Biz scene

BIZ MOVES

New director

ET Solar Group Corp, a Nanjing-based, vertically integrated manufacturer of photovoltaic products including ingots, wafers, modules and dual-axis tracking systems, announced it has appointed Horst Etzkorn as its new European sales and marketing director.

Etzkorn has more than 20 years' global sales and marketing experience, and has recruited, trained and led high-performance sales, service and project teams in the Asia-Pacific region, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Vice-president resigns

China Construction Bank Corp said vice-president Zhao Lin resigned to take another post - the latest development in the reshuffling of the nation's major State-owned lenders.

The resignation was effective from May 6, the Beijing-based bank said without elaborating in a statement.

Zhao has served as a director and vice-president since September 2004 and oversaw risk management and information technology.

President appointed

Alcatel Shanghai Bell announced Olivia Qiu (left) has been appointed as the company's president. Qiu will also remain head of Alcatel-Lucent's East Asia business.

She was previously executive vice-president of Alcatel Shanghai Bell and was responsible for domestic sales, marketing and services. Qiu joined Alcatel in 1997 and held various positions in Alcatel China, Alcatel Shanghai Bell and Alcatel Asia-Pacific.

MARKET

Steel plant

Shougang Corp, the only Beijing-based steelmaker, has begun production at a 6.4 billion yuan plant on the city's outskirts to meet rising demand from automobile and appliance makers.

The plant is able to make 800,000 metric tons of cold-rolled coil and 700,000 tons of zinc-galvanized sheets annually, Shougang said yesterday in a statement.

Shougang is building another 67.7 billion yuan steel venture in nearby Hebei province - relocating its major operation outside of Beijing as the city prepares to host the Olympics. The cold-rolling plant in the capital's Shunyi district produces less pollution than a blast-furnace operation, the company said.

Takeover deal

Liquid crystal display (LCD) maker SVA Electron Co unveiled a 2.65 billion yuan deal yesterday, funded mostly by a private placement of shares, in which it would take over LCD assets from its parent and an affiliate.

SVA Electron said it planned to take over a fifth-generation TFT-LCD manufacturing unit from its parent company and SVA Information Industry.

The unit is expected to make a 216 million yuan net profit this year, after a net loss of 318 million yuan in 2007.

LOCAL

Eco-city planned

A 30-sq-km eco-city project, jointly planned by China and Singapore, is expected to break ground in Tianjin in July and be completed in 10 to 15 years.

A 3-sq-km startup area will be developed in three to five years, according to the recently released plan. Located 40 km from Tianjin and 150 km from Beijing, the urban development project would feature energy efficient buildings and would be completed without harming the environment, the plan said.

BIZ UNUSUAL

Shelling out profits

Farmers in Mayong county, Guangdong province, are generating an additional 5,000 yuan per mu (one-15th of a hectare) annually by raising turtles in their banana groves.

The county's agricultural technology center's chief Mai Jingyu said the turtles and banana trees live in a symbiotic relationship in which the groves provide a dark and humid environment favorable for turtles' growth, while the turtle's excrement fertilizes the soil.

Something fishy

Tianjin resident Li Yusheng earns more than 4 million yuan a year breeding a variety of single-gilled fish. Li began breeding the species in 2004 when he learned a kg sold for more than 360 yuan in the market and for more than 500 yuan in restaurants.

The unique species is endemic to China's Bohai and Yellow seas. It is valuable because it's difficult to artificially breed, Li said.

(China Daily 05/13/2008 page15)