 Biz scene
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-23 07:37 MARKET Tin profit Yunnan Tin Co, the world's biggest producer of the metal, said first-half profit rose 34 percent from a year ago after prices increased and sales rose. Net income climbed to 362 million yuan from 271 million yuan a year ago, the company said in an exchange filing yesterday. Sales rose by 53 percent to 5.7 billion yuan, it said. Yunnan Tin increased domestic sales as an export tax and a stronger Chinese currency curbed shipments overseas, it said. A 10 percent export duty imposed in January to reduce the record trade surplus and curb overcapacity in energy-intensive industries pushed tin exports to a record low of one ton in June. Molybdenum gains Shaanxi-based Jinduicheng Molybdenum Co, Asia's largest producer of the metal used to harden steel, said first-half profit was 1.73 billion yuan, citing preliminary figures. Sales stood at 3.43 billion yuan, the company said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday. The company posted a full-year profit of 3.03 billion yuan in 2007, according to its annual report. Molybdenum has jumped more than fivefold since early 2004 as demand for corrosion-resistant pipes grows. Chinese production of stainless steel may jump 23 percent this year, Macquarie Group has said. FAW earnings triple FAW Car Co, the Chinese partner of Mazda Motor Corp, said profit more than tripled in the first half after it cut costs and increased sales. Net income surged to 506 million yuan in the first six months of the year, the carmaker said in a Shenzhen Stock Exchange statement yesterday. Sales rose 76 percent to 10.4 billion yuan. FAW Car, a unit of China's second-biggest carmaker, has benefited from rising demand for Mazda6 sedans and its own-brand Besturn sedans. The country's overall vehicle market expanded 19 percent in the first half as economic growth made cars affordable to more people. BIZ UNUSUAL Rosy profit Li Jiyong is growing gold. A farmer in Beijing Mentougou district, Li extracts oil from roses and sells it at a price higher than gold. Mentougou district has a history of rose cultivation dating back to the Ming dynasty. But without downstream processing, roses there are sold cheap and sometimes even left in the fields to rot. The yield is low for rose oil. Five or six tons of roses yield only 1 kg of oil. But Li sells this oil at 500,000 to 600,000 yuan per kg. Through cooperation with experts with the local academy of agriculture, Li further processes the oil into raw material for cosmetics, which he sells to cosmetics enterprises. Odd couple A restaurant owner is creating quite a stir by combining Western food with smelly beancurd in Changsha, capital of Hunan province. Smelly bean curd is a Hunan specialty. In spite of its unpleasant smell, some find smelly bean curd extremely tasty. No wonder then when this dark-colored curd was paired with Western dishes, it immediately drew a lot of attention. LOCAL Street plan Xi'ning, capital of Qinghai province, plans to invest 12 million yuan this year to upgrade Nan'guan Street to make it a real "Jewelry Street". According to the plan, shops on the street will be archaized to create an atmosphere of history and jewelry culture. Also, sculptures, rockeries and pools will be added. Meanwhile, decorative lights will increase the charm of the street at night. Nan'guan Street is an important jewelry market in Xi'ning, attracting more than 60 percent of the jewelry dealers of the city. Wheaten fest The 2008 International Wheaten Food Festival will be held in Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province from Sep 13 to 20. The festival will consist of a summit forum on wheaten food culture, exhibition of wheaten food and displays of wheaten food making skills. The festival provides a stage to spread wheaten food culture and present wheaten-food-featured restaurants. Jointly hosted by the Taiyuan municipal government and the Shanxi provincial commerce department, the festival is expected to attract about 10,000 participants from all over China. GRAPEVINE Chip stake Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, China's biggest chipmaker, may sell a stake of about 20 percent to Datang Telecom Technology & Industry Group, China Business News reported yesterday, citing an unnamed source. Reiko Chang, a Shanghai-based spokeswoman for Semiconductor Manufacturing, declined to comment on the report or the stake sale. Semiconductor Manufacturing expects to sell a stake to a strategic investor in less than six months, CEO Richard Chang said last month. BIZ MOVEs Tandberg president Tandberg has appointed Zhuang Hancheng as president of Tandberg North Asia and Li Jinshui vice-president of Tandberg China. Zhuang brings Tandberg more than 15 years of experience in international management. Before this, he was vice-president of Tandberg in South Europe, Mideast and Africa, managing business in 68 countries. Li has 27 years of experience in IT industry in China and Asia. Tandberg is a leading company providing products and services of videoconferences and mobile videos. Chairman dead Zhang Shengyu, board chairman of Beijing Tongrentang Group Co Ltd, a famous Chinese medicine maker, died from heart attack on the night of July 21, local media reported. Li Quanlin, representative of securities affairs of Tongrentang, did not comment on the news. She emphasized that daily operation of Tongrentang would not be affected even if the news was true. The 39-year-old Zhang was the board chairman of Shanghai-listed Beijing Tongrentang Group Co Ltd and deputy board chairman of Tongrentang Technologies Co Ltd and Tongrentang Pharmaceutical Co Ltd. His term is to end on May 25, 2009. (China Daily 07/23/2008 page15) |
