IN BRIEF (Page 18)

Ningbo, Zhoushan ports complete merger

Trading in shares of Zhejiang-based Ningbo Port Co was suspended on Sept 29 as the company revealed it has completed merger procedures with Zhoushan Port Co.

The new company will be named Ningbo-Zhoushan Port Group Co, officials said in a Shanghai Stock Exchange announcement on Sept 28, adding its ownership will be shared by both Ningbo and Zhoushan branches of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. The new company will hold 75.46 percent of Ningbo Port Co's stock.

Ningbo-Zhoushan Port is now considered the busiest in the world in terms of cargo tonnage, with a combined throughput of 873.47 million metric tons.

RMB business pact signed with Zambia

China's central bank on Sept 29 said it had signed an agreement on renminbi clearing with Bank of Zambia, its Zambian counterpart.

Following the agreement, China would soon designate a renminbi clearing bank in Zambia, the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, said in a statement.

The move will facilitate renminbi-denominated cross-border transactions for companies and financial institutions in the two countries and boost bilateral trade and investment, the PBOC said.

Zambia has been active in promoting the use of renminbi in cross-border trade and investment.

China-built hydropower plant operates in Guinea

The Kaleta Hydropower Station, the largest cooperative project between China and the Republic of Guinea, has gone into operation after three years of construction.

All three of the plant's generators have started to yield electricity and they will generate 965 gigawatt hours of power per year, said the Export-Import Bank of China, which lent $335 million to the project.

The power station was constructed by Chinese enterprises and installed with Chinese equipment, with the contract worth $446.2 million.

Its installation is intended to ease electricity supply shortages in Guinea and help improve the local economy and people's lives. The West African country is one of the world's least developed countries.

Guinea's central bank introduced in May a new 20,000-franc banknote bearing an image of the power station.

Railway projects worth $17 billion approved

China has approved three new railway projects worth 109 billion yuan ($17 billion; 15 billion euros), the National Development and Reform Commission said on Sept 28. The projects include a 13.7 billion yuan railway running through the three southwestern provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, a 42.8 billion yuan railway project in the eastern province of Jiangsu, and another one in central Hubei province entailing investment of 52.7 billion yuan. Feasibility studies are due.

China's investment in railway construction was worth 379 billion yuan in the first eight months of the year, up 2.4 percent year-on-year, the Ministry of Transport says. Investment in fixed railway assets is expected to be 800 billion yuan for the whole year.

China and Georgia sign currency swap pact

The central banks of China and Georgia have signed a bilateral currency swap framework, officials said. The People's Bank of China said the agreement will boost use of local currencies for payment settlements and promote bilateral trade and investment flows. A free-trade agreement may be considered next.

Trade between China and Georgia was worth $960 million last year, and China is Georgia's third-largest trading partner.

Firms receive license to import crude oil

The Chinese government has granted licenses to two independent refiners to import crude oil directly, shortly after they were allowed quotas to use imported crude oil, the Commerce Ministry said on Sept 28. The two refiners are Dongying Yatong Petrochemical Co and Baota Petrochemical Group, the ministry said.

Regional innovation fund gets 10b yuan

Zhongguancun Development Group and 14 local governments and institutes, including Baoding, Chengde, Zhangjiakou in Hebei province, and Baodi, Jinghai county in Tianjin municipality, will set up a 10 billion yuan innovation investment fund to support innovation, promote industrial upgrading and improve startup eco-systems in the region. This fund will make use of social capital.

Shanghai-Auckland air route to boost trade

China Eastern Airlines' new air route between Shanghai and Auckland will boost trade and people-to-people links between China and New Zealand, Liuwen Tian, senior vice-president of the airline, said on Sept 28. The year-round service began two days earlier with a flight to Auckland. Initially, there will be four flights a week, and from January, daily flights.

Direct sea route to Singapore opened

Qinzhou, the largest container port in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, has opened a route to Singapore that will facilitate direct exports to Singapore and Europe without the need for Hong Kong's facilities. With support of Qinzhou port, the Beibu Gulf port in Guangxi had throughput of 116,200 containers in August, up 24.4 percent year-on-year.

Brilliant wins bid for housing project

Shenyang Brilliant Elevator Co Ltd has won a 3 billion yuan housing project contract near Abidjan, capital of Cote d'Ivoire. Once finished, 60 percent of the houses on 200 hectares of land will be sold at a fixed price. The other 40 percent will be sold at a price the company sets.

Railway Rolling Group comes into being

Chinese Railway Rolling Group Corp was officially established on Sept 28, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission said. The railways company will concentrate on high-end equipment, investment and a strategy of going global, said Liu Hualong, its general-manager.

Subway deals worth 465b yuan approved

The National Development and Reform Commission's website said China has approved subway projects in three cities including Beijing, Tianjian and Shenzhen worth 464.77 billion yuan. The country's top economic planner said the second construction phase of a subway system in Beijing will entail an investment of 212.28 billion yuan, and is expected to be finished by 2021.

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily Africa Weekly 10/01/2015 page18)