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Acer cancels launch amid 'pressure'

Taiwan-based personal computer company Acer Inc claimed on Thursday that it had cancelled the launch of its new mobile phone due to "pressure" from Google, as the device runs on an operating system provided by the search giant's competitor.

Acer planned to launch the CloudMobile A800, which runs on the Aliyun operating system, developed by Aliyun Computing Co, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group providing cloud computing services.

Aliyun said the cancellation was due to "direct pressure from Google", while Google China spokeswoman Marsha Wang said she had "nothing to share" on this issue.

ZTE starts Smart City project

Telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp announced its Smart City strategy on Thursday, aiming to grab business opportunities in China's urban areas.

The project is designed to provide integrated IT solutions, from information collection to application development, to governments at all levels.

ZTE said that the system will help improve government management, offer human-oriented services and facilitate people's access to public resources.

The company has launched similar projects in a dozen cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen.

Chang Jinyun, vice-president of ZTE, said the project is likely to contribute as much as half of the company's government and enterprise business unit revenue in the future, from one-seventh now.

Beijing to host brand festival

The Third Beijing Wangfujing International Brand Festival is due to open on Saturday, with the participation of representatives of overseas and domestic brands and retailers, and officials from the Ministry of Commerce.

Focusing on the topic of "International Brand, World City", the festival, which concludes on Sept 25, will include 10 activities, such as Jinbao Street Carnival, International Friendly District Director Forum, 2012 Wangfujing Brand List and 2012 Dongcheng District Autumn Shopping Season.

The festival aims to attract international high-end brands and China's time-honored brands, increase investment projects, expand domestic demand and consumption, and promote regional economic development.

Nestle sees 20% growth in China

Nestle SA, the world's largest food company, said China sales will probably grow about 20 percent this year because of rising wages and government efforts to boost local consumption.

The slowing growth of Asia's biggest economy hasn't affected the local operations of the Vevey, Switzerland-based company, which has seen expansion in most of its businesses, including dairy products and coffee, Roland Decorvet, its chairman in China, said on Thursday. Nestle's China sales increased by more than 20 percent last year and will grow by at least 10 percent in 2013, he said.

"There are a lot of initiatives done by the government to promote the local economy, domestic economy and local consumption," said Decorvet, who was attending the World Economic Forum in Tianjin. "Wage inflation means more purchasing power."

Bank to finance carbon-capture firm

Summit Power Group LLC, a closely held US power developer, said the Export-Import Bank of China will provide loans for about half of its $2.5 billion Texas project that will gasify coal for power generation while capturing 90 percent of carbon dioxide emissions.

China Exim Bank is expected to loan "$1 billion-plus" to the Texas Clean Energy Project near Odessa, Laura Miller, Summit's director of projects, said on Thursday in an e-mail.

Construction, which will take three to four years, may begin early next year, she said.

Summit, based in Seattle, is seeking equity investors and is being advised by Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, China International Capital Corp and Wellford Energy Group LLC, it said on Thursday in a statement. The remaining cost will be funded by $450 million in grants from the US Energy Department.

China Petrochemical Corp, or Sinopec Group, has won an engineering contract, joining Siemens AG and Linde Group in designing and providing equipment, Summit said.

Golden China Fund beats peers

The Golden China Fund of Greenwoods Asset Management Ltd, which oversees $1.3 billion in assets, has outperformed peers this year by betting on independent power producers and natural-gas distributors.

The $500 million flagship fund, managed by Greenwoods founder George Jiang, returned 10 percent this year through August, said Joseph Zeng, Hong Kong office head of the Shanghai-based company.

The $22.5 million China Alpha Fund, which began in January 2010 and can borrow more money and make more concentrated investments, gained 28 percent.

Stock pickers who rely on company fundamentals have underperformed in the last two years as markets have been driven by government policies to contain the European debt crisis, avert a global economic slowdown and curb inflation.

Ikea readies new China plan

Inter Ikea Center Group, one of Europe's leading shopping center developers, is working on an investment plan for its next round of expansion in China.

The plan, estimated to cost no less than what IICG has spent on its first five-year project in China from 2009 to 2013, is expected to be released in six to eight months, said the company's Managing Director John Tegner.

The company has injected 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) in the past five years into three shopping centers in Beijing, Wuxi in Jiangsu province, and Wuhan in Hubei province.

It will launch a shopping center project in Shanghai, which will cost 4 billion yuan .

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily 09/14/2012 page14)