Biz scene

Market

Transport order

Daqin Railway Co, operator of China's biggest coal transport line, plans to buy 17.3 billion yuan of trains and wagons as the country mines more of the fuel to generate power for homes and factories.

The rail company will buy 360 electric locomotives for an estimated 15.6 billion yuan and 3,000 cars for 1.65 billion yuan, it said in a Shanghai Stock Exchange statement yesterday.

Profit doubles

China Merchants Energy Shipping Co, the country's largest operator of international oil tankers, said profit in the first three months of the year likely rose more than 100 percent, the Shanghai-based company said in a statement to the city's stock exchange yesterday.

Sinoma bonds

China National Materials Group Corp (Sinoma) will issue 500 million yuan in five-year bonds from Tuesday in the first corporate bond issue without bank guarantees since a reform of China's bond issuance mechanisms, the China Securities Journal reported yesterday.

Sinoma's bonds will carry an annual coupon of 6.4 percent, it said, indicating a generous premium of 55 basis points over the 5.85 percent rate for five-year fixed bank deposits.

BIZ UNUSUAL

Match magnate

Huang Peng is selling colorful matches in interesting boxes at Yandai Xiejie in Beijing.

Huang's matches are dyed in different colors and packaged in boxes featuring classical works, historical figures, Peking Opera masks and weapons.

"The peak season is in summer and a set of matches usually goes for 20 yuan," Huang said.

Mud for sale

Wei Xiaoyu, a woman in Chongqing municipality, is selling treated mud to children. Wei adds oil and chemicals to the mud to give it color and a long shelf life.

The mud comes in 29 colors and is popular with children, who are snapping it up at just 1.5 yuan for 50 g.

Say it with roses

A migrant worker in Shenzhen has come up with a solution for the shy.

His plastic roses contain a chip that can record messages to their intended - expressions of love and marriage proposals.

Zhu Li's roses are priced at 300 yuan apiece, but they're selling well.

LOCAL

Rural supermarkets

The Tibet autonomous region will build and refurbish 200 supermarkets in rural areas.

The government built 379 supermarkets near farmhouses last year and 200 new ones will be available in the latter half of this year, according to Shang Huinian, an official with the region's commerce bureau. "We will consider farmers' suggestions and select convenient sites to build the supermarkets," Shang said.

Aircraft investment

Taikoo (Xiamen) Aircraft Engineering Corp recently invested $16.8 million to improve its design and manufacturing. The proposed projects will be completed by 2010 and Xiamen will become the world's largest civil aircraft maintenance base.

Meanwhile, the company, along with its partners, acquired GE Engine Services (Xiamen) Co Ltd recently and renamed it Xiamen Taikoo Engine Service Co. The joint venture has maintenance equipment for GE 90 engines and is one of the world's five centers that can fully inspect the engine.

Information security

Beijing Information Security Emergency Response and Treatment Center, the first of its kind in China, was recently unveiled in Beijing to meet the demand of information security during the Olympic Games.

Consisting of 10 emergency teams covering issues such as viruses, network attacks, network invasions, network failures and emergency resource protection, the center will feature a 24-hour duty system so that a response can be made immediately when the city's important information system is attacked and the loss can be reduced to a minimum.

In 2007 alone, there were reportedly 1.79 million cases in China of trojan viruses finding their way onto users' computers, of which 130,000 occurred in Beijing.

Blizzard scene

Chenzhou, one of the cities heavily impacted by the snow disaster in Hunan province, has preserved a 5,333-sq-m area destroyed by the snowstorm as a reminder of the disaster. The area includes pictures of people fighting against the calamity and simulated scenes. The park shows aims to paint a vivid picture of the disaster to visitors from home and abroad.

Tianjin IP base

Tianjin's first intellectual property demonstration base will be set up in the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area, focusing on developing 10 biomedical projects in 2008.

The biomedical sector will get preferential policies, as one of the key industries in the area. Biomedical companies' output at the base will be worth an estimated 200 million yuan by the end of this year, with approved patents likely to reach 80. By 2010, the output value is expected to be 400 million yuan, with 100 patents.

Fridge manufacturing

Hefei Meiling Corp has invested 250 million yuan in Mianyang, Sichuan province, aiming to build the biggest refrigerator manufacturing base in China's southwest. On Monday, the manufacturing began operation, with an annual throughput reaching 1.2 million refrigerators.

China's appliance manufacturing industry is transferring from east to west gradually and there is a huge potential market in the rural areas of the southwest, according to an official with China Household Electrical Appliances Association.

BIZ MOVES

Strategy chief

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) has appointed Shirley Lin as chief strategy consultant. Lin will report directly to president and CEO Zhang Rujing.

Lin is experienced in direct investment, financing and mergers and acquisitions. Before joining SMIC, Lin was a partner at Goldman Sachs. Prior to that, she was in charge of Morgan Stanley's multinational business in New York and Hong Kong.

Baidu COO

Chinese Internet search engine Baidu.com has appointed Ye Peng as COO, effective from April 25. Ye has wide experience in marketing, sales, business operation, as well as software development. He has been Apple's general manager in China and deputy general manager of Motorola's personal business department.

President resigns

Online game operator Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd announced yesterday that Tang Jun has resigned as its president to pursue other opportunities. Tang, who joined Shanda as president in February 2004, will remain a member of Shanda's board of directors and serve as an advisor to CEO Chen Tianqiao.

Shanda also announced yesterday a number of key executive appointments, including the appointment of Tan Qunzhao, Shanda's executive senior vice-president and chief technology officer, as its president.

(China Daily 04/04/2008 page15)