Biz scene

BIZ MOVES

Disney posts

Disney Consumer Products (DCP), a business unit of the Walt Disney Co, has announced three senior-level appointments in China.

Chen Weiming has been appointed as director of DCP in Hong Kong and will be responsible for the management of licensing business, retail sales and marketing.

Chen Guowei has been appointed regional director of the stationery department in China and will continue to be based in Shanghai.

Kermid Rahman has been appointed regional director of the clothing department and will be based in Shanghai and report to Vice-President Li Biaopu.

StanChart appointments

Standard Chartered Bank (China) Ltd has appointed Katherine Tsang (left) as executive vice-chairman of the board. Tsang will be responsible for the bank's strategic development and directions in China and will also continue to be the company's CEO.

Ma Zhongzhi, a consultant of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, has been appointed the independent non-executive director. Ma will help ensure the bank's compliance with statutory and regulatory obligations and oversee issues related to corporate governance, internal controls and risk management.

Gamer boss

Online game operator The9 Ltd has appointed Chen Xiaowei as its president, effective from May 16. Chen will be responsible for the company's daily operation and strategy, and report to CEO and Board Chairman Zhu Jun. Prior to this, Chen was president of ChinaHR.com.

MARKET

Molybdenum IPO

Jinduicheng Molybdenum Co, Asia's largest producer of molybdenum, plans to launch a Shanghai IPO today that could raise over $2 billion.

The firm will consult investors between today and next Thursday on pricing the initial public offer, and take institutional subscriptions on April 8 and 9, it said yesterday.

Retail subscriptions will be taken on April 9, and the company intends to list in Shanghai on April 17. It plans to issue up to 538 million local-currency A shares, or 20 percent of its expanded capital.

Overseas expansion

Suning Appliance Co plans to begin expanding overseas in 2010 through Hong Kong, the China Securities Journal said, citing Chairman Zhang Jindong.

While the company's three-year goals focus on organic growth, it will consider acquisitions if the conditions are right, Zhang was quoted as saying.

The company aims to open more than 200 stores in 2008 to bring the total to 900, according to the report.

Digital nod

Electrical appliance manufacturer TCL said it has been approved by the Ministry of Information Industry to make digital satellite television sets, according to China TechNews. The company will write digital satellite TV receiver into its business scope and shift to its catalogue of satellite TV broadcasting ground reception equipment enterprises. TCL adds that as the televisions used by millions of users right now are based on analog signals, there is a big market potential for its new products.

Profit up

China Oriental Group Co, a Chinese steelmaker controlled by ArcelorMittal, said profit rose 12 percent in 2007 on higher revenue.

Net income increased to 1.16 billion yuan, or 0.4 yuan a share, from 1.03 billion yuan, or 0.36 yuan a year earlier, the company said yesterday in a Hong Kong stock exchange filing. Sales climbed 38 percent to 13.5 billion yuan.

BIZ UNUSUAL

Milk turtles

Rong Ruojin, a turtle farmer in Guangrao county of Shandong province, has found an effective way to raise his turtles: feeding them milk. As turtles' gestation period is closely tied to the temperature, Rong's turtles grew much slower than those in warmer places such as Guangdong and Jiangxi. So Rong tried to feed his turtles milk and found it worked.

Bigger in size and with better taste, Rong's turtles are a hit, getting him 160 to 280 yuan a kg, four to seven times the going rate.

Shopping respite

Men find it a pain to go shopping with their partners. And, Yang Lian in Chongqing municipality has found a business opportunity in this natural apathy. She has set up a cozy little bar at the city center's shopping mall. It is tastefully decorated and has TV and computers, to help the men cool their heels while their partners browse the mall.

Birthday in print

What was the world like the day you were born? Nothing could tell that better than a newspaper from that day. And that's exactly what Hu Xianquan is selling as birthday gift items.

An accountant in a waste materials recycling company in Hunan province, Hu accidentally found a newspaper published on the day he was born, and was thrilled to bits. This inspired him to launch this unusual business.

With stylish packaging, the birthday newspaper comes for 50 yuan. Hu's clients also include young parents, who want to keep the day's paper as memento.

LOCAL

Vocational training

Shaanxi province will invest 225 million yuan this year on vocational education to improve the quality of the new labor force and will try to impart a useful skill to every student.

The investment will focus on six vocational education projects, including county-level centers, training bases, demonstration schools, teachers' training and short-term skills training.

According to the plan, the vocational schools can train 500,000 people a year within four years, by which the new labor force's employment rate is expected to reach 100 percent.

Village bank

The first village bank in Hunan province has officially kicked off. It has been launched by Xiangtan Commercial Bank and jointly invested by 14 enterprises, according to the Hunan bureau of the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

The bank is located in Xiangxiang county in the central part of the province, with registered capital of 49 million yuan. It plans to set up more offices in Xiangxiang county and extend the service agencies to towns and villages gradually, according to the head of the bank.

Infrastructure deal

The Changchun government and Korean Investment & Securities Co recently signed a 5 billion yuan framework agreement on infrastructure investment.

The South Korean company will invest on the city's infrastructure projects and transfer them to the local government once finished. Earlier, the two parties have conducted six rounds of consultations, mainly on the cooperation model.

(China Daily 03/28/2008 page15)