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China may lose more than it gains by stimulating exports through depreciating the yuan, said Zhang Ming, researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The yuan's foreign exchange rate against the dollar is never the decisive factor of Sino-US trade. China's trade surplus against the US is, to a large extent, the result of structural differences in the two economies as well as the international division of labor. Page 2

Simon Yang replaced Cliff Wu at the beginning of this year as the vice president of Teradata for the Greater China Area, one of the world's largest data warehousing and enterprise analytical solution providers. Yang said he's confident stepping into his predecessor's shoes and leading the American company's China team to sustainable business growth despite the national economic slowdown. Page 6

Estee Lauder's business in China started in 1960s by a discovery of Leonard Lauder when he was walking in Shanghai and disappointed to see hundreds of people dressed uniformly in blue. However, when he spotted a piece of red lining in a woman's blue coat, he foresaw the great thirst for fashion in the country. Page 7

As the founder and Tencent CEO, China's largest instant messaging company, Pony Ma always smiles, but more like a shy fresh graduate, rather than a sophisticated and charismatic leader. It represents a sharp contrast with his aggressive business. Tencent has not only survived but also grandly prospered during the past decade.

Ma is a mystery to many. He seldom accepts interviews, but his name appears in the media almost daily. Page 12

Initial public offerings (IPOs) in China are expected to rise 45 percent in value this year as a result of government stimulus policies, accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said last week.

Companies will raise about 150 billion yuan through IPOs in China in 2009. IPOs in sectors such as infrastructure, finance, consumer goods manufacturing and retailing will benefit from a 4 trillion-yuan economic stimulus package announced in November.

The long-awaited licenses for third generation (3G) mobile networks were last week given to three telephone operators, paving the way for investments of around 280 billion yuan iin network upgradation and expansion over the next two years. China Mobile got a license to deploy 3G networks based on TD-SCDMA, a home-grown 3G standard. Smaller rivals China Unicom and China Telecom were granted licenses for WCDMA and CDMA2000 respectively.

(China Daily 01/12/2009 page1)