Biz Scene

MARKET

Little Swan stake

China's second biggest television maker Sichuan Changhong Electric Co will bid for a 24 percent stake in washing machine maker Wuxi Little Swan Co.

Changhong didn't disclose how much it will pay for the stake in its statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday.

The 24 percent stake, or 87.67 million shares, were valued at 1.9 billion yuan based on the 21.9 yuan closing price of Little Swan's A shares on Jan 11. The stock has been suspended since then.

Caterpillar buys SEM

US-based heavy machinery maker Caterpillar Inc said it has completed the purchase of Shandong SEM Machinery, a Chinese maker of wheel loaders.

Caterpillar, which has 15 factories and employs more than 5,000 workers in China, said it has won all government approvals for the purchase, aimed at boosting its business in the country. The US firm initially bought 40 percent of SEM in 2005 for 6.2 million yuan.

Financial details of the deal to buy the rest of the company were not disclosed. SEM has 2,200 employees and total assets of 1.6 billion yuan. It can make 10,000 loaders a year.

BIZ UNUSUAL

Special pig dish

Pig raisers in Wubao county, Chongqing, offer a special dish, Paotang, for higher profits. Paotang is a traditional dish for the lunar new year in the county that is cooked with vegetables and piglets after the pig is butchered for the Spring Festival.

The dish helps local farmers to sell pork at 2 yuan higher per kg. Locals use natural pig feed such as sweet potatoes, corn and vegetables for a better taste.

New Year feast

Wujun Shoe Factory in Chengdu spent 600,000 yuan hosting a New Year dinner for its 3,000-odd staff members and their relatives over the weekend. It bought 400 chickens, 265 fish, 254 ducks and other dishes for the dinner. The factory also gave hongbao to workers as incentives.

Profits sizzle

Hot pot restaurants in Guangdong province have been seeing sizzling profits of late thanks to the chilly weather in the south.

The China News Agency reported that more than 70 percent of diners are choosing hot pot these days. A manager of a hot pot restaurant in Guangzhou said its profit rose 30 to 40 percent.

Such has been the rush that many restaurant owners have been forced to hire part-time waiters.

Corn powder

It took 10 years for Tan Yichang, a 73-year-old man in Tongliang county, Sichuan province, to invent a special corn powder. Unlike the usual fare, the new product can be used to make noodles, dumplings and moon cakes.

The new corn powder is to hit the shelves this month. Tan now operates a shop in Qingmuguan town selling noodles made from the corn powder mixed with potato powder, which go for 6 yuan per kg. He also filed an application for a patent on the special corn powder with the State Intellectual Property Office last April.

GRAPEVINE

Home prices cut

Shenzhen-based China Vanke, the nation's largest publicly traded real estate developer, plans to cut its new home prices in Shanghai by 5 percent after a series of price cuts in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the Oriental Morning Post said, citing an unidentified company official.

A few projects will be sold at the lower prices on Feb 21, coinciding with the Chinese Lantern Festival, the report said, without elaborating.

Plastics plant

Samsung Total Petrochemical Co, a South Korean chemical maker half-owned by France's Total SA, plans to build a plastics plant in China, the Seoul Economic Daily reported, citing unidentified officials.

Samsung Total will spend $11 million to build the plant, which will produce 30,000 metric tons of polypropylene compound a year, the Korean-language newspaper reported.

The South Korean company plans to complete the facility in southern China by the end of this year at the earliest, the newspaper said.

Visa offering

China Merchants Bank Co plans to buy a stake in Visa Inc's $10 billion initial public offering, the South China Morning Post said, citing an unidentified source.

The Chinese bank may buy some of the offering, the report said. Visa approached the bank as a relationship-building move, it added.

CIC in 'talks'

China Investment Corp, which manages the nation's $200 billion sovereign wealth fund, and China Shenhua Group are in talks to buy 15.85 percent of Australia's Fortescue Metals Group Ltd, the South China Morning Post reported, without citing anyone.

US-based Harbinger Capital Partners may sell the $2 billion stake to China Investment and Shenhua Group, the newspaper said.

LOCAL

Energy-saving lamps

Hebei Power Group will sell 50,000 energy-saving lamps at a 30 percent discount to local people to promote an energy-saving project, according to the Hebei provincial reform and development commission.

Local residents who want to buy these lamps have to fill in a registration form with their ID card, with a limit of five lamps for each person. Hebei Power Group will set up sites for sales at local residential areas, with a one-year quality guarantee.

Fruit trade

The trade in agricultural products between the mainland and Taiwan rose by 40.3 percent year-on-year to $800 million in 2007, statistics from the Ministry of Commerce showed.

Yang Yi, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said the mainland planned to import high-quality fruits from Taiwan during the Beijing Olympics.

Details of the plans were under discussion between a Beijing fruit distributor and Taiwan farming organizations and enterprises, he said.

BIZ MOVE

New GM

Penghua Fund Management Co announced on Friday its board of directors has accepted the resignation of general manager Sun Yuyang.

The board also agreed to appoint Deng Zhaoming as the new general manager. The appointment has been approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the company said.

Deng was deputy general manager of Southern Fund before joining Penghua.

(China Daily 02/05/2008 page15)