News@ChinabyNumbers

Air China sees no impact as Boeing delays Dreamliner deliveries

Delayed delivery of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner passenger jet will not have a significant impact on Air China's operations, a senior executive at the Beijing-based carrier commented. "This is not the first time that Boeing has postponed the delivery date. We should have received the first batch of 787 aircraft as early as June 2008," the executive [...]

Canadian official raises concerns over Sinochem’s bid on Potash

Brian Wall, premier of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, said Sinochem's planned purchase of Potash Corp would not be in Saskatchewan's best interests. "If sovereign interests from China are somehow involved as this deal evolves... we would have a real concern about that," Wall said. According to sources close to the matter, Sinochem has already [...]

Ping An will take controlling stake in Shenzhen Bank

Ping An Insurance is planning to acquire an additional 32% stake in Shenzhen Development Bank (SDB) for $4.27 billion in a private placement. The deal will give Ping An a controlling stake in SDB, having earlier raised its stake in the lender to 30% from 5%. Ping An, the country's second-largest life insurer by premiums, [...]

China regulator pushes for M&A between rural credit cooperatives

China's banking regulator has called for more mergers between the country's rural credit cooperatives (RCC) to reduce their high credit risks. Jiang Liming, deputy director of the China Banking Regulatory Commission's cooperative finance supervision department said the purpose of mergers and acquisitions in the sector is to "dissolve the risks in China's rural credit market [...]

China’s corn imports set to slow

According to figures from the Ministry of Agriculture, China imported 282,000 metric tons of corn between January and July this year, 56 times the quantity of imports in the same period last year. The ministry said wheat imports doubled, while imports of rice and barley grew 42.6% and 26.7% respectively. Corn imports spiked this year [...]

China’s passenger car sales up 59% in August

According to China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATRC), China's passenger car sales rose 59.26% year-on-year in August to 977,300 units, buoyed by new model launches and better promotions. August's growth rate was 43.83 percentage points higher than July's figure, said Tianjin-based researchers. Total auto sales, including passenger cars, commercial vehicles and tractors, increased 31.53% [...]

ID now needed to get a cell phone number in China

Cell phone users will now have to register by name and present formal identification when setting up an account or buying a new phone number. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said the new rules are part of the government's efforts to prevent spam, pornographic messages and rampant fraud through the network. Under [...]

NEC to set up cloud computing JV in China

Japan's NEC and Neusoft, one of China's biggest software companies, have agreed to form a joint venture offering cloud computing services in China. NEC said it expects the Chinese market for cloud computing, where services and storage are shared and sourced over the internet, to grow to $2.3 billion by 2012. China's IT services industry [...]

US says to drop China currency probe

The US will not launch an investigation into allegations that value of China's currency acts as a form of export subsidy. Countervailing duties had been called for on imports of Chinese-made aluminum and paper products, but the US Commerce Department said the "two allegations before it that China's currency practices constitute an unfair subsidy under US [...]

China’s PMI in August edges past July’s low

China's official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) climbed to 51.7 in August from 51.2 in July - the lowest growth since February 2009 - supported largely by seasonal factors. A figure above 50 reflects growth, but Citigroup said August's PMI reading is typically higher than July's. Domestic economic expansion has been retarded by a weak global recovery, [...]