Record 860b yuan injected via reverse repos

China injected a record 860 billion yuan ($138 billion) into the financial system using reverse repurchase agreements this week to meet rising demand for cash before a week-long Spring Festival holiday. The People's Bank of China injected 410 billion yuan using 14-day reverse repos on Thursday, after adding 450 billion yuan on Tuesday. The overnight money-market rate climbed for an eighth day, the longest run of increases in almost a year. "The PBOC injection is in reaction to liquidity needs," said Frances Cheung, a strategist at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong. "It is natural for cash demand to pick up before the Chinese New Year."

Yuan at 6-week low as PBOC cuts fixing amid yen concern

China's yuan touched the lowest level in six weeks after the central bank cut the reference rate for a second day, raising speculation it wants to slow appreciation to protect exporters amid a slide in the yen. The People's Bank of China reduced the fixing by 0.03 percent to 6.2898 per dollar, the weakest level since Dec 27. The yen has declined 7 percent in 2013 and approached a three- year low on Wednesday, threatening to make Japanese goods more competitive in international markets.

Taiwan's January exports rise for third month

Taiwan's exports increased for a third month in January, signaling the island's recovery is gathering pace as demand from the Chinese mainland rose. Shipments abroad rose 21.8 percent from a year earlier, after gaining 9 percent in December. A pickup in consumer spending last quarter is reviving the US manufacturing industry, while a purchasing managers' index on the mainland showed a fourth month of output expansion in January, adding to evidence the world's largest economies are recovering.

Standard Chartered renminbi index hits new high

An index measuring the yuan's global use posted another new high of 748 in December, Standard Chartered Bank announced on Thursday. The Standard Chartered Renminbi Globalisation Index rose 2.8 percent from November's 728, it said. In 2012, the index rose 50 percent despite waning global demand, fragile market sentiment and the absence of yuan appreciation expectations. The index is expected to rise at least another 50 percent in 2013, on prospects of recovering confidence in China's economy, the lender said.

'Best time' to invest in healthcare industry

Now is the best time for foreign institutions to invest in China's healthcare industry, Anna Zhao, manager with Healthcare & Life Sciences China under the UK trade and investment section of the British embassy, told a forum in Beijing on Thursday. "Considering the existing political environment for private capital to take part in the healthcare industry and the strong market demand, now is the best time to invest in China's healthcare sector," she said. Bupa, a UK-based health insurance company, has been seeking a Chinese partner to set up a joint venture insurance company in China.

Six more Intime stores make it a national chain

Intime Department Store (Group) Co Ltd said on Thursday that it will open another six stores this year to turn itself into a national chain. "We will open around six stores this year and, by the end of 2015, our target is to have 60 stores in China," said Chen Xiaodong, executive director and CEO of Intime. Chen said the new stores will be located in second- and third-tier Chinese cities. The Hong Kong-listed company opened its first store in Hangzhou in 1998 and now has 30 stores nationwide. Of those in department stores, 19 are located in Zhejiang province, six in Hubei, two in Beijing, one in Anhui, one in Hebei and two in Shaanxi.

Geely spins off ailing taxi business for $27.5m

Geely Automobile Holding Ltd, the Hong Kong-listed arm of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, said that it has spun off its ailing taxi production and sales business for 173 million yuan ($27.5 million). The company said it aims to focus on the car business, after selling sold its stake in Shanghai LTI Automobile Components Co Ltd, a joint venture established by Geely Holding Group and Manganese Bronze in 2007, to Shanghai Maple Automobile, a subsidiary of the Geely Group.

China world's largest gold producer for 6th year

China's gold output in 2012 hit 403.04 tons, an increase of 42.09 tons, or 11.66 percent up from 2011, China Gold Association said on Wednesday. China was also ranked as the world's biggest gold producer for the sixth successive year. Output in 10 provinces or regions, including Shandong, Henan and Jiangxi, accounted for 82.71 percent of China's total output in 2012. China's gold production picked up momentum in the 1970s as the government aimed to resolve a shortage of foreign reserves. In 2007, output surpassed South Africa, the world's biggest gold producer for more than 100 years, with an output of 270.49 tons, the association said.

Production decreases in furniture industry

China's furniture industry saw production drop 2.4 percent year-on-year in 2012, compared with a 2.6 percent decline in the previous year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Thursday. Turnover in the industry rose 13.8 percent year-on-year, compared with a 1.1 percent decrease the previous year. Profits increased 19.4 percent year-on-year in 2012, compared with 45.1 percent growth in the previous year, the ministry said. Exports of wood furniture rose 8.8 percent year-on-year, compared with 10.2 percent growth the previous year. Metal furniture saw exports edge up 0.8 percent year-on-year while plastic furniture saw exports increase 17 percent year-on-year, compared with 21.5 percent growth in the previous year.

Favorable policies support biopharmaceutical stocks

China's encouraging policies for the biological industry are supporting the biopharmaceutical sector's share prices, industry observers said. The National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, issued its 12th Five-Year Development Plan for the Biological Industry early last month, showing that the biological pharmaceutical sector is one of the seven key industries that China will support by 2020. The plan stipulates that the annual growth of the sector should be 20 percent in the coming three years. The average increase in the biopharmaceutical sector's stock prices was estimated at 2 percent on the Shanghai Stock Exchange last month.

Tongrentang to largely expand retail network

Traditional Chinese medicine company Beijing Tongrentang Group said it will open 100 self-operated pharmacies around China and 10 stores overseas this year. The maker of traditional Chinese medicine has more than 1,500 self-operated pharmacies in China and more than 70 overseas, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. Mei Qun, general manager of the company, said that despite the high costs, in terms of land, labor and registration, of opening new pharmacies, the company has to do it to build a full industrial chain and guarantee the sustainable growth of the brand.

Yonghui to expand to 350 stores by 2014

Yonghui Superstores Co Ltd said on Thursday that it will further expand in China despite a slowdown in the retail industry, Beijing Business Today reported. The Fujian-based supermarket chain plans to have 350 stores and 50 billion yuan ($8 billion) in sales revenue in the country by 2014. In the retailer's latest quarterly report, for the quarter ended Sept 30, the number of Yonghui stores was at 239, while its net profit grew 40 percent year-on-year.

China Daily - Agencies