IN BRIEF

Energy

CNPC, Shell ink shale gas deal

Oil major Royal Dutch Shell PLC signed China's first shale-gas production sharing contract as the world's second-largest economy seeks to unlock resources similar to those that sparked the US natural gas boom.

Shell and China National Petroleum Corp, the State-controlled parent of PetroChina Co Ltd, agreed to explore, develop and produce shale gas in the Fushun-Yongchuan block in the Sichuan basin, an area covering about 3,500 square kilometers, London-based Shell said in a statement on its website.

Hydraulic fracturing, the technology behind shale gas that breaks open underground rocks, allowed the United States to become the world's biggest gas producer. China may have 50 percent more shale gas reserves than the US, according the US Energy Information Administration.

Deals

Li Ka-shing's ARA said to plan yuan IPO

ARA Asset Management, the manager of property trusts backed by billionaire Li Ka-shing, is planning Singapore's first yuan-denominated stock offering even as expectations for the currency's appreciation wane.

ARA hired Citigroup Inc, DBS Group Holdings Ltd and Standard Chartered PLC for the initial public offering of one of its property funds, three people with knowledge of the matter said. The size and timing of the deal have yet to be decided, the people said, declining to be identified because the process is private.

The stock price of ARA, 15.6 percent owned by Cheung Kong Holdings Ltd, the property flagship of Li, has advanced about 22 percent this year in Singapore trading, giving it a market value of S$1.16 billion ($919 million, 692 million euros).

Finance

Bank of China opens yuan center in Shanghai

Bank of China Ltd on March 20 unveiled a trading headquarters in Shanghai that will oversee the bank's yuan asset trading business.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission has authorized the second headquarters to conduct business in the proprietary trading of yuan-denominated bonds, money market instruments and precious metals as well as financial institutions-related business, the bank said in a statement.

The launch of the new office, which was in the works for two years, is part of the Chinese government's effort to support Shanghai's ambition to become a global financial hub.

Auto

Volvo signs Jeremy Lin to promote cars

Volvo Cars Corp, a vehicle manufacturer, announced that it has signed NBA star Jeremy Lin for an endorsement contract targeting China, the US and Chinese-language markets in Asia.

The deal will have Lin, whose parents are from Taiwan, act as the brand ambassador for Volvo Cars during the next two years. The Asian-American will also appear in Volvo advertisements in those markets. The company declined to say what Lin is being paid for the endorsements.

Retail

Carrefour store closed after TV report

Retail giant Carrefour SA temporarily shut down a store in Central China's Henan province on March 18, three days after the store was exposed in the media for changing expiration dates on chicken products and selling regular chicken as more expensive free-range poultry.

Wang Shangwei, the public relations manager of the far-west region of Carrefour China, said that the Carrefour store in the Huayuan Road of Zhengzhou, capital of Henan, was closed as ordered by the local industrial and commercial bureau.

The store was found to be repackaging normal chicken as free-range chicken at twice the price and ignoring its own sales codes to sell expired meat, including chicken gizzards and mutton rolls.

P&G expanding in China

US household consumer product maker Procter & Gamble has begun construction of one of the largest manufacturing sites in Asia, aiming to serve the fast-growing China market.

The new Luogang plant is in Guangzhou, where P&G's China headquarters is located, and will be built in three stages. The first stage, set to begin operations in the second half of 2013, will produce a variety of goods including baby care products, such as Pampers diapers.

The company did not reveal the cost of the new plant, but said it is part of a $1 billion (753 million euros) investment in China to be implemented by 2015.

MoneyONEY

PayPal eyes China license

EBay Inc's PayPal unit aims to be the first foreign operator with a license to process electronic payments in China, allowing it to challenge local companies such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's Alipay affiliate.

"We are cautiously optimistic we'll be given a license" after PayPal filed an application to the People's Bank of China late last year, Rupert Keeley, PayPal senior vice-president for Asia, said at a briefing in Hong Kong.

No overseas companies have so far been awarded a permit to process domestic payments in China, he said. A license will allow PayPal to handle domestic payments in the fastest-growing major economy in the world.

China Daily-Agencies