IN BRIEF (Page 14)

Retail

Media Markt begins online shopping

Media Markt, a German chain store selling consumer electronics with numerous branches throughout Europe and Asia, is offering online shopping services in China in addition to its seven shops in Shanghai, although it will continue to focus on the physical stores.

To cater to the increasing demand for online shopping, the retailer launched its online shopping business in Shanghai on Oct 12. Consumers can browse its website and purchase from all categories of products available in any Media Markt store in Shanghai.

According to Frank Bussalb, CEO of Media Markt China, the company offers product reservation, pick up, home delivery, extended warranty and online photo printing services from its online store.

Decathlon to triple stores in China

French sports goods chain Decathlon is to triple the number of its stores in China and make the country its third-largest market globally.

Bertrand Tison, vice-president of Decathlon China, said the company aims to have 150 stores on the Chinese mainland by the end of 2015, with most being planned in second- or third-tier cities.

Decathlon, founded in France in 1976, opened its first store on the Chinese mainland in 2003 and now has 46 outlets. Decathlon has more than 600 stores worldwide.

Nestle to build two more R&D centers

Nestle SA, the world's largest food company measured by revenue, announced plans to build two more research and development centers in south China.

Nestle said it will build one of the centers in Xiamen, Fujian province and the other in Dongguan, Guangdong province. In Xiamen, researchers will work with Yinlu Foods Group, in which Nestle acquired a 60 percent stake last year, on ready-to-drink beverages and congee. In Dongguan, they will work with the candy maker Hsu Fu Chi International Ltd, in which the Swiss company also holds a stake, on baked products.

Nestle announced in April that it would buy the US drug maker Pfizer's infant nutrition business for $11.85 billion (9 billion euros).

Auto

Dongfeng, Getrag to form transmission JV

Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor Group on Oct 22 signed an agreement with Germany's Getrag Group to form a joint venture to develop advanced dual-clutch transmissions as part of the company's efforts to sharpen its competitiveness.

The two companies, each with a 50-percent stake, will invest 120 million euros ($156.9 million) in the joint venture in the central China city of Wuhan, according to the agreement.

Getrag is one of the world's largest transmission manufacturers, while Dongfeng Motor is one of China's top automakers by sales volume.

Resources

Prospect Global signs potash deal

Prospect Global Resources Inc has signed a $2 billion (1.53 billion euros) supply deal with China's Sichuan Chemical Industry Holding Group.

The Denver-based potash exploration company will sell the crop nutrient to Sichuan Chemical from its American West Potash project in Holbrook, Arizona. Sichuan Chemical, a State-owned company, will buy at least 500,000 metric tons of potash a year for 10 years for export to China, the companies said in a statement.

The deal will help Sichuan Chemical, China's third-largest chemical company, meet the country's increasing food needs amid shrinking global supplies and rising food prices. The contract reflects a value of about $475 per metric ton. Sichuan Chemical can buy more than the amount stated in the contract.

Trade

Commerce ministry reacts to WTO ruling

China's Ministry of Commerce has vowed to handle a World Trade Organization ruling in a dispute over US exports of a specialty steel product in line with WTO rules, after its appeal against the ruling was rejected.

The WTO Appellate Body on Oct 18 turned down China's appeal against a panel ruling over the country's import duties on US grain oriented flat-rolled electrical steel and upheld the panel's findings.

China will carefully evaluate the WTO's report and handle the case in line with WTO rules, a trade treaty and law official at the ministry said.

Shipping firms open first container route

Chinese shipping companies have opened their first China-Russia container route, shipping more than 100 containers filled with consumer goods, computer components and ironware products from east China's Ningbo port to Russia's Vostochny port.

Container ships use the route weekly, departing Ningbo every Thursday. At Vostochny, cargoes will be unloaded and transferred via railway to Eastern Europe.

Bilateral trade between China and Russia has increased steadily in recent months.

During the first three quarters of the year, trade volume between the two countries surged by 14.2 percent from a year earlier to $66.2 billion (50.7 billion euros), according to data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs.

Technology

Lenovo snaps up Motorola employees

Lenovo Group Ltd, China's largest PC maker, has taken on 40 former employees of rival Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc at its smartphone research and development center in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, and expects to take on about 80 former Motorola workers in the next six months.

Chen Wenhui, vice-president of Lenovo and general manager of phone research and development, said the new Lenovo center will be the Chinese company's fourth R&D center after Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen.

The original plan was to build the fourth center in Wuhan, Hubei province.

Motorola Mobility announced in August that it planned to cut about 4,000 jobs, or 20 percent of its labor force, with two-thirds of the losses outside the US, including layoffs in China.

Asia's biggest Apple store opens in Beijing

Apple's largest store in Asia opened in Beijing on Oct 20.

The store, located in Wangfujing, a major commercial center, is Apple Inc's third in Beijing and its sixth on the Chinese mainland.

John Browett, Apple's senior vice-president of retail, said that the new store is the company's largest in Asia, with an area of 2,300 square meters and more than 300 employees.

Investment

Investment from China in US at record high

China's direct investment in the United States hit a record high through the first nine months of 2012, despite election-year rhetoric against the country and a congressional report alleging that two Chinese tech companies posed a possible threat to US national security.

During this year's first three quarters, Chinese businesses invested $6.3 billion (4.8 billion euros) in the US, according to a report released on Oct 18 by New York-based Rhodium Group, which tracks Chinese investments.

BOC establishes yuan business partnership

Bank of China, the country's third-largest lender, has signed a memorandum of understanding with NYSE Euronext to jointly develop yuan-denominated products.

BOC will endeavor to provide quality and efficient financial services for global clients by deepening cooperation with NYSE Euronext, the statement cited Yue Yi, executive vice-president of BOC, as saying.

Dominique Cerutti, president and deputy chief executive officer at NYSE Euronext, said its partnership with BOC will help its clients and investors explore the Asian market.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily 10/26/2012 page14)