Biz scene

Market

Chuantou net to rise

Sichuan Chuantou Energy Co Ltd (Chuantou) made a preliminary evaluation and said in a report that corporate net profit during the first quarter of 2008 will rise by a staggering 800 to 1,000 percent, driven by some big acquisitions Chuantou made in 2007.

The company last year bought an 80 percent stake from its mother company Sichuan Provincial Investment Group Co Ltd in Sichuan Chuantou Tianwanhe Development Co Ltd, which the latter formed together with China Hydropower Engineering Consulting Group Co in 2002. Late last year, Chuantou entered the energy sector by acquiring a 38.9 percent stake from Sichuan Xinguang Silicon Technology Co Ltd, China's first polycrystalline silicon factory whose annual output volume is more than 1,000 tons.

No plan for Tencent float

Tencent Holdings Ltd, China's biggest online chat service provider, said it has no immediate plans to list shares in China, after a newspaper reported yesterday that the company aims to sell yuan-denominated shares on the mainland.

A listing would take place after so-called red-chip stocks, or units of State-owned Chinese companies incorporated outside the mainland and listed in Hong Kong, start selling shares domestically, the China Securities Journal said, citing Tencent chief executive officer Ma Huateng.

There's no schedule, said Catherine Chan, a Tencent spokeswoman. "We can't rule out anything in the long term," she said.

Irrigation deal

China CAMC Engineering Co Ltd (CAMCE), a Shenzhen-listed company whose business mainly covers engineering procurement construction, won an irrigation system construction project worth $135 million from the National Rural Development Department under the Venezuelan government.

The project will be due to finish in 24 months, and the company said it will help expand its market share in both the business of irrigation engineering and Venezuela.

GRAPEVINE

SFGCG back-door listing

Shanghai Fisheries General Corp (Group) (SFGCG), a leading Chinese fisheries enterprise, is expected to list its deep-sea business through a back-door listing deal with Holly Technology, an insider who refused to be named told the Shanghai Oriental Post.

Holly Worldwide Holdings, the mother company of Holly Technology, is now in discussions with SFGCG. Holly Technology shares were suspended yesterday.

With 30 subsidiaries and total assets of 1.7 billion yuan, SFGCG generates annual revenue of 3 billion yuan, and the company has four subsidiary companies that are involved in deep-sea fishing business.

PICC IPO delayed

The People's Insurance Company (Group) of China (PICC)'s listing on the domestic stock exchange is expected to be postponed by one or two years, Money Week quoted a manager as saying on the condition of anonymity.

The delay is mainly caused by the slumping domestic stock market and the huge amount of blizzard-caused compensation fees PICC has to pay, which is expected to amount to around 2 billion yuan.

Motor investment

SAIC Motor Corp will invest 8 billion yuan in Nanjing Automobile Group Corp, China Securities Journal reported, without citing sources.

The plans include spending about 450 million yuan boosting MG Car production capacity, the report said.

SAIC Motor, China's largest automaker, agreed to buy assets from Nanjing Auto for 2.1 billion yuan in December. Nanjing Auto will own 320 million SAIC Motor shares, and the two will share resources including funding, research and development, marketing, manufacturing and procurement, they said at the time.

BIZ UNUSUAL

Beijing on a T-shirt

Englishman named Dominic Johnson-Hill, whose Chinese name is Jiang Senhai, runs a store on Nanluogu-xiang in Beijing selling his original T-shirts. The shop, called Plastered Eight, sells T-shirts printed with "symbols of Beijing", such as the pattern that appeared on the old 3 yuan metro ticket and the Chinese characters for gongbaoji-ding, or Kung Pao Chicken in English. The images may not draw the interest of locals but do represent "Beijing from a foreigner's eyes". He also built a website to sell his T-shirts and accepts special orders from customers.

LOCAL

Beibu Gulf trade up

In the first two months of the year, trade volume in the Beibu Gulf Economic Area in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, which covers four cities in the province including Nanning, Qinzhou, Beihai and Fangchenggang, reached $890 million, an increase of 92.9 percent on a yearly basis. Exports and imports stood at $410 million and $480 million respectively.

Behind the growth is strengthened economic relations with ASEAN (the Association of South East Asia Nations). During the January-February period, trade volume with ASEAN was $340 million, accounting for 38.2 percent of the total and a 130 percent year-on-year increase.

HK contracts

The Jilin provincial government will ink 11 cooperative contracts worth 11 billion yuan with investors from Hong Kong, said Chen Weigen, deputy governor of the northeastern province.

Chen disclosed this during his recent visit to Hong Kong where he held a promotional function with a business delegation. During the function, the provincial government recommended about 315 projects concerning nine industries including manufacturing, agriculture, hi-tech, textiles, service and infrastructure.

Hong Kong is Jilin's largest source of investment. By the end of 2007, investment from Hong Kong was $1.83 billion.

Modern service district

The Tianjin municipal government is planning to launch a modern service district (MSD) in the Tianjin Binhai New Area, a move to enhance the city's service industry including logistics, outsourcing and financial sectors.

The district will cover 650,000 sq m, and could be operational in three years.

In 2006, the municipal government set a target of raising the revenue ratio from the service industry to the regional GDP (gross domestic product) by an annual growth rate of more than 1 percent.

BIZ MOVES

New Mega-info president

Cheng Kaixun (right) resigned from the post of vice-president of Hisense Group Co Ltd and joined Mega-info Media as its new president.

Cheng joined Hisense in 1998, and in 2000, he got promoted to corporate vice-president in charge of sales and marketing.

Founded in 2007, Mega-info Media is a railway station media platform provider whose business covers 500 railway stations nationwide. Mega-info plans to list on the NASDAQ next year.

(China Daily 04/08/2008 page15)