IN BRIEF (Page 13)

Honda lowers its sales target

Honda Motor Co, Japan's third-largest carmaker, said its vehicle sales in China may drop 2 percent this year to 638,000 after Japan's March 11 earthquake and tsunami delayed parts delivery, hampering auto production.

Honda lowered its target by 13 percent from an earlier goal of 731,500, Akemi Ando, a spokeswoman for the Tokyo-based company, said on Wednesday. The carmaker expects production in China to normalize by the beginning of August, she said.

Private banking business booms

The private banking business has become a new source of profit for Chinese banks and China may soon become the world's largest wealth management market, a report released by the Bank of China Co Ltd and financial magazine Euromoney said on Wednesday.

The report also found that foreign banks have been stepping up efforts to increase their exposure and market shares in the country's private banking industry in the wake of the global financial crisis in 2008.

Expert calls for interest rate rise

China should continually raise interest rates rather than the required reserve ratio for commercial banks to tame inflation, He Keng, deputy director of financial and economic affairs committee under the National People's Congress, said at a forum on Wednesday. He also urged reductions in fiscal spending and local government debt to ease inflation. "I think the full-year CPI (consumer price index) can be kept under 5 percent this year," He said.

Indicator shows rapid growth

A Chinese leading indicator climbed, adding to evidence that the world's second-biggest economy is maintaining momentum as Premier Wen Jiabao extends a campaign to cool inflation.

The index rose 0.5 percent to 155 in May, The Conference Board said on its website on Wednesday, citing a preliminary reading. The gauge is designed to capture prospects over the coming six months. April's index was revised to a 0.1 percent gain from a previous 0.2 percent increase.

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily 07/21/2011 page13)