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Technology

Huge potential seen for mobile advertising

Immense opportunities exist in China, especially in the mobile advertising sector, said a study published by multinational professional services firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers on Feb 24.

The study into the marketing trends in the United States, Britain, Brazil and China, found that the Chinese are far more open than inhabitants of other countries in receiving advertisements and publicity on their mobiles.

"China proposes some interesting, unique and robust opportunities for the advertiser," Deborah Bothum, the PwC's US Advisory Leader for Entertainment, Media and Communications, said at the Mobile World Congress, which opened on Feb 24 in Barcelona.

She said the Chinese people are "open to receiving offers."

Huawei showcases new products in Barcelona

Technology company Huawei showcased several new products at the Mobile World Congress in the Spanish city of Barcelona.

In a press conference held in Barcelona on Feb 25, Huawei showcased the new Huawei Ascent G6, a smartphone with a 4.5-inch qHD screen, a 5 mega-pixel front camera and an 8 mega-pixel back camera, which allows the spontaneous taking of self-focused photos at a price of just 249 euros ($341).

Huawei also presented the Huawei MediaPad X1, the thinnest "phablet" (a mixture of phone and tablet) in the world.

Barcelona also saw the presentation of the M1 tablet, which is a sophisticated entertainment system with an eight-inch tactile screen developed with SWS Huawei technology, allowing users to watch films, TV shows etc in High Definition, with a battery allowing eight hours playing time.

Lenovo expects profits for Motorola

Lenovo Group Ltd, which is buying Motorola Mobility from Google Inc, plans to make the phone producer profitable within four to six quarters without eliminating jobs, Chief Executive Officer Yang Yuanqing said.

"Don't be scared by the $1 billion-a-year loss," Yang said. "We will improve that even from day one. Google is very good at software, ecosystems and services. But we are stronger in the manufacturing of devices."

Finance

Energy investments buoy Citic Pacific profits

Profits of Citic Pacific, the builder of the world's biggest magnetite mine in Australia, rose by 9 percent last year based on good performances by its special steel and energy businesses. Net income last year was HK$7.6 billion ($980 million), the company said on Feb 20. Profits from the special steel business soared by 519 percent in 2013 to HK$1.3 billion.

Sina chooses banks for IPO in US, sources say

Sina Corp has selected banks for an initial public offering of Sina Weibo, its Twitter-like micro-blogging service, that could raise about $500 million, said two people with knowledge of the matter. Credit Suisse Group AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc are working on the planned listing in the United States, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.

Retail

Fast-moving consumer goods market to recover

China's fast-moving consumer goods market will recover this year, with growth of 8 to 9 percent, mostly driven by continued consumer desire to upgrade, a study has found. In 2013, the FMCG market grew 7.4 percent, experiencing some significant challenges, although it stabilized in the fourth quarter, according to a report released by the China Insight Summit on Feb 25.

Auto

Electric carmaker to expand rental services

Kandi Technologies Group Inc, a Chinese electric carmaker that rents out vehicles to the public, said the service is profitable and plans to expand it to cities including Beijing and Shanghai. Kandi, together with joint venture partner Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd, provides electric vehicles for short-term hire using automated multilevel garages. Rental rates start from 20 yuan ($3.30) an hour and covers the first 25 km.

BMW to double engine production in China

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is expanding engine production in China to potentially double capacity as it seeks to close the gap with Audi AG in the world's largest vehicle market. BMW and its joint-venture partner, Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd, plan to make as many as 400,000 engines a year at a new facility in Shenyang, the German carmaker said in a statement to Bloomberg News.

Market

Ad spending growth expected to rise

China's advertising market will maintain slow growth at 6 percent in 2014, an industry report forecast, pointing to another year of bright opportunities for Internet businesses and a struggle for traditional outlets.

Total advertising spending through the Internet grew 46 percent in 2013. It was the fastest-growing medium last year, according to the China Media and Market Trends 2014 report, released by CTR and Kantar Group, a leading market research, insight and consultancy network.

Total advertising spending in 2013 increased by 6.4 percent year-on-year, a slight recovery from 4.5 percent the year before.

Aviation

Airbus to increase share in Harbin plant

Airbus SAS and the Aviation Industry Corp of China signed an agreement on Feb 19 to increase Airbus' share in the Harbin Hafei Airbus Composite Manufacturing Center from 20 to 25 percent. The European airplane manufacturer did not release further details about the transaction. Airbus and a group of Chinese partners, including some subsidiaries of AVIC, own the center in Harbin, Heilongjiang province.

Energy

China promotes pipeline business opening-up

China has issued a plan to open up its largely monopolized oil and gas pipelines, in a bid to increase the facilities' efficiency, the energy authority said on Feb 24.

The National Energy Administration (NEA) said the plan encourages pipeline operators to open their facilities to each other and to users, including fuel producers, refiners, sellers and other industrial users, when pipelines have extra capacity.

Pipeline operators are supposed to provide services including transport, storage, gasification, liquefaction and compression of crude oil, product oil and natural gas, at a price agreed upon by the two sides.

The plan involves both onshore and offshore pipelines, and will be supervised by the NEA.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily Africa Weekly 02/28/2014 page18)