The figure represented an increase of 78 billon yuan, or 9.09 percent, over that in the first nine months.

    During January to October period, premium of property and casualty insurance was 243.18 billion yuan, and 692.9 billion yuan, respectively.

    Total asset of the country's insurance sector stood at 3.83 trillion yuan by the end of October.

    The land low-density housing lot was about 526,000 square meters. Its planned construction area was about 169,100 square meters. The floor price amounted to nearly 29,900 yuan each square meter, the highest unit price for a residential site on the Chinese mainland.

    The land would be used to build villas, said the newspaper. Theplot's initial bidding price was 1.41 billion yuan.

    The composite consumer price index rose by 2.2 percent year on year, representing a larger growth than that in September, the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said.

    However, the underlying CPI inflation, or the year-on-year rate of change after netting out the effects of the one-off relief measures in place during October last year, remained the same as that in September, the department said.

    A spokesman for the HKSAR government attributed the slightly negative underlying inflation rate to the absence of prices pressures, both local and external.

    The recent rather stable movements of the seasonally a...]]> Business Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:02:43 +0800 /articles/09/1121/197922/MTk3OTIyDtwAcvXd.html     HONG KONG, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong saw 992 bankruptcy petitions in October, up 0.6 percent on the same month last year but down 13.1 percent on September, the Official Receiver's Office said here on Friday.

    Bankruptcy orders rose 49.2 percent to 979 over a year earlier, but fell 21.8 percent on the previous month.

    The month also saw 60 compulsory winding-up petitions, down 9.1percent over a year earlier and 1.6 percent on September. The number of winding-up orders rose 13.3 percent over a year earlier but fell 32.9 percent on September.

    Taking the first ten months of the year together, the number of bankruptcy petitions and orders surged 53.1 percent and 58.8 percent, to 13,872 and 13,991.

    There were 649 compulsory winding-up petitions and 477 winding-up orders in January- October, up 24.6 percent and 23.6 percent on...]]> Business Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:02:32 +0800 /articles/09/1121/197921/MTk3OTIxoAG4J4pW.html     HONG KONG, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong is developing as a knowledge-based economy, with the number of researchers per 1,000 people in the labor force growing from 2.08 in 1998 to 5.39 in 2007, official figures released Friday indicated.

    The number of researchers increased from 6,819 to 19,553, says the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

    The ratio of gross domestic expenditure on research and development to Gross Domestic Product grew from 0.43 percent to 0.77 percent, while the share of business in the total research and development expenditure rose from 28.5 percent to 48.8 percent.

    The proportion of business establishments which had undertaken one or more types of innovation activities rose from 16 percent in2001 to 42.2 percent in 2007, says the department.

    The sector's gross surplus dropped 41.6 percent to 33.7 billion(about 4.4 billion U.S. dollars), accounting for 6.2 percent of total receipts last year. The value-added of the sector fell 8.9 percent to 91.5 billion (over 11.8 billion U.S. dollars).

    The four largest major industry groups in terms of value-added were land passenger transport, services incidental to transport, air transport, and ocean and coastal water transport. They together accounted for 84.7 percent of the whole sector's total value-added.

    The land passenger transport industry's total receipts ...]]> Business Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:02:10 +0800 /articles/09/1121/197919/MTk3OTE5MQDvTLmt.html     KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia has approved a commercial bank license to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC), China's largest commercial bank, the Malaysian central bank said here on Friday.

    Bank Negara Malaysia, or Malaysia's central bank, said in a statement issued here on Friday that the Malaysian Finance Ministry had approved the issuance of a commercial bank license to ICBC.

    The licence followed a bilateral arrangement between the China Banking Regulatory Commission and Bank Negara Malaysia, as well as between the governments of the two countries earlier this year, said the bank.

    It is part of a very limited number of banking licences issued by Malaysia from time to time under a bilateral arrangement, it added.

    Such bilateral arrangement can only be set under such pre-determined criteri...]]> Business Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:02:00 +0800 /articles/09/1121/197918/MTk3OTE4jeBZlzsy.html     BEIJING, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Profits of China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) administered by the central government more than doubled in October from a year ago after months of declines, a senior official said here on Friday.

    The 132 central SOEs reaped a profit of 79.5 billion yuan (11.64 billion U.S. dollars) in October, up 151 percent year on year, said Huang Shuhe, deputy director of the State-owed Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) at the 2009 Annual CEO Forum.

    In October, revenues surged by 22 percent from a year ago to nearly 1.16 trillion yuan, Huang said.

    Their profits during Jan-Oct was 633.8 billion yuan, while revenues amounted to 9.83 trillion yuan during the same period.

    Huang also noted 24 central SOEs had entered the rank of Fortune 500 companies.

    "China'...]]> Business Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:01:51 +0800 /articles/09/1120/197898/MTk3ODk47EBoTjw0.html

    BEIJING, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese equities ended five consecutive days of gains on Friday after the government lifted electricity prices.

    The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.37 percent, or 12.27 points, to close at 3,308.35. The Shenzhen Component Index fell 0.03 percent, or 4.4 points, to close at 13,695.15.

    Combined turnover jumped to 325.66 billion yuan (47.89 billion U.S. dollars) from 320.2 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

    Nine of the 28 shares in the ChiNext market for start-up stocks were up.

    "A small correction was good for the overall health of the market after it had gained for three weeks in a row," said Zhang Zhaowei, analyst with the Guojin Securities.

    The electricity price rise for industrial and business users, which was announced on Thursday, w...]]> Business Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:03:41 +0800 /articles/09/1120/197897/MTk3ODk3n2cI0fOC.html     BEIJING, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China's biggest oil and gas producer, has signed agreements with Sudan to expand a refinery and swap oil production assets. according to a statement on the company's website Friday.

    The refinery, based in Khartoum, in which CNPC and Sudan each have equal stakes, would undergo a second expansion, but the statement did not give details.

    The refinery was established in 1997 and began production three years later with a designed annual processing capacity of 2.5 million tonnes. It was expanded in 2006. It processes annually 5 million tonnes of oil, and supplies 80 percent of the refined oil in Sudan.

    CNPC would partially swap a shareholding in Block 6 with Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Bhd's Block 5A in Sudan, according to the statement, without giving details.

  ...]]> Business Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:03:32 +0800 /articles/09/1120/197896/MTk3ODk2iVYpzjzw.html

    BEIJING, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's economy is forecast to grow more than 9 percent next year on the growth of domestic consumption and improving exports, said a report released Friday by the Beijing-based Renmin University of China.

    The country's retail sales are predicted to increase 18.2 percent year on year in 2010, boosted by domestic consumption and income growth, according to the report.

    China's retail sales in October rose 16.2 percent year on year to 1.17 trillion yuan (171.3 billion U.S. dollars), according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

    The world economy would be on the revival track next year, but a solid recovery was not an easy task, said Liu Yuanchun, vice president of the School of Economics of the university and the compiler of the report.

    Liu predicted that China's exports would ris...]]> Business Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:03:21 +0800 /articles/09/1120/197895/MTk3ODk1Ci2fTkLC.html     CHENGDU, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Pigs in southwest China from Friday began having two identity chips fixed on their back legs detailing where they were butchered, examined and sold.

    Forty-five markets in downtown Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, have started to sell pork with ID chips, said a spokesman with the city's food and drug administration on Friday.

    Two plastic rings containing the chips with information on where the pig was bred are fixed around the pig's hinder limbs before it is sold to a slaughterhouse.

    Additional information is added to the chips as the pig gets slaughtered, inspected and sold to the end market.

    The chip is scanned when each piece of pork is sold so that the customer can have a receipt with a code that links to an entry that records the slaughter, inspection and sale of the pork in a city dat...]]> Business Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:03:12 +0800 /articles/09/1120/197894/MTk3ODk0Ot4jXz2c.html     HONG KONG, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong shares closed down 0.87 percent, or 195.96 points at 22,447.20 on Friday, falling for a fourth day tracking losses on the Wall Street.

    The benchmark Hang Seng Index opened lower at 22,486.56, falling 0.69 percent, or 156.60 points. It fluctuated between 22,584.55 and 22,376.36 during the day's trading. The turnover moved down to 60.50 billion HK dollars (about 7.81 billion U.S. dollars) from Thursday's 69.28 billion HK dollars (about 8.95 billion U.S. dollars).

    The China Enterprises Index slid 141.31 points, or 1.05 percent, to close at 13,329.67 points.

    Three of the four major stock categories lost ground. The finance sub-index dropped 0.59 percent, the properties shed 1.18 percent, and the commerce and industry fell 1.19 percent. Only the utilities sub-index moved up 0.02 percent.

   &...]]> Business Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:03:03 +0800 /articles/09/1120/197864/MTk3ODY0swazVBHI.html     BEIJING, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- The global economic downtown has not affected the personal wealth of the rich in China that continued to expand this year and also opened up more opportunities for private bankers, China Daily reported Friday.

    The number of millionaires with personal holdings in excess of 1 million U.S. dollars is expected to cross 450,000 by the end of the year, with assets under management hitting 1.73 trillion U.S. dollars, surpassing the country's pre-crisis levels, said the report released by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Thursday.

    "China is arguably the most explosive wealth market in the world, as rising income and a high savings rate will continue to spur development," Frankie Leung, partner and managing director of BCG Greater China and one of the primary authors of the report, said.

    He expected the number of millionaires in China...]]> Business Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:02:47 +0800 /articles/09/1120/197863/MTk3ODYzm0l3dR0z.html     BEIJING, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese shares opened slightly lower on Friday with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.34 percent to open at 3,309.38 points.

    The Shenzhen Component Index dropped 0.39 percent to 13,645.7 points at the opening. Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis

    NetEase, one of China's biggest internet portals, may also suffer as the regulatory spat over its operation of blockbuster online game World of Warcraft (WoW).

    The company earlier said net income during the third quarter rose to 393.8 million yuan (57.66 million U.S. dollars) from a year earlier. But its gross profit margin of online game services declined to 79.9 percent from 89.7 percent a year ago.

    Earlier this month, the General Administration of Press and Publications (GAPP) suspended approval for WoW, while the Ministry of Culture insisted online games were out of GAPP's portfolio.

  &n...]]> Business Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:02:28 +0800 /articles/09/1120/197861/MTk3ODYx23QJVFY4.html     BEIJING, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Low interest rates, especially the deposit rate, would discourage financial institutions from providing adequate financing to the real economy, Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said Friday.

    He told the 2009 Business Week CEO Forum in Beijing that low interest rates would reduce pressure on financial institutions, removing incentives to actively provide financial services to the real economy.

    "China has set the interest rate at about 2 percent to press Chinese financial institutions to lend money to real economy for gains and reduce cash stockpiles," he said.

    Zhou was referring to the low-interest policies of some countries and regions to fight the lingering economic downturn, said Tan Yaling, an expert with the China Institute for Financial Derivatives at Peking University.

  ...]]> Business Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:02:18 +0800 /articles/09/1120/197860/MTk3ODYwkKauWSj8.html     BEIJING, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Beijing Capital Agribusiness Group (CAG) has agreed to pay 58.5 million yuan (8.6 million U.S. dollars) for the non-performing assets of the Sanlu Group, which was bankrupted in last year's melamine contamination scandal.

    CAG and Hebei Sanyuan Foods Co. -- respectively the parent and subsidiary of the Shanghai-listed Beijing Sanyuan Foods Co. -- jointly bid 616.5 million yuan for the core assets of Sanlu in March.

    Under an agreement, Hebei Sanyuan was to pay for Sanlu assets after Beijing Sanyuan Foods got government approval to raise funds for assets purchase by private share-issues.

    CAG, then known as Beijing Sanyuan Group Co., was to take over any flawed assets or debt related to the assets incurred before the actual payment.

    Hebei Sanyuan had found some Sanlu assets were defective or im...]]> Business Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:02:08 +0800 /articles/09/1120/197859/MTk3ODU5RInEVIj5.html     By Chen Jipeng

    HONG KONG, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's telecom equipment and device manufacturer ZTE Corporation plans to set up a new department tasked with boosting medium to long-term forward looking researches, a senior manager said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

    The move was in line with the change in ZTE's status "from largely a follower-competitor in the international market to an industry leader," Vice President for Wireless Technology and Strategy Donglin Shen said.

    It is also expected to help meet the needs for enhanced communication in exploring the developed markets like the United States, he added.

    The company currently has a department for advance researches, but it has been mainly tasked with short-term advance researches. The planned new department, in comparison, will carry out forward-looking studies o...]]> Business Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:01:56 +0800 /articles/09/1120/197826/MTk3ODI2f3F4NMj4.html     GUANGZHOU, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- South China's Guangdong Province is expected to achieve economic growth of 9 percent this year, higher than the target of 8.5 percent, governor Huang Huahua said Thursday.

    The worst time was over and this year's economic situation was better than expected, Huang told Xinhua.

    Guangdong's economy in the first quarter expanded 5.8 percent from a year earlier, lower than the 6.1 percent nationwide, as the global financial crisis took a heavy toll on China's "factory of the world."

    The growth rate accelerated to 8.6 percent in the year to September, 0.9 percentage points higher than the national average rate.

    Huang said the economy picked up with massive government spending and measures to help exporters and small and medium-sized businesses to ride out the economic crisis.

   ...]]> Business Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:01:42 +0800 /articles/09/1120/197798/MTk3Nzk4h2yuvCx8.html     HONG KONG, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong shares Thursday fell for a third day, with the benchmark index moving down 0.86 percent, or 197.17 points at 22,643.16 due to overnight falls on the Wall Street.

    Hang Seng Index opened up 0.24 percent, or 54.51 points at 22, 894.84, which was also the day's high, but was dragged lower by the Dow Jones Industrial Average's fall Wednesday on data showing a sharp decline in U.S. home construction. The index once reached as low as 22,587.18 during the day's session.

    Turnover shrank to 69.28 billion HK dollars (about 8.95 billion U. S. dollars) from Wednesday's 76.69 billion HK dollars.

    Analysts said they expect the index to consolidate further in the near term before resuming its uptrend, following Wednesday's nearly 16-month intraday high of 23,099.57.

    China Enterprises Index dippe...]]> Business Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:02:26 +0800 /articles/09/1120/197797/MTk3Nzk3oMwH3tmm.html     BEIJING, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese central government will continue to support the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) in its exchanges and cooperation with Portuguese-speaking countries in line with the Basic Law of the SAR, says the Chinese Foreign Ministry Thursday.

    Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang made the remarks when asked to comment on Macao's role in relations between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.

    "Macao plays a unique and constructive role in promoting economic and trade cooperation between the Chinese mainland and Portuguese-speaking countries," said Qin.

    In the past decade, the principles of "one country, two systems," "Macao people governing Macao," and "a high degree of autonomy" were fully implemented in the region, Qin told a regular news briefing.

    Macao SAR would surely have a ...]]> Business Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:02:16 +0800 /articles/09/1120/197796/MTk3Nzk2R0a5sKg7.html     HONG KONG, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange dropped 217.03 points, or 1.59 percent, to close Thursday's trading at 13,470.98.

    The H-shares index, initiated in August 1994 and readjusted on Sept. 7, 2009, tracks the overall performance of 44 major Chinese mainland state-owned enterprises listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

    The Hang Seng China H-Financials Index fell 345.58 points, or 1. 81 percent, to close at 18,710.19.

    The H-Financials Index, initiated on Nov. 27, 2006, readjusted on Sept. 10, 2007, tracks the performance of nine major banks and insurers of the Chinese mainland.

    The Hang Seng Mainland Composite Index went down 36.14 points, or 0.85 percent, to close at 4,196.42.

    Introduced on Oct. 3, 2001 with the latest readjust...]]> Business Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:02:05 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197748/MTk3NzQ4fAwjUBEO.html     BEIJING, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Beijing Vantone Real Estate Co. (BVRE) rose on Thursday morning after it announced to buy the stake the Chengdu Jiaoda Real Estate takes in another property developer.

    BVRE shares gained 1.19 percent to 11.95 yuan as of 9:51 a.m. in the morning trade.

    BVRE would pay 71.15 million yuan (10.42 million U.S. dollars) in cash buy the 49 percent stake Chengdu Jiaoda held in the Chengdu Vantone Shishang Co. Ltd., a joint venture between Vantone and Jiaoda, according to its statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange late Wednesday.

    The deal would make BVRE the 100 percent stake holder of the Chengdu Vantone Shishang, which was established in October of this year with BVRE taking 51 percent stake and Chengdu Jiaoda taking the rest.

    Bolivian Hydrocarbons Minister Oscar Coca told a press conference in the Quemado Palace that the sum of money will go to the extension of domestic gas networks and the purchase of two drilling rigs for state-run oil company, Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB).

    The loan is for a term of 20 years, with an annual interest rate of 2 percent, he said, adding that a part of the loan will be used to finish 100,000 domestic gas networks, and 31 million dollars will go to purchasing two drilling rigs.

    Coca also urged the legislative to approve the credit request.

  &nbs...]]> Business Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:02:57 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197746/MTk3NzQ2foB1qgN0.html     BEIJING, Nov.19 (Xinhua) -- China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) had seen first year-on-year growth in business revenue this year after declining for nine months, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

    For the first ten months of the year, business revenue of China's SOEs stood at 17.9 trillion yuan (about 2.62 trillion U.S. dollars), up 0.5 percent from the same period a year ago, said the MOF in a report released on its website.

    Profits of China's SOEs continued to drop, felling 10.6 percent to 1.06 trillion yuan in the first ten months. The decline rate was 7 percentage points lower than that for the first nine months, according to the report.

    The figures for October alone was not given in the MOF report, but it said business revenue was 3.9 percent lower than the September level, while profits were up 9.6 percent month on month.

 ...]]> Business Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:02:47 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197745/MTk3NzQ1zGRA4tW8.html     BEIJING, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- China Investment Corporation (CIC), the nation's sovereign wealth fund, would spend 5.5 billion HK dollars (709.69 million U.S. dollars) to buy about 20 percent stake in a Hong Kong-based new energy company, said a report posted on CIC's website Thursday.

    The company said it had entered into a binding framework agreement with GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd (GCL-Poly), and would subscribe for 3.108 billion new shares at a price of 1.79 HK dollars per share.

    The two sides also agreed to set up a joint venture, or JV Company, to invest and develop photovoltaic or other solar energy projects with an initial capital of 500 million U. S. dollars.

    CIC will hold 49 percent shares of the joint-venture, and GCL-Poly, 51 percent.

    "This transaction marks an important step for GCL-Poly. With our industry expe...]]> Business Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:02:37 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197744/MTk3NzQ05D1yRoDk.html     MACAO, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- The median monthly employment earnings of the employed population in Macao amounted to 8,500 patacas (1,076 U.S. dollars) in the third quarter of this year, the same level as that of the second quarter, according to the figures released Thursday by the city's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

    The figures showed that the median monthly employment earnings of the employed residents held stable as the previous quarter in the period, at 10,000 patacas (1,265 U.S. dollars).

    Total labor force in Macao stood at 328,000 in the third quarter, with 316,000 being employed. Analyzed by industry, the majority of the employed were engaging in recreational, cultural, gaming and other services (23.2 percent) and hotels, restaurants and similar activities (14.1 percent).

    Meanwhile, the unemployed population was 12,000 in the period, of w...]]> Business Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:02:27 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197743/MTk3NzQzbJAz4V7l.html     BEIJING, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceuticals (Group) Co., or Fosun Pharma, rises slightly Thursday morning at the Shanghai Stock Exchange after it announced to have bought stake in the Nasdaq-listed Chindex International Inc.

    Fosun Pharma shares gained 0.28 percent to 21.20 yuan (3.1 U.S. dollars) in the morning trading session.

    A Hong Kong-based subsidiary of Fosun Pharma, a leading Chinese pharmaceutical company, paid 22 million U.S. dollars for 11.18 percent stake in Chindex International Inc. , a U.S.-based medical services and instruments provider, according to its statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Thursday.

    Chindex International Inc. closed at 15.87 U.S. dollars per share at Nasdaq on Wednesday, down 1.18 percent from the previous close.

    For the first half of 2009, Fosun Pharma's net assets p...]]> Business Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:02:16 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197723/MTk3NzIz4nAahJa6.html     by Xinhua writer Chen Wenxian

    LONDON, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- China should have a gradual exchange rate adjustment process, which will be potentially desirable for everyone, said John Hawksworth, head of macroeconomics of Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC), one of the world's four largest accounting firms.

    He told Xinhua in a recent interview that the exchange rate adjustment should happen in a gradual way rather than through dramatic ways. Otherwise, that could destabilize economies, not only Chinese economy but also other economies.

    CHINA TO GROW STRONGLY

    Hawksworth predicted that China's economic growth would be around 8 percent this year and it is expected to go up to around 9-10 percent in 2010.

    In his view, that is because China has still remained in a strong financial and economic position throu...]]> Business Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:02:10 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197722/MTk3NzIyUjQSgD2U.html     BEIJING, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd (COMAC) has announced that it would set up its C919 airplane final assembly line in Pudong New District of Shanghai, China Daily reported Thursday.

    Construction of the Pudong base will start by year-end, and it aims to produce 20 homegrown C919 jets and 50 ARJ 21-series planes annually by 2016, the company said.

    The Shanghai-based COMAC was established in May 2008 with 19 billion yuan in registered capital to take on Boeing and Airbus in China's fledgling but booming aviation market by building a homegrown 150-seat passenger aircraft.

    The division, which has a registered capital of 2 billion yuan, is among COMAC's three key units responsible for aircraft design, manufacturing and service. Work on the manufacturers' research and development center started in Pudong's Zhangjiang Hi-tech ...]]> Business Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:02:00 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197721/MTk3NzIxaqF7VlMm.html     BEIJING, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings Ltd said it expected better full year numbers and would open more outlets next year, as the electronics retailer continued to benefit from its store restructuring plan and various other cost control measures, China Daily reported Thursday.

    Chen Xiao, president of Gome, said revenue during the third quarter of the year rose 2.85 percent to 10.97 billion yuan (1.61 billion U.S. dollars) compared with 10.66 billion yuan in the previous quarter. Net profit for the period was 385 million yuan.

    The company said revenue for the nine months ending Sept. 30 rose 13.64 percent to 31.43 billion yuan over the same period last year. Net profit, however, fell in the nine months by 39 percent to 965 million yuan from a year ago.

    The company has improved its performance with better management and outlet...]]> Business Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:01:48 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197702/MTk3NzAyHDJ8wTLG.html     QINGDAO, Shandong, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's economy needs to be driven by household consumption, Michael Spence, winner of 2001Nobel Prize in Economics, said here Wednesday.

    Spence made the remarks at the FT (Financial Times) Chinese Annual Forum 2009 in the eastern coastal city of Qingdao.

    China's economic stimulus package, which took 9 percent of its GDP and started in October 2008, was the quickest and largest stimulus package in the world, he said.

    China kept a good shape in the economic crisis and its economic growth may be the fastest after the economic downturn given its huge loans growth and other pro-growth measures, he said.

    China was the first major economy to recover from the global financial crises. The world's third-largest economy grew 8.9 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, compared to 7.9 ...]]> Business Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:02:07 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197686/MTk3Njg2c0UIOjNJ.html     CANBERRA, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Australian regulators have given the green light to a Chinese entity to take control of molybdenum mining hopeful Moly Mines Ltd for 200 million U.S. dollars.

    The Perth-based explorer said Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) had no objections to Sichuan Hanlong Group's proposed investment in Moly Mines through its Australian arm Hanlong Mining Investment Pty Ltd.

    Australian Associated Press reports Wednesday that under the deal, Hanlong will get 207.1 million Moly Mines shares for 140 million U.S. dollars at a price of 74.7 cents per share.

    Hanlong will also provide Moly Mines with an interest bearing 60 million U.S. dollars 10-year loan, which along with the funds from the share subscription, will be used to repay an interim debt facility.

    The transaction is now conditional on ...]]> Business Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:04:27 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197685/MTk3Njg1LK0biXg8.html     BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The People's Bank of China (PBOC) and the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) have planned a nationwide crackdown on bank card crimes in 2010, the central bank said Wednesday.

    The crackdown would last for 10 months, starting from January 2010, the central bank said on its website.

    In the first eight months of 2009, public security departments placed on file 6,362 bank card fraud cases, doubling that of the same period last year, involving 440 million yuan (64.4 million U.S. dollars), an annual rise of 138 percent, the PBOC said.

    Bank card crimes were commonly committed by making overdrafts from credit cards under fake names, and steeling and selling credit card information, according to an official with the MPS.

    The official also said the Internet had become a "hotbed" for credit card crimes. <...]]> Business Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:04:18 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197684/MTk3Njg0BqIdI8V6.html     BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Northeast China's Jilin Province is endeavoring to build the newly-approved Changchun-Jilin-Tumen pilot zone into a modern industrial and agricultural base and an innovation center in northeast Asia, Governor of Jilin Han Changfu said Wednesday.

    "The gross domestic product (GDP) in the pilot zone is forecast to quadruple from now by 2020 and become a modern logistics base, an international commercial service center and an important economic growth pole in northeast Asia," Han told reporters.

    The Chinese government has approved the pilot zone in the Tumen River Delta to boost the cross-border cooperation in the northeast Asian region, the provincial government announced Monday.

    Han said Wednesday that the pilot zone could serve as a strategic platform to push forward the cross-border cooperation in the Tumen River Delta. ...]]> Business Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:04:07 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197683/MTk3NjgzXA7PhQXr.html     BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Coal stocks for power plants were above the "alert" level in snow-hit regions in China, which would ensure adequate and continuous power supply, a senior official of State Grid Corp. of China (SGCC) told Xinhua Wednesday.

    Currently the accumulative coal stocks for power plants directly supplying electricity to the SGCC are about 27 million tons, according to the SGCC.

    Power distribution network of SGCC, the country's largest powertransmission and distribution company, covers 88 percent of the country's territory, and provides electricity for 1 billion people.

    The "alert level" for coal stocks differed in different power plants in different regions, said the official, who asked to be unnamed. For power plants near coal mines, 3 days of use would be an "alert level", and less than 7 days of use would be an alert for power pl...]]> Business Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:03:57 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197682/MTk3NjgyViY3ubOM.html     HONG KONG, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The preparation for the possible listing of China Mobile on the awaited international board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange has been kicked off, company chairman Wang Jianzhou said Wednesday.

    Speaking at an industry forum in Hong Kong, Wang said the listing still awaited finalization of detailed arrangements for listing on the international board, a new trading system of the bourse expected to pave the way for listing of foreign firms on the Chinese mainland.

    China Mobile, now listed in Hong Kong, has shown interests for a return to domestic listing, but there has been no appropriate way readily available.

    Wang said the number of subscribers for its 3G network TD-SCDMA has exceeded 3 million, adding that the types of TD-SCDMA phones were still short of demand.

    Speaking at a real estate industry forum in Hong Kong, Fan Gang, director of the National Economics Research Institute, China Reform Foundation, said excessive liquidity in the global system, extremely low interest rates and devaluating pressure on the U.S. dollar were among the reasons for the emerging economies to be alert.

    "For an economy like China, asset bubble is something very dangerous. That will cause an overall bubble ... overheating in some other areas," he said.

    Not only China, but all the emerging economies face the scenario of asset bubbles, Fan said, adding that policy makers should respond to su...]]> Business Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:03:36 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197680/MTk3NjgwVU1Cec4k.html     by Xinhua writers Zhu Shaobin and Jiang Tingting

    BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's economy is expected to grow by 9 percent next year on robust property and automobile sectors, chairman of CCXI, a China-based credit rating agency said Tuesday.

    Mao Zhenhua, the chairman, also forecast the country's GDP growth this year would expand by as much as 8.8 percent. He added China's economic growth for the next ten years would slightly fall from the peak in 2010 to around 7 percent around 2020, still a relatively fast pace compared to other countries.

    But he cautioned the heavy reliance on exports and investment as major drivers to the Chinese economy has not changed currently, and that the structure for economic growth has not been optimized.

    Mao made the remarks while addressing a conference that also shared outlooks for China...]]> Business Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:03:26 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197679/MTk3Njc5Rz1BpEVW.html     BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Beijing will raise non-residential water rates starting Friday to encourage water saving in the thirsty Chinese capital, local government said Wednesday.

    The water resource fee for non-residential use climbs by 0.22 yuan per cubic meter and wastewater treatment fee rises by 0.18 yuan, said the municipal development and reform commission.

    The price hikes were aimed at encouraging water saving and recycling in a bid to ease water shortages in Beijing, the commission said.

    The water rates for industry and commerce, and hotels, restaurants and the catering industry rise to 6.21 yuan (91 U.S. cents) per cubic meter from 5.6 yuan and 6.1 yuan, respectively.

    The rate for government and public agencies is increased from 5.4 yuan to 5.8 yuan per cubic meter.

    The planning age...]]> Business Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:03:16 +0800 /articles/09/1119/197678/MTk3Njc4eaNQ1ct9.html     WUHAN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese rural residents bought 27.8 million sets of home appliances under the "home appliances to the countryside" program in the first 10 months, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said Wednesday.

    The booming sales, worth 50.8 billion yuan (7.45 billion U.S. dollars), was boosted by the subsidy program China introduced in December 2007.

    Under the plan, the government provided a 13-percent subsidy to farmers who buy designated brands of color TV sets, refrigerators and mobile phones in the three agricultural provinces of Shandong, Henan and Sichuan, as well as Qingdao City.

    On Feb.1, 2009, the program, expanded to include nine kinds of appliances, was nationally adopted alongside other campaigns, such as "automobiles to the countryside", to boost domestic consumption at a time when foreign demand ...]]> Business Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:03:06 +0800 /articles/09/1118/197654/MTk3NjU0IXNpfugz.html     BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese equities continued upward for the fourth consecutive trading day Wednesday and surpassed the3,300 mark.

    The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares,climbed 0.62 percent to 3,303.23 points, its highest point since Aug. 6.

    The Shenzhen Component Index edged down 0.21 percent to 13,642.35 points.

    Gains outnumbered losses by 486 to 389 in Shanghai and 431 to 363 in Shenzhen.

    Combined turnover shrank to 295.8 billion yuan (43.3 billion U.S. dollars) from 314.6 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

    Energy and power shares boosted the index, as heavy snow and falling temperatures in north China had raised power demand, dealers said.

    China Shenhua, the nation's largest coal producer, rose 1.47 percent to 37.99 yuan...]]> Business Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:02:11 +0800 /articles/09/1118/197653/MTk3NjUzOitF5zHw.html     HONG KONG, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong stocks went down 73.82 points, or 0.32 percent, to close at 22,840.33 Wednesday.

    Turnover rose to 76.69 billion HK dollars (9.91 billion U. S. dollars) from Tuesday's 71.59 billion HK dollars.

    CNPC figures revealed that daily natural gas consumption volume in north China surged 56 percent year on year between Nov. 1 and 16, while daily gas consumption in Beijing alone rose 57 percent year on year in this period.

    The daily natural gas supply of CNPC nationwide has increased from 169 million cubic meters at the beginning of this month to the current 189 million cubic meters, said the Beijing-based firm.

    Most of the company's gas transmission pipelines have reached their full capacity. The oil and gas producer would do its best to guarantee the demand for local residents' daily ...]]> Business Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:01:51 +0800 /articles/09/1118/197620/MTk3NjIwzm1D3tTz.html     BEIJING, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese shares opened higher on Wednesday after Wall Street's rally overnight.

    The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.13 percent to open at 3,287.26 points.

    The Shenzhen Component Index climbed 0.08 percent to 13,681.9 points at the opening.

    Overnight, The Dow Jones rose 0.29 percent, or 30.46 points to 10,437.42.

Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis

    The DSEC figures showed that per-capita spending of Chinese mainland visitors took the lead, at 3,268 patacas (414 dollars) while that of visitors from Southeast Asia, China's Taiwan and Hong Kong amounted to 1,645 patacas (208 dollars), 1,258 patacas (159 dollars) and 1,088 patacas (138 dollars) respectively.

    The city saw the visitor's per-capita shopping spending decreased by four percent to 690 patacas (87 dollars), with expenses on Local food products and Clothing sharing 28 percent and 16 percent respectively.

    Meanwhile, the visitor's per-capita non-shopping spending, excluding ...]]> Business Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:02:55 +0800 /articles/09/1118/197548/MTk3NTQ4nm0DhdH8.html     HONG KONG, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong's unemployment rate for the three months ended October fell slightly to 5.2 percent, the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said Tuesday.

    The unemployment rate in the three-month period ended September, in comparison, was 5.3 percent, while that in the three-month period ended August was 5.4 percent.

    Decreases in the unemployment rate were mainly observed in the construction, food services, insurance and wholesale sectors, the department said.

    The Labor and Welfare Department said the further decrease reflected that the labor market has continued to show signs of improvement along with economic recovery.

    "In particular, the unemployment rate of youths aged 15 to 19 dropped notably by 3 percentage points to 22.7 percent,...]]> Business Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:02:44 +0800 /articles/09/1117/197511/MTk3NTEx1rQfxIsm.html Investors look at the index screen at a stock exchange in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Nov. 17, 2009. Chinese equities continued the upward trend for the third consecutive trading day and closed slightly higher Tuesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rising to a three-month high. The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.24 percent to 3,282.89 points, its highest point since Aug. 6. The Shenzhen Component Index lost 0.21 percent to 13,671.08 points. (Xinhua/Zhou Hengyi)Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese equities continued their rise for the third consecutive trading day and closed slightly up Tuesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rising to a three-month high.

    The index, which covers both A and B shares, climbed 0.24 percent to 3,282.89 points, its highest point since Aug. 6.

    The Shenzhen...]]> Business Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:03:01 +0800 /articles/09/1117/197510/MTk3NTEwQEFjLspT.html     BEIJING, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The ChiNext Index, China's start-up board for small and medium-sized enterprises to raise capital, closed lower on Monday as 10 out of 28 stocks were up and 18 were down.

    The board, based in Shenzhen and started trading on Oct. 30, 2009, is tailored to the needs of enterprises engaged in independent innovation and other enterprises with great growth potential. Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis