IN BRIEF (Page 13)

China Mobile to buy bank stake

China Mobile Ltd has agreed to buy a 20 percent stake in Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co for 39.8 billion yuan ($5.8 billion) to expand its electronic payment business.

The carrier's Guangdong Mobile unit plans to buy 2.21 billion mainland-listed shares for 18.03 yuan apiece. The deal makes China Mobile the second-biggest shareholder in the bank, it said.

Tweaks in M&A approvals soon

The China Securities Regulatory Commission said on Wednesday that it is working on the relevant regulations to shorten the approval process for overseas mergers and acquisitions by Chinese-listed companies in an effort to lower the acquisition cost and encourage domestic firms to seize opportunities when overseas assets are priced at low levels.

Citic Pacific bounces back

Citic Pacific Ltd rebounded to an annual profit after it sold assets and was bailed out for losses incurred on currency bets. Net income was HK$5.95 billion ($767 million), or HK$1.63 a share, for the 12 months ended December, compared with a net loss of HK$12.7 billion, or HK$5.70 a share, the previous year, the company said.

Railway maker signs agreement

Rail transit equipment maker China Northern Locomotive & Rolling Stock Industry Corp signed an agreement on Wednesday with the local government of Kunming, capital city of Yunnan province, to develop a rail transit equipment manufacturing base. The rail vehicle maker is eyeing Kunming as its base to explore markets in Southeast Asia and South Asia, according to the group president Cui Dianguo.

Bloomberg-China Daily

(China Daily 03/11/2010 page13)