IN BRIEF (Page 13)

Overseas borrowing rises

China's outstanding overseas borrowing rose to $586 billion at the end of March from $548.9 billion at the end of 2010, according to a statement posted on the website of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) on Thursday.

Outstanding medium- and long-term debt was $174.3 billion at the end of March, against $173.2 billion at the end of 2010, SAFE said. Short-term debt was $411.7 billion, up from $375.7 billion.

TCL estimates H1 income gain

TCL Corp's first-half net income might have risen 190 percent to 240 percent year-on-year, the company said in a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Thursday.

Net income might be about 540 million yuan ($83.56 billion), the statement said.

Sinopec to explore shale

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) and Henan Provincial Coal Seam Gas Development and Utilization Co have won the rights to explore two areas in the country's first auction of shale-gas blocks, the Ministry of Land and Resources said.

Sinopec was "initially selected" to explore the Nanchuan block, the ministry said in an online statement on Thursday. Henan Coal Seam Gas will search for shale gas at the Xiushan block.

Citic Dicastal buys parts firm

Citic Dicastal Wheel Manufacturing Co agreed to buy the German car part supplier KSM Castings Gruppe, the Chinese company's first overseas acquisition.

Citic will purchase Hildesheim, German-based KSM Castings from Cognetas LLP, a private-equity company, the Chinese company said in a statement on Thursday. KSM makes components for engines and transmissions and is a supplier to Volkswagen AG and Daimler AG.

Gamebar insures players

China's Sunshine Insurance Group on Thursday signed a deal with Gamebar Inc, a major online-games producer in Beijing, to protect their customers' interests.

The product, as a type of liability insurance, is the world's first policy to underwrite the intangible assets of online games players. According to the China Internet Network Information Center, there are 457 million Internet users in China, with 66.5 percent playing online games.

Investment fair set for Sept 9-11

The 15th China International Fair for Investment and Trade will be held in Xiamen, Fujian province, from Sept 9 to 11, according to the organizing committee.

Huang Ling, a senior member of the organizing committee and vice-mayor of Xiamen, said government officials, enterprises and business organizations from more than 60 nations and regions are to participate.

Huang said 38 forums and seminars will be held on themes such as service outsourcing, government procurement, the green industry and trade facilitation.

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily 07/08/2011 page13)