IN BRIEF (Page 10)

Dazhong's share up

Shares in Dazhong Transportation Group Co, which operates Shanghai's biggest taxi fleet, rose by the most in more than a year in Shanghai trading after an initial public offering by Everbright Securities Co, which Dazhong owns a stake in, moved closer to regulatory approval. The stock began trading 10 percent higher than the daily limit, to 10.62 yuan, in the biggest gain since Oct 16, 2006.

Shanghai IPO

China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corp, the nation's largest maker of rail vehicles, may sell a 30 percent stake in a Shanghai initial public offering to help fund nearly 9 billion yuan of projects, it said in a draft prospectus. The Beijing-based company plans to offer as many as 3 billion shares in Shanghai.

Assets purchase

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, Asia's biggest oil refiner, plans to buy well maintenance assets from its parent for 1.56 billion yuan to reduce the cost of pumping crude and gas. Sinopec will acquire the downhole service operations of six China Petrochemical Corp units, the Beijing-based refiner said.

Ping An falls 4.9%

Shares in Ping An Insurance Group Co, China's second biggest insurer, fell 4.9 percent on Friday in Shanghai pre-market trading after the company said it would buy 5 percent of shares and assets sold by Fortis. Ping An announced the planned purchase on Thursday after the market closed. Fortis will raise 8 billion euros by selling stock and non-core assets .

Stake sale

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, China's biggest chipmaker, plans to sell a stake in less than six months at a much better price than the stock's market value, CEO Richard Chang said. The chipmaker's financial adviser valued the company at a price range that the potential buyer regarded as reasonable, Chang said.

Airline leases

China Eastern Airlines said on Friday that it would receive 1.3 billion yuan after selling the six-year ownership of three A340 aircrafts to ICBC Leasing. China Eastern will then lease the three aircrafts from ICBC Leasing and pay the additional bank's interests. It is the first time for China Eastern to sign a leasing agreement with a domestic leasing company.

Cancer checkup

Ciming Checkup, the country's largest health exam chain store, is eyeing up the tailored cancer scanning business for high-end customers, as people are faced with increasing risks of falling victim to cancer.

The company is now working on a plan to include over 200 check-up items to scan the cancer at the very initial stage in a move to improve the chances of stopping the disease from developing.

Property expansion

Sino-Ocean Land, a Hong Kong-listed real estate firm, is going to launch 15 projects in six cities this year to quicken their expansion into the high-end residential building sector, said the company's top management. Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Shenyang, Hangzhou and Zhongshan will be the key cities for Sino-Ocean Land's business development this year.

Agencies-China Daily

(China Daily 06/28/2008 page10)