IN BRIEF (Page 14)

Aviation

Lufthansa wants to fly A380 to Shanghai

German airline Lufthansa AG is seeking approval from the Shanghai Airport Authority to begin Airbus A380 services to the city.

"We are interested in operating the A380 to Shanghai and we are doing all we can to cooperate with the airport authorities here," Juerg Christen, Lufthansa's managing director for China, said on Oct 16.

Lufthansa AG began Airbus A380 flights between Beijing and Frankfurt in 2010 and the route is making a profit. The airline operates 81 weekly flights to six destinations in China and connects the country to more than 170 European destinations.

Economy

Switzerland sets up biz promotion body in HK

Having suffered a setback in traditional export markets, the Swiss government is stepping up efforts to tap into Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland by setting up a new business promotion organization in Hong Kong.

Housed in the premises of the Swiss Consulate General, the Swiss Business Hub will promote Switzerland as an attractive destination for Hong Kong investors and help small and medium-sized Swiss companies do business in China, Daniel Kng, CEO of Osec, a Swiss organization that promotes foreign trade, said on Oct 15.

Chinese shipyards see rebound in new orders

The global shipbuilding industry has seen a mild recovery as orders for new vessels rebounded to more than 3 million deadweight tons last month, with Chinese shipyards still leading the industry.

According to the latest statistics released by Clarksons Plc, the world's leading provider of shipping services, a total of 79 new vessels, totaling 3.2 million deadweight tons, were ordered from shipyards across the world in September. The volume was 7.7 percent up from the same period last year and 9.6 percent up from August, data showed.

China still leads the world's shipbuilding industry in new orders. Chinese yards received orders for 34 new vessels, totaling 1.92 million deadweight tons, accounting for 60 percent of the world's total new-order volume and an 81 percent increase on the same period last year.

Beijing on top for economic clout

Beijing wields more economic influence than other large cities, including Paris, London and New York, suggests a report.

Even so, the Chinese capital still lags behind comparable cities when gauged for innovation, infrastructure and business conditions, according to the report published by PricewaterhouseCoopers International Ltd.

In terms of economic clout, Beijing moved to the top this year from ninth position in last year's rankings, said the report, entitled "Cities of Opportunity".

The capital's impressive performance results from being home to a large number of Fortune Global 500 company headquarters, the number of people who are employed in financial and business services there, the rate of foreign investment in the city and its GDP growth.

Investment

Bosch expands services with new facility

Bosch Communication Center will open a site in Chengdu, Sichuan province, this month.

The new site will deal with customer service issues, and support clients with finance, accounting, purchasing and human resource management processes.

Pump maker Wilo aims to double revenue

Wilo SE, one of the world's major pump manufacturers, plans to double its revenue in China to 1.5 billion yuan ($239 million; 182 million euros) by 2015 after spending 200 million yuan to build a new factory in Beijing, said Zhu Enhui, the company's China CEO.

The company's revenue in China hit 730 million yuan in 2011 and is expected to exceed 800 million yuan this year, according to Zhu. Its global revenue stood at 1.07 billion euros last year.

The Germany-based company now has two manufacturing bases in China, 14 sales offices and 855 employees.

EU bank seeks to set up China office

The European Investment Bank is to expand its presence in China by opening a representative office in Beijing, according to Werner Hoyer, the bank's president.

Hoyer, who took up the position this year, said he thinks the plan will strengthen cooperation between China and the EU.

He is currently settling issues concerned with opening the office and is in close contact with the EU ambassador in Beijing, the European External Action Service, which acts as the EU's diplomatic corps, and the Chinese government, he said.

If all goes well he may visit China this year to help open the office, he added.

NBA plans dining, shopping facility

The US National Basketball Association plans to build a facility near Beijing that will feature indoor courts, shopping and dining, as it seeks to bolster the sport's popularity in the world's second-biggest economy.

The 12,000-square-meter NBA Center will be built by Chinese developer Yatai Lanhai Investment Group and located between Beijing and neighboring Tianjin, according to a statement.

It will include an NBA-themed restaurant, an interactive games area and a store selling team apparel.

Energy

BP exits solar business in China

China TBEA Co Ltd, a major manufacturer of solar energy transformers, said on Friday that BP Plc has transferred all its equity in two solar business joint ventures to the company at zero cost.

The move shows BP's determination to exit China's solar market, indicating that the giant oil company's investment in China's solar business has ended as a failure after seven years.

BP began its partnership with TBEA in 2005 when China's solar industry was expanding rapidly. BP's investment in the Chinese solar business totaled 48.8 million yuan ($7.7 million).

In recent years, the industry has been hit by overcapacity, as well as anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations from the United States and Europe.

In the first half of the year, TBEA reported a 20.65 percent drop in net profit to 540 million yuan. The low profitability of PV solar products was the biggest reason behind the drop.

Technology

Lenovo world's largest PC seller

China's personal computer manufacturer Lenovo Group Ltd overtook US-based Hewlett-Packard Corp in the third quarter to become the largest seller of personal computers in the world measured by shipments, the IT research company Gartner Inc said.

Lenovo's global market share was 0.2 percentage points higher than HP's in the quarter, marking the first time Lenovo has held the largest share of the PC market, according to the Gartner report.

Lenovo, which acquired International Business Machines Corp's PC unit seven years ago, made 15.7 percent of all PC shipments in the third quarter, while HP made 15.5 percent, Gartner said.

Chinese online games portal seeks IPO

YY Inc, which runs a Chinese online games portal, plans to seek a Nasdaq initial public offering to raise up to $100 million (76.3 million euros), according to a filing it sent to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Oct 15.

The company is one of few trying to go public amid the weak global economic climate and shrinking investor interest in Chinese stocks, which have had their reputation tainted recently by fraud scandals.

YY Inc - which operates online games portal Duowan.com and audio chat software YY Client - said in the filing that its net revenue increased from 32.7 million yuan ($5.2 million; 4 million euros) in 2009 to 319.7 million yuan in 2011.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily 10/19/2012 page14)