Baidu nets France Telecom smartphone browser deal

Baidu, China's biggest online search engine, is to launch its largest international expansion to date with an exclusive deal to provide a mobile browser across Africa and the Middle East for many of the smartphones sold by France Telecom. As part of a broader expansion in the region, France Telecom will pre-install the Baidu-based mobile browser for its Android customers in Africa and the Middle East. France Telecom's Orange has a total mobile base of nearly 80 million customers in the region. France Telecom said that Africa would be the world's most dynamic telecom market in the next few years, adding that the Baidu deal would help drive mobile data adoption in markets where Orange is already seeing increased demand for Internet access via smartphones.

CITIC Telecom to buy 79% of Macao's CTM for $1.16b

CITIC Telecom International Holdings, controlled by China's biggest State-owned investment company, will buy 79 percent of Companhia de Telecomunicacoes de Macau for $1.16 billion to raise its total stake in the local phone operator to 99 percent, CTM said in a statement on Monday. CITIC Telecom will purchase 51 percent of CTM from Cable & Wireless Communications for $749.7 million. And it will buy a 28 percent stake from Portugal Telecom for $411.6 million, according to the statement.

Palm oil imports to drop, boosting world stockpiles

Palm oil imports by China, the world's biggest cooking oil consumer, are set to plunge this month after the government imposed more stringent inspections on shipments, potentially increasing global inventories. Imports may be 300,000 metric tons in January, less than half of those in December, according to the median of estimates from six traders and researchers compiled by Bloomberg. Stockpiles in Malaysia, the second-largest producer, advanced to a record in December, while exports fell 25 percent in the first 10 days of January, according to Intertek data.

GM hangs on to lead over VW in full-year sales

General Motors Co outsold Volkswagen AG in China in 2012, keeping its lead among foreign automakers in the country for an eighth year, after sales of the US carmaker's Wuling minivans climbed to a record. Deliveries at GM and its Chinese joint ventures rose 11 percent to a record 2.84 million vehicles, the Detroit-based automaker said on Monday. Volkswagen said deliveries climbed 24.5 percent to 2.81 million. Both carmakers, which count China as their biggest market, may increase their reliance on the country, where the total number of vehicles sold is forecast to top 20 million units for the first time in 2013.

Steelmakers boost use of domestic iron ore: Mysteel

Steelmakers in China, the world's biggest iron ore importer, are using more domestic supplies of the raw material after a rally in the price of imports, according to Mysteel.com. Domestic ore accounted for 84.1 percent of the fines used to process into pellet feed and 28.2 percent of the ore used to produce sinter feed as of Friday, up from 80.1 percent and 26.2 percent respectively reported on Dec 21, the researcher said in a survey report of 60 smaller mills on its website. Pellet and sinter feed are both used in blast furnaces to make iron in steel production. Iron ore delivered to ports in China surged to $158.50 a dry ton on Jan 8, the highest in almost 15 months.

Great Wall Motors reports 28% sales growth in 2012

Great Wall Motors Co Ltd, a private Chinese carmaker, said over the weekend it outperformed the average growth of the whole industry in 2012 with a 28 percent increase in vehicle sales in terms of units. The carmaker sold 620,000 sport utility vehicles, sedans and pickup trucks last year, 20,000 more than its target for 2012, said Shang Yugui, a spokesman for Great Wall Motors. Of the total, the automaker, headquartered in Baoding, Hebei province, sold 96,000 vehicles overseas, an annual increase of 16.1 percent. The company has set a sales target of 700,000 vehicles for 2013, Shang said.

Top shipbuilder forecasts drastic profit shrink

China CSSC Holding Ltd, the listed arm of China's largest shipbuilder, said on Saturday that its profits will likely shrink by 95 to 100 percent year-on-year in 2012 due to the sluggish shipping industry. The Shanghai-based company said in a statement filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange that the slump will largely be attributable to a substantial decline in new building prices amid a lingering shipping downturn. The company's net profits hit 2.52 billion yuan ($400 million) in 2011, while earnings per share stood at 2.12 yuan. China's shipping industry has been declining following a brief recovery in 2010, as the industry has been hit by a supply and demand imbalance and rising operating costs.

Nation's crude imports rise 6.8 percent in 2012

China, the world's second-largest oil consumer, imported 271 million metric tons of crude oil last year, a rise of 6.8 percent year-on-year, as demand remained high despite an economic slowdown, according to the General Administration of Customs showed. The value of the imports jumped 12.1 percent year-on-year to $220.67 billion due to surging prices, according to the data. Analysts have predicted a higher reliance on imported oil in the years to come, as China is still in a phase of rapid urbanization and industrialization.

Power consumption rises by 5.5 percent

China used 4.9 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity in 2012, an amount up 5.5 percent year-on-year, the National Energy Administration said on Monday. Industrial power use increased 3.9 percent year-on-year to 3.7 trillion kWh, and the services sector used 569 billion kWh, up 11.5 percent year-on-year. Residences used 622 billion kWh, an increase of 10.7 percent year-on-year. The country added about 87 million kilowatts of generation capacity during the year.

Vegetable and meat prices increase in January

Vegetable prices increased in the first 10 days of January over what they were in the last 10 days of December, and meat prices also went up, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, which on Monday published the average prices of food found in 50 cities. Cabbage prices increased 11.3 percent to 2.47 yuan ($0.397) per kilogram, and potato prices rose 4 percent to 3.86 yuan per kg. Pork prices increased 2.6 percent to 27.68 yuan per kg. The prices of aquatic products remained stable in the first 10 days of January.

Call for higher cash dividends 'credit negative'

Moody's Investors Service said in a report on Monday that the Shanghai Stock Exchange's decision to encourage listed companies to pay higher dividends is "credit negative" for Chinese banks and insurers. The move will "hinder their ability to retain profits to support their strong loan and premium growth. It is also credit negative for non-financial companies because it will erode their liquidity cushions", the credit rating agency said. The Shanghai Stock Exchange published its "Guidance on Cash Dividend Payout for Listed Companies" on Jan 7.

China targeted by 72 trade investigations in 2012

Chinese exports were targeted by 72 trade investigations in 2012, according to China's General Administration of Customs. Trade protectionism is prevalent globally and the conditions for Chinese trade are worsening, according to Zheng Yuesheng, spokesman for the administration. Among the world's largest economies, China saw its exports most targeted by trade protectionism last year. Emerging economies are also increasingly initiating investigations against China, and the number of industries that are being targeted is also increasing.

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily 01/15/2013 page14)