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Comac targets next batch of C919 plane orders

Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd said it is likely to announce new orders in October for its C919 jetliner, the nation's first large passenger plane.

The Shanghai-based Comac will not be announcing any contracts for the aircraft at this week's Farnborough air show, Tao Zhihui, general manager for international cooperation and supplier management, said on Tuesday in an interview.

The C919, which is leading China's challenge to Boeing Co and Airbus SAS, has so far attracted 280 orders, the executive said.

Belarus may sell sovereign bonds, hold IPOs in China

Belarus plans to sell sovereign bonds and stage initial public offerings for its largest companies in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, Interfax has reported, citing Viktor Burya. Representatives of Belarus' Finance Ministry and central bank are set to visit China next week to discuss the plans, according to the Russian news service.

Outside predictions about economy 'never right'

Outside predictions about China's economy are never right, and the country will make adjustments at its own pace, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told a news briefing on Tuesday.

"China's economy always has these kind of noises," Liu said in response to a question about the reliability of Chinese statistics and analysts' predictions of an economic downturn.

"Sometimes people criticize it, sometimes people praise it. But always, the predictions aren't right."

China will make adjustments to its economy based on its own policy, Liu told the briefing. Growth may have slowed to 7.7 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, according to the median estimate of 36 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.

China reaffirms support for EU's efforts on debt crisis

China reaffirmed its support for the European Union's efforts to tackle its sovereign-debt crisis as the two sides concluded two days of talks as part of the EU-China Strategic Dialogue on Tuesday.

The two sides agreed to deal with their differences in a constructive way, according to a joint statement released after the talks.

China and the EU also discussed their desire to develop trade and investment links, EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton said in a separate statement.

Officials blocked from luxury spending

China will bar government agencies from spending public money on luxury goods and lavish receptions as it combats corruption.

The new rules call for more supervision over spending on vehicles, receptions and trips abroad, which the public sees "as a major source of corruption and waste", the Xinhua News Agency said on Monday.

Iron ore may drop on China concern this quarter

Iron ore may decline this quarter on concern that China, the world's biggest buyer, may curb purchases as economic growth slows, according to Citigroup Inc.

Prices may average $135 a ton in the third quarter and $140 in the final three months, according to Daniel Hynes, a director of commodity research in Sydney.

The raw material averaged $139 from April to June, according to data from The Steel Index Ltd.

China's total imports rose less than anticipated in June, according to data on Tuesday, adding to speculation that the country will increase stimulus spending while Europe seeks to staunch its debt crisis. China's slowdown is among the reasons the International Monetary Fund will reduce its estimate for global expansion, Managing Director Christine Lagarde said last week.

Nation buys most soybeans in seven months

China, the world's biggest soybean importer, purchased the most soybeans in seven months in June as higher cooking-oil prices helped processing margins, while concern that South American supplies may drop spurred demand.

Shipments rose 6.4 percent to 5.62 million metric tons from 5.28 million tons in May, and compared with 4.3 million tons a year earlier, according to data posted on Tuesday on the website of the Beijing-based customs authority.

In the first six months, imports climbed 22.5 percent to 29 million tons, customs said.

Report warns of hacking threat on online banking

China should pay extra attention to Internet security issues as hackers have started to put their hands on the nation's online banking and payment platforms, an industry report warned on Tuesday.

"As online shopping and banking businesses become increasingly popular in the country, a large number of hackers are eyeing e-transaction services in a bid to gain illegal profits," said the report, released by Beijing Rising Information Technology.

Trojan-horse viruses were among the top threats during the first six months of this year, and had attacked about 740 million Chinese Internet users, the report said.

More than 3.3 million new viruses were detected during the same period, the report said.

Qunar arms new platform for war in online booking

Qunar.com Inc, an online provider of travel bookings, said on Tuesday it will spend $30 million to build a travel-service platform in its latest attempt to win an ongoing price war among the nation's top online booking websites.

"The platform will provide infrastructure services to travel-service providers and help them offer efficient and standardized services to consumers," the company said, adding that the money will be used to develop the platform and hire engineers.

The new platform will make use of a third-party payment service, a plan Qunar did not elaborate on.

China's online booking websites are faced with cutthroat competition as they try to grab a larger market share as summer vacation draws near.

Mining group Xstrata opens office in Shanghai

Xstrata, the global diversified mining group and the world's largest coal exporter, opened its first office on the Chinese mainland in Shanghai on Tuesday.

"Establishing a permanent presence in Shanghai will better enable us to source high-quality mining equipment from China and other Asian countries for our coal, copper and nickel businesses around the world," said Rod Sutton, general manager of the office, which is under the name Xstrata Commercial Services (Shanghai) Co.

Sutton said China has been an important market for Xstrata and copper sales in China have taken up a third of its global sales.

Cloud-computing service launched by Alibaba

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the Chinese e-commerce giant, officially introduced a cloud-computing service on Tuesday to provide information technology to vendors and e-commerce service providers on its online shopping arms.

The service, named Jushita - which means "stone-gathering tower" - enables users to save IT costs and gain efficiency with the use of various functions, such as data storage and supply-chain management, the company said.

At the same time, Alibaba Group named Jonathan Lu as its chief data officer, the first post of this kind to be set up in the company, as part of its efforts to further make use of e-commerce data. Lu previously led Taobao.com, a large online-shopping website.

Euro falls to 10-year low against renminbi

The euro has dropped to its lowest point against the yuan in a decade to 7.7746 on Tuesday, after the exchange rate first plunged below 7.8 on Monday, according to the reference rate provided by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

The euro has been facing downward pressure this year because of the ongoing eurozone crisis.

On May 23, the euro dropped below the critical level of 8 against the yuan for the first time in a decade on the worsening crisis of the Spanish banking system.

The euro was below 7.9 on May 30 against the Chinese currency, but the rate was lifted above 8 again after the Greek election eased tensions in the market.

China Southern says profit may Slump 50%

China Southern Airlines Co, the nation's biggest carrier by passengers, said its first-half profit may fall more than 50 percent because of slowing economic growth and higher jet fuel prices.

Its profit will drop from 2.76 billion yuan ($433 million) a year earlier, the Guangzhou-based company said in a statement on Tuesday. The weakening of the Chinese currency against the US dollar also caused foreign exchange losses, it said.

China Southern filled a smaller percentage of seats in the first five months of this year than a year earlier as economic growth slowed, damping travel demand.

Exporters face challenge from protectionism

Chinese exporters face obstacles from trade protectionism, a senior Chinese customs official said on Tuesday, noting the largest number of Beijing's trade disputes last year were with the United States.

"Currently the world economy is still grim and there are rising uncertainties and unstable factors," Zheng Yuesheng, spokesman for the General Administration of Customs, told reporters.

"Chinese exporters face trade protectionism and the situation is very grim," he said.

China's exports grew 11.3 percent in June from a year earlier, faster than market expectations for a 9.9 percent increase but well off the pace in May when it posted an annual rise of 15.3 percent.

Huawei eyes deals with Etisalat, Saudi Telecom

China's Huawei Technologies is in talks with Gulf telcos Etisalat and Saudi Telecom to manage their fixed-line networks, an executive said, potentially cementing its leadership of a $1 billion regional industry.

Huawei, the world's No 2 telecom gear maker, is in similar negotiations with several other Middle East operators, the executive said in e-mailed comments, but declined to name them, citing confidentiality agreements.

"Huawei has strong partnerships with most regional operators and is constantly looking into ways of expanding these," Xia Chaojie, vice-president for delivery and service, Huawei Middle East, told Reuters.

China trade surplus jumps as import growth falters

China's June trade data on Tuesday stoked anxiety about the strength of domestic demand in the world's second-biggest economy as imports rose at only half the pace expected, signaling a need for Beijing to do more to bolster growth.

Officials singled out the debt crisis in the European Union - China's biggest trading partner - as key to Beijing's ability to meet its 10 percent target for trade growth this year, as softening sales to the EU in the first half of 2012 cause the United States to overtake it as China's top export destination.

Apple: Next iPad tablet will arrive in China on July 20

Apple Inc said the third generation of its iPad tablet will arrive in China on July 20.

The new iPad with Wi-Fi will be available in black or white for a suggested retail price of $499 for the 16GB model.

Versions with more memory and cellular service will retail for as much as $829, the Cupertino, California-based company said on Tuesday in a statement.

Airbus A350-1000 buoyed by Cathay order

Airbus SAS's A350-1000 won a vote of confidence from Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, which added 26 of Airbus's largest twin-engine aircraft to its fleet, supporting a jet that hasn't gained a fresh order in four years.

Cathay will convert 16 A350-900 on order into the larger variant, and buy an additional 10 A350-1000, the companies said on Tuesday at the Farnborough air show. The A350-1000 has a list price of about $320 million.

Airbus pushed back entry into service of the A350-1000 by 18 months a year ago to add a more powerful engine.

Agencies - China Daily

(China Daily 07/11/2012 page14)