Biz scene

MARKET

Assets purchase

Wuliangye Yibin, a maker of traditional Chinese spirits, or baijiu, will buy more than 6 billion yuan of liquor-related assets from its parent over the next three years, the company said yesterday.

As an initial step, Wuliangye needs 1.9 billion yuan of funding in 2008 to acquire assets from State-owned Wuliangye Group, it said in a filing with the stock exchange.

Wuliangye also announced that 2007 profit jumped 25.8 percent to 1.47 billion yuan, even as sales dipped 0.9 percent to 7.3 billion yuan in value and slumped 48 percent in volume.

Debt sale

China Yangtze Power Co plans to raise as much as 6 billion yuan by selling one-year debt.

The company also said it plans to invest 2 billion yuan to buy bonds on China's interbank bond market, the company said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday.

Earnings double

China's top online travel agent, Ctrip.com International Ltd, said fourth-quarter earnings doubled to $18.6 million, or 27 cents per American Depositary Share, easily beating the $14.8 million profit analysts had forecast.

Fourth-quarter net revenue rose 58 percent to $49 million, as hotel reservations, flight bookings and package tours all posted strong growth, the company said.

For full-year 2008, Ctrip said it expects to continue year-on-year net revenue growth of around 35 percent.

Full-year 2007 profit rose 66 percent to $55 million.

BIZ MOVES

Digital China hire

Lin Yang (left), executive director of Digital China, has been appointed president of the company effective April 1.

Guo Wei, currently chairman, CEO and president of the company, will become chairman and CEO of the company.

Digital China is currently the largest IT products distributor and systems integrator in China. Digital China was spun off from Legend Group Ltd and is separately listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

New vice-chairman

The China Securities Regulatory Commission promoted Yao Gang to vice-chairman, replacing Tu Guangshao, who left the post last year after being appointed vice-mayor of Shanghai.

Zhu Congjiu, president of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, will succeed Yao as assistant to the securities regulator's chairman, the regulator said in a statement late on Tuesday.

CEO powers in

Shen Hui has been named CEO of Fiat Powertrain Technologies China.

Shen was previously chief representative of TXU group and CEO of BorgWarner China.

Fiat Powertrain Technologies, a subsidiary of Fiat Group, is one of the most significant players in the automotive sector in the world.

LOCAL

Sanya investment

A total of 8.5 billion yuan will be invested in Sanya this year to improve the city's image, the Sanya development and reform commission said.

The funds will be used to improve the city's infrastructure construction, including roads, green land, hotels, water and power supply.

The Sanya government has approved 148 key projects, 120 of which will be completed this year.

Hainan harvest

Cold weather and rain has severely damaged Hainan province's crops, causing a loss of 993 million yuan.

But Hainan's farmers are optimistic about selling their fruit and vegetable harvest as other provinces' output was also hit by heavy snowstorms.

Farmers' income is expected to increase this year, the Hainan agriculture bureau said.

Cherry radishes

Farmers in Hebei province are growing cherry radishes that can be sold for three times the price of ordinary radishes at 6 yuan a kg.

The cherry radishes taste sweeter and are packed with vitamins.

Experts said cherry radishes can be eaten raw and are helpful as a digestive aid.

Cambodia zone

Sihanouk Special Economic Zone, the first overseas business and economic cooperation zone of Jiangsu province, was recently set up in Cambodia.

The average monthly salary for Cambodian workers is around $50 - much lower than that on the mainland.

Tariff conditions are also more favorable in Cambodia. Cambodia is expected to become a new source of labor for Jiangsu province's industry.

GRAPEVINE

HK listing

Machine tool maker Chongqing Machinery and Electronics Holding plans to launch a Hong Kong initial public offering to raise roughly $300 million within the next couple of months, Reuters reported yesterday, citing sources familiar with the deal.

The company, which had originally aimed to go public last year, was set to undergo a hearing this week in front of the Hong Kong stock exchange's listing committee, the sources said. Credit Suisse is sponsoring the deal.

Tax probe

Ping An Insurance (Group) Co's planned share sale may be delayed by a tax bureau check-up, the 21st Century Business Herald said, citing sources.

The probe is a "regular check" by the State tax office of companies in the financial industry, the newspaper said, but didn't elaborate.

Any "data problem" found in the probe may postpone the share sale until after July, the report said. The investigation will start on March 3 and last four months, it said.

BIZ UNUSUAL

Bottle dog

A Chongqing man has trained his German shepherd liuliu to pick up empty bottles, which he deposits for recycling.

Yu earns 100 yuan per month from recycling bottles.

He came up with the idea of training his dog to help him with bottle collection a month ago, when Liuliu was playing outside and returned with an empty bottle.

Second-hand luxury

A shop selling second-hand luxury goods near Beijing's China World Trade Center is growing in popularity.

Shop owner Xue Li said there's high demand for luxury brands like LV, Gucci and Prada. But many people frequently update their products when they feel they're no longer in fashion.

For those who can't afford to buy luxury brands new, second-hand products are proving a good option.

(China Daily 02/29/2008 page15)