IN BRIEF (Page 14)

ICBC to lend more

The Industrial & Commercial Bank of China plans to boost consumer loans by 25 percent by the end of next year, the Standard reported yesterday, citing vice-president Li Xiaopeng. Consumer lending is expected to climb to 1 trillion yuan from 800 billion yuan. The bank's consumer loans jumped 82 percent in the first four months of the year from the same period a year earlier, the paper said.

Fiat Guangzhou venture