IN BRIEF

Shanghai is set to become an international financial hub in China. [Provided to China Daily]

Finance

Shanghai to become hub for yuan trade

China will make Shanghai the global center for yuan trading, clearing and pricing by 2015, according to a State plan that charts the city's future as an international financial hub.

The detailed plan, jointly published by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Shanghai government, shows the scale of China's ambition in creating its own version of New York, London or Hong Kong.

The National Development and Reform Commission envisions a trading hub with annual non-forex financial market volume of 1,000 trillion yuan ($160 trillion, 121 trillion euros) by 2015 from less than 400 trillion in 2010.

Machinery

Sany to buy majority stake in Putzmeister

Construction equipment giant Sany Heavy Industry Co will pay 324 million euros for a 90-percent stake in Putzmeister Holding GmbH, a German engineering firm, according to a filing made by Sany to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Sany made the deal along with Citic PE Advisors, a private equity fund, which will control the remaining 10-percent stake in the German company.

Zoomlion to set up plant in US

Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Co has won regulatory approval to build a plant in the United States. The move will help the Chinese construction-equipment maker offset slowing domestic demand by expanding overseas.

The Hunan province branch of the National Development and Reform Commission, which oversees Zoomlion, also authorized the company's plan for a research center in South America.

Telecom

Beijing Telecom may launch CDMA iPhone 4S

China Telecom Corp, the nation's third-largest mobile operator, said it might launch the code division multiple access (CDMA) version of Apple Inc's iPhone 4S in the Chinese mainland this month.

The move would ramp up the pressure on the company's domestic rivals in the fight to win more subscribers to the third-generation network service.

In a news release on Jan 30, Beijing Telecom Co Ltd, a subsidiary of China Telecom, said the CDMA-version of iPhone 4S is likely to hit the domestic market by the end of February, or at the beginning of March. However, no pricing details were disclosed.

Energy

ConocoPhillips to pay 1b yuan for oil spill

US energy giant ConocoPhillips Co said it would pay 1 billion yuan to settle compensation claims arising from the oil leaks from its Penglai 19-3 oilfield in Bohai Bay in June last year.

ConocoPhillips, China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), the Ministry of Agriculture and the governments of Hebei and Liaoning, the two provinces most affected by the environmental disaster, have reached an agreement on the compensation claims, according to the ministry's website.

ConocoPhillips and CNOOC will also pay 100 million yuan and 250 million yuan to restore the marine, especially fishing and environment in the Bohai Bay and monitor the situation, the ministry said.

Beverages

Price hikes brewing for Starbucks drinkers

Starbucks Corp has raised the prices of some of its products on the mainland to offset higher costs, the coffee chain's first price hike in five years.

The increases, ranging from 1 yuan to 3 yuan, will mainly affect drinks such as espresso-based beverages, fresh-brewed coffee and hot chocolate, the company said on its official micro blog at the Sina.com website.

Seattle-based Starbucks said the decision reflected higher operating costs.

Resources

China Guangdong to acquire Kalahari stake

Rio Tinto Group has agreed to sell its 11.1 percent stake in resource company Kalahari Minerals Plc to China Guangdong Nuclear Power Co, which is seeking control of the world's fourth-largest uranium deposit.

China Guangdong Nuclear's holding in London-based Kalahari will increase to about 40.5 percent, short of the 50 percent threshold that would trigger a A$2.2 billion ($2.3 billion, 1.79 billion euros) takeover bid for affiliated Australian uranium explorer Extract Resources Ltd. Kalahari owns 43 percent of Extract.

Sinopec signs gas deal with APLNG

China Petrochemical Corp, known as Sinopec Group, said it has signed a deal with Australia Pacific LNG Pty Ltd (APLNG) to purchase 7.6 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually for 20 years from 2016 from APLNG's gas reserves in Queensland.

The purchase amount is up from the 4.3 million tons the two companies had agreed in April, according to a statement on Sinopec Group's website.

Meanwhile, the group reached a subscription agreement with APLNG to raise its stake in APLNG to 25 percent from 15 percent, while ConocoPhillips' and Origin Energy's stakes will fall to 37.5 percent, respectively, the statement said.

Deals

CIC invests in utility firm Thames Water

China Investment Corporation (CIC), the country's sovereign-wealth fund, said that it has acquired a minority stake in Thames Water, a utility group in the United Kingdom.

In a one-sentence statement on its website, CIC said it purchased an 8.68-percent stake in Thames Water through its wholly-owned subsidiary, without disclosing the purchase price.

Thames Water is the largest water supply and waste-water treatment company in the UK. The deal came after CIC Chairman Lou Jiwei said in November that the fund plans to invest in infrastructure in European countries and the US.

China Daily-Agencies