Budget hotel chain 7 Days to go private

7 Days Group Holdings Ltd, a leading Chinese budget hotel chain, said over the weekend that it has agreed to go private. Investors including its parent company Keystone Lodging Co Ltd and private equity firms Carlyle Group and Sequoia Capital will acquire the company for $4.60 per ordinary share or $13.80 per American Depositary Share. The deal is the best option for the company because more flexible operations will be available after it's done, China Business News quoted the company's founder Zheng Nanyan as saying.

Vancl acquires online apparel retailer Crucco

Vancl (Beijing) Technology Co, an online clothing retailer, is to acquire Crucco, a business-to-customer online apparel retailer, with cash and through a share-swap deal. Crucco's valuation is at about 10 million yuan ($1.6 million). Crucco will become Vancl's first sub-brand, and will continue to be operated and managed by Crucco's team.

Dagong Global downgrades Japan's rating

Dagong Global Credit Rating Co has downgraded the local currency sovereign credit rating of Japan from A+ to A, and its foreign currency rating from AA- to A+, with a negative outlook. "The new economic policies of the Abe government will critically exacerbate the fiscal situation and cannot solve the entrenched problems constraining national wealth creation capability," Dagong said on Monday. "The economy will remain in a prolonged slump whereby the risk of the outbreak of a sovereign credit crisis rises," said the Beijing-based agency.

Toyota sales in China slump 45.7% in February

The sales in China of Japan's largest automaker, Toyota Motor Corp, slumped 45.7 percent year-on-year to 36,300 vehicles in February. After a recovery in January, Toyota suffered another drop in the Chinese market in February, which ranks second only to the company's sales drop of 48.9 percent in September 2012. Toyota sold 72,500 cars in the Chinese market in January, up 23.5 percent year-on-year. The Japanese company's total sales in China for the first two months of the year amounted to 108,800 units, down 13.3 percent year-on-year.

Sino-Iranian trade declines by 18% in 2012 on sanctions

Trade between Iran and China dropped by 18 percent in 2012 to $37 billion after a raft of banking sanctions imposed on the Islamic republic, Iranian newspaper Donya-e Eqtesad reported on Monday. "Iran-China trade fell to $37 billion in 2012 from $45 billion in 2011," the newspaper quoted Assadollah Asgaroladi, director of the Sino-Iranian Chamber of Commerce, as saying. "Iranian exporters and importers who are seeking increase in trade volume are facing banking problems." Asgaroladi has been previously cited in the Iranian media as saying that the Iran-China trade could reach $50 billion in both 2014 and 2015. Iran is under a series of international sanctions for pursuing its controversial nuclear program.

Alibaba set to launch online credit payment service

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, China's biggest e-commerce company by transaction volume, is expected to launch an online credit payment service in some parts of China, Caijin.com.cn reported on Monday. The service aims to increase the turnover generated by customers using mobile devices, the report said. The new service will be first available to users of Alibaba's business-to-customer and customer-to-customer platforms on mobile devices, the report said.

Porsche vies for consultancy market share

Porsche Consulting GmbH, a subsidiary of Porsche AG, has opened a branch in Shanghai on Thursday, in a bid to tap into China's consultancy market. New challenges, including rising costs, growing difficulties to attract and retain qualified talent, and the ever-changing consumer market, are making it harder for companies to stay profitable, the company said. Porsche Consulting Ltd in Shanghai with its initial eight-member group will focus on helping companies develop high growth strategies.

Domestic jet fuel prices increase in March

Domestic jet fuel prices rose 359 yuan ($57.65) a ton to 7,885 yuan in March, China Business News reported on Monday. Because the increase is above 250 yuan a ton, fuel surcharges for domestic routes may also increase, the report said, citing unnamed sources at several Chinese airlines. The increase will also lead to an increase in the operating costs of China's airlines, the report added. Domestic jet fuel was at 7,526 yuan a ton in February, up 137 yuan a ton compared with January.

Copper extends decline, aluminum falls for 11th day

Copper declined for a third day as China called for measures to cool property prices, curbing demand prospects for industrial metals. Aluminum fell for an 11th day, the longest losing streak since June. The Chinese government called for higher down payments and interest rates for second-home mortgages in some cities, as well as stricter enforcement of taxes on sales.

Suning sales see fast growth, chairman says

Suning Appliance Co, China's biggest electronics retailer, posted fast growth in sales in the first two months of the year amid signs of improving consumer demand, said Zhang Jindong, the company's chairman. "China's new government will put in place measures to bolster economic growth," Zhang said in Beijing on Sunday. "We are confident about the future." He didn't specify how much sales increased in January and February. Sales are gaining following a 44 percent profit drop at Suning last year.

Rubber drops to two-month low for weak China demand

Rubber dropped to the lowest level in more than two months amid concern that demand may weaken from China, the largest consumer of the commodity used in tires, after the government called for more measures to cool property prices. The contract for delivery in August fell as much as 1.1 percent to $3,010 per metric ton, the lowest since Dec 21. Futures have extended this year's losses to 6.7 percent. China's stocks fell, led by the biggest slump among developers since 2008, after the State Council called for more property measures and after growth in the nation's services industries slowed.

Focus on controlling defaults after bad loans rise

China will focus on controlling loan defaults in areas such as local government debt, real estate and industries with excessive capacity after banks' bad loans expanded for a fifth straight quarter. Regulators must "firmly hold the line" on preventing a breakout of systemic and regional financial risks, the China Banking Regulatory Commission said in a statement on Monday, citing Chairman Shang Fulin. The banking system should guard against risks from lenders' off-balance sheet activities including wealth management and cross-industry businesses such as mutual funds, trust products and insurance, Shang said.

Yuan weakens for second day as service growth slows

The yuan declined after China's central bank lowered the currency's fixing for a second day and as a report showed service industries in China expanded at the slowest pace since September. The non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers' index fell to 54.5 in February from 56.2 in January, according to official data released on Sunday. Asian currencies dropped after Bank of Japan governor nominee Haruhiko Kuroda said that a central bank under his leadership would do whatever is needed to combat 15 years of deflation.

ADB sanctions 42 firms, 38 individuals for corruption

The Asian Development Bank said in a report released on Monday that it has sanctioned 42 firms and 38 individuals for engaging in corrupt practices while implementing projects financed by the Manila-based lender last year. ADB said it has also barred 57 firms and 51 individuals from seeking ADB-financed contracts as part of a cross debarment agreement it forged with four other multilateral lending institutions. The Office of Anti-Corruption and Integrity of the ADB reported that it received 240 complaints and opened 114 new investigations in 2012.

Myanmar plans to open offshore oil and gas bids

Myanmar plans to put more than 20 offshore oil and gas exploration blocks up for auction by April as the country pushes to attract foreign investment and expertise to help overcome an energy deficit. Myanmar produces more than enough natural gas, which is its primary source of energy after biomass, to meet domestic needs. But it exports about 80 percent of the 1.2 to 1.4 billion cubic feet of gas it produces each day to Thailand. A new gas pipeline to China would initially send an additional 400 million cubic feet of natural gas per day out of the country. For now, the Ministry of Energy is betting on new discoveries to close the country's energy gap.

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily 03/05/2013 page14)