IN BRIEF (Page 18)

Investment

Central bank approves investment in 2 cities

The central bank has given approval for two cities to launch a qualified domestic individual investor program, which is now awaiting final approval from the State Council, said an official from the Guangzhou branch of People's Bank of China, Shanghai Securities News reported.

The QDII2 program will be launched in Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong province, according to Wang Jingcheng, president of the central bank's Guangzhou branch. Under the program, qualified Chinese individual investors can directly inject money into foreign stock markets.

Regulator to expand pension firms' investment

The top securities regulator is focusing on expanding asset management companies' pension fund investments. The investment operators will be large, professional asset management institutions, Xu Hao, deputy chief of the Fund Management Department of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said on Monday. Expanding pension fund investments offers an opportunity to develop the asset management industry, with the ultimate goal of ensuring asset security, Xu said.

Cushman & Wakefield to boost China position

Cushman & Wakefield, the world's largest privately held commercial real estate services firm, announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire Singapore-based project management specialist company Project Solution Group (PSG) in a deal that would increase its presence in the Chinese market. This latest acquisition is aligned with the firm's global strategy to strengthen its operations in the Asia-Pacific region and, when completed, will position Cushman & Wakefield as a market leader in project management services, according to the company's statement.

Trade

Commerce spokesman rejects US accusations

Shen Danyang, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, on Tuesday called US accusations of a ban on imported pork "groundless" and said that the Chinese market remains open to US pork. The United States is the largest source of pork imports to China, and the volume has been on the rise in recent years. Imports of US pork increased from 80,000 metric tons in 2009 to 590,000 metric tons in 2012. During the first four months of this year, the figure reached 120,000 metric tons.

Energy

Sinopec agrees to buy into Angolan oilfield

Sinopec Group, Asia's largest refiner, has agreed to buy 10 percent of Marathon Oil Corp's Angolan offshore oil and gas field for $1.52 billion. Sonangal Sinopec International Ltd, a group subsidiary, will acquire 10 percent of the shares in Houston-based Marathon's field, Block 31, the State-owned oil company said.

Marathon is a US-based independent oil company that owns 10 percent stakes of Block 31 and Block 32.

Oil inventories up in May as refineries do repairs

China's commercial crude oil inventories rose 4.75 percent at the end of May from a month earlier, as refineries scaled back crude runs for maintenance, the official Xinhua News Agency said on Monday.

Refined fuel stocks, however, fell 4.54 percent month-on-month, newsletter Xinhua OGP said.

Among refined fuels, diesel inventories sank 8.87 percent from the end of April and kerosene stocks fell 1.85 percent, while gasoline stocks inched up 0.56 percent, OGP said.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily Africa Weekly 06/28/2013 page18)