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ZTE to release mobile system to rival Android

ZTE Corp, China's second-largest maker of phone equipment, will release a new mobile operating system with the developer of the Firefox web browser to compete with Google Inc's Android software.

The software will be available in the fourth quarter, ZTE Executive Vice-President He Shiyou told a briefing in Beijing on Wednesday.

Mozilla Corp makes Firefox.

ZTE is in talks with overseas carriers to offer devices with the new operating system to reduce its reliance on Android as it expects smartphone sales to double this year amid market-share gains in Europe, North America, Brazil and Japan.

ZTE is expanding into mobile devices and cloud computing, where sales growth is faster than it is in its traditional equipment business as the pace of new network rollouts slows. "We will not rely on only one operating system," He said.

Sugar production may climb 19%

China, the world's biggest sugar importer, may harvest its second-largest sugar crop after favorable weather spurred farmers to increase planting, potentially cutting overseas purchases and widening a global surplus. Prices fell.

Production may climb 19 percent to 13.7 million metric tons in the season starting October, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of nine analysts and traders. Output totaled 11.5 million tons this season, according to the China Sugar Association. The crop reached a record 14.8 million tons in 2007-08, data from the association show.

Futures slumped to a two-year low in New York this month as dry weather helped accelerate cane crushing in Brazil, the world's biggest producer, and a rebound in monsoon rains improved crop prospects in India, the second-largest grower.

Citibank issues sole-branded card

Citibank, the largest credit card issuer in the world, issued its first sole-branded credit card in China on Wednesday.

Five cards in two categories were issued and will be available in thirteen cities that Citi operates in.

With a renminbi-denominated and a US dollar denominated card, the new Citi China UnionPay, Visa and MasterCard credit cards can be used at outlets across China and around the world.

Carrier bookings jump in wake of stimulus

Bookings of the largest iron-ore carriers surged on increased buying of the commodity used to make steel because of stimulus measures in China, according to Dahlman Rose & Co.

Ten Capesizes were booked to carry iron ore to China on Tuesday, compared with an average of 21 to 22 a week for the past several months, Omar Nokta, an analyst in New York, said in an e-mailed report on Tuesday. China is buying more steel and iron ore as the government plans to spend about $155 billion on industrial stimulus, according to the report.

"This is the first jolt of life in the dry bulk spot market since late 2011," Nokta said in the report. "We can expect to see better-than-expected import volumes into China."

Comac asks designers for 12-hour days

Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd, which intends to fly the nation's first large passenger jet in 2014, had asked designers on the project to work 12-hour weekdays and a shift on Saturdays, according to two people involved.

Comac's research center requested most of its 2,000 employees work from 8:30 am to 8:30 pm Monday to Friday, and eight and a half hours on Saturdays for the rest of the year, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified because they aren't authorized to release the details. Workers previously did overtime only for specific projects, the person said. Two calls to Comac's media-relations department on Wednesday went unanswered.

The planemaker is building the C919 as China tries to break the stranglehold that Airbus SAS and Boeing Co have on the global aircraft market.

China iron ore demand greatly reduced

BHP Billiton Ltd, the world's biggest mining company, said the pace of iron ore demand from China, the biggest importer, has slowed by more than 50 percent.

"We're already seeing the beginning of the end of the first phase of economic development in China," Alberto Calderon, the Melbourne-based company's chief commercial officer and manager of its aluminum and nickel business, said on Wednesday at a conference in Canberra. "The pace of demand of iron ore from China has slowed down by more than half."

Australia, the world's biggest iron ore exporter, on Tuesday cut its price forecasts for this and next year on concerns that a slowing economy in China will curb demand growth. BHP last month delayed an estimated $68 billion of projects, including an iron ore port expansion, as commodity prices declined.

"What we have seen in the past 10 years is not only a function of massive demand coming from China, but the industry not being prepared," Calderon said. "This won't be repeated. Margins will still be good, but that scarcity pricing we won't see again, on average."

Airline eyes Chinese social-media products

Air France-KLM Group, Europe's largest airline, is rolling out an ambitious investment plan of "several hundred million euros" to boost its edge in the industry and plans to develop Chinese social-media products on board to appeal to customers in China, one of its most important markets.

"We are initiating a huge investment project in an austerity period to reposition our products and services at the best possible level in the industry," said Alexandre de Juniac, the airline chairman and chief executive officer, at a news conference in Paris. Without revealing the exact value of the investment plan, Juniac said the investments will be mainly used to refurbish its first- and business-class cabins on long-haul flights.

The Franco-Dutch carrier is also investing heavily in digital technological innovations that will allow customers to use their smartphones and tablets onboard.

Holding of US debt increases in July

China in July increased its holding of US Treasury securities by $2.6 billion to $1.15 trillion, which ranks first among all countries and regions, according to latest data from the US Treasury Department.

China's holding until July is still lower than the $1.17 trillion holding as of January, the highest point in this year.

Other major US Treasury securities holders, including Japan, Brazil and the Caribbean Banking Centers, also increased their holding in July.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily 09/20/2012 page14)