IN BRIEF (Page 18)

Growth beats forecasts as it stays at 7%

The government announced on July 15 that GDP grew by 7 percent in the second quarter, and the figure prompted experts to predict an improvement in the economy over the coming months.

"Downside risks are getting smaller," said Ding Shuang, chief China economist at Standard Chartered in Hong Kong. "A modest recovery is expected in the second half."

The National Bureau of Statistics said the year-on-year growth of the world's second-largest economy remained unchanged from the first quarter figure, beating previous market estimates of 6.8 percent.

Economists attributed the new growth to the economy's resilience and the pro-growth policies the government adopted in the early months of the year, and expected that the policy orientation will remain on course in the third and fourth quarters.

New policies unveiled for Pingtan trade zone

Pingtan in Fujian Province, one of China's free trade zones, is well set to attract more business, with new preferential policies announced on July 15. The local customs office has put forward 22 new measures, including fast clearance for Taiwan merchants doing businesses in Pingtan, preferential clearance for perishable goods and online cargo registration. Twenty new measures were also introduced to delegate more power over agricultural imports.

Power consumption increases in June

About 472.3 billion kilowatt hours of electricity were consumed in China during June, up 1.8 percent from the same period a year ago, figures from the country's National Energy Administration showed on July 15. The year-on-year growth rates have been recovering steadily since March, when consumption fell 2.2 percent.

Nation No 1 in making industrial robots

China has become the largest industrial robot market in the world, with annual sales topping 56,000 units last year, an industry conference in Shanghai was told. Jiefang Daily reported on July 13 that China is expected to have the biggest number of installed industrial robots in the world by next year.

Clean and green streak in M&A deals

Ninety-four merger and acquisition deals in China's clean technology market were concluded in the second quarter, up 147.4 percent compared with the previous quarter, said China Venture, a funds manager with operations in Australia and New Zealand. The value of the transactions was $1.48 billion (1.35 billion euros), more than four times the value of such transactions in the first quarter.

Norms for cross-border yuan loans announced

The Guangzhou branch of the People's Bank of China has adopted regulations covering the pilot cross-border renminbi loan business in the new areas of Nansha and Hengqin in Guangdong province. Companies newly registered in the two areas with operations or investment and Guangdong businesses involved in key projects in the two areas will be allowed to receive renminbi loans from banks in Hong Kong and Macao.

Joint venture will put fashion brand in China

SuperGroup, the British company behind the Superdry fashion brand, has signed a joint venture deal to take its clothes into China, stepping up its push for a global presence. The firm has more than 160 stores in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, with goods sold in over 100 countries including concessions and online. Expansion is also planned in countries such as Austria, Germany and the United States.

Internet Plus seen as driver of growth

Future efforts in achieving economic growth in China will concentrate on improving productivity and applying the Internet Plus approach to create new market growth and drive innovation, an expert says.

Peter Tyroller, a board member at Robert Bosch GmbH in Germany and responsible for Asia Pacific, said China's fast growing 4G network will build a solid foundation for its manufacturers, and that this in turn will benefit greener, more efficient and sustainable development.

"With the advent of Industry 4.0, launched in Germany in 2013, we will see new players, especially from the Internet world, entering the manufacturing sector, where they will change the customer-supplier relationship in both China and Germany."

Fundraising activities remain robust in June

Chinese and foreign venture capital and private equity managers completed fund raising for 92 funds in China last month, 85 of which disclosed the amount raised, according to Zero2IPO. The disclosed amount in June was about $8 billion, surging 191.7 percent from May, or 89.6 percent from the same period in 2014. Among the new funds in June were 91 RMB funds with overall disclosed fund raising of $7 billion and one foreign currency fund of $1 billion.

Vanke, partners eye Shanghai realty project

China Vanke Co, PAG Real Estate Partners and Tishman Speyer Properties have teamed up to buy part of a Shanghai office project from Shui On Land Ltd, sources familiar with the matter said. No agreement for the purchase of Corporate Avenue 3 has been signed yet, they said.

Uber China may list shares on mainland

Uber China, a subsidiary of Uber Technologies Inc, a United States-based taxi-hailing service provider, plans to get listed on Chinese mainland's or Hong Kong stock market, according to a cnstock.com report on July 14. The report said Uber has authorized Goldman Sachs to help it look for investors in China over recent week during which Uber used planned listing of Uber China as one of its bargaining chips.

CITIC in talks on buying assets management arm

CITIC Group Corp is in discussions on buying the assets management arm of Frank Russell Co from London Stock Exchange Group Plc, a source with knowledge of the matter said. The Chinese conglomerate may buy the funds management business for about $1.8 billion, said the source, who asked not to be identified.

European investors still keen on China

European investors say they are still keen to invest in China's financial markets through the official quota system, although the recent stock market turmoil has made them more cautious.

The two major quotas that allow foreign investors access to China's controlled financial markets are the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor and Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor programs.

The QFII program, started in 2003, was raised to $150 billion in 2013 and the RQFII program, started in 2011, has been expanded to more than 10 international markets since inception, with each market given an individual quota.

Under the two systems, approved investors can invest in China's stock and fixed-income markets.

Car sales go through a rough patch

China has cut its forecast for vehicle sales in the world's largest market.

The country expects deliveries to expand at the slowest pace in four years amid turmoil in the stock market that threatens to dent consumer sentiment.

Total vehicle deliveries including trucks and buses will probably rise 3 percent this year, down from the 7 percent predicted in January, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said.

That would be the smallest increase since 2011, when the government unwound stimulus measures unleashed in the wake of the global financial crisis in 2008.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 07/17/2015 page18)