IN BRIEF (Page 14)

Culture

Sotheby's Chinese JV holds inaugural auction

Sotheby's newly built joint venture on the Chinese mainland held its inaugural auction in Beijing on Sept 27, marking the world-leading auction house's entrance into the fast-growing and lucrative Chinese art market.

The auction at the Beijing World Art Museum saw Self and Self Shadow, a contemporary sculpture by Beijing-born artist Wang Huaiqing, sell for 1.4 million yuan ($222,000, 172,000 euros), more than twice the starting bid of 500,000 yuan.

The joint venture was funded by Sotheby's and Beijing Gehua Art Company, a subsidiary of State-owned Beijing Gehua Cultural Development Group, with 10 million yuan in total registered capital.

Sotheby's owns 80 percent of the joint venture, while the remaining stake belongs to its Chinese partner.

Resources

Chinese firm sues mining giant Vedanta

Chinese power equipment manufacturer Shanghai Shandong Nuclear Power Construction has filed a case against multinational mining giant Vedanta Aluminium for allegedly causing losses due to a work stoppage at the latter's controversial alumina refinery in Lanjigarh, in India's eastern state of Odisha, sources said.

SSNP has pleaded for arbitration to recover its dues from Vedanta, saying the firm has incurred "tremendous losses".

The dispute can be traced back to Vedanta's controversial plan to expand its alumina capacity in Lanjigarh with bauxite mined from the nearby Niyamgiri hills. The Indian environment ministry did not approve the plans, thus depriving the alumina plant of a crucial raw material and forcing it to shut down.

According to the petition, the order for a power plant by Vedanta Aluminium was placed in 2008 and involved setting up co-generation units on a turn-key basis for the Lanjigarh project.

Zhongrun takes stake in gold miner Noble

Zhongrun Resources Investment Corp has agreed to buy a 42 percent stake in Noble Mineral Resources Ltd for A$85 million ($88 million, 68 million euros), sending shares in the Australian gold miner up 25 percent to A$0.15, although the increased price remained well short of the record A$0.805 the company's shares touched last year.

The deal is the latest in a string of investments in gold miners by Chinese companies that are keen to meet soaring domestic demand for gold at home, particularly for jewelry, which is often seen as a good hedge against inflation.

Zhongrun agreed to pay A$0.16 and A$0.18 a share for two sets of shares to be issued to two different arms of the company.

Danish business eyes China's water sector

Denmark's Environment Minister Ida Auken is in Beijing this week to offer the country's water-technology solutions to Chinese policymakers, seeking to create more jobs amid the lingering recession in the eurozone.

The water resources industry employs 35,000 people in Denmark and generates annual revenue of more than 4 billion euro ($5.17 billion).

Last year, China announced a plan to invest 4 trillion yuan in the construction of water resource facilities over the next 10 years.

Investment in water resources increased to 345.2 billion yuan in 2011 in China, compared with average annual investment of about 140 billion yuan from 2006 to 2010, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.

Investment

BASF emphasizes R&D spending in China

BASF SE, a chemical company, plans to invest one-fourth of its annual R&D money in the Asia-Pacific region with an emphasis on the Chinese market.

"Our strategy is to invest more in these markets to meet that fast-growing demand," said Martin Brudermueller, vice-chairman of the board of executive directors at BASF.

BASF spent 1.6 billion euros ($2 billion) on R&D in 2011 and is expected to spend more this year, according to sources. One-third of these funds will be used to develop technologies aimed at green issues.

"Part of our strategy for the global market is to develop battery materials for electric vehicles," said Brudermueller.

KFC pursues expansion in smaller cities

KFC Corp, the largest foreign fast-food chain in China, said it will accelerate its expansion in smaller cities.

"KFC will open more than 500 restaurants each year in the future, compared with 400 annually over the past two years," said Mark Chu, president and chief operating officer of Yum Brands' China Division.

"In addition to the first- and second-tier cities, there is broader room for development in the fourth- and fifth-tier cities."

Earlier this year, KFC's parent company, Yum Brands, signed an agreement with Suning Appliance Co Ltd in which Yum agreed to open 150 restaurants, including KFCs and Pizza Huts, in Suning stores over the next five years.

Finance

QE3 signals deepening credit crisis: Dagong

China's leading credit rating agency Dagong said that the third round of quantitative easing implemented by the United States signals the country's deepening credit crisis and dropping solvency.

Dagong Global Credit Rating Co Ltd said in a statement commenting on the US's third round of quantitative easing, also known as QE3, that the policy cannot promote the country's economic recovery and may further worsen its macroeconomic environment in the medium and long term.

Dagong said the QE3 cannot alleviate the private sector's debt burden in a short time and rid the financial system of excessive liquidity, and thus will not provide new impetus for economic growth.

The policy will also weaken the private sector's willingness to save and will drive up international commodity prices, Dagong said.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily 10/05/2012 page14)