds worth ¥3bn (£300m) and getting listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The bonds are issued to institutional investors with terms of two years and three years respectively at the interest rate of 3.08 per cent and 3.28 per cent per annum.

Posted from Diigo.

China Business Briefs 28/1/14

Sorry about the lack of posts yesterday. Beijing seems to hit my immune system with frequent minor ailments. All a bit wearisome.

ECONOMY

China Credit Trust Says It Reached Pact on Troubled Product – Bloomberg China Credit Trust Co. said it reached an agreement to restructure a high-yield product that sparked concern over the health of the nation’s $1.67 trillion trust industry and contributed to a global selloff in emerging-market assets.

The agreement includes a potential investment in the 3 billion-yuan ($496 million) product, Beijing-based China Credit Trust said on its website today, four days before payment is due. The two-line statement didn’t identify the source of funds, or say whether investors would get their money back.

China shadow bank says reached pact to avoid default – Yahoo Singapore Finance In a notification to investors, obtained by Reuters, the trust firm declared that an accord had been reached and advised investors to contact client managers, but the document, did not say how or when investors would be repaid.

Citing an unnamed investor in the trust product, Caixin, a respected financial magazine, reported on Monday that the agreement allows investors to recover their invested principal, but not the final interest payment originally promised.

China Trust Default Avoided…What Comes Next? – Forbes A default of the “Credit Equals Gold #1” trust product has been avoided. What happens in the coming months will either push China closer towards a financial crisis or help it gradually step back from the edge.

Heard on the Street: China’s Default That Wasn’t – WSJ.com Like clockwork, a mysterious third party has sprung to the rescue, allowing China Credit Trust to repay the principal on high-yield investment products tied to a struggling coal miner. Savers will miss some interest payments and get a lower effective yield, but otherwise escape unharmed. So does the reputation of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country’s largest commercial lender, which sold the trust products to clients.

The hand of the state seems to be at work. Officials in the miner’s home province were actively involved in coming up with a solution, The Wall Street Journal reported. The bailout involves the third-party investor taking an equity stake in the coal company, which came only after the company suddenly gained approval to restart a closed mine.

China’s top diplomat wants free-trade deal with Europe | Reuters Beijing’s top diplomat called on Monday for China and the European Union to consider a multi-billion-dollar free-trade deal, a once unthinkable step that shows a big improvement in relations between two of the world’s largest markets.

“There are bright prospects for China-EU business cooperation,” Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi told reporters after meeting EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton ahead a visit to Brussels by President Xi Jinping in March.

China Trade Puzzle Revived as Hong Kong Data Diverge – Bloomberg China’s trade numbers, distorted by fake exports (HKETEXPC) last year, are set to come under renewed scrutiny after a discrepancy between Hong Kong and Chinese figures for bilateral trade widened to the largest in eight months.

Hong Kong’s December imports from China fell 1.9 percent from a year earlier to HK$176 billion ($22.7 billion), the city’s statistics department said yesterday. That compares with $38.5 billion in exports to Hong Kong reported earlier this month by China’s customs administration, up 2.3 percent, based on data compiled by Bloomberg.

China Property New Loans Hit $380Bln in 2013, Accounting 1/3 of Total-Caijing China’’s property sector attracted 2.34 trillion yuan (about $384 billion) of new loans in the past year, representing nearly a third of the total from the banking institutions, a central bank report showed.

Outstanding yuan-denominated lending to the property sector from both Chinese and foreign financial institutions to the property sector rose 19.1 percent year-on-year to 14.61 trillion yuan by the end of 2013, the People’s Bank of China said.

Total loans outstanding at commercial banks amounted to 71.9 trillion yuan at the end of December, up 14.1 percent year-on-year and compared with a growth rate of 15.0 percent in the previous year.

Currencies and banks: the two big questions about China | The A-List But in the financial world the Chinese remain a little more hesitant. Two big issues kept recurring, one international, the other domestic:

-will the renminbi soon rival the dollar as a global reserve currency?

-is the rapid growth of shadow banking an accident waiting to happen?

China’s debt-fuelled boom is in danger of turning to bust – FT.com Debate rages over how this tale will end. Most analysts believe that the Chinese economy will once again expand by more than 7 per cent this year, despite ballooning private sector debts. But the pessimistic minority has history on its side. Only five developing countries have had a credit boom nearly as big as China’s. All of them went on to suffer a credit crisis and a major economic slowdown.

Banks see slower growth in assets – Frontpage – BUSINESS – Globaltimes.cn Assets of the banking industry ­totaled 148 trillion yuan ($24 trillion) by the end of 2013, up 12.8 percent from a year earlier, according to data released Sunday by the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC). The growth rate was the lowest since 2003, when the CBRC first started revealing such data.

Banking assets mainly refer to ­financial institutions’ lending assets. Meanwhile, total liabilities reached 137.9 trillion yuan.

Beijing says US should stop new dumping probe on solar cells | South China Morning Post China’s commerce ministry called on the United States on Sunday to stop anti-dumping investigations into imports of solar power products from China, expressing “serious concern” and vowing to defend its producers.

“The Chinese side expresses serious concern,” the commerce ministry said in a statement on its website. “China urges the United States again to carefully handle the current … investigations, be prudent in taking measures and terminate the investigation proceedings.”

Life Insurance in China, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2017 – PR Newswire – The Sacramento Bee The report provides in depth market analysis, information and insights into the Chinese life insurance segment, including: • Benchmarking analysis of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries • The Chinese life insurance segment’s growth prospects by life insurance categories and customer segments • The various distribution channels in the Chinese life insurance segment • The competitive landscape in the Chinese life insurance segment • A description of the life reinsurance segment in China • Detailed analysis of the regulatory framework in China

Oil Companies Using New Logic in Their Overseas Acquisitions – Among mergers and acquisitions of global upstream oil and gas assets over the past few years, one trend has seen European and American companies selling while national oil companies in China and Russia have been buying.

“In 2013, global M&A transactions of upstream oil and gas assets were the lowest since 2008,” said a January report by IHS, an energy consultancy. The report said that from 2010 to 2012, global M&A transactions of upstream assets totaled US$ 600 billion, with 2012 the highest in a decade, at US$ 250 billion. But this fell to US$ 136 billion in 2013.

Capital’s Expensive Plan to Fight Air Pollution Misguided, Expert Says – However, Tao Guangyuan, executive director of the Sino-German Renewable Energy Cooperation Center, said that while the sum shows determination, the government’s approach might be unnecessarily costly. (The center is supported by the governments of China and Germany.)

Much of the 760 billion yuan will go toward converting coal-burning power plants into ones that burn natural gas. Tao says the government will need to invest heavily in equipment and production facilities, but doing this will also create a long-term financial burden because gas is more expensive than coal.

Selling products and Services into China The big issue today is not so much how to make product in China, but how to sell product and services to China, be that within China or from outside China. Needless to say, the “within China” part is where the complicated legal regulations and hence the tensions can arise.

China’s guarantee companies face survival problems amid slowing economy｜WantChinaTimes.com Since the second half of 2011, the government’s four trillion stimulus policy began to ebb, followed with a tightening monetary policy and the implementation of macro-economic control. Bad debt from soft government funds exploded from small and medium-sized enterprises, leading to rising pressure on guarantee companies.

Reforms to fuel Shanghai’s growth in 2014 – Xinhua | English.news.cn Economists believe the city’s financial sector is going to grow even more this year, while Shanghai Mayor Yang Xiong estimates the city economy will grow by 7.5 percent. A series of reforms in the landmark Shanghai Free Trade Zone, including changes to capital accounts and interest rates, are expected to add new sources of growth to the financial sector.

Talent returns to China, but progress slow – Business – Chinadaily.com.cn A report on returned overseas talent compiled by Wang found that more than 270,000 people came back in 2012, an increase of 46 percent over 2011, adding that rapid economic development in China is one of the major attractions.

Of those who returned, more than 30 percent took jobs or started a business in areas such as new materials, energy, biotechnology and electronic information.

8.8% salary hikes expected for 2014 – Chinadaily.com.cn Salary increases are expected to hit 8.8 percent in 2014, a slight rise on the 8.6 percent for 2013, according to a survey issued by 51job.com, a human resources service provider.

It found that the highest salary increases occurred in the financial sector, reaching 10.4 percent, followed by real estate (10.1 percent), high tech (9.9 percent) and bio-pharmaceuticals (9.2 percent).

Li reaffirms commitment to social welfare system[1]- Chinadaily.com.cn During his visit, the premier highlighted the importance of social relief work and urged the governments to do a better job in providing basic welfare to disadvantaged people.

“The government has to tighten up the network of social security. A welfare system must be in place for the poor to fall back on if they encounter difficulties,” he said. “Otherwise, these disadvantaged people can easily impact the bottom line of society.”

Hong Kong export growth misses forecast | South China Morning Post The growth, which lagged economists’ forecasts of a rise of 4 to 5 per cent, underscored a weak economic recovery in the United States and disappointing demand in Europe in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, they said.

However, some economists expected better prospects this year on the back of recent strength in the US recovery while Europe’s turmoil hit its bottom.

China probes death of official who liquored up at lavish banquet | Reuters **”negative social impact” is my new favourite euphemism** The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection is investigating Chen Ruixi, deputy mayor of the small city of Sanming in coastal Fujian province, who attended the banquet, as well as his colleagues.

One official died suddenly after the feast, held at the canteen of a private company, the agency said, adding that the event had made a “negative social impact”.

COMPANIES

Citic’s bad loan writeoff a sign of strain in China’s mid-sized banks | South China Morning Post China Citic Bank’s shareholders have agreed for the bank to more than double bad-loan writeoffs for last year, the latest sign of how much China’s economic slowdown is costing the country’s mid-sized banks.

At a meeting in Beijing yesterday, shareholders signed off as expected on management’s plan to write off 5.2 billion yuan (HK$6.6 billion) in non-performing assets, Citic said in a Hong Kong stock exchange filing. The bank originally budgeted for two billion yuan in writeoffs.

Lenovo expands into internet service market｜WantChinaTimes.com The Lenovo Group, one of the world’s largest PC suppliers, is placing putting more emphasis on catering to internet services in a bid to become more competitive, reports Shanghai-based First Financial Daily.

Instead of focusing on only hardware production, the company is shifting towards an operational style that will also values software capabilities and offering customized internet services.

Mobile Tourism Service Yikuaiqu Nets Millions of Dollars in Series A Financing Yikuaiqu, a tourism app, announced that it has raised millions of dollars in Series A financing led by Shenzhen Hight-tech Investment and followed by Shenzhen Capital Group, etc. The company has secured millions of yuan of angel investment in 2012. The capital will be used in research and development of its travel applications for scenic spots, said Liang Jiankun, CTO of the company.

Suning Commerce Fully Acquires Group-purchasing Site Manzuo with Nearly 10 Million Dollars Suning Commerce (SZ:002024) announced that it fully acquired group-buying site Manzuo for nearly $10 million (source in Chinese), continuing its expansion into Internet industry after becoming the largest shareholder of peer-to-peer video streaming service PPTV last year.

In addition to maintaining independent operation, Manzuo will also take over the group-buying and travelling businesses under Suning. Feng Xiaohai, founder of Manzuo, will be named as the head of Suning’s local life sector. The acquisition procedure will be completed by the end of this March.

Alibaba unveils its three games for Laiwang and Taobao The games are available on two of Alibaba’s mobile apps. Users who update Laiwang, Alibaba’s social messaging app, to the new 4.5 version, will notice a new tab under the “Explore” page with a castle icon. Pressing the tab takes users to the app’s new game center, which currently features two titles.

Not unexpectedly, all three titles fit firmly in the “casual” genre, which have proven to be popular among game developers looking to reach broad audiences, and social networks looking to keep up user retention. Of the games on Laiwang, “Pa Pa Pa” bears a resemblence to Line’s Bubble Pop, while “Po Po Po” recalls Simon. Taobao’s “Crazy Toy,” meanwhile, has many of the trappings of King’s Candy Crush Saga.

China Mobile Ltd. (ADR) (CHL): China Mobile Shakes Up Fixed-Line Broadband – Seeking Alpha A welcome development looks set to shake up China’s fixed-line broadband sector this year, with word that leading wireless carrier China Mobile (HKEx: 941; NYSE: CHL) is offering aggressive pricing after receiving a license to offer fixed-line service late last year.

After-school Tutoring Service TAL Education Injects 150 Million Yuan in Childcare Portal Babytree TAL Education (NYSE:XRS), a K-12 after-school tutoring services provider formerly known as Xueersi, announced today it will inject 150 million yuan ($24.79 million) of strategic investment in childcare portal Babytree. Babytree has secured a combined $20 million of investments in previous rounds.

The acquisition of Babytree will help TAL to include pre-school children into its target customers. TAL has acquired education site Kaoyan.com for 50 million yuan last year.

Flying the flag for Chinese cars – Xinhua | English.news.cn Chinese carmaker Hong Qi, or Red Flag, is pressing to have its brand move into the mainstream here in China after years of supplying vehicles to the Chinese government.

Six months ago, Red Flag opened this showroom in Beijing’s exclusive Jinbaojie Street, which makes them almost neighbours with other top name carmakers such as Ferrari and Maserati. So what makes Red Flag Sales Manager Wang Rui Chao believe customers will come to his showroom and not theirs?

Drilling services provider COSL expects deep-water revenue boost | South China Morning Post China Oilfield Services (COSL), the mainland’s dominant provider of offshore drilling services, expects more work and a greater contribution from more capital-intensive deep-water jobs will lift revenues this year.

However, the company warned that the subdued outlook for oil prices will constrain the upside for drilling rates.

China’s Tencent WeChat App Targets U.S. Users – China Real Time Report – WSJ The fast-growing smartphone messaging application is now trying to expand in the U.S. market with a newly launched promotional campaign.

According to WeChat’s Chinese website, here’s how the new promotion works: Tencent is asking people who hold Google accounts to connect their accounts with WeChat, so they can invite their Google contacts to join WeChat. People can win a $25 Restaurant.com gift card from Tencent by getting five of their Google contacts to join WeChat.

Tencent Fully Acquires Map Service Linktech Navi with 60 Million Yuan Chinese Internet giant Tencent continues its acquisition spree this year by pouring 60 million yuan ($9.92 million) of funding in Beijing-based mapping service Linktech Navi for a 100% stake in the company (source in Chinese).

Founded in 2001, Linktech Navi is accredited with the state Grade-A qualification on surveying and mapping. The company’s main businesses are digital maps, navigation system, GPS vehicle monitoring solution, LBS application solution, etc. Linktech Navi’s customers include automobile manufacturers, like Chery, Shac, and Hawtai Motor, navigation services, telecos, among others.

Closer Look: Developers Build Banking Ties with Stake Purchases – Hong Kong-listed Evergrande Real Estate Group expanded into banking by acquiring a 4.5 percent stake in Beijing-based Huaxia Bank for 3.3 billion yuan last week.

A source close to the property developer said the purchase is a strategic investment. Huaxia has a strong balance sheet that can improve Evergrande’s financials. It may help Evergrande finance at a lower cost, he said.

BRIEF-China Life Insurance expects 2013 net profit up 120 pct on investment gains | Reuters China Life Insurance Co Ltd

* Says expects 2013 net profit up 120 percent y/y versus net profit of 11.1 billion yuan ($1.8 billion) previous year

Source text in Chinese: link.reuters.com/wac46v

BRIEF-Ping An Insurance 2013 premium income totalled 268.7 bln yuan | Reuters Ping An Insurance Group Co of China Ltd

* Says 2013 premium income totalled 268.7 billion yuan ($44.4 billion)

Source text in Chinese: link.reuters.com/seb95v

allAfrica.com: Ethiopia: Halfway Point Reached in Inner-City Rail Project (Page 1 of 2) While China Railway Group Limited (CREG) won the contract for the construction of the lines, it was the Metal & Engineering Corporation (MetEC) that was charged with supplying the tracks and the trains to transport passengers. Once complete, the tracks will be of standard size (1.435m wide) double track for the whole route.

LNG import: SSGC, ECC likely to award $1.4b contract today – The Express Tribune EVTL had submitted the offer for LNG services in partnership with China Harbour Engineering Company, a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company, which has been blacklisted by the World Bank until January 2017.

However, the government cleared the company, saying that the project was not being funded by the World Bank, therefore, EVTL could not be disqualified. However, “a question arises why such clause was made part of the tender when it could not be implemented,” an official asked.

SKAI Holdings secures AED737.6m (USD201m) of financing from China’s ICBC for its Viceroy Dubai Palm Jumeirah projectReal Estate – Zawya SKAI Holdings, the Dubai-based real estate investment company, today announced it has secured AED737.6m (US$201m) of financing for its AED3.75bn Viceroy Dubai Palm Jumeirah, ensuring the project is fully funded.

The financing agreement, which further reaffirms SKAI Holdings commitment to the UAE’s hospitality sector, was arranged by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China’s largest bank, marking its first project financing deal for a hospitality project in the Middle East.

BRIEF-China’s Jiugui Liquor says police investigating theft, financial impact uncertain | Reuters China’s Jiugui Liquor Co Ltd

* Says police investigating 100 million yuan ($16.53 million)stolen from its account with Agricultural Bank of China’s Hangzhou Branch, financial impact of the theft still uncertain

Chinese Pork Supplier WH Group Said to Apply for $6b IPO – Bloomberg WH Group Ltd., the Chinese company that bought the world’s biggest pork supplier last year, applied to the Hong Kong stock exchange for an initial public offering, said two people with knowledge of the matter.

The company plans to seek as much as $6 billion from the offering in the first half, the people said yesterday, asking not to be identified as the information is private. WH Group changed its name from Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd. this month.

The WSJ Weekend Interview with Erik Prince: Out of Blackwater and Into China – WSJ.com Now, sitting in a boardroom above Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour, he explains his newest title, acquired this month: chairman of Frontier Services Group, an Africa-focused security and logistics company with intimate ties to China’s largest state-owned conglomerate, Citic Group. Beijing has titanic ambitions to tap Africa’s resources—including $1 trillion in planned spending on roads, railways and airports by 2025—and Mr. Prince wants in.

Nicaragua canal fast-tracked with Chinese boost The Chinese company, HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co. Ltd., is working with the Nicaraguan government on a massive canal project experts say could take 11 years to finish, cost $40 billion and require digging about 130 miles (200 kilometers) of waterway.

Just as the Panama Canal was a projection of growing U.S. power at the start of the 20th century, the Nicaragua project already reflects China’s influence and financial clout around the world. Another Hong Kong-based company has been operating port facilities on both ends of the Panama Canal.

ICBC Chief: China’s Shadow Banking Overblown – TheStreet Viewers of China’s state-run television Saturday heard the head of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China say shadow-banking problems in the country have been overblown and “distorted.”

ICBC Chairman Jiang Jianqing, interviewed by CCTV television at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said “society has over-exaggerated and completely distorted the severity of shadow banking” in China.

I did not disown rail deal – AG | The Star Githu further discounted claims that his office’s endorsement of the commercial agreement signed between Kenya Railways and the China Road Corporation was also an approval of the tendering process. He said the SGR the logic of the financing agreement had “the making of a closed tender”.

Posted from Diigo.

China Business Briefs 26/12/13

ECONOMY

China approves pilot to open mobile telecoms market, boost competition – Yahoo! China has approved a pilot scheme allowing private companies to piggy back on the country’s three dominant telecommunications providers to offer own-brand mobile services, opening the world’s largest mobile phone market to increased competition.

Authorities have approved 11 private “virtual carriers” to resell mobile telecommunications services, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in a statement on its website on Thursday.

Tianjin launches China’s latest carbon market | Reuters The Chinese city of Tianjin on Thursday launched the country’s fifth emissions trading scheme as the world’s biggest-emitting nation took another step towards reining in its impact on the environment.

The newest of China’s carbon markets caps CO2 emissions from iron and steel producers, chemical facilities, power and heat generators, and oil and gas exploitation.

Secondhand housing market sees chill in Dec |Industries |chinadaily.com.cn The secondhand housing market cooled in December in Beijing and Shanghai as turnover fell, and an increasing number of sellers dropped prices, leading industry observers to wonder if the move indicates an inflection point in the white-hot property market.

Internet cafés losing out in China’s online battle – FT.com “Several years ago, we were able to get tens of thousands of [renminbi] a day, but now we are only able to earn several thousand,” says Mr Liu, who runs an airy café with around 30 computers in Beijing’s central Chaoyangmen district of offices and shopping malls.

China Seeks Comments on Revisions to Foreign Investment Laws | China Briefing News China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) is mulling over revising the country’s foreign investment laws and is currently soliciting comments for the following three laws:

• The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprises (promulgated on April 12, 1986, last amended on October 31, 2000);
• The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Sino-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures (promulgated on July 1, 1979, last amended on March 15, 2001); and
• The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Sino-Foreign Cooperative Joint Ventures (promulgated on April 13, 1988, last amended on October 31, 2000).

Another Sichuan Businessman Caught in Banking Scandal – Wu Zhong, chairman and Communist Party secretary of the Chengdu Investment Holding Group (CDIH), is under investigation for “serious discipline violations,” anti-corruption officials in Chengdu said on December 25. The phrase “serious discipline violations” often means graft.

Xiamen-Shenzhen high-speed skepticism – BUSINESS – Globaltimes.cn The total investment for the construction of the Xiamen-Shenzhen line was around 50 billion yuan, with 70 percent of the money coming from bank loans. It was estimated that it would take 17 years for the railway line to recover its total cost, according to its initial design plan.

Wooing China’s Princelings-Caijing While recent scandals have put China’s princelings under a harsh media spotlight, they have been hot commodities for Western companies seeking to capitalize on their guanxi (connections) in order to secure multi-billion dollar transactions. The list of financial institutions that have engaged in such hiring practices reads like a who’s who of investment banking.

U.S. IPO Window to Reopen for Chinese Companies in 2014: Report -Caijing The window for Chinese companies to get listed on U.S. markets is expected to  reopen next year after U.S. investors’ sentiment for Chinese companies improved  late this year following a series of accounting scandals, said a report released  by ChinaVenture Investment Consulting Group.

Guangzhou Holds back Plans to Lift House Restrictions-Caijing Local authorities in Guangzhou made a retreat yesterday from a statement that it would consider lifting government controls in the real estate sector, after It was found conflicting with a central government order to keep these policies in place.

Wing Thye Woo lays out the conditions that China must meet to internationalize its currency and turn Shanghai into a global financial center. – Project Syndicate China is increasingly debating whether or not the renminbi should be internationalized, possibly joining the US dollar and the euro as an international vehicle currency (IVC) – that is, a currency that other countries use to denominate the prices of their traded goods and international loans. Related to this is a debate about whether Shanghai can become a first-tier international financial center (1-IFC) like London and New York.

Police Find Tunnel Under China-Hong Kong Border – WSJ.com The tunnel, equipped with lights, vents and a rail track with pulleys to ferry contraband, was found by Shenzhen police before it was put to use. The passage was about 40 meters (131 feet) long and led from a garage in Shenzhen to a secluded thicket of reeds in Hong Kong, according to state media reports.

Companies Can Make Money in China but It Comes With its Own Unique Risks Chinese demand is a mixed blessing. As an investor, you need to watch what China is doing because any changes could have an outsized impact on your natural-resource holdings. Copper and timber are two areas to monitor right now.

That said, China is still one of the fastest growing countries in the world — a silver lining for even out-of-favor industries like iron ore and coal. When supply and demand balance out, prices will again start to rise and companies like Peabody, BHP, and Rio will benefit.

DZHNews.com- Breaking China Biz News, Financial Updates, Corporate News Data showed that chemical, construction materials, iron and steel, nonferrous metals, hydropower and coal industries saw production growth in the first 11 months.

95% self-sufficiency urged for grains[1]|chinadaily.com.cn After enjoying a decade of stable growth for grain production, China will take decisive measures to ensure its self-sufficiency rate, with enough arable land and adequate overseas cooperation in 2014.

COMPANIES

Alibaba Unit to Offer Telecom Services in China – WSJ.com China’s telecom regulator said on Thursday that it awarded licenses to 11 private companies to run mobile telecom businesses based on services leased from China’s state-run carriers. Analysts have long said the creation of the new businesses, known in the industry as virtual telecom service providers, could offer a first step to breaking up the monopoly held by China’s three state-run telecom service providers—China Mobile Ltd., China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. and China Telecom Corp.

11 Companies Get Gov’t Approval for Telecom Resale Pilot – The country’s Big Three telecom operators – China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom – each selected more than a dozen partners for the program and submitted their names to the ministry for review. Names they were reported earlier, such as Gome Electrical Appliances and Suning Appliance Co., are not on the final list.

The first batch of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) includes e-commerce operators Jingdong Mall and Alibaba Group’s Net.cn, mobile phone retailer D.Phone and value-added service provider Bewinner Communications.

Debt of China Railway Corp reaches RMB3tn and counting｜Companies｜Business｜WantChinaTimes.com The company’s debt hit 3.06 billion yuan (US$504billion) as of Sept. 30, compared with its total assets of 4.8 trillion yuan (US$797.3 billion), with net loss reaching 1.7 billion yuan (US$280 million) in the first nine months.

CNTV, Tencent, Skyworth Partner on ‘WeChat TV’ | Marbridge Consulting – China Television News Future TV, the internet TV subsidiary of China Central Television’s (CCTV) national online TV platform operator CNTV, has partnered with consumer electronics manufacturer Skyworth Digital Holdings (0751.HK) and internet firm Tencent (0700.HK) to jointly release an internet TV set, the “WeChat TV” (“Weixin Dianshi”).

Chinese Taxi App Didi Reportedly Raising $100 million Funding, Will Add WeChat Payment Didi has stood out from a crowd of taxi apps in China thanks to the backing from investors especially Tencent. Didi’s major competitor now is Kuaidi who is venture backed by Alibaba. Likewise, Kuaidi users can make payments with Alipay, the digital payment service of Alibaba Group. Kuaidi announced to acquire the fourth largest taxi app Dahuangfeng in China last month, saying Alibaba would inject more funding into it.

Tech in China: Ups and Downs of Taxi Apps in 2013 The leading ones include Beijing-based DidiDache, Hangzhou-based Kuaidi Dache, Beijing-based YaoyaoZhaoche, and Shanghai-based Dahuangfeng. DidiDache received $15 million of funding from Tencent at valuation of $60 million and reportedly to raise $100 million round led by Citic and Tencent. KuaidiDache secured several millions of US dollars from e-commerce giant Alibaba.

Tech in China 2013: Chinese Internet Giants Shopping Crazily The old story: Big Chinese Internet companies would, rather than acquiring or investing in startups, like to hire a bunch of engineers to build products on their own or do pixel-to-pixel knockoffs. Names like Tencent are notorious for killing startups by doing so with better developed products or the ability of converting existing users. Recognized reasons include 1) the costs of hiring several smart-enough Chinese engineers must be much lower than buying a startup, and 2) intellectual property rights haven’t been well protected in China.

Zoomlion Buys Germany’s M-Tec – WSJ.com Chinese construction equipment manufacturer Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Co. has acquired a German dry mortar equipment producer M-Tec, in the latest example of Chinese building machinery players expanding overseas amid a downturn at home.

China Auto Industry News | Welcome Another New Brand To the Chinese Automarket: Enranger – From Weichai | China Car Times – China Auto News The Shandong based company has now launched its own automotive passenger car brand named Enranger in English or Ying Zhi in Chinese. At a press conference earlier this week Weichai explained its brand image; the new company will focus entirely on SUV and MPV products with its name a portmanteau of the word Engine and Energy, which of course will come from Weichai’s own green energy and at the same plays on the word ‘Ranger’

Two Rail Giants Both Claim over Half of Urban Transit Market – As the last round of subway procurements ended in December, China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corp. Ltd (CSR) told Caixin that it occupied 54.24 percent of the domestic market in 2013. However, China North Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corp. Ltd (CNR) said it has received contracts for 2,000 metro cars this year, totaling more than 50 percent of the market.

Meanwhile, a third player, Beijing Subway Rolling Stock Equipment Co. Ltd., has entered the market in recent years. It claimed 7.7 percent of the metro vehicle market in 2012, but has not released figures for this year.

Volkswagen Poised to Beat General Motors in China Sales – Bloomberg Both companies have surpassed their targets to deliver more than 3 million vehicles in China this year, with Volkswagen crossing the mark on Dec. 5 and GM a week later. The German automaker held a lead of about 70,000 vehicles through the first 11 months, according to data from the automakers.

Posted from Diigo.

China Business Briefs 21/12/13

ECONOMY

Chinese Interest Rates in Money Markets Jump on Friday – WSJ.com **Amazing to see what tight margins the banks operate under – any increase in lending rates and they scream** The situation worsened Friday as the interest rate banks charge each other for short-term loans jumped to 8.2%, the highest level since a crippling liquidity shortage in the summer. The stress in the banking system is starting to spread: Stocks in Shanghai fell for a ninth consecutive day to the weakest level in four months, while government bonds dropped, pushing the 10-yield near to its highest level in eight years.

The People’s Bank of China issued its second statement about the developments in two days, saying it had injected a total of 300 billion yuan ($49.4 billion) into the financial system over the previous three days.

Video: China’s Banking System in Claymation – China Real Time Report – WSJ **Very cool** China’s leaders are well aware that there’s too much infrastructure spending and too little spending by consumers, and they’re trying to “rebalance” the economy by easing interest rates and adding deposit insurance. Ken Brown explains China’s financial system—with some help from claymation.

@PBOC: Nice work on the social media ploy | China Economic Review Governors at the People’s Bank of China have stepped up their social media game as of late. For days they’ve been posting cute cat photos on Weibo, China’s answer to Twitter (which is blocked in China). That wasn’t gaining much traction, with only the suits at the ministries of finance and commerce re-posting the furry felines.

That’s probably why PBOC late on Thursday announced on its Weibo account that it pumped billions of yuan into China’s monetary system via short-term liquidity operations, or SLOs. You see, central bank rules say that SLOs must be announced a month after they are conducted. But PBOC just couldn’t wait that long to generate a storm in the social media universe.

China’s lenders in push to lure depositors |Markets |chinadaily.com.cn Lenders, especially smaller banks, are raising the returns on their wealth management products in a bid to attract depositors.

In the last week of November, a total of 423 wealth management products hit the market with an average promised annualized return of 5.3 percent, the Beijing Evening News reported. That figure was up 0.13 percentage point from the previous week and compares with 4.47 percent for the same period last year.

Tech bans to be relaxed: US – Chinadaily.com.cn The United States said on Friday it will “actively” carry out a plan to lift bans on high-tech exports to China, a long-term irritant in economic ties between the world’s two largest economies.

The development is a sign that recent military and trade friction will not deter the two nations from steadily advancing their economic relations, experts said.

China Ministry of Finance Official Praises U.S. Federal Reserve Move to Wind Down Bond-Buying – China Real Time Report – WSJ Many emerging markets have worried that the Fed’s efforts could reduce investment flows into their nations as investors looked more favorably at a recovering U.S. economy. But China’s central bank is far less worried and may welcome such an outcome, some Chinese and U.S. economists say.

Chinese tycoons top list of Britain’s richest property investors | South China Morning Post **London property has become a global asset, much to Londoner’s dismay** Tycoons from China have come from nowhere to top the list of the UK’s wealthiest property investors for the first time, ending the Duke of Westminster’s 10-year reign at the No1 spot.

China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin of the Dalian Wanda group, topped the 2013 Estates Gazette Rich List with an estimated fortune of £10.4 billion (HK$131 billion), closely followed in the No2 spot by New World Development chairman Henry Cheng Kar-shun and his family at £10.2 billion.

Video: Christmas 2013: Inside a Chinese toy factory – Telegraph Malcolm Moore visits the Atopp toy factory in Shantou, finding remote control helicopters and harmony.

Chinese Leader Xi Weakens Role of Beijing’s No. 2 – WSJ.com **Cameron’s obsequious behaviour is designed to put UK ahead of EU partners in China trade – China/EU trade is still limited** British officials were finalizing details of Prime Minister David Cameron‘s visit this month to Beijing when they received a last-minute scheduling change: President Xi Jinping would host a banquet in Mr. Cameron’s honor.

The invitation, which delighted the British officials, effectively scrubbed dinner plans with Mr. Cameron’s official host, Premier Li Keqiang. And it illustrates an important shift in the Chinese leadership’s internal dynamics: Mr. Xi is downgrading the premier’s role and assuming the primary duty of overseeing economic reforms as well as briefing foreign leaders on economic affairs, Communist Party insiders say.

China to make new bid to join global procurement pact in 2014 | Reuters **Colour me sceptical** China has agreed to make a revised offer to join a global agreement aimed at creating a level playing field for foreign companies competing for government contracts, senior U.S. and Chinese officials said on Friday.

Lack of access has been a sticking point with trade partners since China joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO) 12 years ago.

If China were to join the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA), it would potentially open $100 billion of government contracts to foreign competition every year, and offer opportunities ranging from building highways to running data networks.

Elite Talk: A talk with former US Undersecretary of Treasury on China’s currency reform – People’s Daily Online How to see the yuan’s substantial appreciation? Is the Chinese currency really a one-way bet upward?

Joining the Elite Talk program to talk about these sizzling hot topics is former US Undersecretary of Treasury Mr. Timothy Adams. While at the White House, he was the George W. Bush administration’s point person on international financial and economic issues, including exchange rate policy issues. He has regularly interacted with top-ranking officials in key emerging markets including China and traveled extensively throughout the world’s second-largest economy. Here’s our talk.

Organization of Firms in P2P Lending Publishes Standards for Entering Industry – An organization of companies involved in peer-to-peer lending and information providers has published a set of standards that mark an attempt to set requirements for establishing P2P firms.

The requirements cover a range of items, from the credentials of employees and a company’s information disclosure to risk controls and the use and custody of client money.

Chinese factory manager from Hong Kong walks daily tightrope | South China Morning Post **Good insight into the control necessary with staff** “You want to make sure not a single area is dominating,” he said. “It’s not about those much-reported gang fights, but the loss of control if you have too many from one province.”

People from the same area tend to gang up, and not just because of differences in dialect and culture. Real interests can be at stake.

China, US start annual trade talks |Economy |chinadaily.com.cn Annual trade talks between China and the United States started on Friday in an effort to address trade frictions and build a foundation for the new model of major-power relations between the world’s two biggest economies.

China promises to promote US beef imports | South China Morning Post A Chinese deputy commerce minister, Wang Chao, said at a news conference the two sides agreed to “promote US beef exports to China” but gave no details. A deputy agriculture ministry, Niu Dun, said the two sides will work on technical issues but gave no timetable for when full-scale imports might be allowed.

Beijing banned US beef in 2003 due to fears of mad cow disease. It has promised in recent years to ease those restrictions but effectively maintained its ban.

COMPANIES

Treasure piles up for Alibaba as depositors desert China’s banks – FT.com **Savers desperately seeking returns** Li Mingyang only joined Alibaba’s investment platform one month ago but he has already transferred almost all the cash in his bank account – nearly Rmb200,000 ($32,000) – to the online fund.

He is far from alone. More than 30m people in China have signed up to Yu’E Bao, or “Leftover Treasure”, only six months since its launch.

Why Tencent’s Investment In Cyanogen Inc Matters Now, Tencent (HKG:0700) is no stranger to investing in software companies based outside of China. In the past year or two, the company has injected cash into Fab.com, Snapchat, Kakao Talk, and a handful of small, Silicon Valley startups.

But the CyanogenMod investment stands out because it’s an operating system – specifically, one that appears to aspire to compete with Android (even though it remains a fork for the time being).

Appliance Retailers Run an Online Marathon, Uphill – Indeed, it’s been an uphill race ever since Gome Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd. and Suning Commerce Group Co. Ltd. decided in around 2009 to gradually migrate business from traditional storefronts to online retailing.

Each company has invested heavily in e-commerce, but both have fought for their online stores, which sell consumer electronics, household appliances and related wares. Gome’s online unit lost about 400 million yuan in the first three quarters of 2013, the company said, bleeding slightly less red ink than in the same period 2012. Although Suning didn’t release profit figures of its e-commerce business, the company reported a 73 percent year-on-year decline in total net profit for the first three quarters. The company said with the rising online sales and the company’s effort to unify prices of its online and offline stores, Suning’s gross profit margin declined 3.48 percentage points to 15.2 percent for the first quarters compared to the same period last year.

Chinese firm to acquire Plaza Construction – Business – MiamiHerald.com Plaza Construction, a major New York-based construction management firm that is prominent in South Florida and the mid-Atlantic region, said its stock will be acquired by China Construction America Inc..

CCA is a unit of state-owned China State Construction Engineering Corp., based in Beijing, China.

China to become centre for ‘various disruptive changes’ in business as its digital, mobile and tech sectors grow, claims WPP’s Sir Martin Sorrell | The Drum The research, published by WPP and conducted by research firm Millward Brown, reports on China’s most valuable brands, this year listing the top 100 for the first time, rather than the regular top 50 brands.

Top of the list was China Mobile at $61.4bn, followed by Industrial & Commercial Bank of China at $39.7bn and then Tencent at $33.9bn.

Bank of China Limited : Chinese Liquidity to Remain Tight in 2014 | 4-Traders **Plus how much bad debt?** Next year will see further liberalization in China’s banking system, but financing conditions will likely remain tight, Bank of China said on Friday in a report detailing its outlook for 2014.

Liquidity will remain tight for China’s financial institutions next year thanks to a combination of an increasingly vigilant stance by the central bank and the “tapering” of quantitative easing in the U.S., the bank said.

China Everbright Bank Shares Fall on Debut – WSJ.com Everbright priced its IPO at HK$3.98, near the middle of its indicated price range, but still increased its fundraising to US$3 billion last week by selling additional shares, from an original base deal worth US$2.6 billion.

Yet, as trade opened Friday, China’s 11th largest lender by assets saw its shares fall 0.5% below the IPO price of HK$3.98. Everbright Bank shares fell as much as 5% intraday before closing at HK$3.87, down 2.8% from their Hong Kong IPO price, underperforming the benchmark Hang Seng Index, which ended down 0.3% at 22,812.

Hershey hits sweet spot with deal for Golden Monkey |Companies |chinadaily.com.cn The Hershey Co, North America’s largest quality chocolate producer, has announced plans to acquire 80 percent of snack producer Shanghai Golden Monkey Food Joint Stock Co Ltd.

The acquisition will be carried out through Hershey Netherlands BV, a wholly owned subsidiary. It’s expected to be completed in the second quarter of next year, subject to approval from Chinese regulators and shareholders.

Analyst: Here’s Why the Apple-China Mobile Partnership Has Been Delayed Did Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) distribution deal negotiations with China Mobile (NYSE:CHL) hit a snag over declining sales of the iPhone 5C? According to a note to investors obtained by Apple Insider, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo attributed the distribution deal delay to the unexpectedly low sales of Apple’s mid-range smartphone.

Spy Shots | BaoJun’s First Minivan Revealed | China Car Times – China Auto News Baojun is apparently planning to expand its auto range in 2014 with the addition of a new MPV and hatchback to the sole 630 sedan that has kept the GM-Wuling-SAIC made sub brand alive so far. The hatchback has already been sighted testing in China, but the MPV is a new one in such clear conditions.

JinkoSolar Partners with Beijing University to Build the University’s First Experimental PV Plant | 4-Traders JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (“JinkoSolar” or the “Company”) (NYSE: JKS), a global leader in the solar PV industry, today announced that it will partner with Beijing University’s Solar Power Engineering Center to construct the University’s first experimental PV power plant on campus which will be used for collecting and analyzing data on the power generation capabilities of PV modules when exposed to various conditions.

A place to call its own on the NYSE – BUSINESS – Globaltimes.cn **Um… yeah…** Investors have shown a strong bout of confidence in Autohome, after the Chinese auto information provider went public earlier this month, when the company’s share price soared 76.88 percent the day it was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) – in an encouraging sign for the company to work harder to keep their backers happy.

Blacklisted by World Bank!: CHEC refutes PGPL’s claim | Business Recorder China Harbour Engineering Co Ltd (CHEC) has refuted the claim of being blacklisted by the World Bank and has demanded an apology from Pakistan Gasport Limited (PGPL) which had claimed that CHEC is a blacklisted contractor by World Bank and cannot participate in the fast-track LNG tender.

Ministers of Finance &Transport in Beijing  | Sierra Express Media Sierra Leone Ministers of Finance and Economic Development and Transport and Aviation, Dr. Keifala Marah and Leonard Balogun Koroma, respectively on 17^th December, arrived in the People’s Republic of China to hold further discussions with EXIM Bank of China and China Railway International on the construction of the Mamamah International Airport Project and the Hunan Rice and rubber agricultural project.

Ineos says most at UK Grangemouth plant agree to terms – Yahoo Singapore Finance **This story has been big in Scotland, but there was no mention of PetroChina’s stake** Ineos is the full owner of the Grangemouth petrochemical plant and a joint owner of the 210,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) refinery along with PetroChina , which holds 49.9 percent.

The company halted operations at Grangemouth in October and demanded changes in terms and conditions before it would permit a restart. It had previously said that losses would force it to shut the petrochemical plant.

Swiss Re buys stake in New China Life – Headlines, features, photo and videos from ecns.cn|china|news|chinanews|ecns|cns Swiss Re is acquiring directly from Zurich Insurance Company 152.9 million New China Life H shares (which are listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong). representing 4.9 percent of the total issued share capital of New China Life (which includes both H shares listed in Hong Kong and A shares listed in Shanghai). The total value of the transaction is HK$3.82 billion ($493 million).

China Life Insurance Company Ltd. (LFC) is Overbought, What’s Next? – Tale of the Tape – NASDAQ.com Investors have definitely seen some solid trading in China Life Insurance Company Ltd. (LFC) lately, leading to gains for some. However, LFC is now in overbought territory thanks to its latest move, as the firm has an RSI value of 76.1. Additionally, China Life Insurance Company Ltd. currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), so if the earnings estimate trend is any guide, a fall might be coming for this overbought stock.

Peabody, Shenhua form thermal coal joint venture – Pennenergy Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) and China’s Shenhua Group announced they have entered into an agreement to create Sino-Pacific Coal Trading Corporation Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based joint-venture company that will supply Shenhua’s growing coal import demand with thermal coal from Peabody’s global production and coal trading platform.

Market Research Reports, China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd (601668) – Financial and Strategic SWOT Analysis Review China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd (601668) – Financial and Strategic SWOT Analysis Review provides you an in-depth strategic SWOT analysis of the company’s businesses and operations. The profile has been compiled by GlobalData to bring to you a clear and an unbiased view of the company’s key strengths and weaknesses and the potential opportunities and threats. The profile helps you formulate strategies that augment your business by enabling you to understand your partners, customers and competitors better.

ICBC has Business Focus For First NZ Branch | Stuff.co.nz The country’s newest bank, China’s state-controlled ICBC, says it will focus largely on business banking as it sets up shop in New Zealand.

But the local arm of the world’s biggest bank also intends to branch into commercial property deals, as well as offering retail banking services.

The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: China Petroleum and Chemical, Apache, Chevron, SM… — CHICAGO, Nov. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Reportedly, China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (NYSE: SNP–Free Report) is discussing the purchase of a minor stake in Kitimat liquefied natural-gas (LNG) project with U.S. energy firm Apache Corp. (NYSE: APA–Free Report). China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, also known as Sinopec, is one of the largest petroleum and petrochemical companies in Asia.

Details relating to the purchase have not been disclosed. Moreover, Sinopec’s management has not sanctioned the investment yet. However, a source revealed that Sinopec’s stake investment will be utilized to fund the LNG project.

Shenhua Unit Wins Russia Coal Resources Use Right – Financial and Business News – MENAFN China Shenhua Energy Company Limited (01088) announces that Razrez Ugol, a unit in which the company indirectly holds 50% of equities, gained the resource use right for coal exploration and exploitation at Zashulanskoye Mining Area in Russia through a bidding at RUB 247 million or CNY 45 million.

OilVoice | Green Dragon Gas announces MOU with PetroChina Green Dragon Gas Ltd. (AIM: GDG), one of the largest independent companies involved in the production and sale of CBM gas in China, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with PetroChina Company Ltd (“PetroChina”), regarding confirming the Company’s participating interests in the Chengzhuang block (“GCZ”), a block included within the Shizhuang South (“GSS”) Production Sharing Contract.

Under the MOU, PetroChina will provide all information necessary for the Company to complete an audit so as to conclude and accept the capital expenditures incurred to develop the block, the gas production, gas sales and related revenues. Commercial gas sales began in March 2010. The parties have agreed to conclude the audits and the related definitive agreements on payments in the first quarter of 2014. Furthermore, the parties agreed that PetroChina will continue to be the operator of the GCZ block, while the Company will continue to operate the GSS block.

Posted from Diigo.

China Business Briefs 19/12/13

ECONOMY

Profits of Chinese state firms up 8.2% – Xinhua | English.news.cn Total business revenues at SOEs rose 11 percent year on year to 41.93 trillion yuan, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

The ministry did not give any explanation for the lower profit growth rate, but said SOEs in sectors such as power generation, electronics, real estate development and auto production posted relatively fast profit growth, while those in non-ferrous metals, coal mining and chemicals reported declines in profits.

The statement said the monthly report did not include SOEs in the financial sector.

Overseas investing sees large jump |Economy |chinadaily.com.cn **Suspicions that the jump is down to getting money out of China** Outbound investment, calculated on the basis of deals closed, rose to $80.2 billion in the January-November period, exceeding the $77.2 billion for all of last year, the Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday.

BTC China to stop taking yuan deposits |Companies |chinadaily.com.cn BTC China, the world’s largest Bitcoin operator by trading volume, said it will no longer accept new deposits in yuan, dealing another setback to the virtual currency.

The announcement on the operator’s Sina Weibo account came two weeks after China’s central bank said the country’s banks were barred from handling Bitcoin transactions.

China Rate Swap Surges to Record as Reverse Repos Kept on Hold – Bloomberg One-year contracts that exchange fixed payments for the floating seven-day repurchase rate increased 15 basis points to 5.03 percent as of 10:13 a.m. in Shanghai, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The swap climbed as high as 5.07 percent today, the highest in data going back to April 2006, and has averaged 3.76 percent this year.

Lack of loans constricts Chinese economy: Beige Book survey | South China Morning Post **Incredible** The number of firms getting new credit shrank for the seventh straight quarter while the proportion of loans going to debt rollovers jumped, meaning that most new bank lending went straight to repaying existing obligations rather than financing new economic activity.

Only 14 per cent of bankers questioned said 30 per cent or more their branch lending went to new customers in Q4, down from 18 per cent in Q3 and 40 per cent in Q2, meanwhile only 33 per cent of firms surveyed said they had applied for loans in the current quarter – down a hefty 13 points from Q3.

China’s private sector still in the shadow of the state | South China Morning Post **See profits statement above** The biggest components of the state sector are the banks, which account for almost half of the domestic stock market valuation, and about half of the total net profit of all the listed companies. Other big components in the stock market, or in the unlisted universe for that matter, are state-controlled big insurance companies, big oil corporations and telecommunications operators.

Chinese banks have an average return on equity (ROE) of about 20 per cent – twice the level of their global peers. Insurance companies do well in general, and telecoms operators enjoy exorbitant privileges. How can the state sector underperform the private sector in financial terms?

State buying may explain China’s gold import surge – FT.com The People’s Bank of China has not provided an update on its bullion reserves since 2009, when it reported a holding of 1,054 tonnes. But the suspicion among some analysts is that China’s central bank has purchased up to 300 tonnes of gold this year.

Global grocers must walk down the aisle with a Chinese mate | China Economic Review France’s Auchan has found a marriage made in heaven with Taiwan-based RT Mart. British retailer Tesco was swept off its feet by a Chinese suitor with government ties. Executives at Carrefour, another huge French grocer, have been rumored for some time to be signing up to every matchmaking service possible.

But as many a foreign businessman in China can attest to, finding a partner to live with happily here ever after is no easy task. Dating is an expensive and complicated game.

China takes lead as New Zealand export destination – Xinhua | English.news.cn **Check this map** China has overtaken Australia to become New Zealand’s top goods export destination on an annual basis for the first time, the New Zealand government statistics agency announced Thursday.

COMPANIES

Two more CNPC and PetroChina officials questioned for graft｜WantChinaTimes.com Wen Qingshan, chief accountant of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Wang Lihua, chief of the company’s oil trading subsidiary Chinaoil, have been held for questioning in an investigation of a corruption scandal which engulfed the state-owned company last week, according to the Chinese-language news portal NetEase and Shanghai’s China Business News.

Whether they are being investigated for graft or simply helping with the investigation remains unclear. Shares of Kunlun Energy, which Wen chairs, have not been traded on the stock exchange since Tuesday morning, with no reason given as to why this is so.

China Billionaires Set to Shake Up Wireless Market: Tech – Bloomberg **This should be interesting** Chinese leaders this year proposed allowing private companies to use the networks of state-owned carriers China Mobile Ltd. (941), China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. and China Telecom Corp. The potential gains from access to a $213 billion industry prompted Zhang’s Suning Commerce Group Co. (002024) to partner with China Unicom; an entity under Ma, founder of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., to seek a license; and Gome Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd. (493) to discuss leases with state carriers.

CNOOC Limited : Newly reliable Buzzard calms oil prices | 4-Traders **Suggestions that CNOOC is under-valued** One of the world’s most important oilfields, the North Sea’s Buzzard, long known in the industry for struggling output and continual breakdowns, has gone through a quick and surprising transformation.

Buzzard, which plays a leading part in setting global oil price benchmark Brent, has been pumping almost non-stop since August, less than a year since Chinese state company CNOOC bought its operator, Nexen.

Exclusive: Peugeot board approves outline Dongfeng deal – source | 4-Traders PSA Peugeot Citroen’s board has approved a plan for an alliance with Dongfeng in which the Chinese carmaker and the French state would buy large minority stakes at a 40 percent discount to Peugeot’s current share price, a source familiar with the matter said.

The board agreed to enter final negotiations on a 3.5 billion euro ($4.8 billion) share issue that would see France and Dongfeng Motor Group take matching 20 percent holdings, the source said on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

GMs Great Success Story: China A visit to AutoChina 2010, the Beijing auto show, reveals a different side of the bankrupt automaker. In China, GM has gone from only 31,794 sales in 2000 to 1,826,424 sales in 2009. The bulk of those sales has come from Wuling, a brand of modest, Daewoo-engineered minivans and cars, but Buick and Chevrolet are the rising stars and are far from insignificant. GM is now the number-one producer and seller of cars in China, a role it used to enjoy in the United States, via its ten joint ventures and two wholly owned enterprises.

Ctrip to Input RMB200 million to Become China’s Largest Online Attraction Ticket Platform Ctrip plans to input RMB200 million on its online attraction ticket service, aiming to become the largest in China in two years. It is reported that attraction tickets sales on Ctrip increased eight times in 2013, to a large extent driven by increase on mobile app. The company expects sales in 2014 will grow by six to eight times, according to Zhou Zhou, CEO at the Offline Service Division of Ctrip (source in Chinese).

China Auto Industry News | Dongfeng-Honda and Guangzhou-Honda Prepping Low Cost Hybrid For China | China Car Times – China Auto News **How many partners does Dongfeng Motor have?! Shows the desire of manufacturers to get into Chinese market** According to overseas and Chinese press reports Honda are working with their Chinese partner Dongfeng to develop a low cost hybrid model specifically for the Chinese market.

Imported hybrid models have failed to take off in the Chinese market, hence Honda’s decision to design fuel saving cars specifically for the Chinese market. Details on the new model are still exceptionally few but the model should launch in 2016.

As America enjoys cheap gas, Asia’s top buyers to pay more – Yahoo Finance UK China’s CNOOC (HKSE: 0883.HK – news) also faces pressure from BP to raise the long-term contract price for gas from its Indonesian project, which is currently under $4 per mmBtu, to market prices.

APAC Fuels 4G Action | Light Reading **Big infrastructure investment** Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) has been detailing its engagement with China Telecom Corp. Ltd., which is rolling out a 4G network that comprises both TDD and FDD LTE access infrastructure. NSN is providing its Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Stations along with associated deployment services and the vendor’s NetAct OSS.

The supplier is one of at least five key infrastructure suppliers to China Telecom, but NSN’s share of the overall initial rollout is believed to be quite small — Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., ZTE Corp., and Alcatel-Lucent are believed to have snagged the majority of the work. (See AlcaLu Gains LTE Traction in China and Alcatel-Lucent Makes 4G Gains in China.)

Peabody Energy Corporation: Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) And China’s Shenhua Group Create Joint Venture To Supply Shenhua With Coal From Peabody’s Global Platform Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) and China’s Shenhua Group today announced they have entered into an agreement to create Sino-Pacific Coal Trading Corporation Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based joint-venture company that will supply Shenhua’s growing coal import demand with thermal coal from Peabody’s global production and coal trading platform.

China Life Insurance Downgraded by UBS AG to Neutral (LFC) | WKRB News China Life Insurance (NYSE:LFC) was downgraded by investment analysts at UBS AG from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, TheFlyOnTheWall.com reports.

Shares of China Life Insurance (NYSE:LFC) opened at 46.60 on Wednesday. China Life Insurance has a 1-year low of $33.88 and a 1-year high of $52.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $44. and its 200-day moving average is $39.51. The company has a market cap of $86.193 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04.

En+ and Shenhua to jointly develop the Zashulanskoye coal deposit in Transbaikal | 4-Traders Razrez Ugol LLC, a 50/50 joint venture of Limited Liability Company Vostsbiugol (forming part of En+) and Shenhua, China’s largest coal producer, announces that it has won the competition for exploration and production of black coal at the Zashulanskoye deposit in the Transbaikal Territory. The company has paid RUB 246.9 mln for the license.

Saab bets on electric cars and China for revival | Reuters Saab’s new owner, National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS), is targeting its home market of China, where the government is promoting clean automotive technology with up to 100 billion yuan ($16 billion) in vehicle subsidies, R&D and infrastructure spending, according to research firm Frost & Sullivan.

How Do You Say Tesla with Chinese Characters? Nobody Knows – China Real Time Report – WSJ Tesla still hasn’t revealed its Chinese-character name for its car. That could partly be because Chinese businessman Zhan Baosheng already registered the transliteration of Tesla (特斯拉), which doesn’t have any obvious meaning or connotation. Tesla does use the characters on its Weibo account.

Delek, Ratio dispute Noble Energy oil estimates – Globes The Israeli partners of Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) in the Leviathan field – Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) and Ratio Oil Exploration (1992) LP (TASE:RATI.L) have distanced themselves from the presentation given by Noble about the oil potential in Leviathan and Cyprus’s Block 12. Noble’s estimates provided to US analysts are not in line with Delek and Ratio’s reports to the Israel Securities Authority regarding oil and gas exploration.

Noble Energy said in its presentation that there is potential for 1.5 billion barrels of oil in Block 12 and a further 1.5 billion barrels of oil in Leviathan.

Posted from Diigo.

China Stock Watch 10/12/13

Though the recent hellish smog over Shanghai may have boosted some environment-related stocks (and this is at least a more subtle spin than the ham-fisted claim that smog makes you “funnier and smarter”), it still shows the struggle China has to be considered an attractive destination, whether for talent or capital. It is difficult to see how Shanghai can present itself as the trading centre of the east when it cannot ensure breathing is a safe exercise. Similarly, news that electronics retailer Suning is making it easier to source items from overseas may be a popular/profitable move, but is a telling indictment of China’s standards compliance.

Twelve of the major stocks declined today, with energy leading the pack. Sinopec was down over 2%, China Shenhua down 0.82% and PetroChina down 0.74%, though the offshore-focused CNOOC finished up 0.64%. Banks and insurance were amongst the day’s leaders, with Ping An Insurance the best performer, up 0.65%.

The Shanghai Composite Index finished just down by 0.71 points, or 0.03%.

Name	Price	Change	Mkt cap	52wk high	52wk low	EPS	P/E
Sinopec	4.85	-0.10 (-2.02%)	565,341.60M	7.03	4.05	CN¥0.62	7.88
PetroChina	8.1	-0.06 (-0.74%)	1.48B	9.5	7.08	CN¥0.68	11.99
ICBC	3.8	0.00 (0.00%)	1.33B	4.53	3.4	CN¥0.74	5.17
China Construction Bank	4.43	+0.01 (0.23%)	1.11B	5.19	3.9	CN¥0.85	5.24
Agricultural Bank	2.62	+0.01 (0.38%)	850,960.55M	3.28	2.38	CN¥0.50	5.22
Bank of China	2.81	-0.01 (-0.35%)	784,407.22M	3.26	2.48	CN¥0.53	5.29
China Mobile	84.10*	-0.80 (-0.94%)	1.69B	91.8	74.9	HK$8.15	10.32
Noble Group	1.04	0.00 (-0.48%)	6,892.16M	1.27	0.785	SGD0.04	29.02
China State Construction	3.47	-0.01 (-0.29%)	104,100.00M	4.18	2.9	CN¥0.62	5.63
CNOOC	15.66*	+0.10 (0.64%)	699,179.15M	17.38	12.04	HK$1.88	8.32
China Railway Construction	5.29	-0.07 (-1.31%)	65,265.59M	6.49	3.95	CN¥0.84	6.28
China Railway Group	2.94	-0.02 (-0.68%)	62,621.71M	3.41	2.3	CN¥0.44	6.71
SAIC Motor	15.97	+0.07 (0.44%)	176,078.30M	19	11.83	CN¥2.05	7.78
China Life Insurance	16.3	-0.16 (-0.97%)	460,714.67M	22.7	12.88	CN¥0.97	16.86
Dongfeng Motor	13.00*	-0.06 (-0.46%)	112,009.56M	13.26	9.48	HK$1.37	9.5
China Shenhua	16.83	-0.14 (-0.82%)	334,742.31M	25.7	15.51	CN¥2.25	7.48
Ping An Insurance	43.19	+0.28 (0.65%)	341,898.17M	53.27	31.69	CN¥3.45	12.52
China Telecom	4.00*	-0.04 (-0.99%)	323,729.47M	4.46	3.48	HK$0.26	15.58
China Communications Construction	4.36	+0.02 (0.46%)	70,521.85M	5.79	3.8	CN¥0.81	5.39
Bank of Communications	4.2	0.00 (0.00%)	311,903.44M	5.68	3.68	CN¥0.84	4.99

China Business Briefs 10/12/13

ECONOMY

China to judge local governments by their debt: Xinhua | Reuters China will soon rate the performance of local governments partly by how much debt they incur, as Beijing tries to wean the country off heavy government investment, state media said.

The central organization department, which oversees the appointment of senior party, government, military and state firm officials, said debt will be key when evaluating performances, according to the state news agency Xinhua.

China’s service sector may exceed manufacturing for first time – Xinhua | English.news.cn In the first nine months of the year, value-added output of the service sector reached 17.6 trillion yuan (1.17 trillion U.S. dollars), slightly more than 17.51 trillion yuan for manufacturing, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

China opens key economic meeting – Chinadaily.com.cn China’s Central Economic Work Conference opened on Tuesday to review the country’s economic work in 2013 and map out economic plans for 2014.

This year’s meeting comes about one month after the the Communist Party of China Central Committee unveiled a landmark plan to comprehensively deepen reforms.

Dense smog boosts shares in environment-related firms – BUSINESS – Globaltimes.cn Fujian Yuanli Active Carbon Co, which makes active carbon products, and air purifier manufacturer Cnlight Co soared by 10.48 yuan and 9.46 yuan, respectively, on Monday.

China Raises Ship-Scrapping Subsidy 50% to Trim Overcapacity – Bloomberg The government will grant 1,500 yuan ($247) per gross ton for shipping companies to replace obsolete ships, according to a statement on the transport ministry website yesterday. The award applies to vessels scrapped in the years 2013 through 2015.

China November Home Sales Rise to 2-Year High, Defying Curbs – Bloomberg The value of homes sold rose 19 percent to 720.4 billion yuan ($119 billion) last month, the highest since December 2011, from 604.8 billion yuan in October, according to the difference between the National Bureau of Statistics data for the first 11 months and first 10. Housing sales in the January-November period surged 31 percent from a year earlier to 5.9 trillion yuan, according to the data.

China’s supercomputer technology used to monitor smog – Xinhua | English.news.cn The simulation model will be developed using the technology of Tianhe-1A, which ranked as the world’s fastest supercomputer from November 2010 to June 2011, and the model’s data will be revised in light of actual observation data from other monitors, said Meng Xiangfei, a researcher with the National Supercomputer Center (NSC) in Tianjin.

TCM Still Struggling to Find Cure for Its FDA Woes – In November, the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) Fuzheng Huayu Tablets passed the second phase of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) clinical testing.

Before this, only one TCM drug had cleared the second of the three phases needed for a medicine to hit the U.S. market. That was Compound Salvia Droplet Pills (CDSP), made by the Tasly Group of Tianjin. CDSP has still not passed FDA’s third phase.

Hong Kong listings revival offers sovereign wealth path to China – FT.com Sovereign wealth funds, led by Norway’s $810bn oil fund, are using Hong Kong’s new listings revival to achieve a long-held goal of ramping up exposure to China.

It was one of the main cornerstone investors ahead of the initial public offering of Cinda, the Chinese former bad bank set up to manage distressed debt in the late 1990s.

PBOC Said to Be Talking to Major Banks about Deposit Insurance – The central bank has been consulting executives of major banks  about creating a deposit insurance mechanism and may announce a draft plan early  next year, a source close to the situation said.

Advocates have called for such a system for years, saying it is the  cornerstone of further financial reform. Without it, they argue, the government  will be held as hostage to banks who may act irresponsibly because they know the  government will not let them fail and hurt tens of millions of depositors.

Smog makes you funnier and smarter, Chinese media claims – Telegraph In a controversial and widely mocked comment piece entitled, “Five unexpected gains the haze has brought”, a journalist from state television channel CCTV argued that while Chinese people might “hate” the pollution, it was not a “completely useless” phenomenon.

For while filthy air was a dangerous “enemy”, it was simultaneously bringing “major   benefits” including making people more united, more sober, more equal, more humorous and better informed.

COMPANIES

Why Not To Get Excited About Apple’s China Mobile Deal – Forbes **It’s almost sad to see how necessary this is for Apple** It is easy to see how a superficial analysis can lead one to conclude that it is a big deal.  After all, China Mobile has over 700 million customers and is the last major telecommunications carrier that has held out in not carrying the iPhone. Take a look at the following and make a judgment for yourself.

Suning makes it easier for Chinese parents to get overseas childcare products **Smart move, but what does this say about Chinese standards enforcement?** When it comes to their kids, many Chinese simply don’t trust domestic brands. After Chinese milk and baby formula was found to be contaminated with melamine in 2008 and toys covered in lead-based paint were traced to China in 2007, their fears are not unfounded. Safety concerns over childcare products led to a massive surge in demand for foreign-made baby goods.

In light of this, Suning today launched a special section specifically for overseas childcare products on Redbaby, which it bought in January this year. It sells everything from Huggies diapers to Fisher Price stuffed animals to Nestle baby formula. The suppliers come from the Netherlands, New Zealand, Korea, Hong Kong, and a few other places.

Google Scraps Plan to Build Hong Kong Data Center – China Real Time Report – WSJ While we see tremendous opportunity and potential in Hong Kong…we will not be moving ahead with this project,” Taj Meadows, Asia-Pacific policy communications manager, told The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, citing cost and the difficulty in acquiring spacious land in Hong Kong to build a facility.

Mr. Meadows declined to comment when asked whether the decision might be because of Hong Kong’s proximity to China, where Google has faced challenges in expanding its business following its run-ins with the Chinese government over censorship in 2010. Tensions between the U.S. and China have heightened in recent months following revelations by National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden that the U.S. agency collects sensitive data

Dezan Shira & Associates Reports Strong Asia Growth | China Briefing News **Featuring digital bogeyman, Chris Devonshire-Ellis** Dezan Shira & Associates has just concluded its annual meetings, held this year in Shenzhen, China with 36 senior staff flying in from all over Asia and the United States. The firm employs several hundred lawyers, tax experts, accountants and auditors across 18 offices throughout Asia, and is renowned internationally for its work with assisting foreign mid-cap multinationals to establish their operations in Asia, including due diligence, legal establishment and tax planning issues, as well as on-going administration support in accounting, tax filing, payroll, audit, compliance and M&A services.

PRESS DIGEST -China – Dec 9 – Yahoo Finance On Dec. 6, China Life Insurance Co Ltd held the opening ceremony for the listing of its e-commerce subsidiary, the industry’s first e-commerce company.

Interesting Made-in-China Wearables Manufacturers in China offer a huge variety of such devices. Examples of fashion electronics include USB bracelets and pendants, spy hats, and MP3 and camera sunglasses.

Here is a selection of made-in-China smart watches and other wearable tech.

Posted from Diigo.