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Yuan nears 19-year high as PBOC raises daily fixing

The yuan rose to within 0.1 percent of a 19-year high after the central bank raised its daily fixing for the currency for the first time this week. The People's Bank of China boosted the yuan's reference rate by 0.05 percent to 6.2762 per dollar. The currency is allowed to trade as much as 1 percent on either side of the fixing. The move was prompted by the yen's gains against the dollar after the Bank of Japan deferred new monetary stimulus, said Khoon Goh, a senior strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd.

Glencore set to win China approval for Xstrata bid

Glencore International Plc is expected to win approval from the Ministry of Commerce for its $36 billion takeover of coal producer Xstrata Plc, meeting the final regulatory requirement for a deal that creates the world's fourth-largest mining company. Glencore, the commodities trader based in Baar, Switzerland, and Xstrata last week extended the deadline to mid-March, to allow for completion of regulatory reviews in South Africa and China.

China Railway plans to sell dollar-denominated bonds

China Railway Group Ltd plans to sell its debut-making US dollar-denominated bonds. China Railway, the nation's biggest construction company by total assets, has hired six banks to arrange investor meetings from Thursday, according to a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Wednesday.

Cotton gains as global stockpiles head higher

Cotton is set to trade between 70 US cents and 80 cents a pound this year as China, the biggest buyer, boosts stockpiles, and global inventories climb to an all-time high, according to Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. World reserves may climb to a record 18 million metric tons in 2012-13, Singapore-based analyst Victor Thianpiriya said in a report on Wednesday. China's inventories may total about 10 million tons, more than enough to supply its needs for a year, he said.

Nation's crude output hits record as growth rebounds

China's crude oil output rose to a record in December as the nation's economy rebounded from a seven-quarter economic slowdown. It produced 17.94 million metric tons of crude in the month, up 5.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the Beijing-based China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, equivalent to 4.24 million barrels a day. Output totaled 207.5 million tons in 2012, an increase of 1.9 percent from 2011.

China to further expand trial of 4G wireless network

China will expand its two-year-old trial of fourth-generation mobile networks this year after making very good progress in 2012, a government official said. China is actively promoting the 4G network trial, Zhang Feng, director of the telecommunications development department at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said on Wednesday. "Looking at the experimental results, the whole progress has been very good," Zhang said, without elaborating.

Guangzhou auto industry hit by Diaoyu tension

The output of Guangzhou's auto industry dropped 6.3 percent in 2012, which officials have blamed on tension between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands. Wang Xudong, director of the city's economic and trade commission, said joint ventures with Japanese auto players represent the mainstay of the city's auto sector. At a news conference on Tuesday, he said the output of the city's auto manufacturing sector declined 30 billion yuan ($4.83 billion) and that the entire auto industrial chain was down by 45 billion yuan.

Insurance groups may launch subordinated debt

China's insurance regulator may allow insurance groups or insurance holding companies to launch subordinated debt, the industry watchdog said on Tuesday. The move comes after the regulator revised management rules on insurers' subordinated debt. The original rule, which was released in Oct, 2011, did not allow the participation of insurance groups and holding companies in subordinated debt deals. Launching subordinated debt deals is an important way for insurers to raise money. Subordinated debt deals in 2012 were worth around 73.1 billion yuan ($11.64 billion), up 26.6 percent year-on-year.

Tencent ups spending to boost market share

Tencent Holdings Ltd, China's biggest Internet company by sales, will spend more on content this year, including purchasing copyrights and making its own programs, said Liu Chunning, general manager of Tencent's online video department. Liu said the company will spend 50 percent more this year than in 2012 to provide 100 episodes of Web series and 100 micro movies, and purchase copyrighted content. Most Chinese online video companies are in the red, despite spending large amounts on content to attract users.

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily 01/24/2013 page14)