IN BRIEF (Page 18)

Huawei gets 'smart' boost

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd on July 20 said its revenue during the first six months of the year rose 30 percent to 175.9 billion yuan ($28 billion), fueled by strong growth in its smartphone, enterprise and telecom equipment businesses.

The biggest communications equipment maker in China said its operating margin during the January-June period was 18 percent, compared with 18.3 percent during the same period a year ago. Privately owned Huawei did not disclose the earnings for individual sectors.

African bank seeks partnership

The African Development Bank's president Donald Kaberuka has praised the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, expecting to "work together" to cope with infrastructure challenges in Africa.

"I sense that the AIIB would be a game changer in international financial architecture," Kaberuka, who attended a seminar hosted by a Chinese think tank, the Center for China and Globalization, in Beijing on July 20.

Kaberuka believes that the AIIB, as a major cooperation partner of the AfDB and other financial institutions, will provide a new source of development funding to meet the increasing need from countries around the world.

HNA Group in takeover talks

HNA Group Co is in talks to acquire airport luggage handler Swissport International Ltd, industry sources said. Swissport's private-equity owner, PAI Partners SAS, is seeking about $3 billion from a sale, the sources said, but the negotiations could still fall apart as the two parties have struggled to agree on a price during the past several months. PAI is also exploring an initial public offering with banks, and seeking potential takeover interests from other parties.

CDB to fund projects in rundown areas

China Development Bank Corp has increased lending for the renovation of rundown Chinese towns. Primarily responsible for raising funds for large infrastructure developments, the bank recorded loans of 419.8 billion yuan ($68 billion) for renovation projects in the first half of this year. That exceeded the loan volume of 408.6 billion yuan for 2014. China Development Bank increased its lending to improve conditions in coal mining areas and resource-exhausted cities, Liu Yong, the bank's chief economist said.

China embraces record box office sales

China's total box office sales surpassed 400 million yuan ($64.4 million) on July 18, a record for a single day, data from the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television reported on July 19. The biggest contributor was the domestic fantasy-comedy Monster Hunt, which brought in 180 million yuan on July 18.

China's aluminum production high

Aluminum output advanced to a record in June, underscoring the threat to global producers as low-cost capacity expands in the world's biggest supplier. China made 2.8 million metric tons of aluminum in June, 18 percent more than a year earlier. Production climbed 12 percent in the first half to 15.61 million tons.

China lowers LNG imports in 2015

China will import less liquefied natural gas than contracted this year, as the world's third-largest consumer of the fuel switches to less energy-intensive industrial production amid slowing economic growth, IHS Energy estimated. While the country is set to surpass South Korea as the world's second-largest LNG importer by 2020, Chinese purchases will probably fall short of the 25 million metric tons committed for 2015, said James Taverner, senior principal researcher with IHS Energy in Tokyo.

Australia agrees cattle export deal

Australia will export live cattle to China, the country's agriculture minister said. A deal was agreed in principle last year between the two countries. However, it was held up by Chinese concerns over the potential risk from Bluetongue virus. But after months of talks between bio-security experts in both nations, a protocol to minimize the risk of the disease has been agreed, Australia's Agricultural Minister Barnaby Joyce said.

$193 million Audi aid package

Audi AG is providing 1.2 billion yuan ($193 million) in financial aid to its Chinese dealers as demand for luxury vehicles slows in its largest market. According to industry sources, the car producer has also lowered its sales target for 2015 from 600,000 units to about last year's level. Audi delivered 578,932 vehicles in China, including Hong Kong, last year.

Volkswagen sales slump in first quarter

Volkswagen AG has posted its first decline in first-half deliveries in China in a decade as demand slowed. VW counts the country as its largest market, but deliveries in China and Hong Kong fell 3.9 percent from a year earlier to 1.74 million units between January and June. First-half sales in China last fell in 2005, when deliveries slumped 14 percent. Car sales in China have been hit this year after economic growth slowed down, more cities capped the number of new cars, and a volatile stock market diverted funds from vehicle purchases.

P2P firms to feel the pinch

Peer-to-peer, or P2P, lenders in China will henceforth function only as intermediaries and cannot raise funds on their own, the People's Bank of China said.

Releasing fresh guidelines for the sector, the PBOC said: "P2P lending companies will serve only as intermediaries between lenders and borrowers and cannot 'enhance borrower creditworthiness' by raising funds of their own to lend."

Transaction volumes of P2P lending, often done without a traditional financial intermediary such as a bank, almost doubled during the first six months of the year, with average annual returns of about 15 percent, according to data from wangdaizhijia.com, an online lending information and exchange platform.

Price war looms as smartphone market booms

China's big players are gearing up for a price war in the high-end smartphone sector, and the only big winner will be the consumer.

Xiaomi Corp, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp's Nubia have all rolled out new products in what has been dubbed the "Godzilla" handset business, as they battle to wrestle away more market share from South Korean-based giant Samsung.

"By introducing premium devices, the average price of high-end smartphones will be dragged down," Antonio Wang, an analyst with the United States-based market research company IDC in Beijing, said. "This will benefit consumers."

Markets to close for four-day holiday

The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets will be closed for four consecutive days from Sept 3 to Sept 6, according to a notice issued by the China Securities Regulatory Commission on July 21. The holiday is to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. The markets will reopen on Sept 7.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 07/24/2015 page18)