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Industry

Curbs may hit industrial output

Industrial output growth may come in at a six-year low this month because of restrictions on factories and construction to keep the air clean during the eight-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, a leading financial institution said on Nov 12.

The impact of the APEC restrictions could be "significant" because six provinces and cities were involved, according to Beijing Gao Hua Securities Co Ltd, a financial services firm that has a partnership with Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Gao Hua Securities said that November industrial production may increase about 6.9 percent year-on-year, on a par with the August figure, which was the lowest level since February 2009.

Trade

Diamond data to be shared with Belgium

Belgium and China have signed a memorandum of understanding on automated data exchange on the rough diamond trade. The agreement was signed on Nov 12 by Wei Chuanzhong, vice-minister of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, and Jean-Marc Delporte, Belgium's vice-minister of economy. Wei also chairs the The Kimberley Process, a joint government, industry and civil society initiative to stem the flow of conflict diamonds, a trade that has decreased from representing 15 percent of global diamond traffic, to 0.2 percent in the past decade.

Auto

Michelin vows higher tire production in China

French tire maker Michelin said on Nov 10 in China that it aims to more than double its business in the country within the next 10 years. Benoit Heubert, head of Michelin's Shenyang plant, confirmed the goal of achieving annual production capacity of 220,000 metric tons by 2019.

Finance

China Eastern launches in-flight cloud payments

China Eastern Airlines and China UnionPay, a bank card network operator, launched a cloud payment platform on Nov 6 to allow for real-time, in-flight card transactions. They claim their new technology is secure for card payments. Data transmission of an in-flight card transaction is usually delayed until after a plane lands.

Company

Xiaomi, Youku team up for online video content

Smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp has joined hands with online video platform Youku Tudou Inc for developing Internet video content, the company said on Nov 12. The announcement marks Xiaomi's first major move in the media sector since hiring Chen Tong, founder of China's largest micro-blogging network Sina Weibo by user numbers, earlier this month. "The partnership aims to accelerate the development of its multi-screen media and entertainment ecosystem," according to a statement released by Youku. Xiaomi will also take a stake in Youku, although the exact details were not disclosed. The two companies will jointly develop content and technology including multi-screen online video services.

Trade

Soybean imports to climb in November

China is likely to see 4.47 million metric tons of soybean imports delivered to ports in November, the Ministry of Commerce said in its latest report. The ministry estimated October soybean imports at 3.32 million tons. The report is based on importers' shipments from Oct 16 to 31.

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily European Weekly 11/14/2014 page18)