Biz Scene

MARKET

Price rise

Aluminum Corp of China Ltd, the country's top alumina producer, has raised its spot alumina price by 10.5 percent, after Chinese alumina prices rose 10 percent this month.

The company, also known as Chalco, was offering spot alumina at 4,200 yuan a ton yesterday versus 3,800 yuan on Monday, according to its website.

Profit forecast

Jinan Iron and Steel Co Ltd said yesterday it expected its 2007 net profit to rise by 50 percent or more from a year earlier, boosted by cost reductions and higher steel prices.

The company said in a statement it had posted a net profit of 871.56 million yuan last year, or 0.77 yuan per share.

GRAPEVINE

Overseas quota

China International Capital Corp (CICC), a broker co-owned by Morgan Stanley, has won a license allowing it to invest $5 billion in client money abroad, China Securities Journal reported.

The move would bring the total number of such quotas to four brokers, including CICC, CITIC Securities, Guotai Jun'an Securities, and China Merchants Securities, to $20 billion, the newspaper reported, citing a senior official from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

The SAFE said it had also granted a $42.2 billion quota to other institutions that are not brokers. The allowance breaks down into $16.1 billion for 21 banks, $19.5 billion for five mutual funds and $6.57 billion for 14 insurers.

HK listing

Grand Ocean Department Stores, a retail chain based in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing, plans to raise about $200 million in a Hong Kong initial public offering in 2008, Reuters reported, citing sources.

Grand Ocean Department Stores has tapped Citigroup and Credit Suisse to underwrite its listing, which is expected in the first half of 2008, the sources said.

LOCAL

Hi-tech bases

An additional 20 national hi-tech trade bases were approved on Monday to boost exports of hi-tech products and improve competitiveness in international markets.

The new bases, mostly hi-tech development zones in major cities like Shanghai, Chongqing, Wuhan and Xiamen, have more than 300 national scientific research institutes each, according to the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Science and Technology. With 18 bases approved last year, the move brings the number of national hi-tech trade bases to 38.

Christmas trade

Russian tourists are flowing into the Chinese port city of Manzhouli in Heilongjiang Province in the lead-up to Christmas.

Statistics from the port's frontier inspection bureau show the border city received 4,200 Russian tourists yesterday - almost three times last month's average.

Many Russians travel over the border to Manzhouli to do their Christmas shopping as the products are cheaper and more diverse, said Wang Shirong, a local Customs official.

BIZ UNUSUAL

Lucky guide

Ping Yali, a vision-impaired Special Olympic Games champion from Beijing, recently got one of the first guide dogs trained at a new center in Dalian, Liaoning Province.

The dog, "Lucky", can lead its owner safely along the footpath while watching passing vehicles.

After several months of training, the guide dog is familiar with the supermarkets, subway stations, parks and bus stations near Ping's home.

Pickle empire

Pickled vegetables have transformed a retrenched worker from Anning, Yunnan Province, into a millionairess.

Feng Yan's business uses local organic produce to make pickled vegetables in the traditional provincial style.

She sells them under the brand Gebi Linju (next-door neighbor) to retailers including Wal-Mart and Carrefour.

The company's sales revenue was 1.2 million yuan this year, up from 20,000 yuan in 1999.

Business savvy

A senior student from a tech college in Xinzheng, Henan Province has received a job offer worth 150,000 yuan a year.

Jia Hongliang isn't studying at a prestigious university but said his business acumen had given him an edge over other graduates.

His family was unable to financially support him through university, so Jia was forced to pay his own way.

Jia set up a budget cafeteria with a classmate catering to students near the campus. The cafeteria sells pre-packaged food and is popular with students. He also sells moon cakes and household goods.

Antique hooks

A pair of antique jade hooks used to string up mosquito nets have been sold for 500,000 yuan. The jade hooks are in the shape of a dragon and a phoenix.

They were handed down through the generations to Chen, a businessman in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, who sold the relics recently.

Antique dealers said the hooks were probably used by the emperor and empress in the Qing Dynasty.

(China Daily 12/19/2007 page15)