IN BRIEF (Page 15)

Big contracts for CSCEC

China State Construction Engineering Corp (CSCEC) said it signed six contracts worth a total of 11.67 billion yuan in fiscal 2009, according to a company filing.

Among them is a 5.86 billion yuan contract to build a section of the Shenyang-Dandong railway passenger line in Liaoning province.

It also sealed a 2 billion yuan deal to build the Foshan Country Garden Flower City project in Guangdong province.

Datang forms 4b yuan gas venture

Datang International Power, the Hong Kong-listed unit of State-owned power generator China Datang, said it will invest nearly 4 billion yuan to form a joint venture coal-based gas project in North China's coal-rich Inner Mongolia.

The company said its wholly owned energy and chemical subsidiary contributed 51 percent of capital to establish and operate the gas project.

Beijing Gas Company, China Datang and Tianjin Jinneng will contribute 34 percent, 10 percent and 5 percent of capital, respectively.

Shipping giant drops into red

China Shipping Container Lines Co, the country's biggest container shipping company by carrying capacity, dropped into the red in 2009 with a loss of 6.49 billion yuan as the financial crisis took its toll.

The loss compared to a net profit of 134.69 million yuan in 2008, the company said. Revenue fell 43.4 percent in 2009 to 19.9 billion yuan. The company attributed the big loss to the global recession that reduced demand for shipping services.

$60 billion for overseas oil, gas

PetroChina, the country's top oil producer, said it will invest $60 billion over the next 10 years to expand its overseas business.

The move aims to secure the equivalent of 200 million tons of foreign oil and natural gas, said Jiang Jiemin, PetroChina's chairman.

PetroChina will step up its international business efforts in Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa, America and the Asia-Pacific region, Jiang said.

Ericsson: $1.8 billion in deals

Ericsson, the world's largest maker of mobile networking gear, said it expects to maintain its market share in a new round of 3G contracts being tendered by China Mobile, the world's largest mobile carrier.

China Mobile had started a highly anticipated request for proposals in the third round of bidding for its 3G mobile network. In March, Ericsson secured $1.8 billion in deals with Chinese operators, including a $1 billion deal with China Mobile.

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily 06/01/2010 page15)