IN BRIEF (Page 18)

Tesla 'to meet China charging standards'

Tesla Motors Inc said it will modify its vehicles to fit charging facilities in China, after the country announced its national electric-vehicle charging standards. "Tesla will fully support the upcoming charging standards and modify vehicles we produce in the future to make them fit," Tesla said in a statement on its Chinese website on May 12. "With the surging development of China's charging facilities over the next few years, Tesla users' concern over charging will be eliminated."

Onging hard work to keep GDP expanding

China's economy expanded within "a reasonable range" in April, but the government has still had to work hard to keep growth steady, the National Bureau of Statistics said on May 12.

More positive factors are emerging, but China still faces a "complicated and grim economic environment at home and abroad", Sheng Laiyun, the bureau's spokesman, said in comments published on the bureau's website. "There are signs of improvement in the eurozone economy, but economic growth in the United States is easing and the Japanese economy remains sluggish, while growth in most emerging economies is slowing," he said.

Govt says exports will get new edge

China will seek a new competitive edge in foreign trade through high-technology and high-value-added exports, the central government said in an online statement on May 12. The State Council, China's cabinet, vowed to encourage high-tech, services and capital exports to offset the weakness in merchandise trade and create advantages in technology and brands to replace low-cost goods, the statement said. The announcement came just days after customs data showed more pressure on foreign trade last month.

Health insurance trial planned for big cities

A pilot program involving individual policies for commercial health insurance is to start in Beijing, Shanghai and several other large cities, the Ministry of Finance announced on May 12. The maximum premium will be 2,400 yuan ($387; 340 euros) a year or 200 yuan a month, the ministry said. Enterprises and institutions will buy the insurance on behalf of their employees, with payments to be deducted from each worker's after-tax salary. The program is expected to stimulate the growth of commercial insurance companies.

Alibaba, Dubai firm join in technology deal

The cloud-computing subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is teaming up with Dubai-based Meraas Holding LLC as the company uses its technology to extend its influence beyond China. The joint venture of Alibaba's Aliyun and Meraas will provide a broad range of technology to businesses and governments in the Middle East and North Africa.

Xiaomi launches online money market division

Xiaomi Corp started an online money market unit on May 12 to compete with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the dominant provider in China's 10 trillion yuan ($1.61 trillion; 1.42 trillion euro) market for Web-based finance. Xiaomi, the world's third-largest smartphone maker, will join with E Fund Management Co to offer investments through an app that works on its devices, the company said in an e-mailed statement.

COFCO hires ADM exec to head Noble Agri

COFCO Corp, China's largest food company, poached a senior executive from United States-based rival Archer Daniels Midland Co to lead its push into global agricultural trading. The Beijing-based group hired Matthew Jansen as chief executive officer of Noble Agri Ltd, the venture COFCO formed after buying the agricultural arm of Hong Kong-based Noble Group Ltd, Noble Agri said on May 12 in a statement.

Current account to stay in surplus this year

China is likely to maintain a current-account surplus this year, while cross-border capital flows could become more volatile, the country's foreign exchange regulator said on May 11.

The surplus rose 48 percent last year to $219.7 billion, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said in its annual report for 2014. The dollar may strengthen as the US Federal Reserve Board is expected to start raising interest rates in the second half of 2015, the administration said, adding that it will closely monitor cross-border currency arbitrage activities.

Finance Ministry to offer $2.4b in bonds

The Ministry of Finance said that it would auction 15 billion yuan ($2.4 billion; 2.13 billion euros) worth of 182-day discounted Treasury bills on May 8. The issue will be the third for securities with these terms offered by the ministry this year. The bonds will start trading on May 22. Multiple-price bidding will be adopted as the tender mode. In this form of auction, investors bid by specifying the rate, yield or discount margin they are willing to accept.

Fosun to raise fund in Hong Kong

Fosun International Ltd plans to raise as much as $1.2 billion in a Hong Kong share offering, tapping equity markets to replenish its funds after a series of takeovers in recent months. The Chinese conglomerate founded by billionaire Guo Guangchang plans to sell $1 billion of new shares in an indicative range of HK$19.48 ($2.51) to HK$20.32 a share, according to a term sheet of the deal seen by Reuters on May 11. The share sale may increase by $200 million if there is additional demand.

Vehicle exports decline by 22% in April

Vehicle exports from China tumbled 22 percent last month, hurt by a rising currency and political instability in key markets, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers announced on May 11. Exports of passenger and commercial vehicles declined to 61,600 units in April, the organization said.

Apple, Wildlife Fund to protect working forests

Apple Inc is joining with the World Wildlife Fund to protect working forests in China, the United States-based company announced on May 11. The multiyear project aims to make the supply of pulp, paper and wood products more sustainable and is part of an expansion of the technology company's renewable energy and environmental protection initiatives in China, Apple said.

Q1 postal sector revenues rise 23%

Revenue of China's domestic postal sector, which includes postal enterprises and express delivery enterprises, rose 23.1 percent in the first quarter to 90.28 billion yuan ($14.6 billion; 12.8 billion euros), the People's Posts and Telecommunications News reported on May 11. The figure does not include the Postal Savings Bank of China. Express delivery companies handled 3.69 billion items during the period, up 41.7 percent year-on-year, and generated 54.41 billion yuan of revenue, up 31.6 percent.

Herbal tea firm pursues Internet strategy

Guangzhou Wanglaoji Great Health Industry Co, a major domestic herbal tea maker, said on May 11 that it plans to build a large herbal tea data center to provide more customer-tailored services. The center will be based on Wanglaoji's Internet Plus strategies, which include an internal mobile Internet platform allowing users to interact with the company by scanning the barcodes on cans. The strategy also includes alliances with major mobile apps such as WeChat and those offered by Alipay, JD.com and Youku.

(China Daily European Weekly 05/15/2015 page18)