What's news

Aviation

Airbus to use Tianjinas delivery hub

Airbus SAS of France plans to make more direct aircraft deliveries to Asian carriers from Tianjin, a company official says.

The company said it aims to make the northern port city its Asian hub and indicated that the final assembly line in Tianjin would start its second phase of operations from 2016. This "opens the possibility of delivering directly to customers outside China", said Rafael Gonzalez-Ripoll, Airbus China chief operating officer.

The factory in Tianjin, Airbus' only final assembly line outside Europe, has delivered 172 aircraft to 13 carriers. It has only marginally delivered outside China through leasing companies. Malaysian low-cost carrier AirAsia is the only foreign airline operating a leased A320 assembled in Tianjin.

ICBC to buy Boeing freighters for Asiana

Boeing Co is in talks to sell 747-8 jumbo jets to the commercial finance arm of China's biggest lender, three people familiar with the matter said. ICBC Financial Leasing Co is considering a purchase of 747-8 freighters to place the aircraft with South Korea's Asiana Airlines Inc, which flies 10 older cargo versions of the 747, two people said. The discussions are for four or five planes, one person said.

Internet

Online consumers' privacy awareness low

Chinese online shoppers' private information awareness is among the lowest globally, an industry survey has shown. Although 68 percent of Chinese customers have experienced a data breach, many do not take necessary action to protect their privacy, said EMC Corp, publisher of the survey. About 70 percent of Chinese netizens said they have less privacy now than a year ago, compared with the global average of 59 percent, according to the survey.

Finance

Net foreign currencypurchases fall

Net foreign currency purchases by Chinese lenders hit a nine-month low last month, on lower foreign exchange inflows and wider yuan fluctuations.

The People's Bank of China, the central bank, said on June 16 that the lenders' foreign currency purchases were just $38.7 billion (28.5 billion euros) last month, down 67 percent from the $116.9 billion in April and 83 percent from the $198.3 billion in March.

The decline in inflows comes after the yuan broke a decade-long trend of steady appreciation against the dollar earlier this year.

The Chinese currency has lost about 3.4 percent against the dollar this year, after gaining more than 30 percent since 2004 with few setbacks.

China pares holdings of US Treasury debt

China cut its holdings of United States government debt in April for a third straight month, which may reflect a continuing move from US assets, according to an analyst. China, the largest foreign holder of US Treasury debt, held $1.26 trillion in such debt as of April, down $8.9 billion from the previous month and below the $1.27 trillion mark for the first time since August 2013, the US Treasury Department said in a monthly report.

Agriculture

Cotton planting expected to fall this year

China's cotton planting area is expected to fall to 4.08 million hectares in 2014, down 12.6 percent year-on-year, according to a survey by the China Cotton Association. The association kept its estimate on cotton planting area unchanged with a month earlier. By May 31, the country had basically finished its cotton planting, and crop growth was not as good as the same period of last year.

Retail

Smaller cities seenas areas for growth

Smaller cities will spearhead the next phase of retail development in China, and the sector will continue to provide huge growth opportunities for companies, global management consulting firm A. T. Kearney says.

"Urbanization, increasing disposable incomes and the family-planning relaxation will fuel future retail growth in China," said the Global Retail Development Index, an annual study that ranks the top 30 developing countries in in terms of retail expansion potential.

Although China has more shopping malls, convenience stores, and online shoppers, hypermarkets and supermarkets, particularly foreign ones, than anyone else, the sector needs more steps to counter flattening revenue, the study said.

Automotive

Tesla buyers totake delivery

Tesla Motors Inc, the electric vehicle producer, will deliver previously ordered cars to customers in Hangzhou and Shenzhen in the next two months. The company is also setting up service centers in the two cities, Beijing-based spokeswoman Peggy Yang said. Tesla's Model S will be priced from 734,000 yuan ($118,000; 87,000 euros) in China.

Companies

Wind turbine makerlooks to cut costs

Vestas Wind Systems AS of Denmark must cut the cost of its turbines so the world's biggest maker of the devices is more relevant in China, the industry's largest market, said Anders Runevad, the company's chief executive officer. Vestas plans to include more local content in machines sold in China, he said. It will also remove some features used in European markets.

Walmart plans more hypermarkets

Walmart China will continue to grow hypermarkets and high-end membership format Sam's Clubs in the next three years even as it further develops its home delivery and e-commerce business in the country, top company officials said on July 18.

Greg Foran, head of Walmart Asia and former president and CEO of Walmart China, said on July 18 that "China has the opportunity to become the second-biggest market for the retailer, after the United States."

Legend gets teethinto dental sector

Legend Holdings Ltd, the major shareholder in the world's biggest personal computer maker, Lenovo Group Ltd, said it will enter China's healthcare market as it signed an agreement with iByer Dental Group on June 16.

Legend, focusing on IT, investment and real estate, will initially invest about 1 billion yuan ($161 million; 118 million euros) in Beijing-based iByer.

Meanwhile, iByer Dental Group, established in 1993, announced it would be renamed Bybo Dental Group.

Property

UBS turns to Chinesecommercial real estate

UBS AG, Switzerland's biggest bank, plans to expand its Chinese property investment business with a move into commercial real estate.

Office, retail and industrial properties are "where investor demand is certainly moving to" in China, said Trevor Cooke, head of global real estate for Asia-Pacific at UBS Global Asset Management.

"The stock of investment grade assets in China is growing at about 35 percent per year."

The bank will work with a developer or a company that can source existing assets, he said.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily Africa Weekly 06/20/2014 page18)