What's news

Retail

Sportswear brands announce sales bounce

First-quarter sales figures indicate that domestic sportswear brands are showing signs of recovery, and companies expect further growth this summer to come from the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

A group of domestic athletic apparel manufacturers announced first-quarter sales and the scale of orders in the fourth quarter, both of which have increased.

Auto

Volkswagen plans 800m yuan securities issue

Volkswagen AG plans to issue about 800 million yuan ($128 million) of asset-backed securities in China as soon as this month, following similar sales by Ford Motor Co and Toyota Motor Corp, according to Fitch Ratings Ltd.

The securitized notes, due in August 2020, are backed by automotive loan receivables originated by Volkswagen Financial (China) Co, a unit of Volkswagen Financial Services AG, Fitch said.

Finance

Bank issues details of reserve ratio

The People's Bank of China has issued details for a reserve requirement ratio cut announced by the cabinet at the end of May to support smaller companies and the agricultural sector. Some reserve ratios will fall by 0.5 of a percentage point, effective June 16, the PBOC said on its website. The reduction will apply to about two-thirds of city commercial banks, 80 percent of non-county level rural commercial banks and 90 percent of non-county level rural cooperative banks.

Telecoms

First Qualcomm chipsfor Chinese phones

Qualcomm Inc plans to sell its first smartphone chips tailored to China this year, as the United States-based maker of chips for high-end phones adapts to a market where growth is increasingly driven by low-priced handsets. Three chipsets unveiled in February will be used in Chinese handsets before anywhere else, said David Tokunaga, a senior director in product management, at Taiwan's Computex trade fair.

Beverages

Starbucks to top 1,500 outlets in China

Starbucks Coffee Co is expected to open more than 300 new stores in China by the end of next year, its top executive said in Beijing. Howard Schultz, its chairman, president and chief executive officer, said the expansion will bring the company's total outlets in China to more than 1,500 stores by 2015.

Aviation

China Southern ranksNo 3 for passengers

China Southern Airlines Co Ltd, the nation's largest airline by fleet size, carried 91.5 million passengers in 2013, ranking it third in the world, according to the International Air Transport Association.

The company ranked fifth and eighth among global airlines in terms of fleet size and freight, respectively. In 2013, it had 558 aircraft and carried 1.17 million metric tons of freight.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily European Weekly 06/13/2014 page18)