What's news
( China Daily )
Updated: 2012-07-20
In order to produce top-quality beef, construction of villa-style cattle sheds started on Monday in Wanrong county, Shanxi province, where the cattle will enjoy regular massages. Zhang Yun / China News Service |
Tencent buys stake in financial news publisher
Tencent Holdings Ltd, China's biggest Internet company, has acquired a minority stake in Chinese financial news publisher Caixin Media Co, increasing its investments in media assets to expand services for online users.
The investment in Caixin, made "recently", may lead to cooperation in content, Catherine Chan, a spokeswoman for Tencent, said. She declined to provide financial details.
Tencent is expanding in businesses including e-commerce and advertising to diversify from online games, which account for more than half of its revenue.
The Shenzhen-based company paid about 445 million yuan ($70 million) last year to acquire a 4.6 percent stake in film producer Huayi Brothers Media Corp.
Japanese property billionaire bets $202m on China
Billionaire Akira Mori, the owner of Japan's most profitable closely held developer, said he has formed a company to invest in China and advised Japanese companies on expanding there.
"Japan's environment is getting difficult. I want to build a company that is willing to take risks," said 76-year-old Mori, in an interview in Tokyo. Mori said he plans to expand the assets of MA Platform Group, set up with 16 billion yen ($202 million) of capital, to 50 billion yen in five years. MA Platform has invested 18 billion yen including financing so far.
Mori seeks to invest in educational services and media in China, he said. The company became the second-largest shareholder in Beijing-based Tsingda eEdu Corp, which offers classes over the Internet.
China Pharmaceutical loses bid to toss vitamin C case
China Pharmaceutical Group Ltd, along with its Weisheng Pharmaceutical unit, has lost its bid for dismissal of antitrust claims in a vitamin C price-fixing lawsuit.
US District Judge Brian M. Cogan in Brooklyn on Wednesday denied the Hong Kong-based parent's request to be dismissed from the suit. China Pharmaceutical, Weisheng and at least two other Chinese companies are scheduled to go on trial on Nov 5 over allegations they inflated prices for bulk vitamin C.
The companies were dominant players in a roughly $500 million global market for the material, buyers have said in the case.
Yum! profit trails estimates as wage costs increase
Yum! Brands Inc, owner of the KFC and Taco Bell restaurant brands, said second-quarter profit rose 4.7 percent, falling short of analysts' projections, as costs increased at locations in China.
Net income rose to $331 million, or 69 cents a share, from $316 million, or 65 cents, a year earlier, the Louisville, Kentucky-based company said on Tuesday in a statement.
Yum!, which has more than 4,600 locations in China, is facing higher costs for workers and raw materials amid plans to open at least 700 restaurants in the nation this year. Wage rate inflation in China was 13 percent in the quarter and commodity inflation was 6 percent, reducing profit margins.
New Oriental slumps after Muddy Waters' claims
New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc sank to a five-year low on Wednesday, leading declines in New York-traded Chinese stocks, after short seller Muddy Waters LLC said financial statements at its units are fraudulent.
The education company's American depositary receipts fell 35 percent to the lowest level since 2007, a day after losing 34 percent on Tuesday, when New Oriental said it was being investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Muddy Waters questioned the ownership of some of New Oriental's schools and the consolidation of their financial statements with the parent company.
Xinhua News Agency reports 5.6b yuan revenue in 2011
Xinhua News Agency reported revenue of 5.6 billion yuan ($884 million) in 2011, a 72 percent gain from 2010.
The government's doubling of its allocation to Xinhua, to 1.9 billion yuan, accounted for most of the increase, according to the report. Expenses were a matching 5.6 billion yuan.
CDB offers $7.94b in credit to companies from Taiwan
China Development Bank pledged on Wednesday to offer 50 billion yuan ($7.94 billion) in credit to support companies from Taiwan on the mainland during the 2012-15 period.
The CDB will offer financial help to facilitate the enterprises' upgrading and transformation, step up support for small and medium-sized companies from Taiwan, and help expand cooperation between the mainland and the island in emerging industries, science and technology, agriculture and tourism.
As of the end of June, the bank had issued over 70 billion of loans to more than 870 projects from Taiwan.
Bank launches Bangkok wealth management center
The Bank of China, one of the largest commercial banks in China, introduced wealth management services to its customers in Thailand on Thursday.
The newly established "Prestigious Wealth Management Center", affiliated with the bank's Bangkok branch, is the third of its kind that BOC operates overseas, after London and Singapore, said Che Jun, general manager of the branch.
Highlighting its commitment to clients, the wealth management team signed up cooperation agreements at its launching ceremony with nine leading asset management companies, which will serve as its dealers to provide subscription and redemption services.
Qihoo says new advertising tool will help boost revenue
Qihoo 360 Technology Co, the maker of China's most-used Web browser, said it expects a new tool for advertisers on its online directory website will help the company post faster revenue growth.
A feature that charges advertisers for each computer-mouse click by users on some Web listings posted on the hao.360.cn page will generate additional revenue after it was introduced this month, Qihoo Chief Financial Officer Alex Xu said in an interview on Thursday. The company will continue to charge advertisers a fixed monthly fee for some listings, he said.
Qihoo started showing different listings on the directory page for individual users in May, allowing the company to offer the per-click feature to boost online ad sales, Xu said.
Wisco halves profit targets, blaming sluggish demand
Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Corp, often called Wisco, has nearly halved its 2012 profit target to 1.6 billion yuan ($251 million), dragged down by sluggish demand.
Deng Qilin, general manager of the company, disclosed the new target at an internal conference on Wednesday, attributing the lower target to "a range of factors in the second half", the Wuhan Evening News reported.
Daimler plans China truck engine joint-venture
Daimler AG, the world's biggest truckmaker, plans a 135 million euro ($166 million) joint-venture engine plant in China to fend off competition from an alliance Volkswagen AG is forming with Scania AB and MAN SE.
The factory, in Beijing's Huairou district, will be part of Daimler's truckmaking partnership with China's Beiqi Foton Motor Co. It will be able to make as many as 45,000 engines a year for the Auman commercial-vehicle brand, the companies said in a statement. Construction is scheduled to start in the first half of next year and be completed in 2014.
"We are consistently applying our principle of operating as globally as possible on the one hand and as locally as necessary on the other," Andreas Renschler, head of the Daimler Trucks division, said in the statement.
Yiwu marketplace joins hands with Alibaba for e-business
China's largest small commodity wholesale market in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, joined hands on Thursday with Chinese e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba to promote its online business.
Zhejiang China Commodities City Group Co Ltd and Alibaba Group inked a deal in Hangzhou to improve cooperation in e-commerce.
According to the agreement, dealers at Yiwu marketplace will be able to open online businesses at Tmall.com, a popular B2C online marketplace for high-end goods.
New loans by 'big four' banks double in early July
China's big four State banks doubled their pace of lending in the first half of July from a month earlier, although Chinese banks' total new lending in the month is expected to fall by about a third to 650 billion yuan ($102 billion), the Shanghai Securities News said on Thursday.
The surge in the big banks' lending, estimated at 50 billion yuan in the first half of the month, in large part reflects a pickup in borrowing by government-led investment programs, the paper said.
Agencies - China Daily
(China Daily 07/20/2012 page14)