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Urban residents expect home price increases in Q3

More than one-fifth of the Chinese residents surveyed by the central bank expect home prices to rise in the third quarter, the People's Bank of China said on Tuesday.

The survey found that 20.4 percent of 20,000 households in 50 cities expect home prices to rise in the coming quarter, higher than the first quarter's 17.6 percent but below the 36.2 percent registered in the second quarter of 2011.

Some 15.7 percent of the respondents said they plan to buy a home in the next three months, 1.6 percentage points higher than in the first quarter.

Tongrentang to double overseas outlets

The traditional Chinese medicine seller Tongrentang is aiming to double the number of its retail outlets overseas to 100 by the end of this year.

Ding Yongling, deputy general manager of the Beijing Tongrentang Group and general manager of the group's Hong Kong-based operation, said the company's expansion plans include tapping the market outside of the Chinese mainland for the next three years.

Ding said the company, with a 343-year history, will open not just new outlets for their products abroad but also museums to showcase the best of traditional Chinese medicine. The company will also conduct lectures and seminars on traditional medicines.

JinMaJia to trade French red wine for the first time

JinMaJia Equity Online Transaction Co Ltd has signed a contract with ADVINE Des Vignobles & Des Hommes Co Ltd and Along Fine Wines Co Ltd to trade French red wine through its online platform for the first time.

The value of the 430 varieties of red wine to be traded from the French chateau CAZES, is expected to exceed 100 million yuan ($15.7 million), according to the top management of JinMaJia.

$850m Sino-Russian aluminum agreement signed

United Co Rusal, the world's largest aluminum company headquartered in Moscow, and Export-Import Bank of China have signed a cooperation agreement on potential financing for an $850 million construction project in Eastern Siberia.

Rusal plans to build an anode factory in the Irkutsk region to supply its smelters in Eastern Siberia as the Russian producer seeks to boost sales to China, the metals company said on Tuesday in a statement.

New Aluminum Corp listing to raise $221m

Aluminum Corp of China, the country's biggest producer of the metal, plans to raise as much as $221 million by selling shares in its Hong Kong engineering and construction unit, China Aluminum International Engineering Corp.

The offering will see 363.2 million shares issued at HK$3.93 to HK$4.73 each and the shares will be listed on July 6, according to the company's prospectus.

Six so-called cornerstone investors, including Yunnan Aluminum Co Ltd, agreed to buy about $100 million worth of the offering, the prospectus said.

Local corporate bond investors checked

Local governments throughout the country have been ordered to check on the ability of companies to repay maturing bonds, according to informed sources.

The National Development and Reform Commission, the nation's top economic planning agency, has told local governments to set up risk monitoring and forecasting mechanisms for debt maturing in 2012 and 2013, said the sources, who asked not to be identified. The orders were issued because the risks of defaults are increasing as the bond market expands, they said.

Foreign Ministry calls for structural reforms in IMF

The International Monetary Fund should implement structural reforms, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on Tuesday.

Hong said China, which announced its decision to provide more money to the IMF, believes the reforms will help developing countries at the IMF increase their say and representation.

New 10-year bonds expected at yield of 3.4%

China's Finance Ministry will sell at least 30 billion yuan ($4.7 billion) of 10-year bonds on Wednesday at a yield of 3.4 percent, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey.

The highest forecast was 3.45 percent and the lowest 3.39 percent, the survey of seven finance companies showed.

The estimate compared with the 3.41 percent yield on similar- maturity notes in the secondary market on Monday, according to data compiled by Chinabond.

Investors will bid on the yield at the auction. The issuer will set the securities coupon by taking an average of the winning bids.

Increased private investment in energy sector promised

China has pledged to increase participation by domestic non-State companies in its energy industry to accelerate oil exploration and electricity generation, which are dominated by State enterprises.

Private companies will be "encouraged" and "guided" to invest in oil and natural gas ventures in China, including unconventional resources such as shale gas and coal-bed methane, the Ministry of Land and Resources said in a statement on its website on Tuesday.

Non-State entities will be allowed equal access to the power industry, the State Electricity Regulatory Commission said in a statement on Tuesday.

Mutuals to be allowed to invest in private placements

China has allowed mutual funds to invest in private bond placements by smaller companies in a new trial program, according to a notice issued by the market regulator.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission document, obtained by Bloomberg News, said the market value of a fund's holding of such debt can't exceed 10 percent of its net asset value.

Money-market funds, which mainly invest in short-term securities, are excluded from the market, according to the circular.

The CSRC's press office declined to comment by telephone and has yet to reply to a faxed request for comment.

'Teapot' refineries increase processing in Shandong

Privately-held refineries in Shandong province, also known as "teapot plants", increased processing rates for a second week, according to a local industry website.

Refinery run rates rose to 36.6 percent of their designed capacity as of June 14, the Shandong-based Oilchem.net said in a statement, citing a survey of 32 plants with a combined capacity of 68.9 million metric tons a year. That compares with 35.3 percent a week earlier and 41.2 percent in the same period last year. The facilities operated at 34.5 percent two weeks ago, a two-month low.

Processing rates may drop this week as some plants have maintenance plans, Oilchem said.

'Record' price for Guangzhou land auction

Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd, China's second-biggest developer by sales, has bought a plot of land in Guangzhou for 1.3 billion yuan ($205 million) in a sign of increased property market confidence.

The developer, based in the southern Chinese city, bid 32,967 yuan per square meter at an auction for the land in the new financial district Zhujiang Xincheng on Monday, said an Evergrande official, who asked not to be named because of company policy.

The price, based on the site's build area, was a record high for China's southern business hub, according to Xinhua News Agency on Tuesday.

CDB to lend EFT Group 350 million euros

China Development Bank Corp will lend 350 million euros ($442 million) to Energy Financing Team Group to build a 300 megawatt coal-fired power plant in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the London-based EFT said in a statement on Tuesday.

The 14-year credit, including a four-year grace period, will finance the construction of the Stanari plant near Doboj in northern Bosnia, which will rely on lignite from a nearby mine run by EFT, the Anglo-Swiss group said in the e-mailed statement.

EFT contracted China's Dongfang Electric Corp in 2010 to build the power plant, whose completion is set for early 2016.

Australian share of iron-ore imports at 12-year high

Australia is on track to supply the highest share of Chinese iron-ore imports in 12 years amid supply shortfalls in competing exporters Brazil and India, said Simpson, Spence & Young Ltd.

Australia accounted for 44 percent of Chinese imports in the first four months, the most since 2000, the London- based shipbroker said in a report on Tuesday. The country supplied about 48 percent of China's iron-ore purchases in 2000, according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and leading global shipbroker Clarkson Plc.

Iron-ore shipments from Australia jumped 24 percent in annual terms between January and May as Brazilian and Indian exports contracted, according to SSY.

ZTE to add workers on plans to doubles Asia Pacific sales

ZTE Corp, China's second-biggest maker of phone equipment, will more than double its Asia Pacific sales to $4 billion from about $1.8 billion by 2015.

ZTE, based in Shenzhen, expects to also boost its workforce in the region by 30 percent over the next three years, Zheng Bang, ZTE's Asia Pacific president, said in an interview in Singapore in on Tuesday.

"The company will work with operators to achieve this target," Zheng said. "We will also make use of the advantage we have in new technology to boost our sales."

ZTE became the world's fourth-largest mobile-device seller in the fourth quarter, behind Nokia Oyj, Samsung Electronics Co and Apple Inc, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. ZTE's smartphone sales will more than double this year to between 40 million and 50 million units as it gains market share in Europe, North America, Brazil and Japan, Executive Director He Shiyou said earlier.

Agencies - China Daily

(China Daily 06/20/2012 page14)