IN BRIEF (Page 18)

Auto

Car sales remain in fast lane

Passenger vehicle sales in China surged ahead in November, with a double-digit increase for the full year in sight for the world's largest automobile market.

Total sales of passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, multipurpose vehicles and minivans surged 14.9 percent year-on-year to 1,631,394 units last month, the China Passenger Car Association reported.

For the first 11 months, sales jumped 17.1 percent to 15.4 million units, signaling full-year growth of at least 15 percent.

The strong recovery followed an annual increase of just 2.5 percent in 2011 and of 4.3 percent in 2012.

Rao Da, secretary-general of the association, said he expects even stronger sales in December, based on the increase in November.

Markets

Investors get ready for bull charge

National institutions and qualified foreign institutional investors are preparing for a possible bull market in China, following an official announcement that initial public offerings, halted since October 2012, would resume.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange said it had approved an investment quota of $49.2 billion under the QFII plan by the end of November, of which $738 million was approved last month.

Block trade platform data show that QFIIs became more active in recent months, spending 2.17 billion yuan ($354.6 million) to buy up 247 million bank shares in early December, Securities Daily said.

Meanwhile, the new renminbi quota for qualified foreign institutional investors stood at 5 billion yuan in November, bringing the total investment quota for RQFII (RMB qualified foreign institutional investors) to 144.6 billion yuan, SAFE data showed.

Finance

Central bank clears sales of interbank CDs

China has taken a giant step toward freeing interest rates, with the central bank introducing a new instrument in the interbank market, which lets the market set the rates.

Banks have been permitted to issue interbank negotiable certificates of deposit as of Dec 9, the People's Bank of China said on its website.

The interest rate on the new instruments will be determined by the market, with the Shanghai Interbank Offered Rate to be used as a reference. Regular bank deposits are subject to an interest-rate cap in China, so the new negotiable CDs will initially be available to fund managers and participants in the interbank market, but not to individuals or financial enterprises.

Technology

Britain set to OK Huawei cyber center

Telecom equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd said it is deeply committed to the European market, especially in the United Kingdom, as it provides a superb investment environment.

Huawei will sink $200 million into a new research and development center in the UK. In addition, the company is working closely with BT Group, a British telecom service group, to expand a national broadband network that currently covers 15 million UK households, Huawei said in a statement.

The new R&D center will be located at the Ipswich research office, which now has about 80 staffers. By 2017, the center is expected to employ more than 300 senior researchers.

China Daily Agencies

(China Daily European Weekly 12/13/2013 page18)