Biz Scene

MARKET

Offer cleared

Jiangxi Copper Co, China's second largest producer of the metal, said its joint offer with China Minmetals Nonferrous Metals Co to buy Northern Peru Copper Corp was approved by the Canadian company's shareholders.

The Chinese government also approved the planned acquisition, Jiangxi Copper said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday.

Vancouver-based Northern Peru said on Dec 6 that China Minmetals and Jiangxi Copper agreed to buy the company for about C$455 million ($453 million).

Earnings up 50%

Hunan Valin Steel Tube & Wire Co, partly owned by the world's largest steelmaker Arcelor Mittal, said profit rose about 50 percent in 2007 after production upgrades cut costs.

The Changsha, Hunan province-based company didn't give specific numbers in a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

The company had a profit of 1.07 billion yuan, or 0.488 yuan a share, in 2006.

BIZ UNUSUAL

Parrot cleaner

Weinuo restaurant in Chongqing has trained a parrot to pick up the refuse at its tables. The restaurant, in which a Canadian businessman has invested, is decorated like a tropical rain forest and is claimed to be the first environmental protection-themed restaurant in the western municipality. The restaurant manager says he wants to raise the public's environmental awareness.

Bodyguard on rent

Zhang, a Harbin resident, hires a bodyguard from a security company before going to banks for heavy withdrawals. Zhang is not alone. Private security services are flourishing in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, as personal financial activities become frequent as the lunar new year draws near.

These companies usually charge 150 yuan per hour and 1,000 yuan per day for renting out bodyguards. A similar service for the entire year may cost at least 150,000 yuan.

Pricey plant

A peacock-shaped Ganoderma lucidum has been priced at 6,800 yuan at a flower market in Zhengzhou, Henan province.

"This plant, flown in from Guangdong province, has a higher medicinal value than others grown locally," the owner claimed. He even put a notice by the plant declaring a "fine of 100 yuan for touching".

Experts say there are few wild cultivated Ganoderma lucidum and that most are artificially raised, with low medicinal value.

GRAPEVINE

Danone deal

Groupe Danone SA will buy two factories from Beijing Miaoshi Dairy Co, China Business News reported, citing unidentified sources.

The two dairy factories, in Beijing and Shanghai, are the biggest of Miaoshi's six plants in China, the newspaper said, without giving the price of the acquisition.

Fund injection

The central bank may inject $45-50 billion into Agricultural Bank of China as early as April to kick-start a restructuring that could lead to more capital raising, the Oriental Morning Post reported yesterday.

The report said a detailed proposal of the capital injection by Central Huijin, the investment arm of the central bank, was due to be discussed at the annual meeting of parliament in March.

LOCAL

Migrant workers

Investment by returning migrant workers has reached 73.2 billion yuan in Hunan province, with 33,000 companies established by them so far.

Migrant workers returning to their hometowns to start businesses are increasingly playing an important role in pushing forward their local economies.

The trend is attributed to the local preferential policies aimed at helping migrant workers start their own businesses.

Parks successful

The agricultural parks for Taiwanese-invested enterprises in Fujian province enjoyed rapid development last year.

The Zhangpu park attracted seven agricultural enterprises from Taiwan in 2007, with an investment of $7 million.

Meanwhile, the Zhangping park drew five more Taiwanese agricultural enterprises with an investment of $3.8 million. Also, $4 million has been invested to explore 368.5 hectares of tea garden and three tea processing plants.

Water projects

Sichuan province plans to speed up four large-scale projects covering flood control, water supply, water environment protection and water resource development as the province's lack of safe water supply has become a major bottleneck in its economic and social development.

According to its plan, by 2020, the completed water regulation network will have a capacity of 42 billion cu m, bringing an end to the uneven regional distribution of water resources.

BIZ MOVES

Non-executive director

Hong Kong-listed Kingsoft Corp Ltd has appointed Choon Chong Tay, senior vice-president of GIC Special Investments, as non-executive director.

Under a three-year service contract, effective from last Sunday, he will receive an annual salary of $20,000.

Choon Chong Tay, 37, is experienced in strategic mergers and acquisitions.

NCR appointment

Zhu Fan was appointed general manager of the VIP customer department at National Cash Register (NCR) (China) Co Ltd on Monday.

Zhu used to work at Wincor Nixdorf and IBM and has accumulated wide experience in marketing and sales. Through this appointment, NCR hopes Zhu will improve the performance of its sales department.

The financial self-service business of NCR is taking the lead in the Chinese market. Its products such as ATMs have been well received by Chinese banks.

CFO quits

Chinese biotechnology firm 3SBio Inc said chief financial officer Clara Mak resigned for personal reasons and that it has named Kevin Teo as CFO, effective from Jan 28.

Teo served as group business controller at East Asia Power (Xiamen), the company said in a statement.

Mak will stay on with the company until Feb 29 to assist with the transition, it added.

(China Daily 01/30/2008 page15)