IN BRIEF (Page 18)

Technology

Lenovo adopts Apple way in chasing Samsung

Taking a page from the playbook of Apple Inc, a company it's already beaten in China smartphone sales, Lenovo Group Ltd is counting on a chain of retail stores to help it surpass leader Samsung Electronics Co. The outlets offer the gleaming glass and wide counters found at Apple shops, with phones and tablets sitting on tables for customers to try out. Lenovo's Solution Center takes the place of the Genius Bar, and employees look trim and neat in black polo shirts instead of Apple's blue T-shirts. The retail outlets are part of a strategy to overtake Samsung in the world's biggest smartphone market, offering a range of devices in an environment starkly different from the typical Chinese electronics bazaar.

ZTE forecasts return to profit

ZTE Corp, China's second-largest telecom equipment and mobile phone maker, has forecast net profit of 500 million yuan to 750 million yuan ($82 million to $122 million) for the first nine months of this year. If the forecast is accurate, it will mark a rebound for the company from a year-earlier loss. ZTE attributed the turnaround to improved gross profit margins and cost controls, according to a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange on Aug 22. ZTE released its interim results on the same day. First-half net profit was 310 million yuan, up 26.6 percent.

Finance

Trust loans to come under PBOC watch

Loans extended by trust companies will be included in the credit information database of the People's Bank of China, as part of the central bank's efforts to rein in risks in the sprawling shadow banking sector.

In the statement issued on Aug 22, the PBOC also urged trust companies that are already included in its database to provide timely, accurate and complete information about their loans. It further ordered companies that haven't included the data to do so as soon as possible. The fast growing trust sector is the largest segment of China's non-bank lending activities.

Refinancing deals by listed firms increase

Refinancing by China's listed companies increased 23 percent year-on-year to 344.5 billion yuan ($56.3 billion) from January to August, the Shanghai Securities Journal reported on Aug 19, citing a China Securities Regulatory Commission source. Equity refinancing rose to 181.6 billion yuan, up 55 percent. More than 80 percent of the equity refinancing transactions was carried out by private placement. Bond financing grew 3 percent to 162.9 billion, the CSRC source told the newspaper. The source denied an earlier report that said listed companies had raised 2 trillion yuan from the A-share market.

China to join G20 crackdown on tax evasion

China has agreed to join an international effort by the Group of 20 leading economies to combat tax evasion by signing an agreement to share tax records, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Aug 21. China's decision means that all G20 countries now have agreed to cooperate on tax avoidance, a priority set by global leaders to address the causes of the 2007-2009 financial crisis and to help combat corruption. The OECD, a global economic policy forum, said that the head of China's State Administration of Taxation, Wang Jun, will sign the convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters in Paris next week.

Culture

Good times ahead for culture industry

The output of China's culture industry increased 16.5 percent year-on-year to 1.81 trillion yuan ($296 billion) in 2012, accounting for just fewer than 3.5 percent of GDP, according to data released on Aug 19 by the National Bureau of Statistics. China aims to develop the sector into a new growth source, and it's set a goal of having cultural value-added output account for 5 percent of GDP in 2016, according to the Ministry of Culture. The emphasis is on developing the markets for books, newspapers, magazines, digital audio and video publications, performing arts, television series, movies and cartoons, with support from bank loans as well as fiscal subsidies, tax breaks and land use benefits.

Retail

Online shopping sees a surge in volume

Online shopping surged during the second quarter of the year in China, with transactions totaling 437.13 billion yuan ($70.8 billion), new data showed on Aug 25. The figure was a 24.2 percent quarter-to-quarter increase, and a 45.3 percent year-on-year increase, according to a research report released by iResearch, China's leading Internet industry research company. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, total retail sales amounted to 6.03 trillion yuan nationwide in the period.

Investment

Cloudary in script deal with Seven Stars Film

Cloudary Corp, an online literature platform owned by interactive media giant Shanda Group, said on Aug 23 that it reached a film script agreement with the Chinese movie firm Seven Stars Films. Seven Stars Films, a movie production and investment firm owned by Chinese media entrepreneur Bruno Wu, will link Cloudary's literature with the world's movie industry. Wu, who is married to popular TV host Yang Lan, founded Seven Star Films in 2012. The company has invested in 14 movies and bought the rights to more than 100 movies globally.

Energy

CNOOC parent seeks $3b in loans

China National Offshore Oil Corp, parent of the nation's biggest offshore energy explorer CNOOC Ltd, is seeking to raise $3 billion in loans, according to two people familiar with the matter. The company has asked lenders for $2 billion in a one-year facility and $1 billion in a five-year portion, the people said. China National Offshore Oil is seeking more debt after CNOOC reported better-than-expected first-half profit growth, while saying oil and natural gas production wouldn't see significant expansion in the second half.

Metals

Iron price stays above $110 on higher demand

Iron ore prices will remain strong as sustained economic growth in China, the biggest buyer, supports demand, according to Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. Prices will stay between $110 a metric ton and $130 a ton in the short to medium term, chief executive officer Neville Power said in an interview on Bloomberg Television on Aug 22. The break-even price at Australia's third-biggest exporter is "in the low $70s per ton," he said. Iron ore entered a bull market last month as China replenished stockpiles. While the country's expansion slowed to 7.5 percent in the second quarter from 7.7 percent in the first, more recent data show pickups in trade, manufacturing and industrial output.

Economy

SOEs urged to divest unprofitable operations

State-owned enterprises are being urged to exit loss-making activities. Huang Shuhe, vice-chairman of the Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, said on Aug 22 that centrally administered SOEs should get rid of businesses that are not performing well. In the first half, the value of assets for sale by centrally administered SOEs grew 89.8 percent year-on-year. Real estate, pharmaceuticals, hotel and restaurant companies topped the for-sale list. In 2010, SASAC ordered 78 centrally administered SOEs to exit the real estate sector.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily Africa Weekly 08/30/2013 page18)