What's news

Companies

Lenovo settles US laptop lawsuit

Lenovo Group Ltd is about to settle a year-old class action lawsuit over laptop malfunctions in the United States for about $70 million.

The large settlement should be "a lesson" for Lenovo as the Chinese personal computer giant prepares to take on Apple Inc, a leading industry analyst said on condition of anonymity.

Lenovo will spend about $49 million to repair 83,000 Lenovo IdeaPad laptops sold in the US, as well as about $20 million in cash refunds and credit to settle a 2013 suit involving the company's ultrabook products, according to a document released by the US District Court for the Central District of California.

Bosch 'unawareof rule changes'

Bosch China said on Aug 25 that it had not received any notification from Chinese authorities about changes in foreign investment policies relating to the automotive component industry. Reuters reported that the Chinese government had asked German car parts suppliers to form partnerships with local peers. It quoted the chief executive officer of parts producer ElringKlinger as saying China told several German car suppliers that they may no longer operate Chinese subsidiaries on their own but only as part of a joint venture.

Auto

Pair form allianceto trade used cars

China Grand Auto Service Co Ltd and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Hangzhou to develop a used car online to offline trading platform. This is another step for Alibaba in the vehicle business after it moved into new car sales and vehicle financing, the Shanghai-based National Business Daily said. The platform is similar to the new car e-commerce sales model. Consumers can bid online and pay a deposit.

More funds set asidefor charging stations

The government is considering providing as much as 100 billion yuan ($16.3 billion; 12.3 billion euros) in funding to build more charging stations and spur demand for electric vehicles, two people familiar with the matter say. Increased state funding would help carmakers struggling with consumer resistance over the price, reliability and convenience of electric vehicles.

Car companies buildfactories in Russia

Two Chinese companies, Great Wall Motors and Lifan Industry (Group) Co Ltd are building factories in Russia. Great Wall Motors has begun building a $520 million (395 million euros) plant in the Tula region, about 200 kilometers from Moscow, the regional government said on Aug 25. Vladimir Gruzdev, the region's governor said the government would buy the company's cars. Lifan Industry (Group) Co Ltd will invest $150 million in a vehicle factory in the Kaluga region, which neighbors Tula, through its wholly owned Singapore-based subsidiary, Lifan International (Trading) Pte Ltd. An agreement was signed between Lifan International and local authorities, Lifan said. The investment in Russia is part of the parent company's global strategy.

Dongfeng Citroen plans new factory in Chengdu

Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile Co Ltd, a joint venture of French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen and Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor Corp, is expected to build a fourth factory in China. The plant, with an investment of 12.3 billion yuan ($2 billion) and an annual capacity of 320,000 vehicles, will be based in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province. Construction will start later this year, with the first car scheduled to roll off the line late in 2016.

Commerce

E-commerce volume surges in Guangdong

E-commerce transactions in Guangdong totaled 1.09 trillion yuan ($308.9 billion) in the first half of 2014, up 30 percent year-on-year and making it the leading province in the country, Cai Yong, deputy director of the provincial department of commerce, said on Aug 25. Online shopping accounted for 221 billion yuan, representing 16.3 percent of retail sales in the province, an increase of 6.4 percent over last year.

Industry

City moves give fillipto construction firm

China State Construction Engineering Corp Ltd said first-half net profit rose 34.4 percent to 11.8 billion yuan ($1.92 billion; 1.46 billion euros) even though real estate sales plunged from a year earlier. The company said urbanization would continue to underpin earnings, although risks included local authority debt, which could cut land finance, the tightening of national credit policy and an uncertain regulatory environment.

Finance

Lender reports rise in cross-border yuan deals

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd reported it handled total cross-border renminbi transactions worth 1.7 trillion yuan ($276 billion) in the first half of 2014, jumping more than 70 percent from a year earlier. ICBC, China's largest lender by market value, said on Aug 25 it had finished cross-border renminbi settlements worth nearly 6.7 trillion yuan since 2009, when China started trials of cross-border trade settlement using yuan in Hong Kong, Macao and Association of Southeastern Asian members, as well as a few other locations.

Trade

China's pork productsheading to Russia

Chinese pork products will replace banned pork exports from the West, which are unlikely to win back their place in the Russian market even if the present ban is lifted, according to Russia's meat products watchdog.

Russia's Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance said "the Russian government now is actively cooperating with China's veterinary authorities on pork supplies from certain highly integrated Chinese enterprises".

Technology

Beijing, Hebei team upfor cloud computing

The information technology authority of Beijing municipal government has signed a partnership agreement with its counterpart in Hebei province to build a cloud computing industrial park in Zhangbei county, where the largest data center in the region is expected to be set up and offer services to the capital's high-tech firms.

The industrial park in Zhangjiakou, Hebei, will offer cloud computing services to high-tech companies in Beijing, notably those in the city's high-tech Zhongguancun Science Park.

Sinopec, Tencent sign cooperation agreement

China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, or Sinopec Group, signed a cooperation agreement with Internet giant Tencent Holdings on Aug 26 to jointly explore opportunities in mobile payment, map navigation, online to offline, cross marketing and other businesses. The two companies hope to exploit their unique advantages to serve the customers better. Fu Chengyu, chairman of Sinopec, said that the non-fuel sector, which has huge potential, will be a gold mine for the company in the long run.

Aviation

AVIC takes flightin Cambodia

Cambodia made its biggest international order of the Chinese MA60 Modern Ark twin turboprop aircraft on Aug 21 after the newly launched Cambodia Bayon Airlines signed a contract to buy 20 MA60s with Xi'an Aircraft Industry Group, part of China Aviation Industry Corp.

The contract provides for all 20 aircraft to be delivered within five years and to be operated by Bayon Airlines for domestic business.

Starting in December, Bayon Airlines plans to open routes from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap and Siem Reap to Sihanoukville, then gradually open express routes between other major Cambodian cities, to become the second company with the right to fly domestic routes in Cambodia after Angkor Air.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily European Weekly 08/29/2014 page19)