IN BRIEF (Page 3)

Construction

Chinese firm joins UK airport enterprise

Manchester Airports Group has announced an 800-million-pound ($1.28 billion) real estate development deal with Beijing Construction Engineering Group International Co Ltd and two other companies.

The Airport City Project will see the construction of offices, hotels, warehouses and sites for advanced manufacturing and logistics in the Enterprise Zone close to the third-busiest airport in the United Kingdom.

Government sources say international business attracted to the site will create 16,000 jobs in the northwest of England.

"The inclusion of BCEG is significant because we have been keen to forge greater links with the Far East and this gives us an opportunity to strengthen vital business links with China," said Charlie Cornish, chief executive of MAG.

Communications

Beidou to have 60% share of home market

China's satellite navigation system, Beidou, plans to have a 60 percent share of the domestic market and 80 percent of all markets related to social and economic growth by 2020.

The plans, released by the central government on Oct 10, are to increase the navigation-related industry to 400 billion yuan ($65.4 billion; 48.3 billion euros), popularize Beidou in both the national economy and the consumer market, and improve the international effectiveness of the system.

Major projects include creating a system of more than 30 satellites by 2020, creating core technologies in navigation chip production, and spreading the use of Beidou products in key fields such as power, communications, banking and public security.

Trade

Q3 growth may help boost foreign trade

Thanks to a recovery in both exports and imports in the third quarter, China's foreign trade is likely to rise by as much as 8 percent this year, achieving full-year trade growth target set by the government, analysts say.

Total foreign trade expanded 7.7 percent to 19.07 trillion yuan ($3.06 trillion; 2.30 trillion euros) for the first three quarters, the General Administration of Customs said on Oct 12.

"China's foreign trade showed a slight recovery for the first three quarters, with the growth of imports and exports in the third quarter, rebounding to 6 percent from the 4.3 percent in the second quarter," Zheng Yuesheng, a customs spokesman, said.

Former premier's daughter denies report

The daughter of former premier Li Peng has denied foreign media reports that she helped broker Zurich Insurance's entry into the Chinese market.

Accusations against Li Xiaolin, chairwoman of China Power International Development, which is listed in Hong Kong, were rejected in a statement on the company's micro blog on Oct 13.

The statement said "rumors circulated on the Internet about Li's involvement in insurance (company) transactions are merely malevolent defamation".

It said Li never had personal contact with any insurance company and knows no one from such companies, adding that she reserves the right to take legal action against anyone who made or transmitted the "rumors".

The denial was issued after The Daily Telegraph in London published a story on Oct 10 saying the 52-year-old businesswoman played a leading role in a business deal in which Zurich Insurance, one of the biggest insurers in the world, bought nearly a quarter of the shares of New China Life.

Taiwan

Forum discusses political issues

Scholars and former government officials from the mainland and Taiwan gathered in Shanghai on Oct 11 to discuss political and security issues, a move seen as the first test for an official political dialogue across the Straits.

The first Cross-Straits Peace Forum came a few days after President Xi Jinping called for a resolution to political disagreements across the Straits based on equal consultations during his meeting with Taiwan politician Vincent Siew before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation gathering.

China Daily

(China Daily Africa Weekly 10/18/2013 page3)