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Companies

HNA Group buys stake in Spanish company

The HNA Group, parent company of Chinese carrier Hainan Airlines, on Nov 17 acquired an additional 8.3 percent equity stake in Spanish hotel management company NH Hotel Group from Intesa San Paolo, an Italian bank.

With this the Chinese company now holds a 29.5 percent equity stake in NH Hotel, including the 20 percent it acquired in April 2013.

In January, HNA Group increased its holding and became the largest shareholder of NH Hotel then.

"Following the deal, the HNA Group will have an additional representative on the NH board and further expand its influence on the company," the group said in a statement.

NVC Lighting ex-CEO investigated over funds

NVC Lighting Holding Ltd, China's biggest lighting manufacturer, said its former chief executive Wu Changjiang and employees of four leading Chinese banks are under police investigation for allegedly helping to divert company funds.

NVC said Wu was suspected of either embezzling or falsely obtaining loan guarantees for 623 million yuan ($101.71 million) without the knowledge of the company's current board. The transactions were arranged by Bank of China Ltd, China Minsheng Banking Corp, China Construction Bank Corp and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd, NVC executives said. NVC, whose shareholders include private equity firm SAIF Partners and French electrical systems supplier Schneider Electric SE, has lost about 60 percent of its market value since its peak in November 2010.

Private steel producer files for bankruptcy

Haixin Iron and Steel Group, the largest private iron and steel enterprise in Shanxi province, has started bankruptcy reorganization procedures, a local court said on Nov 17.

The company had an annual output of 5 million metric tons and was ranked second only to Shougang Changzhi Iron and Steel Co, another state-owned enterprise within the province. It is also the largest privately owned company in Shanxi.

According to public data, the company has 10.46 billion yuan ($1.71 billion) in debts and 10.07 billion yuan on hand. Production was suspended on March 18 amid industry overcapacity, a stagnant market, tightened credit and management issues.

China-Pakistan fighter near first foreign deal

An unidentified Middle Eastern country is in "advanced" talks to make the first foreign purchase of a fighter jet jointly developed by Pakistan and China. The joint sales team from the Pakistan Air Force and China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corp are in talks with 10 other countries to sell the JF-17 Thunder, said PAF Air Commodore Khalid Mahmood, who heads sales and marketing for the jet.

The JF-17 is among several aircraft China is seeking to export, after designating its aerospace sector as a key national strategic industry. The single-engine jet was jointly designed and manufactured by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex and Chengdu Aircraft Corp, a subsidiary of state-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China.

Nation may be key debt fund destination

China would become an important investment destination for Loomis Sayles & Co's flagship debt fund if the authorities improve relations with other Asian nations and the United States, according to the firm's vice-chairman, Dan Fuss. China "will probably at some point come to be the single largest country exposure outside of the US," Fuss said in an interview in Hong Kong on Nov 17, adding that it could happen in the next 10 years. The investment vehicle does not have any fixed-income investments in Asia's largest economy at the moment, he said.

Honeywell hosts Nobel laureate in Shaanxi

Honeywell International Inc brought Nobel Laureate and Professor Wolfgang Ketterle to lecture at the Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, to nurture scientists and engineers.

The professor's visit, organized by Honeywell Hometown Solutions, the company's corporate social responsibility initiative, marks the first time the company has brought a Nobel laureate to the university through its Honeywell Initiative for Science & Engineering, which has benefited students in Eastern Europe, Latin America, India, China and other emerging countries and regions.

Ketterle, a German physicist, received the Nobel Prize in physics in 2001 for the achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms, and for early fundamental studies of the properties of the condensates.

Trade

Forum cements closer China, South Korea ties

China and the South Korea are expected to strengthen their economic and trade cooperation after 200 top government officials, business leaders and scholars from both sides ended the three-day China South Korea CEO Forum in Qingdao, in East China's Shandong province.

Participants said they were looking forward to new opportunities after the two countries concluded substantive negotiations on a free trade agreement on Nov 17. "The two countries already have cooperation in place at various levels and in various areas related to bilateral, economic and trade relations," said Sun Shuqiang, counselor of the department of Asian affairs of China's Ministry of Commerce.

Energy

Oil refining reaches record before peak use

Refinery processing rates were boosted to a record level in October, ahead of peak demand season spurred by the need for winter heating fuels. Refiners processed 43.51 million metric tons of crude, or about 10.3 million barrels a day, National Bureau of Statistics figures showed, the highest monthly level on record, excluding January's figures, which the agency does not publish. Top producers China Petroleum & Chemical Corp and PetroChina Co together processed up to 32.8 million metric tons of crude in October.

Gas imports to rise in winter, planner says

China will aim to boost natural gas imports and boost its crude oil storage capacity this winter as it deals with rising energy demand over the peak consumption season. The National Development and Reform Commission said on its website that overall energy supplies were likely to be sufficient during the period, but some regional shortages were likely.

Chinese energy use peaks in winter with power demand soaring and urban heating systems switching on throughout the north of the country, putting pressure on coal and natural gas supplies, as well as the transportation network.

Daily steel output drops to year's lowest level

The country's daily crude steel output fell 3.3 percent in October to 2.18 million metric tons, its lowest rate this year. The drop occurred as mills conducted overhauls amid sagging demand ahead of enforced production cuts in November.

China produced 67.52 million tons in October, compared with 67.54 million tons in September, also a 0.3 percent fall from levels of a year ago, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Nov 13. Demand remained relatively weak with crucial downstream sectors such as property development still sluggish. For the first 10 months, total steel output stood at 685.35 million tons, up 2.1 percent, the bureau said, amounting to a daily rate of 2.25 million tons.

Technology

China Mobile hits target for 4G subscribers

China Mobile has topped its year-end goal of acquiring 50 million 4G subscribers by the end of October, the state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission said on Nov 13. In 10 months, China's largest telecom carrier built 470,000 base stations for its next-generation, high-speed network as well as reaching its annual subscriber target.

China Mobile's swiftly growing 4G business is a rare bright spot for the carrier. In October, it reported an annual revenue drop for the first time since at least 2009.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily European Weekly 11/21/2014 page18)