IN BRIEF (Page 13)

PBOC buys more forex

The People's Bank of China bought more foreign exchange than it sold for the first time in four months in January, spurring speculation that capital has flowed back to the world's second-largest economy.

Yuan positions at financial institutions accumulated from foreign-exchange purchases increased to 25.5 trillion yuan ($4.1 trillion) as of the end of January, up 141 billion yuan from the previous month, according to data released by the Chinese central bank on Monday.

Forward contracts on the yuan have strengthened this year on speculation the government's easing policy will help shore up the economy and that the European sovereign debt crisis will ease. The PBOC cut the amount of cash that lenders must set aside as reserves by half a percentage point to 20.5 percent over the weekend, effective Feb 24.

COSCO in terminal talks

China Ocean Shipping Group Co is in talks to buy a stake in a port terminal operated by Taiwan's Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp, two sources close to the matter said on Monday, the first such investment across the Taiwan Straits. COSCO will be joined in the deal by Japan's Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd, and hopes to reach an agreement in the first half of this year for a stake in the No 6 terminal at the southern port of Kaohsiung, the sources said. No further details were available.

ZTE signs deals worth $5 billion

China's ZTE Corp said on Monday that it has signed deals worth $5 billion with the US chip producers Qualcomm Inc and Broadcom Corp. The announcement came just days after ZTE's larger rival Huawei Technologies Co Ltd agreed on deals of $6 billion with the same companies.

The deals were clinched during a five-day visit to the United States by Vice-President Xi Jinping last week.

ZTE signed a four-year, $4 billion deal with Qualcomm for chips and raw materials, and a three-year deal, worth $1 billion, with Broadcom for chips.

Nuclear safety plan unveiled

China's National Energy Administration has launched a nuclear safety technology research and development plan. The plan is part of efforts to increase nuclear safety in the wake of the nuclear crisis in Japan following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, according to the government website on Monday. Under the plan, 13 projects will include the safety of reactors in operation and the capability to deal with disasters. The projects are expected to be completed around 2013, the results of which will be applied to reactors in operation.

Chengdu wins software award

Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, has become the third Chinese city to win the title "Renowned Software City in China". The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will confer the title on the city on Tuesday during the opening of the four-day ChinaSoft Conference.

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily 02/21/2012 page13)