IN BRIEF (Page 14)

Banking

A child chooses White Rabbit candy in a supermarket in Zhengzhou, Henan province. Bright Food, which owns White Rabbit, says it is considering an overseas purchase in Europe or Australia. Provided to China Daily

ICBC to take over South American bank

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) is acquiring an 80 percent stake in the Argentine division of South Africa's Standard Bank Group Ltd to further enhance its presence in the Latin American nation.

ICBC will pay $600 million (418 million euros) for the stake in Standard Bank Argentina SA (SBA), Standard Investments SA and Inversora Diagonal SA, according to a statement from the lender.

SBA is Argentina's 12th biggest bank by assets. It has a full license, including retail banking, corporate banking, investment banking and other businesses.

After the transaction is completed, ICBC and Standard Bank London Holdings Plc plan to invest $100 million jointly in SBA.

Internet

Online still a growing market

The number of micro-bloggers and group-purchasing users in China has tripled and doubled during the first six months of the year, even as the growth rate of Internet users slowed during the same period, according to data from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).

The total number of Internet users in China stood at 485 million by the end of June, up 6.1 percent over the same period in 2010.

The number of Chinese micro-bloggers soared to 194.97 million during the same period compared with a mere 63.11 million in 2010.

The number of group-buying users jumped 125 percent in the first six months of this year compared with the same period last year, to 42.2 million.

Baidu, BMW co-op for vehicle-based search

Baidu Inc, China's biggest search engine, will partner with Bayerische Moteren Werke AG (BMW) to provide search services in the German automobile maker's vehicles, as part of its drive to push search services onto more platforms.

The two companies agreed to develop and operate search products based on vehicle information systems, Baidu said in a recent statement.

The search services Baidu will provide in vehicles include maps, e-mail and news. The search engine has also been talking to other vehicle makers about similar services, according to the statement.

Metals

Gold output zooms past 164 tons in H1

Output of yellow metal in China grew by 5.18 tons, or 3.25 percent year-on-year to 164.42 tons during the first six months of the year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

In June alone, the country produced 32.39 tons of gold.

The combined output value of Chinese gold producers amounted to 119.54 billion yuan (12.97 billion euros) during the first half, up 23.37 percent from a year earlier.

China became the world's biggest gold producer in 2007. Its gold output reached 340.88 tons in 2010.

Food

Bright hungry for overseas deals

Bright Food Group Co might make a purchase in Europe or Australia over the next six months as it seeks to boost overseas sales to as much as 30 percent of the total in five years.

The company's next acquisition may take place in six months to a year, according to Wang Zongnan, its chairman.

Potential targets could include European or Australian companies in the food distribution and sugar industries.

Buying overseas assets could help the closely held company make the best use of its "extremely" strong distribution network in China, said Shaun Rein, managing director of Shanghai-based China Market Research Group.

Rare Earths

Campaign to regulate output launched

China has launched a five-month inspection campaign that aims to crack down on rare earth production that is not in line with government regulations, the country's industry ministry said on Aug 8.

Rare earth producers that have no directive production plan, exceed production quotas or continue to use outdated or environmentally destructive production techniques will be forced to halt operation or face cancellation of quotas and licenses, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said.

The campaign, which starts from Aug 1 to Dec 31, will also clamp down on the sale or purchase of rare earth products from mines that violate industry regulations, the statement said.

Retail

Smaller cities hold key for adidas

German sports gear maker adidas AG's Chinese unit plans to expand aggressively in lower-tier cities as it seeks to compete with Chinese rivals.

"We plan to open more than 2,500 additional stores in the next few years in lower-tier cities, expanding city coverage to more than 1,400 cities," said Colin Currie, managing director of adidas Group China.

The plan also calls for five years of double-digit annual sales growth in China.

The company released its first-half report, which showed that sales in China grew 38 percent to 552 million euros, "a new record for this region", the company said.

Aviation

HNA in the race for Hochtief airport assets

The parent of Hainan Airlines Co, China's fourth-biggest airline by revenue, said on Aug 8 that it is bidding for Frankfurt-based construction company Hochtief AG's airport assets, which it values at more than 1 billion euros.

The bidding is the latest development in HNA Group Co's push to expand overseas amid falling global asset prices. The company said earlier this month it was joining Bravia Capital of Hong Kong to buy a shipping-container lessor co-owned by General Electric Co in a deal valued at $1.05 billion (731.8 million euros).

In July, HNA, which owns a majority stake in Hainan Airlines, disclosed plans to buy a stake in Turkish air-cargo carrier ACT Airlines.

Data

Slowdown in July, but economy still on track

China's major economic indicators slowed in July, but signaled the country's growth engine remains on track, analysts said.

The year-on-year growth in industrial output decelerated slightly to 14 percent in July, 1.1 percentage points lower than in June, the National Bureau of Statistics announced on Aug 9.

However, that figure is still higher than the historic low of 13.3 percent registered in May. Industrial production grew 14.3 percent from January to July, maintaining the pace set in the first half of the year.

Meanwhile, fixed asset investment, a primary driver of economic growth, soared by 25.4 percent year-on-year during the first seven months of the year to 15.24 trillion yuan (1.65 trillion euros).

China Daily