IN BRIEF (Page 13)

Chinese shares recommended

Deutsche Bank AG recommends China's yuan-denominated shares due to cheap valuations and the prospects of economic stimulus, according to Ajay Kapur, head of Asian equity strategy at the bank.

The nation's regulators also "want the market to go up", said Kapur, referring to measures by the government to boost the stock market, such as allowing foreign investors to buy more equities. He recommended Chinese airlines, brokerages and insurers.

GM car sales in China increase

General Motors Co, the world's biggest automaker, said vehicle sales in China last month increased by 21 percent, boosted by demand for its Wuling minivan and Chevrolet sedans.

Deliveries of cars and minivans increased to 231,183 units in May from 190,674 units a year earlier, the Detroit-based company said on Tuesday. Its sales for the first five months increased 12 percent to 1.2 million units, according to the statement.

GM is "on track" to meet its China sales targets and outperform the industry this year, Kevin Wale, GM country head, said in an interview last week.

Shanghai Disney to get financing

Walt Disney Co had little trouble raising money for its $4.4 billion Shanghai theme park after winning an approval in 2009, as a dozen Chinese banks offered $2 billion in loans and promised more.

Foreign lenders, limited in how much funding they can provide, watched from the sidelines. The deal size was beyond their reach.

Five years after China said it fully met World Trade Organization obligations to open its economy to global financial firms, Citigroup Inc and HSBC Holdings Plc are among the companies still largely shut out of the world's third-biggest banking market as they face government restrictions on adding branches and offering products.

Fewer loans extended in May

China's four big banks extended less than 250 billion yuan ($39 billion) in new loans in May, said Liu Yuhui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Speaking in a telephone interview, Liu cited data from the banks, without saying how he knew that information. The China Securities Journal reported on Tuesday that the lenders, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd, China Construction Bank Corp, Bank of China Ltd and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd, made 253 billion yuan in new loans. It didn't cite a source.

Services PMI rises to 54.7

China's services industry expanded at a faster pace in May, according to a survey of purchasing managers released by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics.

The PMI rose to a 19-month high of 54.7 in May from 54.1 in April, HSBC and Markit said on Tuesday. The result contradicted a government-backed survey of services businesses released on June 3 and signs from other data that a slowdown in the economy is worsening.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily 06/06/2012 page13)