News@ChinabyNumbers

Arrow shares halted on news of sweetened takeover

Trading of shares in Australian gas company Arrow Energy was halted today as speculation mounted that the $3 billion takeover bid by Royal Dutch Shell and PetroChina would be sweetened. Shares will be halted until March 23 or until an announcement is made, Arrow announced in a statement. Arrow shares have risen 52% [...]

China to reopen its pork market to US exports, says USTR

Beijing has agreed to re-allow American pork imports into China, according to statements by the US Trade Representative's (USTR) office. US pork imports were banned in China last year following an outbreak of swine flu. China is the world's largest producer and consumer of pork, and China was the seventh-largest export market for [...]

Blackstone, Capital Group in $600 million China investment

An investor consortium including Capital Group and Blackstone Group has invested $600 million in China Shouguang Agricultural Product Logistics Park, according to a source familiar with the deal. The consortium has taken a combined 30% stake in Shandong-based China Shouguang prior to the planned $700 million initial public offering in Hong Kong [...]

Chinese official warns of risk if RMB rises

Vice Commerce Minister Zhong Shan warned yesterday that any increase in the renminbi exchange rate risks driving Chinese exporters out of business. Zhong said that while most exporters were able to absorb the appreciation of the renminbi that occurred in 2005, others were forced to close. He said that the profit margin [...]

Microsoft MSN China top exec to step down

Xiao Chen, Microsoft MSN China's Vice President of Sales will leave the company at the end of March to pursue his own start-up. Chen has been with the company since its founding, and his departure is expected to deal a blow to Microsoft's efforts to penetrate China's online social networking space. MSN China was [...]

China Mobile 2009 net profit rises 2.3%

China Mobile reported yesterday that profit growth in 2009 slowed to 2.3% from 30% in 2008 and that will cut capital spending over the next three years to maintain profitability. Earnings growth has been slowed by increasing competition for China Unicom and China Telecom. High expenditures on marketing and depreciation for third-generation mobile [...]

China state firms told to exit real estate sector

China's State-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) told state-owned enterprises (SOEs) dabbling in real estate to prepare to exit the market. With the exception of 16 SOEs which are pure real estate developers, 78 other enterprises under SASAC supervision are to speed up restructuring and withdraw from the property sector. The [...]

Hyundai Heavy may reduce China steel-plate imports

Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's largest consumer of steel plate, may cut back purchases from China for the first time in five years. Management said it will build fewer vessels in the near future and is also considering redirecting its purchases to a new Korean mill. "It's not like Chinese steel plates are [...]

China scheduled date for Rio Tinto staff trial

The trial of four Rio Tinto employees charged with stealing commercial secrets and taking bribes will begin on Monday in Shanghai. Stern Hu, an Australian citizen who was Rio Tinto’s chief iron ore negotiator in China, and three Chinese colleagues – Liu Caikui, Ge Minqiang and Wang Yong – were detained [...]

World Bank raises China 2010 growth forecast to 9.5%

The World Bank raised its China growth forecast for 2010 from 9% to 9.5%. However, the report also warned about inflationary pressure and asset bubbles in real estate (although two of Hong Kong's biggest real estate developers in the mainland said prices will not plunge this year). "China's macro stance needs to be [...]