Industrial firms see insurance premiums as cheap capital flows

Chinese listed companies are chasing insurance licenses, hoping to gain low-cost capital amid the economic slowdown.

Coal output to be hiked, says NDRC

China's top economic regulator - the National Development and Reform Commission - gave the greenlight to bring back onstream some frozen coal production capacity in order to head off coal prices rising excessively, it announced on Wednesday.

Golden Week won't reverse HK tourist decline

With the National Day holiday (Oct 1-7) just around the corner, tourist industry chiefs on Wednesday voiced concerns that Hong Kong would continue to suffer from shrinking mainland visitors, after a brief rebound in July, to resume the past 12 months of dwindling numbers.

Companies interested in bidding for Aussie wind farm

Origin Energy Ltd, the Sydney-based energy producer and retailer, has received expressions of interest from at least five Chinese suitors for the sale of its Australian Stockyard Hill wind farm project, company sources said.

GAC gears up for major capacity expansion

Guangzhou-based automaker GAC Motor Co Ltd on Wednesday began major renovations of its assembly plant in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, in a push to expand production capacity following substantial sales growth.

Evergrande sells non-core business

China Evergrande, one of the Chinese mainland's top two real estate companies, has decided to sell all of its non-core businesses in the grain and oil, dairy products and spring water sectors for the aggregate price of 2.7 billion yuan ($409 million), in order to put more focus on its property development business, as mainland house prices are going wild recently.

China stocks soft, many sceptical of economic recovery

China stocks weakened on Wednesday despite strength in property shares, with thin trading indicating investors' reluctance to participate days ahead of the weeklong National Day holiday that starts on Oct 1.

Highly-leveraged bets lure investors with 15% yields

China's wealthy are flocking to investment products that buy bank-issued securities and soup up returns using leverage. That is, they use borrowed funds to buy additional securities. If the securities end up with a higher rate of return than the borrowed funds, then the investment product can make high returns.

Amazon helps to spread the love of reading

As a child growing up in a poor rural area in Jiangsu province, Chinese writer Xu Zechen had nothing to read but a magazine targeted at mature readers and a semimonthly on politics, both subscribed by his grandfather.

PepsiCo aims to fight poor nutrition.

PepsiCo Greater China Region officially launched the "PepsiCo Nutrition In Action" program in China in late 2015, and donated funds and materials totaling 1 million yuan to China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation. It is providing nutritious meals and conducting educational activities on nutritional knowledge for schoolchildren in poor areas of Zhaotong, southwestern China's Yunnan province.

UK medical journal hails breast-feeding

The Lancet, the leading medical research journal, is calling for positive social attitudes toward breast-feeding, stricter policy interventions and better regulation of the breast milk substitute industry to increase worldwide the practice for the health and economic benefits for women.

IN BRIEF (Page 18)