IN BRIEF (Page 13)

SOEs' 7-month profit increases

China's State-owned enterprises reported a combined profit of 1.34 trillion yuan ($210 billion) in the first seven months, a 24.4 percent rise compared with the same period of last year, the Ministry of Finance announced in a statement on Wednesday.

Profit in July was 5 percent lower than June, the statement said.

July coal imports rise

China's July coal imports climbed 36 percent to 17.53 million tons from a year earlier, the Shanxi-based online industry portal sxcoal.com said.

The figure exceeded the customs bureau's record of 17.34 million tons in December and 13.73 million tons in June. The official customs data for July will be released on Aug 22.

Coking-coal imports gained 29 percent to 4.05 million tons last month and coal for power plants rose 15 percent to 4.99 million tons, according to sxcoal. Imports declined 5.3 percent to 87.87 million tons in the first seven months, it said.

Deer Jet goes Platinum

Deer Jet Co Ltd, one of China's largest business jet operators, has its eyes on the international market after being awarded the ARGUS Platinum Rating certificate on Tuesday.

The award, which is recognized by the top 100 international companies, will help Deer Jet expand in the international market, said Liu Kaihong, chairman of Deer Jet.

The Platinum Rating is the highest rating awarded by ARGUS International Inc.

At present, there are only about 70 business aircrafts in operation in China, of which Deer Jet operates 37.

Citibank grows China footprint

Citibank (China) Co on Wednesday launched its third sub-branch in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. It is the bank's first smart-banking outlet in the city.

The global financial turbulence will not hinder the bank's ambitious investment plans in China, which will see another sub-branch in Shenzhen this week, said Simon Chow, manager of Citibank China's global consumer group.

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily 08/18/2011 page13)