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Finance

Power supplier will seek private capital

The State Grid Corp of China, the nation's largest utility by sales, said on May 27 it plans to seek private capital investment to establish a distributed power network and charging stations for electric vehicles. It's a step toward mixed ownership in State-monopolized industries.

But experts said the decision is less encouraging when compared with the other two giant State-owned energy companies-China Petrochemical Corp, known as Sinopec, and PetroChina Co Ltd, which opened assets for private investors in January.

State Grid representative Wang Yanfang said the company supports private capital to invest in distributed power generation connection projects, as it will develop the industry.

Nation may start crude futures market

China will work hard to roll out crude oil futures this year, Jiang Yang, vice-chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the top securities regulator, said on May 28. Jiang spoke at the 11th Shanghai Derivatives Market Forum. Jiang highlighted that the country would make full efforts to encourage market innovation this year.

Permit for more access to mainland market

Fullerton Fund Management, the asset management unit of Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings (Private) Ltd, says it has received a license giving it more access to China's mainland capital markets. It joins international funds like BlackRock. Fullerton was granted Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors status by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the firm said. Fullerton has held a Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor license since May 2012.

Construction giant plans giant loan

China State Construction Engineering Corp, the country's biggest builder by market value, plans to raise as much as 30 billion yuan ($4.8 billion) to boost working capital for infrastructure projects. The Beijing company will sell up to 300 million preferred shares in a private placement, according to a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on May 26. The sale, which needs shareholder and regulator approvals, is the largest such offering by the country's non-bank firms.

For buying, more find plastic is fantastic

Chinese financial institutions had issued 4.39 billion bankcards by the end of March, a 4.19 percent increase from the previous year, the People's Bank of China says. Purchases made by cards averaged 2,173.52 yuan ($352.10) per bankcard in the first quarter of this year, 20.91 percent higher than a year ago.

Freeing-up seen as step forward

The People's Bank of China will allow commercial banks to offer large-denomination certificates of deposit to individuals and companies, a further step toward freeing up interest rates, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Sources in the banking industry said the certificates of deposit were to be available on a trial basis as early as this week to allow a gradual introduction to the market, the newspaper said. During a test run involving more than 10 banks, the interest rate will be set at 3.4 percent for one-year certificates with a minimum investment of 100,000 yuan ($16,030), the newspaper said.

Resources

Ban on foreign controlin steel may be lifted

China's government is in talks to lift its ban on foreign companies taking control of domestic steelmakers, says Li Xinchuang, deputy secretary-general of the China Iron and Steel Association. Talks over the ban, in place since 2005, underscore China's urgent need to deal with crippling overcapacity in the industry through better technology and higher-value products. China's big mills had lost a combined 2.3 billion yuan ($369 million) in the first quarter, said the association, an industry group funded by major steelmakers, as the country's economy expanded at its slowest pace in six quarters.

Banking

Banks' bad debts may rise to five-year high

China's biggest banks are poised to report their highest proportion of bad debt since 2009 after late payments on loans surged to a five-year high, indicating borrowers are struggling amid an economic slowdown. The nation's 10 largest lenders reported overdue loans reached 588 billion yuan ($94 billion) at the end of 2013, a 21 percent increase from a year earlier to the highest levels seen since at least 2009.

Auto

China to be biggest market for electric cars

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG predicts China will become the world's largest market for electric vehicles as more charging infrastructure is built and the government promotes cleaner cars to cut pollution. "We expect that the Chinese car market for electro-mobility will become the largest market for those cars in a few years," a company official said in Shanghai on May 28.

Technology

Windows 8 ban mayopen doors in China

With Microsoft Inc's Windows 8 now banned from being installed on Chinese government computers, domestic operating system developers are seeking a niche in the world's biggest personal computer market.

The country's relatively large operating system developers, including China Standard Software Co and National Fundamental Software of China Ltd, have fresh opportunities, but their products face long and tough tests.

Windows 8 has been banned from all desktops, laptops and tablet PCs bought by State organs. The announcement made by the Central Government Procurement Center did not make it clear whether other Windows products were prohibited as well.

Tourism

Direct China-DPRK tour bus debut

A one-day bus tour from the northeast border city of Longjing to Hoeryong in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was launched on May 27. The opening of the route will enable Chinese tourists to arrive in Hoeryong directly, without having to transfer to a DPRK vehicle at the port, according to Wang Jing, a government worker from Longjing in Jilin Province. A total of 134 tourists took the tour on the route opening's first day.

Companies

Solar defaulterborrows $321m

LDK Solar Co, the Chinese solar manufacturer that defaulted on a bond that matured in February, said it has received 2 billion yuan ($321 million) worth of loans from Chinese banks. China Development Bank Corp, the country's biggest policy lender, is leading the funding from 11 financial institutions, LDK spokesman Peng Shaomin said on May 26. LDK will spend more than 400 million yuan on a polysilicon project and use the remainder to boost its cash reserves, Peng said.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily Africa Weekly 05/30/2014 page18)