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Central bank raises yuan reference rate

The People's Bank of China raised the yuan's reference rate by 0.13 percent to 6.3005 per US dollar on Monday, more than 1 percent higher than last week's close.

This is the fourth day that China hiked the yuan's reference rate. As of 4:30 pm, the rate rose to 6.3573, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

The Greek elections and expectations of more stimulus measures triggered risk-on sentiment, and China is showing its Western peers that it hasn't guided the yuan to weaken with the stronger fixings, Bloomberg quoted Tommy Ong, a Hong Kong-based senior vice-president of treasury and markets at DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd, as saying.

Hong Kong Exchanges tumbles in wake of LME bid

Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd's bid for the London Metal Exchange, the most expensive bourse merger worth more than $1 billion, has taken a toll on its share prices.

Hong Kong Exchanges' shares dropped 4.5 percent in Hong Kong, taking declines to 26 percent since Feb 18, when the bid was first reported. The offer of 107.6 pounds ($168.5) a share, or 180 times LME's 2011 net income, requires approval from LME's shareholders and the UK Financial Services Authority. It doesn't need shareholder consent in Hong Kong.

The offer price is "extremely expensive," according to a client note from Morgan Stanley.

PetroChina's Kazakh unit pays $803m in dividends

AO Mangistaumunaigas, the Kazakh oil producer half-owned by PetroChina, paid out 119.6 billion tenge ($803 million) in 2011 dividends to holders of ordinary shares.

The company also paid 1.2 billion tenge to holders of preferred stock, Mangistaumunaigas said on Monday in a statement to the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange.

PetroChina and KazMunaiGaz National Co bought the company for $2.6 billion in November 2009. Mangistaumunaigas, which is developing 15 oilfields in Kazakhstan, reported a 40 percent jump in profit to 157.3 billion tenge last year.

UPS makes $99m commercial paper sale

United Parcel Service Inc raised 630 million yuan ($99 million) in a commercial paper sale denominated in the Chinese currency, according to a statement from the company.

The short-dated, offshore yuan money market was "an alternative means for funding investments in China," Andy Dolny, UPS' treasurer, said. The sale took place on June 15, it said.

Swiss exports to China rise to $4.93b in first 4 months

China is becoming an increasingly important export destination for Switzerland, and the trend is intensifying due to strong GDP growth and growing incomes in the country, said the Swiss Center Shanghai.

The center said on Monday that, according to figures from the Swiss Federal Customs Administration, exports to China increased 2.1 percent to 4.7 billion Swiss francs ($4.93 billion) in the first four months, while Swiss exports to the European Union declined 4.2 percent the same period.

Oil, gas sector may open to private investment

China may open its energy sector to private investors in the fields of oil and gas exploration, coal gas pipelines, and power grids, according to China Securities News.

Private investors may be allowed to participate in the oil and gas exploration and oil and gas pipelines sectors under the condition that China Petrochemical Corp and China National Petroleum Corp remain the dominant stakeholders, the report said.

Liu resigns as president of Legend Holdings

Liu Chuanzhi resigned on Monday as president of Legend Holdings Ltd, the parent company of the world's second-largest PC maker Lenovo Group Ltd, according to a statement released by Legend.

Zhu Linan, the company's executive vice-president, will take his place.

"Zhu played a very important role in drawing up the group's mid- and long-term strategies and he was able to keep the company moving forward," Liu said.

Harbin beats Tokyo in tourism spending gain

Six of the world's 20 fastest-growing destination cities are in China, and the country's lesser-known cities including Harbin are becoming more popular with tourists, are the two key findings of a new tourism industry spending survey from Mastercard Inc.

Harbin was ranked first in MasterCard's survey of 132 cities, and along with Xi'an, Guangzhou and Chengdu, make up four of the 10 fastest-growing vacation destinations by traveler spending, ahead of Tokyo.

Tourism receipts in Harbin are projected to rise 53 percent this year, the report showed.

Increased air connectivity within the Chinese mainland and outside, coupled with advertising efforts by city officials, have made tourists more aware of these previously obscure cities, Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, a MasterCard economic adviser and author of the report, said at a briefing in Singapore on Monday.

Six of the world's 20 fastest-growing destination cities are in China, the credit-card company's report showed, including Guangzhou and Qingdao.

Spending in Tokyo is expected to rise 24 percent, while Istanbul may climb 21 percent, according to the report.

New chairman for Shenyin & Wanguo Securities

Shenyin & Wanguo Securities Co's board elected Jesse Wang, executive vice-president of China Investment Corp, as chairman, the brokerage said in a statement on its website.

Wang was recommended by CIC, China's sovereign wealth fund, to be chairman and a non-executive director at Shenyin & Wanguo, according to the statement.

CIC held a 37.23 percent stake in Shanghai-based Shenyin & Wanguo through Central Huijin Investment Ltd as of Dec 31, according to Central Huijin's website.

Mengniu climbs on talk of stake buy

China Mengniu Dairy Co, the country's largest milk producer, rose the most in 14 months in Hong Kong trading after saying Denmark's Arla Foods Amba plans to buy a 6 percent stake.

Mengniu Dairy will develop and market Arla Foods' products in China and other countries, and was also selected to set up a China-Denmark milk technology center, according to the company.

The investment by Arla, the Nordic region's biggest milk producer, comes as China set up new measures to improve food safety and Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co recalled some baby formula after finding abnormal levels of mercury.

Cargotec expects $912m annual sales from venture

Cargotec Oyj, the world's biggest maker of container-lifting gear, said a new China venture may post annual sales of as much as 5.8 billion yuan ($912 million) as growing global trade spurs demand for port equipment.

The venture may reach that target in six years, Chief Executive Officer and President Mikael Makinen told reporters in Shanghai on Monday. The company and partner Jiangsu Rainbow Heavy Industries Co started work on Monday on a two-year project to build the venture's main facility in Taicang, near Shanghai.

Cargotec is investing 30 million euros ($38 million) of equity into the new business, which will make port-handling systems, cranes and other heavy equipment, as manufacturing in China spurs sea-cargo shipments to the United States and Europe.

Shanghai copper trading indicates more imports

The 5 percent jump in copper trading on the Shanghai Futures Exchange this month may indicate increased imports of the metal in China, Barclays Plc said.

The exchange trading usually is reflected in imports one or two months later, Nicholas Snowdon, an analyst at the bank, said in a report dated on Monday. Shanghai trading was up 19 percent in April and May imports were up 12 percent, he said. Trading was up another 13 percent in May, he said.

Agencies - China Daily

(China Daily 06/19/2012 page14)