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Goldman rehires veteran Schwartz as Asia chairman

Goldman Sachs said on Tuesday it had rehired veteran banker Mark Schwartz in the role of chairman of its Asia-Pacific unit, based in Beijing, becoming the first global investment bank to place its sole regional chairman in China's capital.

Schwartz's placement in Beijing - rather than Hong Kong where peers from other big banks sit - puts him in a position to oversee the bank's joint venture in the city, Goldman Sachs Gao Hua, and have quick access to leaders of some of the world's largest companies.

Schwartz, 57, first hired by Goldman 33 years ago and a former adviser to George Soros, will replace Michael Evans, who has served as chairman of the Asia-Pacific unit since 2004.

Evans is based in New York and will continue in his role as a vice-chairman of the bank and global head of growth markets.

CNPC to supply LNG to 200,000 vehicles by 2015

China National Petroleum Corp estimates that it will supply liquefied natural gas to about 200,000 vehicles by 2015, the company said on Tuesday.

By that time, the company's LNG output will be 11.5 billion cubic meters, it added.

China had more than 1.48 million natural gas-fueled vehicles as of 2011, according to Lu Jianzhong, vice-president of the CNPC Economics and Research Institute.

Nearly 100 cities are promoting LNG-fueled vehicles, with the highest percentage in Sichuan and Shandong provinces and in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Policy support for new strategic sectors

Financial and tax support policies will be launched for China's strategic emerging industries in the second half, Economic Information Daily reported on Tuesday.

China will encourage innovation and channel capital into these industries, the newspaper said.

The support policies will include increasing financial investment, raising government procurement and lowering corporate income tax.

BA seeks more flights to more cities in China

British Airways Plc will reduce its short-haul routes and expand long-haul routes, especially to China, in the next three to five years, when its orders for Boeing 787s are delivered, its chief executive officer said on Monday.

"The airline will show up in more different cities in China in the future," said Willie Walsh, CEO of the International Airlines Group, which is the parent company of British Airways.

The carrier now runs 13 flights weekly between London and two Chinese destinations - Beijing and Shanghai.

Farming co-op revenues surge to 888 billion yuan

Revenue for the All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, an organization that supports farmers in rural areas, increased by a record 30 percent in the first five months this year, showing the huge opportunities that exist in the Chinese countryside.

Sales reached 888.1 billion yuan ($139.4 billion), said the federation on Monday.

Appliance industry stagnates in May

Sales of China's home electric appliance industry stagnated in May and more producers lost money amid sluggish demand, official statistics show.

The number of manufacturers posting a loss increased 17.2 percent year-on-year during the first four months of this year, said the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Tuesday.

"In 2011, China's home appliance industry performed fairly well in terms of output and exports, despite a gloomy world economy, but the complex international economic situation started to affect the industry this year," said the ministry.

Retail sales volume for the industry totaled 49.9 billion yuan last month, a slight 0.5-percent gain from April, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Audi's China car sales surge 44.2% year-on-year

German car giant Audi, has reported record sales for May thanks to a big boost from China. The company said on Monday that Chinese sales rose 44.2 percent compared to the same month a year ago. The A8 four-door luxury sedan and the locally-built Q5 compact crossover SUV both contributed strongly to the increase in China. Overall sales were up 13.7 percent to 128,900 vehicles worldwide.

Elsewhere, North American sales rose 10.3 percent and sales in Europe increased 3.8 percent.

China can lead global low-carbon revolution

China can lead a global transition to a low-carbon economy if investment in clean technology are placed at the heart of its economic growth plans, according to an international group of companies and local governments.

The Climate Group, started with the support of then-UK Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2004, said China has the power to drive an industrial revolution in clean energy that can create millions of jobs and help overcome the financial crisis. The group is allied with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

China has set ambitious clean-energy targets under its five-year plan culminating in 2015 and needs close links with developed nations to achieve them, the report said. The country will need $80 billion to $150 billion a year during this period to fund its targets on renewable energy, emissions and energy efficiency. About $54.4 billion was invested in those last year.

Alibaba signs $3 billion loan with 19 banks

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd began signing a $3 billion syndicated loan with a total of 19 banks on Tuesday to back the privatization of its Hong Kong-listed unit and the buyback of an about 20 percent stake of itself from Yahoo! Inc, two people familiar with the matter said.

The loan, which was close to being completed in May, was amended last month to allow Alibaba to eventually take on as much as $4 billion of debt.

Mainland's rich top Asia in collectibles ownership

Rich individuals in China, which two years ago became the world's second-largest art market, hold more of their wealth in collectible assets than their peers anywhere in Asia.

Chinese mainland's wealthy hold 17 percent of their total net worth in jewelery, fine art, wine, antique furniture, classic cars and precious metals, according to a Ledbury Research global survey of more than 2,000 people published by Barclays Plc on Tuesday. That compares with 16 percent in Singapore, 14 percent in Hong Kong and an average of 9.6 percent globally.

China overtook the UK to become the world's second- largest art market after the US, according to research by the British Art Market Federation in March 2011.

Agencies - China Daily

(China Daily 06/13/2012 page14)