Yahoo co-founder joins Lenovo board as observer

Lenovo Group Ltd, the world's second-biggest maker of personal computers, said Yahoo! Inc co-founder Jerry Yang will join the board of directors as an observer during its expansion into smartphones and tablets. Yang, 44, will attend board meetings to share his "experience and perspective as an Internet and technology pioneer," Beijing-based Lenovo said in a statement on Wednesday. He will not have the power to vote at board meetings.

KPMG gives warning on Asia regulatory reform

Lack of a level playing field on regulatory reform in the Asia-Pacific region may have long-term negative effects on its economy and be a burden to the region's banks, a KPMG report said on Wednesday. Comparing Asian banking regulation with that in Europe and the United States, the report said there are some areas where there is a clear commonality of approach such as on capital, and others where there is more diversity, such as liquidity reforms.

Ferrari enjoys record year, boosted by China business

Italian automaker Ferrari released record figures for its business performance for 2012 despite the global economic turmoil. The company's total revenue increased 8 percent to 2.43 billion euros ($3.25 billion), while net profit rose 17.8 percent to 244 million euros. The Greater China region, including the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, remained the Italian brand's second-largest market in its four major regional markets - the United States, Europe, Greater China and Far East. Ferrari sold 784 of its sports cars in the Greater China region, 4 percent more than in the previous year, with almost 500 going to mainland consumers.

Amway says China sales increase to 27.1b yuan

Amway Company, the largest multinational direct-selling company by sales and network coverage, said on Wednesday that sales in China, its largest market worldwide, reached 27.1 billion yuan ($4.34 billion) in 2012, compared with 26.7 billion yuan a year earlier. Global sales amounted to $11.3 billion, a company record and double its performance in 2007. Last year, the company invested $335 million globally to increase research and development strength and expand manufacturing facilities, with 600 million yuan invested in China to set up a plant in Guangzhou and a botanical R&D center in Wuxi, Jiangsu province.

Gold futures falls for fourth straight session

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange ended lower on Tuesday for the fourth session in a row, logging the lowest settlement since mid-August as a climb in US equities drew investors away from the precious metal. The most active gold contract for April delivery fell $5.3, or 0.33 percent, to settle at $1,604.2 per ounce. It was the lowest level for the most active gold futures contract since Aug 14, according to FactSet data. Gold prices have now tallied a four-session loss of more than $45 an ounce, pressured in part by a lack of demand from China, which celebrated the Lunar New Year last week.

Palm imports climbing as quarantine concerns ease

Palm oil imports by China, the biggest cooking oil consumer, are predicted to jump 14 percent in February on optimism stricter quarantine inspections won't hurt trade. Shipments are likely to rise to as much as 400,000 metric tons from about 350,000 tons in January, the median of a survey of four researchers and one trader showed. That compares with 384,000 tons in February last year. Increased purchases by China, the largest buyer after India, are expected to extend a 5.5 percent advance in futures this year on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange, the global benchmark.

Yuan jumps most in 5 weeks as global optimism rises

The yuan advanced by the most in more than five weeks after the People's Bank of China raised the currency's reference rate for the first time in three days amid global growth optimism. The People's Bank of China strengthened the daily yuan fixing by 0.03 percent to 6.2804 per dollar. It drained funds from the financial system on Tuesday via repurchase agreements for the first time in eight months. A report on Tuesday showed economic sentiment in Germany increased to the highest level in almost three years.

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily 02/21/2013 page14)