International component of total air cargo throughput added seven percentage points to 32% last month.

Passengers flown by China Southern Airlines (NYSE: ZNH, SHA: 600029, HKG: 1055), China Eastern Airlines (NYSE: CEA, SHA: 600115, HKG: 0670), and Air China (SHA: 601111, HKG: 0753), the nation's top three carriers, were up 1.7%, 3.2% and 3.3% year-on-year respectively. Hainan Airlines, an integrated travel and financial services provider based Hainan province off southern China's coast, turned out to be the only operator seeing a decline of 0.7% in passenger handling.

Source: http://www.cs.com.cn/xwzx/05/200911/t20091117_2259856.htm

In October, domestic crude oil output fell 1.8% year-on-year to 16.25 million tons, pushing the amount for the first 10 months to 158 million tons, down 0.5% from the same period last year.

Separately, China's first joint venture project combining refining, petrochemical and marketing became operational in Quanzhou, Fujian province Wednesday. The ¥38.4 billion ($1 = ¥6.83) costs were shared equally by the provincial government, Sinopec (NYSE: SNP, SHA: 600028, HKG: 0386), Exxon Mobil and Saudi Aramco. It is capable of 7.46 million tons of Euro III oil and 1.28 million tons of polyolefins annually va...]]> Business Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:50:30 +0800 /articles/09/1109/196687/MTk2Njg3LGsSPqzm.html Transactions associated with the finance and service industries recorded the highest value to the tune of ¥258 million ($1 = ¥6.83) and ¥245 million respectively at the Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange last week.

A 20% stake in ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management Co Ltd, the only finance deal, was acquired by a state-owned commercial lender for ¥258 billion from a central government-owned enterprise.

Those related to manufacturing were the most listed with 12 worth a combined ¥210 million offered over the week.

Source: http://www.china-cbn.com/s/n/000004/20091109/000000133544.shtml

    The combined space sold in October topped 608,000 square meters, up 31 percent year on year, the developer said in a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

    The company sold 5.71 million square meters of homes nationwide over the past ten months, up 27.2 percent year on year.

    Equities of the Shenzhen-listed firm added 1.44 percent to open at 11.94 yuan per share Friday.

    Chinese property market picked up momentum since this February, boosted by a series of government measures to bolster the economy and stimulate domestic consumption.

Special Report:  Global Financial Crisis

The deal to develop the 8.6 billion West Qurna Stage 1 field is the third such agreement in less than a week between a foreign oil consortium and Iraq, which sorely needs foreign company expertise and funding to revive an oil sector hammered by years of neglect, sanctions and, most recently sabotage.

"I am very happy today with this achievement," Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani said during the signing ceremony Thursday in the Iraqi capital. "Iraq is now on its way to develop its oil industry."

Under the terms of the 20-year contract, the two companies are targeting a more than sevenfold increase in output in seven years - from the current 280,000 barrels per day to 2.325 million barrels p...]]> Business Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:04:59 +0800 /articles/09/1104/196238/MTk2MjM4IdUk2zTi.html China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, commonly known as Sinopec (NYSE: SNP, SHA: 600028, HKG: 0386), on Tuesday put into use a natural gas production and transfer project in Jilin province.

The plant located in the city of Nansong cost Asia's largest oil refiner ¥1.99 billion ($1 = ¥6.83) and is expected to roll out one billion cubic meters of natural gas annually. It had a proven reserve of 43.3 billion m3 of gas as at the end of 2007.

The Nansong gas field will supply cities within the province only.

Source: http://chinese.wsj.com/gb/20091103/BCH018318.asp

The two companies had formed a 50-50 joint venture, Sinopec SABIC Tianjin Petrochemical Co Ltd, to build and operate the facility, which can produce 1 million tonnes of ethylene annually and cost 18.3 billion yuan (about 2.6 billion U.S. dollars), the newspaper said.

The complex includes a 1-million-tonne ethylene cracker, along with eight downstream units and utilities, which have been tested and are ready to begin production by the first quarter of next year.

The project will produce 3.2 million tonnes of chemicals annually, including 1 million tonnes of ethylene, as well as other downstream products such as polyethylene, ethylene glycol, polypropylene, butadiene, phenol, and butene-1.

Products manufactured by the project will mainly be sold on the domestic ma...]]> Business Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:49:02 +0800 China Southern Airlines (NYSE: ZNH, SHA: 600029, HKG: 1055), the nation's biggest carrier, is in talks to take over Hainan Airlines (SHA: 600221), an unnamed senior Southern Airlines manager has said.

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission will broker the merger, and the new company will sell shares to Singapore Airlines, according to the source.

It is not an easy job for Southern Airlines to acquire Hainan Airlines because of the latter's diversified operating activities, industry experts argue. Hainan Airlines, an integrated travel and financial services provider based in Haikou, Hainan province off southern China's coast, runs 12 carriers, 11 airports, 47 hotels and inns, 13 financial service providers, 5 marine transport firms and 2 retailers.

Despite its dominance in the south of the country, Southern Airlines' regional aviation market share is being eaten into by Hainan Airlines and Shenzhen Airlines.

Source: http://fin...]]> Business Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:51:21 +0800 /articles/09/1103/196066/MTk2MDY2SWOs1THi.html

The report said China's full year economic growth would reach 8.3 percent, compared with Asian Bank's forecast of 8.2 percent in September and HSBC's 8.1 percent this week.

As the economy rebounded, both investor and consumer confidence would rise in the fourth quarter, which would further strengthen the economic recovery.

The National Bureau of Statistic said last week China's purchase management index rose to 55.2 percent in October, an increase of 0.9 percentage points from the previous month, indicating the economy was on an upward trend.

As developed countries showed more signs of economic recovery, China's exports would pick up with trade surplus expected to reach250 billion U.S. dollars this year, said the report.

Automobile sales in t...]]> Business Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:20:33 +0800 /articles/09/1102/195964/MTk1OTY01hSJlhCp.html

This is the first time that CGN, the only nuclear power enterprise in China with 129.8-billion-yuan gross asset, purchased from domestic private sector, said Huang Yicai, manager of CGN Zhejiang Province nuclear power project.

All the 30 companies are based in Zhejiang.

Most of the nuclear power equipments in China are manufactured by state-owned enterprises whose capacity has become inadequate with the rapid development of the clean energy industry, Huang said.

"Our cooperation with the private sector aims not only to supplement CGN's manufacturing capacity but also to boost the development of private enterprises and forge an industrial chain," Huang said.

In addition to the 1 billion-yuan deal, the group will soon sign 4-billion-yuan worth of ...]]> Business Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:13:20 +0800 /articles/09/1026/195224/MTk1MjI0Uw5TOzT9.html PILOTS:Not tested for sleep disordersDISTRACTIONS:Transit accidents caused by lack of focus

    This was the biggest ever copyright trade for China at the annual Frankfurt fair, the world's biggest book gala.

    Of the total contracts, Chinese publishers have imported 1,310 copyright items, and exported 882 titles to foreign counterparts, said Zhang Fuhai, a senior official from the Chinese delegation, at a press conference.

    China is the Guest of Honor at this year's book fair and 223 publishing houses from the Chinese mainland participated.

    Zhang attributed the sharp rise in copyright trade volume to China's role as the Guest of Honor as well as to China's rising influence generally in the world.

&nbs...]]> Business Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:12:02 +0800 /articles/09/1017/194386/MTk0Mzg24hXpuKUi.html The Iraqi government has approved a deal with a consortium led by British giant BP PLC to develop a prized oil field in the south in a major step forward for the country's oil industry.

BP, which was booted from the country in 1972 when Saddam Hussein nationalized the oil industry, and its partner CNPC of China were the only winners in Iraq's first international oil auction in over 30 years for development rights for the 17.8 billion barrel Rumaila field.

Out of two gas fields and six oil fields offered in the June 30 bidding round, the Rumaila contract was the only success story. Most oil companies rejected the prices Iraq was willing to pay, striking a major blow to Iraq's hopes for an oil-revenue fueled postwar recovery.

Although Iraq sits on the world's third-largest oil reserve, with at least 115 billion barrels, the country is producing and exporting far below its potential because of decades of war, lack of investment, U.N. sanctio...]]> Business Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:37:41 +0800 /articles/09/1005/193082/MTkzMDgyIRqTnz4f.html Business Sun, 04 Oct 2009 23:07:34 +0800 /articles/09/0929/192638/MTkyNjM467juSTz7.html

The People's Bank of China (PBC), the central bank, will try to keep both the sustainability and stability of the policy, the committee heard at its third-quarter meeting Tuesday.

The PBC would guide reasonable growth in money and credit and maintain sufficient liquidity in the banking system, committee members agreed.

The committee decided to optimize credit structure by supporting the development of rural areas, and small and medium-sized enterprises.

They also agreed to expand credit for consumption on the premise that domestic consumers could play a great role in pushing economic growth.

Meanwhile, credit to high energy-consuming and environment-polluting industries would be strictly controlled, they agreed. 

Sophie Gustafson is on a bit of a roll, one that's been long overdue.

Gustafson, the long-hitting Swede who won the last of her four career LPGA Tour victories in 2003, shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday to take a two-stroke lead after the first round of the CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge.

Gustafson had eight birdies and a bogey on the Blackhawk Country Club course, continuing her recent streak of solid performances that include three top-10 finishes in her previous five tournaments.

"You never know what can happen, but it's always nice to have that bit of history," Gustafson said. "I have good confidence now. It is never enough, though."

Sophia Sheridan, playing in her third tour event of the year, matched Angela Stanford and Na Ri Kim at 67. Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa had five straight birdies in a 68 that left her three strokes back along with 2006 winner Karrie Webb, Shanshan Feng, Kyeong Bae and Mikaela Parmlid.

Jiyai Shin opened with a 72. ...]]> Business Fri, 25 Sep 2009 04:58:13 +0800 /articles/09/0922/191715/MTkxNzE1u7CgqMcg.html

China would consider the purchase to diversify its reserves if the price was right and the potential return was relatively high, the report said, citing an unidentified government source.

There was no indication China was seeking to buy all of the gold on offer, the report said.

The IMF board approved the sales, valued at about $US13 billion ($15bn), pledging to avoid disrupting the market with the transactions and saying it would "stand ready to sell gold directly to central banks".

A People's Bank of China official declined to comment.

"It's very possible that China buys from the IMF and it's also possible the country buys all of it given its vast forex reserves and relatively low gold holdings," Qu Mingyi, a gold dealer at the Bank of China said. Buying by central ban...]]> Business Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:14:14 +0800 /articles/09/0917/191345/MTkxMzQ1iH2zJ2aT.html

The newspaper said, citing a senior company executive, that BYD was also making efforts to fulfill its dream of overtaking Toyota as the world's No. 1 carmaker, through annual sales of over 10 million cars by 2025, via a series of "prudent" moves it made recently.

Wang Jianjun, deputy general manager of BYD Auto Sales Co. Ltd., said the company doesn't have any plan to boost its business by acquiring foreign brands or assets.

In the first eight months of 2009, the Shenzhen-based firm sold 246,881 cars in total. Its half-year sales were up 133 percent over last year. Wang said he was positive BYD would sell 400,000 units this year.

F3, the most popular BYD model, was crowned China's best selling car thrice - in January, July and August - this year. The company is planning to s...]]> Business Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:20:40 +0800 /articles/09/0912/190880/MTkwODgwmEnCyJVo.html

New lending in August rose to 410.4 billion yuan, up more than 50 billion yuan from July, and about 139 billion yuan more than a year ago, according to the People's Bank of China, the central bank.

The August figure brought new yuan-denominated loans in the first eight months to 8.15 trillion yuan, 5.04 trillion yuan more than the same period last year.

Loans to resident sector, driven by the booming real estate market and the hike in auto sales at home, rose to 251.3 billion yuan in August, up about 201 billion yuan year on year, accounting for more than 60 percent of the new loans.

The BOCOM report forecast a monthly new loan volume of between 300 billion and 400 billion yuan for the rest of the year in Chi...]]> Business Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:52:59 +0800 /articles/09/0907/190295/MTkwMjk1kugtCyeZ.html

The gas field, dubbed as Ledong (LD) 22-1, is solely owned by CNOOC Ltd..

Natural gas from the field and also from LD 15-1, another CNOOC field 20 km away from LD 22-1, will be piped to customers, including refinery plants, chemical plants and city gas, in south China's Hainan Province.

LD 15-1 will commence production later this year in order to match the customer needs said the company.

Peak production of LD 22-1 and LD 15-1 is expected to reach around 150 million cubic feet a day.

Incorporated in Hong Kong, CNOOC Ltd. is a listed subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corporation, China's largest offshore oil producer.

    The figure was up 0.7 percentage points from July. The July index gained 0.1 percentage points from the previous month.

    A reading of above 50 suggests expansion, while one below 50 indicates contraction.

    The PMI includes a package of indices that measure economic performance. The survey, conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics, covers purchasing and supply managers in more than 700firms across China.

    The purchasing price index climbed 2.7 percentage points to 62.6 percent in August, the ninth monthly increase since December.

    August output index was 57.9 percent, up 0.6 percentage points from a month...]]> Business Fri, 04 Sep 2009 07:14:14 +0800 /articles/09/0903/189940/MTg5OTQwEP6iGBhb.html China's biggest four commercial as well as government-owned banks extended ¥165.8 billion in loans in August, more than the market had previously expected, unnamed internal sources have said. Bank of China (SHA: 601988, HKG: 3988) lent ¥72.2 billion, taking its total loans through the eight months to ¥1.1 trillion as the top lender. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (SHA: 601398, HKG: 1398), the world's largest lender by market value, extended ¥38.1 billion in August, taking its total loans through the eight months to almost ¥900 billion. The central bank started tightening bank lending in July after it surged an astonishing 201% in the first half of 2009 fuelling a 7.1% economic expansion. The July figure was ¥355.9 billion, down sharply from over ¥1.5 trillion in June.

$1 = ¥6.8

Source: http://finance.sina.com.cn/roll/20090903/02213042796.shtml

The profit decline, down from 27.54 billion yuan a year earlier, was a result of lower crude oil prices in the first half, as the global financial crisis led to a world recession that curbed demand for fuel, despite a rise in oil and gas output, China's biggest offshore oil and gas producer told the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The company's revenue fell 42 percent year on year to 40.65 billion yuan.

The oil producer said its oil and gas output rose 15.2 percent to 105.8 million barrels of oil equivalent in the first six months.

But its average selling price of crude oil was 49.35 U.S. dollars a barrel in the first half, down 52 percent from 102.5 U.S. dollars a barrel in the first half last year.

D...]]> Business Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:37:55 +0800 /articles/09/0825/188858/MTg4ODU4TOSQIYo9.html     TIANJIN, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Two joint-ventures the Japan-based auto giant Toyota set up in China Tuesday began to recall 688,314 motor vehicles that had been well received around the nation for malfunction of windows caused by auto part defects.

    This is the largest auto recall in terms of the number of vehicles involved since 2004 when China ushered in an auto recall system.

    The two joint-venture companies, one in northern China's Tianjin municipality and the other in southern China's Guangzhou city, are Toyota's two leading car manufacturing bases in the Chinese mainland.

    Tianjin FAW Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. based in the northern city said that the faulty cars had a defect in the electric window system that could cause malfunctions, short circuits and even a fire. No injuries have been reported due to the defect, company sources ...]]> Business Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:09:00 +0800 /articles/09/0825/188857/MTg4ODU3COSvH89z.html     BEIJING, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- China Telecom has placed a 4-million 3G handset order with dozens of domestic mobile phone makers, the biggest such order ever in China, reported Tuesday's China Daily.

    The multi-billion yuan order, which includes 63 different customized models, will greatly expand China Telecom's 3G handset portfolios and is expected to help it attract more users, the newspaper said.

    The 4-million customized handsets China Telecom ordered, bigger than its original plan of 3.6 million, are mostly priced in the 1,000 yuan (142.9 U.S. dollars) range and some are priced as low as 500 yuan per handset, a pricing that analysts say will make it more competitive and affordable to more customers.

    The lack of 3G-capable handsets has been hindering the growth of the 3G services in the country, according to the newspaper. Business Tue, 25 Aug 2009 02:08:51 +0800 /articles/09/0820/188353/MTg4MzUzjBc90kQn.html

The nation's biggest steelmaker, Baosteel, will be brought back to its traditional role in the frontline of the next round of discussions in December.

The often aggressive stance by CISA, which was brought in by the government to lead the discussion for the first time this year, has led to record stockpiles of iron ore and a soaring spot price that now stands at more than $US100 per tonne. China Business News yesterday quoted CISA chief Shan Shanghua as saying that Baosteel would lead talks with foreign miners to set next year's price in December.

CISA is expected to stay in the background and retain an organising role.

Its poor performance has cast a cloud over the future of Mr Shan.

One illustration of CISA's failure is the fact that the spot price is 50 per cent more than the price ...]]> Business Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:39:54 +0800 /articles/09/0817/188054/MTg4MDU0opDUCpb0.html

"Chances are high that Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei will fly to Pyongyang on an Air China flight that departs at 5:20 pm (0920 GMT)," Yonhap news agency quoted a diplomatic source as saying.

Wu will try to persuade the North to come back to the talks which also involve South Korea, the United States, Russia and Japan, the source said.

Hankyoreh newspaper said Wu would leave Monday and stay a week in the North. South Korean officials were not available for comment.

China has hosted the talks, which began in 2003 and reached a deal under which the North would scrap its nuclear weapons in return for energy aid and major diplomatic and security benefits.

But Pyongyang announced on April 14 it would quit the forum and restart its atomic weapons programme i...]]> Business Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:52:23 +0800 /articles/09/0817/188016/MTg4MDE2MlH5gek3.html Business Mon, 17 Aug 2009 04:43:17 +0800 /articles/09/0815/187891/MTg3ODkxov649t7t.html

The carrier will operate 27 return flights each week across the Taiwan Strait on six routes from Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou and Tianjin to Taipei Taoyuan Airport, he said. He gave no fare details.

He said Taiwan's civil aviation authority granted Air China a business license on Aug. 13, and Air China's Taiwan branch was established.

The announcement came after the mainland-based Civil Aviation Administration of China published a flights schedule on July 7 between the mainland and Taiwan for nine passenger air carriers and two freight air carriers.

The air carriers could operate cross-Strait fights or charters between Taiwan and 27 cities on the mainland.

On April 26, the mainland and Taiwan signed an agreement in Nanjing of Jiangsu Province on turning daily cross-Strait charter fligh...]]> Business Sat, 15 Aug 2009 14:49:12 +0800     BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's largest airline in terms of fleet size, China Southern Airlines, opened a subsidiary on the Taiwan island Thursday.

    China Southern Airlines was among the first batch of enterprises from the Chinese mainland to obtain business licenses and set up branches in Taiwan.

    The airlines would provide transportation for passengers across the Taiwan Strait, said board Chairman Si Xianmin.

    The company had decided to allocate 10 million new Taiwan dollars (about 303,030 U.S. dollars) to help relieve disasters caused by Typhoon Morakot, the worst to hit Taiwan in nearly half a century.

    The Chinese mainland and Taiwan started direct air and sea transport and postal services on Dec. 15 last year, ending a 59-year ban on such links. Previously, air and sea services, including mail, had...]]> Business Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:11:04 +0800 /articles/09/0814/187797/MTg3Nzk3BZdaxIAM.html

The wholesale price index reflects changes in the prices of commodities traded among enterprises on wholesale markets.

The index was 0.8 percent up in July month on month, indicatingthe fifth straight month of increase since March.

In the first seven months, the wholesale price index dipped 6.8 percent year on year.

The price of capital goods in July dipped 9.5 percent from the same period last year, but rose 0.8 percent month on month. The price of consumer goods dipped 4.3 percent year on year, but climbed 0.6 percent month on month.

The price of iron ore dived 33 percent year on year, but rose 2.6 percent month on month. The price of steel went down 29.9 percent year on year, but up 3.7 percent month on month. Business Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:51:51 +0800 /articles/09/0813/187633/MTg3NjMzr4gXUwcc.html [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

    The price is equivalent to 943.49 U.S. dollars a troy ounce, down 3.97 U.S. dollars at Wednesday's exchange rate of one U.S. dollar against 7.743 HK dollars.

China Construction Bank (Asia) will buy 100 percent of AIG Finance (Hong Kong) Ltd.. This is China Construction Bank's first overseas acquisition in three years.

China Construction Bank (Asia) is the wholly owned banking unit acquired from Bank of America Corp. in 2006.

AIG Finance is one of the largest credit card issuers in Hong Kong.

After the purchase of AIG Finance, China Construction Bank (Asia) would have nearly 200 billion HK dollars of business fixed assets in Hong Kong and Macao and about 2,000 staff, according to China Construction Bank.

Almost 100 people were injured earlier this week when strikers battled riot police with giant catapults, firebombs and steel pipes and police dropped tear gas.

"We are very relieved as the situation is peacefully resolved," Lee Yoo-Il, one of two court-appointed managers at Ssangyong Motor, was quoted saying by Yonhap news agency.

"Ssangyong Motor will make the utmost efforts to normalise operations."

Company spokesman Cha Ki-Ung said that under a deal agreed Thursday, 48 percent of about 970 workers who had refused to accept redundancy would be allowed instead to take an unpaid long-term leave of absence.

The debt-stricken firm had previously offered to save 40 percent of them.

Hundreds of workers streamed out of the pain...]]> Business Thu, 06 Aug 2009 22:57:16 +0800 /articles/09/0805/186764/MTg2NzY0Ljn8HuVC.html Ssangyong has been in court-approved bankruptcy protection since February amid falling sales and mounting red ink. Troubles have deepened in the past two months with hundreds of dismissed workers occupying the factory's paint shop — said to be packed with flammable materials such as thinner to protest massive layoffs.

Managers said in a statement that three days of talks had failed due to the union's insistence on "unacceptable" demands for no layoffs and no lawsuits over their two-month occupation of the firm's factory.

Hundreds of workers, armed with metal pipes, slingshots and inflammable paint thinner, have occupied the factory in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometres (43 miles) south of Seoul since May 21 in protest at job cuts.

The debt-stricken firm in February secured court protection from creditors after China's Shanghai Automotive Industry gave up management control.

Court-appointed managers have since struggled to turn it around through job cuts and cost savings.

The programme calls for the sacking of 2,646 workers or 36 percent of the workforce, in what would be the country's first mass la...]]> Business Sun, 02 Aug 2009 10:16:26 +0800      Beijing, July 31-- An inadequate supply as well as rising prices may trim new home sales by about 10 percent in Shanghai this month, ending a five-month rally since February.

    Sales of new homes were estimated to reach 2.02 million square meters, against 2.19 million square meters last month, E-House (China) Holdings Ltd said yesterday. The firm made the estimation based on statistics gathered in the first 29 days of this month.

    Meanwhile, the average price of new homes, excluding those designated for relocated residents under urban redevelopment plans, was forecast to jump 20 percent from a month earlier to 15,675 yuan (US$2,295) per square meter, the highest in a year.

   "The local housing market has strengthened since February amid a continued rising momentum among home buyers," said Xue Jianxiong, an analyst with E-House. "However, the supply ...]]> Business Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:12:24 +0800 /articles/09/0731/186171/MTg2MTcxkrqEZlwZ.html     BEIJING, June 1 (Xinhua) -- China's power demand shrank by 4.03 percent in the first four months from the same period last year under the impact of the global economic downturn, said the National Energy Administration here Monday.

    Zhang Guobao, head of the administration, told a press conference that the trend contrasted sharply with the record before September last year, when the power demand kept rising at double-digit growth.

    Though the official data is yet to be released, Zhang said the figure for first five months would be a roughly 4-percent drop.

    Tan Yongyao, spokesman of the State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC), China's power regulator, estimated the power demand would start to gain during the second quarter or even later, as the government's macroeconomic policies gradually take effect.

Special Report:  Global Financial...]]> Business Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:09:07 +0800 /articles/09/0731/186170/MTg2MTcwqxJ6cdRR.html Visitors view models of apartment buildings at a summer real estate fair in Dalian, coastal city of northeast China's Liaoning Province, July 26, 2009. The four-day real estate fair ending on Monday attracted 210,000 people who bought over 8,000 houses or signed memorandums for tentative deal. (Xinhua/Liu Debin)Photo Gallery>>>

    "The overall situation in both heavy and light industries is turning positive," said the report jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think tank.

    Heavy and light industries maintained slow but stable development in the first four months of this year thanks to the government's 4-trillion-yuan (586 billion U.S. dollars) stimulus package and rising domestic demand, said the report.

    Industrial output growth slowed to 7.3 percent year on year in April from 8.3 percent in March, the National Bureau of Stati...]]> Business Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:12:18 +0800 /articles/09/0727/185551/MTg1NTUxBi8IoICc.html     BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) -- China is reducing prices for energy-efficient home appliances, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement Thursday.

    Price cuts went into effect Thursday and will last three years. The program is sponsored by the NDRC and the Ministry of Finance.

    Consumers will find prices lowered between 300 yuan to 850 yuan(44 to 125 U.S. dollars) on energy-efficient air-conditioners, refrigerators, television sets, washing machines and motors.

    Cost reductions are expected to generate 400 billion to 500 billion yuan of consumption demand and save 75 billion kwh of power. It could also have the environmental impact of cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 75 million tonnes annually, said Xie Zhenhua, NDRC vice minister.

    Manufacturers of energy-efficient products are also eligible for...]]> Business Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:12:01 +0800 /articles/09/0727/185550/MTg1NTUw1Jfw56US.html     BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) -- China's equipment manufacturing industry reported 7.3 percent growth in industrial output in the first four months, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said Thursday.

    Industrial output of the equipment manufacturing sector was especially high in March when it was about 10.1 percent. In April it was about 9.7 percent, the ministry said.

    During the January-April period, output of large tractors was up 50 percent year on year. Output of medium-sized tractors was up33.2 percent, the figures showed.

    Output of machines used for harvesting crops was up 33 percent year on year and output of machines operating on farmlands was up 25.8 percent.

    Output of equipment for oil refining and chemical production was up 25.6 percent year on year and output of printing equipment wa...]]> Business Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:11:36 +0800 /articles/09/0726/185530/MTg1NTMwKM4CxcLt.html     BEIJING, June 3 (Xinhua) -- China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's top economic planning body, announced Wednesday the detailed plan for the country's subsidy for auto and home appliance replacements.

    Consumers who trade-in their used mid- and small-sized truck and some types of mid-sized passenger cars for new ones will receive rebates from 3000 yuan (about 437.96 U.S. dollars) to 6000 yuan, according to an announcement on the NDRC Web site.

    Rebates will also be given to consumers who sell automobiles that no longer meet the government's emission standards, but are still within life expectancy.

    Consumers will get the rebate by providing confirmation notes from the recycling plants and receipts of the new automobiles they purchase to the local government, said the NDRC announcement.

    Fo...]]> Business Sun, 26 Jul 2009 12:11:01 +0800     BEIJING, July 18 (Xinhua) -- China's film producers are struggling to make their ends meet although the country's box office kept breaking records.

    The Hollywood blockbuster Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen gained 400 million yuan (58.4 million U.S. dollars) in China 19 days after its release on June 24, breaking the record set by Titanic ten years ago.

    Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which hit the mainland market on Friday, is also expected to challenge the new record.

    The country's film business seemed vigorous and profitable as movies repeatedly reported box office higher than 100 million yuan, a watershed for a "hit" movie.

    Besides foreign blockbusters, domestic films had pretty figures as well. If You Are The One, a homemade comedy by Chinese director Feng Xiaogang, gained 325 million yuan...]]> Business Fri, 24 Jul 2009 02:10:42 +0800 /articles/09/0723/185135/MTg1MTM1ksVEZOeZ.html China Shenhua Energy Co (SHA: 601088), the nation's top energy producer, has received the permit to buy 6 pieces of farmland in the Australian state of New South Wales for a massive animal husbandry project, people with knowledge of the matter has said. "I don't think Shenhua is going to raise cows there; they are coveting local coals instead," Li Chaolin, a market watcher with Cctd.com.cn told the National Business Daily. Shenhua paid A$300 million last year for the rights to a NSW coalmine spanning 190 km2 with 1 billion metric tons of recoverable coals as its stepped into the international resources sector. China's demand for coal will rise to 3.2 billion tons in 2010 from 2.3 billion tons in 2006, Morgan Stanley has estimated.

USD1 = AUD1.2

Source: http://company.nbd.com.cn/newshtml/20090722/20090722025710181.html

And, despite a recent resurgence of the rumours, neither company has indicated that such a move is imminent, with both declining to comment. But market participants speculate that with BHP cashed up and Woodside strong in areas in which the mining giant has expressed an interest to expand, a deal can't be ruled out.

"(BHP's) balance sheet is definitely in a good state and a sizable but digestible approach may be to beef up their oil and gas business with Woodside," said a large international investment bank analyst who wished to remain anonymous.

Other analysts, such as UBS's Glyn Lawcock and Gordon Ramsay, say a deal between the Melbourne- and Perth-based institutions would work strategically, with cost savings to be had by combining their interests in the Gulf of Mexico and Australia's massive North West Shelf liquefied natural gas joint venture....]]> Business Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:30:09 +0800 /articles/09/0718/184551/MTg0NTUxE8rX8pfA.html By Associated Press and BusinessWeek staff

Widely anticipated earnings reports from two banks at the epicenter of the financial crisis came in ahead of Wall Street expectations Friday, with Bank of America (BAC) outperforming Wall Street expectations modestly and Citigroup (C) suprising analysts by posting a big profit instead of an expected loss—albeit on a big gain from the sale of a piece of its its Smith Barney unit.

Citigroup shares were up 3% in early trading Friday. Bank of America's shares fell 0.7%. The overall stock market appeared headed for a pullback after a huge rally this week.

After paying preferred dividends, Citigroup earned $3 billion, or 49 cents per share. It lost $2.86 billion, or 55 cents per share, during the same quarter last year.

Analysts forecast a loss of 37 cents per share for the quarter.

The New York-based bank recorded an after-tax gain of $6.7 billion on the sale of a majority stake in its Smith...]]> Business Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:27:30 +0800 /articles/09/0715/184210/MTg0MjEwC0OEe1aQ.html Business Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:46:05 +0800