IN BRIEF (Page 13)

Geely looks to Indonesia

China's Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd plans to set up a factory in Indonesia by 2015 to tap rising demand in Southeast Asia's biggest economy and make the country a production hub for the region, said Budi Pramon, CEO of Geely's Indonesian unit, on Thursday.

Geely, which currently assembles around 2,000 cars annually in Indonesia using an Astra International factory, will use start-up investment of $20 million to set up a new plant near Jakarta with an initial annual capacity of 10,000 vehicles.

The factory will increase output to 50,000 units annually within two or three years with up to $50 million in investment.

PE companies to rise in Yunnan

The number of private equity (PE) investment companies in Yunnan province is expected to rise to about 200 by 2015, with the total financing exceeding 100 billion yuan ($15.6 billion) by 2015, said Liu Guangxi, director of the Yunnan provincial government's Finance Office.

The southeastern province aims to accelerate development of the PE sector as it develops into a regional center for equity investment.

Financing through PE investment is currently only about 13 billion yuan, according to the office.

Sapa opens tech center

Sapa Group, one of the world's top three aluminum manufacturers, opened its second global technology center in the Jiading district of Shanghai.

"The new center aims to support our business in the Asia-Pacific area. It will better meet our customers' needs by providing technical support directly to Sapa's Asia customers," said Janne Strid, general manager of the Sapa global technology center.

Shanghai's sales set to soar

Shanghai's annual gross sales of goods will see annual growth of 18 percent to exceed 8.7 trillion yuan by the end of 2015. That's as the city strives to become an international trade center for resource allocation in both domestic and global markets.

Sha Hailin, director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, told a news briefing that total sales of consumer goods are projected to hit 1 trillion yuan, growing 13 percent year-on-year during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015).

To that end, Shanghai plans to build a national-level convention and exhibition site in the Hongqiao Business District and attract 100 multinational companies to establish their regional headquarters there.

Voith seeks 1b yuan loan

Voith AG, a German producer of turbines and machines that make paper, has approached banks seeking a 1 billion yuan onshore loan in China, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

Domestic lenders will be approached to join the so-called club loan, which is being coordinated by a non-Chinese bank, the person said, asking not to be identified as the details are private.

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily 09/09/2011 page13)