Two models with a ferghana horse at the Guangdong Modern Agriculture Fair in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. Nine horses reared in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region were sent to Guangzhou to take part in the fair. Liu Dawei / Xinhua

Alibaba opens branches in Munich, Paris

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has opened offices in Munich, Germany, and Paris, France, as the company seeks to expand imports from Europe. Alibaba announced Terry von Bibra, who worked for Amazon and Yahoo, as the chief of its German branch. Sebastien Badault, former employee of Amazon and Google, will head the French office. In Europe, Alibaba has offices in Britain and Italy as well, with the London office functioning as the regional headquarters.

Distributors' monopoly in electricity sales to end

The National Development and Reform Commission has said it will end the monopoly of state-owned power distributors over electricity sales by allowing end-users to negotiate prices directly with generators. Generators will be able to sell power to customers through regional power-trading platforms. Distributors will operate networks and carry electricity for a government-set fee.

Xiamen Air connects Fuzhou and Sydney

Xiamen Airlines launched a route from Fuzhou to Sydney on Nov 29, the first nonstop intercontinental route from the capital of Fujian province. The carrier also plans to open another international route from Xiamen to Sydney on Dec 5. Both the routes will use Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft and take nine hours. Over 500,000 Chinese from Fuzhou live in Australia. The carrier said it will use its six 787 aircraft next year on new routes to Melbourne, Australia; Vancouver, Canada; and New York.

CCB to start renminbi clearing in Switzerland

The People's Bank of China has authorized the Zurich branch of the China Construction Bank to be the renminbi clearing bank in Switzerland, the Swiss National Bank said on Nov 30. The authorization implements an agreement the countries' central banks signed in January on renminbi clearing arrangements. The development of a renminbi market in Switzerland will also bolster Switzerland as a financial center, said officials.

Bank of Jinzhou IPO may net $794 million

Bank of Jinzhou Co, a lender based in Northeast China's Liaoning province, and existing shareholders are poised to raise $794 million in a Hong Kong initial public offering, knowledgeable sources said. Bank of Jinzhou and its owners plan to sell 1.32 billion shares at HK$4.66 (60 US cents) apiece, near the low end of a marketed range. The lender had offered the shares at HK$4.64 to HK$5.54 each.

Qingdao gets expo center in early 2018

China Railway Real Estate Group Co Ltd on Nov 29 laid the foundation for a mega exhibition center in the Qingdao West Coast New Area. The project will entail an investment of 50 billion yuan, and is estimated to open for business in early 2018.

The project is also the permanent meeting site for the Offshore Cooperation Platform in East Asia. It will include exhibition, business and conference centers capable of handling global-scale events; a high-speed train technology research and development center; a coastal recreational facility; and a healthcare unit.

Imports from Africa to broaden in scope

China will import a broader range of goods and commodities from Africa to help the continent further diversify its businesses, said Qian Keming, vice-minister of commerce.

From natural resources to commodity-related products, China will import them all from Africa. Qian said China will offer more assistance, including holding specialized goods exhibitions, to broaden African exports to China and help African nations build more manufacturing facilities and diversify their economic structures and sales channels.

Short selling probe in metals contracts looms

Regulators are reportedly considering a request from the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association to probe short selling in domestic metal contracts amid recent price declines. Regulators said they have started to collect some records of trading.

Firm wins franchise for Brazilian hydropower

China Three Gorges Corp's Brazilian company successfully bid for the 30-year franchise project of two Brazilian hydropower stations. The auction was held at the Sao Paulo stock exchange.

Three Gorges is expected to pay 13.8 billion reals to the Brazil government for the franchise. The concession period would start on Jan 1.

Baidu, partners set up Internet insurance firm

Online search giant Baidu Inc has set up an Internet insurance company with Allianz Group, the insurance provider, and Hillhouse Capital Management Ltd partners. The venture pushes further into the country's Internet finance sector.

CIMC Raffles builds new drilling rig for Arctic

Chinese marine equipment manufacturer CIMC Raffles completed development of a 550 million yuan deepwater semi-submersible drilling rig named North Dragon at its Yantai yard in East China's Shandong province. It is the first China-made semi-submersible drilling rig capable of operating in the Arctic area with temperatures of -20 C.

Winsway eyes debt recast after default

Winsway Enterprises Holdings Ltd, the Chinese coking-coal importer that has defaulted on dollar bonds, has proposed terms for a restructuring of the debt, and some investors have accepted them.

The proposal would require approval of investors holding at least 75 percent of Winsway's outstanding $309.3 million, 8.5 percent debenture due in 2016, the Hong Kong-listed company said.

Home prices may rise more in Beijing, Shanghai

Home prices in Beijing and Shanghai, which have surged this year, have room to rise further as the inflow of residents bolsters demand in China's biggest cities, said Goh Kok Huat, head of real estate investments at GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund. Despite some short-term volatility, the long-term outlook for the real estate market in China is solid given its growth prospects, he said.

Clean car licenses to touch 90,000 in 2016

The licenses for new-energy passenger cars in Beijing are likely to rise to 90,000 next year from 30,000 now. Correspondingly, the licenses for gas-powered vehicles will drop from 90,000 to 60,000. To control air pollution, Beijing has increased licenses for new-energy cars continuously in recent years, and this policy will last until next year.

Qingdao firm to invest in African coal mine

Qingdao Hengshun Zhongsheng Group, headquartered in the port city of Qingdao, will buy a 34 percent stake in South Africa's Coal of Africa for $114 million. Hengshun is traded on the ChiNext, China's board for growth enterprises. It will buy the stake from Baobab Mining and Exploration (Pty) Ltd, which is controlled by Coal of Africa. The latter's Makhado Coal Project, located in Limpopo province, has gross reserves of 790 million metric tons and recoverable reserves of 340 million tons.

China Daily

(China Daily European Weekly 12/04/2015 page19)