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Backflow key to floating yuan

The key to floating the yuan globally lies in whether the central bank will allow a larger scale of the currency's backflow, a senior executive of the Bank of China Ltd said on Monday.

Wang Yongli, vice-president of China's fourth-largest commercial lender by market capitalization, said that use of the yuan worldwide has been obviously increasing, but that insufficient backflow has hampered its prospects as an international currency.

"The government should put the majority of yuan clearance on the mainland instead of offshore markets," he said.

Wang made the remarks in Beijing during a banking forum at the China Europe International Business School.

He added that an efficient clearance system is crucial for the internationalization process of the currency.

Haier to buy all of NZ firm's shares

Haier Group, a home appliance company, announced on Tuesday that it wants to buy all shares in Fisher & Paykel Appliances Holdings Ltd that it does not already hold for NZ$1.20 ($0.97) apiece.

The offer is to open in the next 14 to 30 days, according to a statement from Haier.

Haier became a shareholder of Fisher & Paykel in 2009, with about a 20 percent stake in the company.

"Haier will profit from the closer alliance with Fisher & Paykel Appliances," said Liang Haishan, director of Haier and president of Haier White Goods Group.

Chen added that, amid the current economic slowdown, resolving trade frictions through negotiations would be a win-win situation.

Delegation to discuss EU probe

A Chinese delegation led by the vice-minister of commerce will visit Germany and France to negotiate with the European Commission on the European Union's decision to launch an anti-dumping investigation on Chinese solar panel exports, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Commerce.

Chen Deming, minister of commerce, said that the ministry is closely following the anti-dumping probe.

China will find a way to tackle the issue through talks with the EU, and the Chinese delegation members will try their best to protect the interests of Chinese companies, he said.

Catering growth at 9-year low

China's catering industry has seen a three percent drop in profits this year, to its lowest growth rate in nine years.

Su Qiucheng, president of the China Cuisine Association, told delegates at the China Catering Industry Leading Entrepreneur Summit in Beijing that profit growth fell to 13.1 percent during the first half of the year, lower than the Ministry of Commerce's estimate of 16 percent during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15).

Taxes, rent, and the costs of raw materials and labor are all rising, as the businesses' profits continue to fall, Su said.

The average costs of ingredients last year rose 14.63 percent compared with two years ago, leading to a 5 percent decrease in gross profits.

The rent for restaurants has seen a steady increase too, as have the costs of labor, electricity and water. The prices of electricity and water for catering enterprises are 20 to 60 percent higher than they are for industrial companies.

CSR wins boost overseas income

China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co Ltd, the country's largest manufacturer of rail carriages, has won seven projects worth 5.41 billion yuan ($853 million), including two contracts with foreign companies.

A $400 million order from South Africa's Transnet SOC Ltd is the largest overseas electric locomotive order ever won by a Chinese company. It is the first time Chinese electric locomotives have been sold to Africa.

Another project was signed with Venezuela CME Commodities & Minerals Enterprise Ltd for truck sales worth 120 million yuan.

In the first half of the year, CSR signed contracts with metro manufacturers in Malaysia, Turkey and Singapore and got a diesel locomotive order from Kazakhstan.

Emirates NBD opens Beijing office

Dubai-headquartered Emirates NBD bank has opened its first office in China as trade between the United Arab Emirates and China continues to grow.

As part of the lender's international expansion strategy, the Beijing office will serve as a liaison point for its business banking activities in the country and across the rest of the Asia-Pacific, Emirates NBD said.

The office will also work closely with its Singapore branch, where trade and investment activities also continue to grow, it said.

"Over the last decade, China has emerged as one of the Gulf's most important trade partners, both as a leading energy importer and as the world's largest exporter.

"Indeed, the Chinese business base in the UAE has witnessed considerable expansion, giving rise to a sizeable Chinese business and residential community," said Hesham Al Qassim, vice-chairman of the bank.

100th Airbus A320 makes test flight

The 100th A320 aircraft assembled in the Airbus Final Assembly Line in Tianjin, which is Airbus SAS's first final assembly line outside Europe, completed its first test flight on Tuesday.

The test flight was performed by a captain, a pilot and two engineers. It is also the first time Airbus had an all-Chinese test flight crew.

The aircraft flew for three hours and 15 minutes.

"All the functions of the aircraft were tested during the flight," said Zhao Weibo, captain of the flight.

The airplane, with 158 seats, is scheduled to be delivered to Air China Limited in late September.

So far, a total of 98 aircraft have already been delivered to 11 Chinese operators from Tianjin.

"Our commitment is to provide the very best aircraft and service to our customers and operators in China, and help develop and train Chinese aviation experts," said Laurence Barron, president of Airbus China.

Internet industry to stimulate economy

China plans to speed up the development of Internet-related businesses as a boost the weakening economy, government officials said on Tuesday.

The government will support the construction of Internet infrastructure such as fiber-optic communications networks and public Wi-Fi hotspots, said Minister of Industry and Information Technology Miao Wei. "The making and consumption of Web content will help to stimulate domestic demand and lift the economy," he said.

China will spend "several hundred billion yuan" to upgrade the nation's Internet infrastructures each year, according to Miao.

Dangdang cashes in on e-books

E-commerce China Dangdang Inc, a major online shopping website in China, expects the number of e-books sold on it to surpass that of paper books in three years, Dangdang Chief Executive Officer Li Guoqing said on Tuesday.

Li didn't elaborate on the company's current sales volumes.

Dangdang started selling e-books in December 2011, and offers more than 100,000 e-books.

Among all business-to-consumer websites, Dangdang accounted for 29.4 percent of total online book sales in the first quarter, followed by 27.5 percent from Amazon.com Inc's Chinese branch, Z.cn, according to domestic research company Analysys International.

In the second quarter, the company's revenue from media, including books, music, and videos, reached $121.5 million, an increase of 32 percent year-on-year, according to its financial report.

Shipping firms lose 7.8 billion yuan

The mainland's A-share listed shipping companies suffered a loss of 7.8 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) in the first half of this year, the 21st Century Business Herald reported on Tuesday.

Although the third quarter is a traditionally busy season, the shipping companies' performance cannot improve much in the second half of the year due to excess capacity, experts said.

They warned that rising fuel prices are gradually eroding the industry's profits and the hard times are not over for shipping firms.

Only four companies of the 13 made a profit, including Cosco Shipping Co Ltd and China Merchants Energy Shipping Co Ltd.

China Cosco Holding Co Ltd lost 4.87 billion yuan in the first half of this year, after a 1.71 billion yuan loss in the first half of last year, down 79.72 percent.

The company's earnings in the third quarter are expected to be in the red, Cosco announced at its shareholders' meeting on Aug 30.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily 09/12/2012 page14)