IN BRIEF (Page 13)

CNPC awarded 2m barrels of oil

China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has received its first cargo of crude oil, as payment for helping to develop Iraq's Rumaila oilfield, the company said on Monday.

CNPC, the parent of PetroChina, sent off a crude oil carrier carrying 2 million barrels of oil from the Basra Oil Terminal in southern Iraq on Saturday, the China Petroleum Daily, reported.

Offshore assets rise to $4.13t

China's offshore financial assets jumped 19 percent year-on-year to $4.126 trillion at the end of 2010, of which 71 percent are held in reserves, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said on Monday.

According to China's balance sheet of foreign exchange assets and liabilities, otherwise known as China's International Investment Position, the country's portfolio investment made up of stocks and bonds, rose 6 percent in 2010 to $257.1 billion, or 6 percent of total assets.

Hypermart eyes $1 billion IPO

China's largest hypermarket operator, Sun Holdings, is planning an initial public offering of up to HK$7.8 billion ($1 billion) in Hong Kong and has hired four banks to manage the offer, the Apple Daily reported on Monday.

Sun Holdings, a 50:50 joint venture between the Taiwan-based conglomerate Ruentex Group and the privately held French retailer Groupe Auchan SA, aims to list in July, the report said, citing market sources.

Card fraud losses decline

Losses from credit card fraud in China stood at 117.88 million yuan by the end of 2010, down 32.38 percent from the previous year, according to the China Credit Card Industry Blue Book (2010) released by the China Banking Association on Monday.

In 2010, banks issued 230 million credit cards to customers, up by 23.96 percent year-on-year, among which nearly 40 percent were not activated. The volume of cross-bank trading through credit cards reached 5.11 trillion yuan ($788 billion) last year, a rise of 46 percent.

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily 05/31/2011 page13)