Industry Focus - China Economic Review

BANKING & FINANCE: SECTOR BRIEF: Banks promise better service
Banks in Shanghai yesterday vowed to do something to ease long queues while the 2010 World Expo is going on....>>More; NEWS BRIEF: BoC to issue $7b in shares in HK
Bank of China (BoC) (3988.HK, 601988.SHA) is close to issuing a US$7 billion share offering in Hong Kong to bolster balance sheets strained by loan growth, the Financial Times reported. BoC has...>>More; More

COMMODITIES: NEWS BRIEF: USTR: China to reopen pork market to US
Beijing has agreed to re-allow American pork imports into China, Bloomberg reported, citing statements by the US Trade Representative's (USTR) office. US pork imports were banned in China last year...>>More; BLOG: What curious timing
Why are Rio Tinto and Chinalco signing a multibillion dollar deal just three days before Stern Hu's trial?...>>More; More

INVESTMENT: NEWS BRIEF: Blackstone, Capital Group plow $600m into China Shouguang
An investor consortium including Capital Group and Blackstone Group (BX.NYSE) has invested US$600 million in China Shouguang Agricultural Product Logistics Park, the Wall Street Journal...>>More; NEWS BRIEF: Arrow Energy shares halted on news of sweetened offer from Shell, PetroChina
Trading of shares in Australian gas company Arrow Energy (AOE.ASX) was halted today as speculation mounted that the US$3 billion takeover bid by Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A.NYSE, RDSA.LON) and...>>More; More

MEDIA, TECH & TELECOM: NEWS BRIEF: China Mobile 2009 net profit up 2.3%
China Mobile (0941.HK, CHL.NYSE) reported yesterday that profit growth in 2009 slowed to 2.3% from 30% in 2008 and that will cut capital spending over the next three years to maintain profitability,...>>More; NEWS BRIEF: Top MSN exec to step down
Xiao Chen, Microsoft (MSFT.NASDAQ) MSN China's Vice President of Sales will leave the company at the end of March to pursue his own startup, Reuters reported. Chen has been with the company since its...>>More; More

TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS: SECTOR BRIEF: Airbus chief says Chinese bet paying off
Airbus chief executive Thomas Enders said on Wednesday that his decision to build aircraft in China has paid off, with the quality matching that of Europe and the local market was taking off....>>More; SECTOR BRIEF: Bid on US high-speed rail projects
China plans to bid for contracts to build US high-speed train lines and is stepping up exports of rail technology to Europe and Latin America....>>More; More

AUTOS: SECTOR BRIEF: BYD and Daimler joint electric car
Daimler and BYD, the Chinese carmaker backed by billionaire Warren Buffett, will jointly develop an electric vehicle to be sold in China, the world's largest auto market.....>>More; BLOG: Will Geely test the UK market?
Will Geely use a controlling stake in Manganese Bronze to grab a toehold into the UK market?...>>More; More

AGRICULTURE: NEWS BRIEF: China opposed to bluefin tuna ban
A motion to ban cross border trade in bluefin tuna caught in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean under consideration by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) is...>>More; NEWS BRIEF: China to introduce more rules on food safety amid health scares
China will implement tighter controls on animal feed to secure animal health and "restore public confidence in food safety," state media reported. According to draft regulations issued by...>>More; More

POLITICS & SOCIETY: SECTOR BRIEF: Chinese President speaks for women's lib
Hu Jintao urges further equality for women although China's record in this area in much better than many other major nations....>>More; NEWS BRIEF: Navy does not want to be 'world police'
Zhang Deshun, former deputy chief of staff of the PLA navy, stated that the country harbors no ambitions to build military bases overseas, state media reported. Although the retired officer indicated...>>More; More

EMPLOYMENT & EDUCATION: NEWS BRIEF: 130 US lawmakers urge tariffs on China if currency doesn't appreciate
A bipartisan group of 130 US lawmakers formally called for the US government to enact tariffs on Chinese imports if Beijing does not allow the renminbi to appreciate against the dollar, the...>>More; BLOG: How much higher can factory wages go?
Raising wages is only a short-term solution to the labor shortage...>>More; More

LAW & REGULATION: NEWS BRIEF: US mulls Google legal challenge
The US is considering legally challenging China over internet restrictions imposed on Google and other American companies, Reuters reported. But US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said that while a...>>More; NEWS BRIEF: Beijing court throws out Avatar plagiarism case
A Beijing man who claimed that director James Cameron's sci-fi epic Avatar was a plagiarism of his online novel had his case dismissed by a Beijing court, AFP reported. Zhou Shaomou was demanding 8%...>>More; More

BUSINESS PRACTICE: BLOG: Negotiating lessons we can learn from Google
Google has handled its possible China exit admirably; here's what it has done well...>>More; BLOG: China promises to stop bullying foreign firms
Foreign companies have had a hard year in China. Wen Jiabao promises things will get easier...>>More; More

ECONOMICS & TRADE: NEWS BRIEF: Official says renminbi appreciation will bankrupt exporters
Vice Commerce Minister Zhong Shan warned yesterday that any increase in the renminbi exchange rate risks driving Chinese exporters out of business, the Wall Street Journal reported. He said that...>>More; NEWS BRIEF: IMF Chief: Renminbi significantly undervalued
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, speaking at a conference of the European Parliament on Wednesday, said the IMF believes the renminbi is "very much...>>More; More

MARKETS: EDITORS' JOURNAL: Capitalist Roader Fund: Up and Down (HOLD)
A positive week for the market boosts the Capitalist Roader; plus, the return of the Red Dragon Fund...>>More; NEWS BRIEF: CSRC issues rules for index-futures trading
The China Securities Regulatory Commissions (CSRC) issued draft guidelines for equity funds who want to trade index futures, Bloomberg reported. The CSRC said that funds should use index futures for...>>More; More

PROPERTY: NEWS BRIEF: State firms told to exit real estate
China's State-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) told state-owned enterprises (SOEs) dabbling in real estate to prepare to exit the market, state media reported. With the...>>More; SECTOR BRIEF: Real estate prices rise at record pace
Real estate prices in February rose at the fastest pace in almost two years, adding urgency to the government's efforts to rein in speculation and increase the amount of affordable housing....>>More; More

TRAVEL & LEISURE: SECTOR BRIEF: China led the way forward with tourism
China's experience in developing its tourism industry should be a lesson to others, a leading international academic has told an audience at The University of Queensland....>>More; SECTOR BRIEF: Shangri-La Hotel opens in Guilin
Shangri-La Hotel, Guilin has opened in China's Guangxi Province, the first international standard five-star luxury property in Guilin....>>More; More

ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT: SECTOR BRIEF: Shanghai Expo to be clean, green
This will be a green, clean Expo. New technologies are being used to make sure this is so....>>More; NEWS BRIEF: China Sunergy to buy 2 module manufacturers
Nanjing-based solar cell manufacturer China Sunergy (CSUN.NASDAQ) said it plans to buy two Chinese solar module manufacturers for a combined price of US$47 million, Reuters reported. The company...>>More; More

HEALTH CARE: NEWS BRIEF: Report: China to be 3rd largest pharma market by 2011
Pharmaceutical market research firm IMS Health said that China will become the world's third-largest market for prescription drugs in 2011, and predicted that sales in other emerging markets will...>>More; THE NUMBERS: 560: The number of people in China who died of swine flu in 2009
Source: Sohu...>>More; More

CONSUMER: NEWS BRIEF: China alters accounting system to reduce deficit
China's Ministry of Finance (MoF) changed the way it accounts for government spending so that the spending deficit for 2010 remains below 3% of GDP, the Wall Street Journal reported. The change,...>>More; NEWS BRIEF: McDonald's eyes China growth
Fast food giant McDonald's has seen a 10% increase in sales in Asia in February 2010, with China among the company's three biggest markets in the continent, the Telegraph reported. McDonald's, which...>>More; More

MANUFACTURING: NEWS BRIEF: AU Optronics to build $3b LCD plant in Jiangsu
Taiwan-based flat screen manufacturer AU Optronics (2409.TW, AUO.NYSE) said it plans to build a US$3 billion "7.5 generation" liquid crystal display (LCD) plant in Kunshan, Jiangsu...>>More; SECTOR BRIEF: Green and cool stand to gain
Air-conditioners are getting cleaner and greener, and sales are forecast to rise this year....>>More; More

BUSINESS EDUCATION: COLUMN: Chinese Democracy
Not just the name of a silly album, but blossoming on a Chinese b-school campus...>>More; SECTOR BRIEF: Couple raises $30M for Renmin
Billionaire Duan Yongping and his wife Liu Xin donated $30 million to their alma mater, Renmin University of China....>>More; More