IN BRIEF

Auto

China becomes Audi's largest market in 2011

German automobile manufacturer Audi AG announced that it sold a total of 313,036 vehicles in China in 2011, an increase of 37 percent from the previous year.

Audi, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, said the results show that China has outstripped its home market to become the company's largest market.

More than 80 percent, or 252,000, of the cars were manufactured in joint factories in Changchun, an industrial city in northeast China, according to the company.

Dairy

Nestle investing in milk production in China

Swiss company Nestle SA will spend 2.5 billion yuan ($396 million, 310 million euros) with a local Chinese government and investors to boost output in its biggest China dairy district after tainted milk from competitor China Mengniu Dairy Co hurt consumer confidence.

The investment over the next five years will be used partly to create a dairy farming institute in Shuangcheng, in northeastern China. This will allow the food company to help farmers produce better quality milk and modernize methods, Nestle Greater China Chairman Roland Decorvet said.

The company also plans to expand capacity by investing as much as 600 million yuan in the next two-to-three years, said Heiko Schipper, managing director for Nestle Food & Beverage in Greater China.

Deals

Yum! to take over hot pot chain on Feb 1

Shareholders of China's leading domestic hot pot chain, Little Sheep Group, have approved a takeover proposal by Yum! Brands Inc, according to an announcement by Yum!.

Under the proposal, Yum! will offer Little Sheep independent shareholders HK$6.50 (83.7 cents, 0.66 euro) per share. Yum! will proceed with its takeover process by seeking the sanction of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands at a petition hearing on Jan 20.

The arrangement is expected to go into effect on Feb 1, when Little Sheep will be privatized and become a Yum! subsidiary, the announcement says.

Weichai Group acquires yatchmaker Ferretti

Weichai Holding Group Co, a subsidiary of Shandong Heavy Industry Co, has reached an agreement to pay 374 million euros for a 75 percent stake in Italian luxury yatchmaker Ferretti Group.

Tan Xuguang, chairman of Weichai Holding, said that the company has made the yacht-making industry one of its strategic objectives for the next five years, and the Ferretti Group makes an ideal and valuable partner because of its well-known brand, advanced manufacturing technology, high-quality products and impeccable sales channels.

Finance

CSR share placement to raise 9b yuan

CSR Corporation, a leading trainmaker in China, said it will raise up to 9 billion yuan in a private placement of shares.

Proceeds from the issue of around 1.96 billion A shares will be used to fund the development of new products and upgrade manufacturing, maintenance and after-sales services, according to the company's filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Jan 11.

The offer has been approved by the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

Oil

New oil storage facility to cost 550m yuan

Royal Dutch Shell's Chinese joint venture, Shell North China Petroleum Group, has signed an agreement with the Nangang Industry Zone to build a storage facility in Tianjin that would hold 200,000 cubic meters of oil, according to an e-mailed statement from the zone's management committee.

The move will help further expand the global energy giant's business in China, the statement says.

The project, budgeted at 550 million yuan, is expected to start in June and finish one year later.

Machinery

Caterpillar expanding research center

Construction and mining equipment manufacturer Caterpillar Inc will expand its research and development headquarters in China to facilitate the growth of the Asia-Pacific market.

The local government said Caterpillar's Wuxi center, which opened in 2009 in eastern Jiangsu province, will have a number of engine test cells for light, medium and heavy-duty; labs for fuel systems; electronics; and hydraulics, among others, when the expansion is completed in June.

The center will increase the number of engineers and support staff from current 500 to 800, and is expected to become Caterpillar's Asia-Pacific headquarters of research and development, they said Jan 7.

Telecom

China Telecom to begin service in Britain soon

State-owned telecommunications company China Telecom Corp plans to launch a mobile service in the United Kingdom within three months, resulting in the first-ever Chinese SIM card outside China, the company said.

The SIM card, called CTEXCEL, will mainly be marketed to Chinese residents, businesses and visitors to the UK, said Ou Yan, managing director of China Telecom Europe.

The service will use rented space on the network of Everything Everywhere, the joint venture of France Telecom SA and Deutsche Telekom AG.

China Daily-Agencies