What's news

Trade

Solar firms may face more EU probes

Chinese solar companies may face a new round of investigations in the European Union regarding claims that panel manufacturers are circumventing import duties, and experts said such a move would be a heavy blow for debt-ridden photovoltaic producers.

"It will be like rubbing salt into the wound, if EU authorities decide to launch an action, although it's still at the documentation stage," said an anonymous source from a solar panel producer in China.

"Compared with anti-dumping measures, anti-circumvention actions target a wider group of solar companies, prohibiting crystalline silicon photovoltaic products made in the Chinese mainland and Taiwan."

Australia port peaks iniron ore sent to China

Iron ore exports to China from Australia's Port Hedland climbed to a record last month, adding to signs that demand for overseas supplies in the world's biggest user may be improving as local output is displaced. Shipments to China stood at 30.6 million metric tons in July, up from 29.2 million tons in June, data on the port authority's website showed.

Soy imports to surge as demand increases

Soy imports by China, the world's top buyer, will surge 17 percent in the year ending September to a record of over 70 million metric tons, according to a forecast by an official thinktank issued on Aug 13. Appetite for soy has been growing as the world's second-largest economy expands, with farmers feeding products made from soy to pigs and chickens. The forecast by the China National Grain and Oils Information Center is higher than an estimate of 69 million tons by the US Department of Agriculture for the current year.

Auto

China factor as Audi'ssales rise 9.7% in July

Germany's Audi AG said sales rose 9.7 percent in July to 144,000 luxury cars and sport-utility vehicles, powered by double-digit gains in the United States, Brazil and China.

Seven-month deliveries at the world's second-largest luxury carmaker increased 11 percent to a record 1.013 million autos, the Volkswagen-owned manufacturer said, citing demand for the A3 compact and the A6 saloon.

Technology

IBM offers cloud-basedservice to firms

International Business Machines Corp said on Aug 7 that it would provide cloud-based risk analysis for a Chinese financial data firm. Under the new software deployment model, financial data provider Shanghai Wind Information will send publicly available data to IBM's cloud for risk analysis without having to disclose specific portfolio holdings or having to install IBM software or hardware on its servers.

Resources

Shale gas forecast fallsamid exploration snags

Experts have halved the volume of shale gas that China is likely to produce by 2020 after early exploration efforts to unlock the unconventional fuel proved challenging, according to an industry website and a government source. Citing Wu Xinxiong, head of the National Energy Administration, industry website cpnn.com.cn reported that China aims to pump 30 billion cubic meters of shale gas by 2020, compared with an earlier goal of 60 billion to 80 billion cubic meters.

Guizhou gas exploration project wins approval

The Ministry of Land and Resources has approved shale gas exploration in the northern part of Guizhou province. The project is expected to be completed by 2020 and will explore the potential for producing 1 billion cubic meters of shale gas annually.

The area covers 36,000 square kilometers and boasts shale gas reserves of 3.88 trillion cubic meters, according to the provincial department of land resources.

Aviation

China Southern seessunnier skies in H2

After a loss in the first six months, China Southern Airlines Co, Asia's biggest carrier by passenger numbers, forecast a better second half as economic growth picks up and the yuan's volatility eases, Chairman Si Xianmin said.

China Southern, which is the most reliant on the domestic market among the nation's biggest carriers, is accelerating its overseas expansion to help improve its "unbalanced" network structure, Si said. The carrier started a Guangzhou-New York route on Aug 6.

"We've seen a loss in the first half mainly because the economic slowdown has caused growth in the aviation market to slow," Si said.

"We forecast our second-half performance will surely be better than the first half. We don't foresee big volatility in the foreign exchange rate of the yuan versus the dollar in the second half."

Regulation

Customs crackdown on private shopping agents

Private daigou, overseas shopping agents who make a living by selling tax-free foreign goods to Chinese buyers over the Internet, are facing a dilemma as a new customs regulations require all enterprises and individuals engaged in cross-border e-commerce to go through customs declarations.

Analysts said that the new rule is good news for legitimate online platforms, such as Tmall Global, but catastrophic to small companies and individuals, who have been practicing in the gray area of China's booming overseas Internet market, estimated at 100 billion yuan ($16.23 billion) in 2014.

The new regulation from the General Administration of Customs, which came into effect on Aug 1, stipulates that all enterprises and individuals engaged in cross-border e-commerce have to provide a list of imported and exported items to customs.

Company

Sohu takes 6% stakein S. Korea's Keyeast

Chinese Internet company Sohu announced that it would invest $15 million in South Korean artist management agency Keyeast Co Ltd to become its second-largest shareholder.

Sohu will hold 6 percent of Keyeast and become Keyeast's exclusive Internet partner in China.

Founded in 2006, Keyeast represents a number of celebrated actors and actresses, including Kim Soo-hyun, who starred in the hit TV drama My Love from the Star, and Bae Yong-joon, who still owns 29 percent of Keyeast's stocks.

Beijing-based Sohu offers advertising, search engine, on-line gaming and other services.

Siemens disappointed by stagnant wind market

Siemens AG, Europe's largest engineering company, said Chinese offshore wind investment has failed to match expectations and that it is evaluating growth prospects in the country. The market has scarcely grown since Siemens opened a 35-million-euro blade manufacturing facility in Lingang, Shanghai, in 2010, said Michael Hannibal, the head of Siemens' offshore wind power unit. China is at least three years behind schedule on a plan that would make it the world's biggest market for offshore wind. In 2011, it announced plans to build 5,000 megawatts of offshore turbines in four years, enough to power 5.4 million homes. With less than 10 percent of that capacity in place, officials now say they will not meet that goal.

Industry

Textile industry draftsnew development plan

China has started preliminary surveys for the draft of its 13th five-year development plan for the textile industry covering 2016-20, said Du Juezhou, honorary chairman of the China National Textile and Apparel Council.

Industry insiders say chemical fiber is expected to help link the smart, digital and information-oriented development of the textile industry and will be a key element of the plan.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily European Weekly 08/15/2014 page18)