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China Mobile develops NFC

China Mobile Ltd, the world's biggest mobile operator by subscriber base, said on Wednesday that it has developed the first TD-SCDMA 3G mobile phone supporting the Near Field Communication technology.

NFC is short-range communication technology that can be incorporated into mobile phones to perform functions such as paying for goods or swapping information.

NFC mobile phones can help the operator promote its mobile payment services, since the telecom carrier is trying to find ways to boost its sluggish revenue growth.

J&J plans training center in China

Johnson & Johnson Medical (China) Ltd said it will soon set up its third medical-care training center in China, targeting Chinese medical practitioners in Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

The company said it is making the move to meet the increasing professional-training needs in China and supplement functions of its co-existing academic and training facilities in Beijing and Shanghai.

Johnson & Johnson declined to reveal the cost of the new facility.

Rubber drops again on truck-sales data

Rubber retreated for a third day after data showed truck sales declined in China, the biggest buyer.

The commodity's price drop reflects concern that demand for rubber, used to make tires, may weaken as the global economy slows.

December-delivery rubber fell 1.3 percent to end at 244.4 yen a kilogram ($3,081 a metric ton) on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, the lowest settlement level for the most-active contract since June 29. The third fall is the worst run since the period to June 4.

China's truck sales fell 11.2 percent in June to 195,100 units from a year earlier, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

China's car sales beat estimates

China's passenger vehicle sales rose in June, exceeding analysts' estimates for a fourth consecutive month after automakers increased shipments ahead of scheduled shutdowns for the summer.

Wholesale deliveries, including multipurpose and sport utility vehicles, gained 16 percent to 1.28 million units last month, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said in a statement on Wednesday. That compares with the 1.27 million average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Honda Motor Co and Toyota Motor Corp led sales gains in China as Japanese carmakers rebounded from last year's earthquake.

Lower forecast of rapeseed output

China reduced its forecast for 2012 rapeseed output to 12.2 million metric tons in its July report, compared with 12.8 million tons forecast last month, the China National Grain and Oils Information Center said on Wednesday in a report.

The country's peanut-output forecast was raised to 16.2 million tons, from the previous forecast at 15.8 million tons.

Grain output renews record

China's output of summer grain stood at 129.95 million metric tons this year. That was up 2.8 percent year-on-year and surpassed the record of 127.68 tons set in 1997, the National Bureau of Statistics announced on Tuesday.

In China, the term "summer grain crops" refers mainly to wheat and early rice. Wheat output contributed largely to the summer-grain harvest, increasing 3.34 million tons, or 3 percent, from the previous year to 114.3 million tons this year, the bureau said.

Interest rate cuts set to hit profits

Recent cuts in interest rates by China's central bank could strain the Chinese banking sector's profitability in 2013, but any extra pressure on profitability this year is unlikely, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said in a report on Wednesday.

"These moves will enable banks to price their loans at levels that should allow them to compete more effectively with the bond markets. We estimate that the central bank's actions will weaken the banking sector's return on assets in 2013 by 10 basis points more than our previous forecast of a 20- to 25-point reduction," said Ryan Tsang, primary credit analyst of S&P.

Tourism revenue at $202 billion in H1

The National Tourism Administration of China said on Wednesday that the total tourism revenue was 1.28 trillion yuan ($202 billion) in the first half of the year, up 17.3 percent from the same period last year, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The number of domestic trips taken hit 1.55 billion with a year-on-year increase of 14.6 percent. The revenue from domestic travel was 1.13 trillion yuan, up 20.1 percent year-on-year, according to Wang Zhifa, deputy director of the administration.

Price-fixing case to go to US court

China Pharmaceutical Group Ltd and several other Chinese makers of vitamin C will face a Nov 5 trial in the US on charges of price-fixing, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing a federal judge.

The decision was declared by US District Judge Brian M. Cogan in New York on Tuesday.

The defendants, including Aland (Jiangsu) Nutraceutical Co, Northeast Pharmaceutical Co and Weisheng Pharmaceutical Co, captured more than 60 percent of the worldwide market for vitamin C by 2001, Cogan said in a September ruling. China's share of vitamin C imports to the US climbed to more than 80 percent in 2002 from 60 percent in 1997.

CNPC says prices to remain down

China National Petroleum Corp, the nation's biggest oil company, expects economic growth to slow in the second half, keeping prices depressed.

The State-controlled company said it will take steps to cope with the situation, according to a statement CNPC posted on its website on Wednesday.

Alstom builds technology center

Alstom SA, the world's third-largest power-equipment maker, is working on the second phase of a hydropower technology center in Tianjin to boost business, said Yves Rannou, Alstom Hydro China Co general manager.

The construction is expected to be completed by mid-2013, Rannou said on Wednesday at a Tianjin briefing. The new center, in the northern city of Tianjin, is Alstom's sixth after centers in France, Switzerland, Brazil, India and Canada.

"We see huge potential to be exploited" in China's hydropower market, particularly in the south, Jerome Pecresse, renewable power president for Alstom, said in an interview. He expects the market to continue to grow.

Agencies - China Daily

(China Daily 07/12/2012 page14)