Friday _________________________ March 8

Addis, Nike to open more stores

Adidas Group said it will continue to open new stores in China and won't open many discount stores in 2013.

The focus will be stores that sell new and seasonal products, according to Colin Currie, managing director of Adidas Group, Greater China.

Nike, which opened 800 stores in China in 2012, said it will open 40-50 factory stores in China this year with discounts of up to 70 percent, and some discount stores will be opened in lower-tier cities.

Shale-gas needs better technology

China could start commercial production of shale gas within five years but it must improve its extraction technology and lower the cost, say executives from participating companies.

China is estimated to have 25.1 trillion cubic meters of exploitable shale gas resources, which would make it the world's largest source and surpass the 24.4 trillion cu m in the United States.

Monday

___________________March 11

Pitching for students with golf lessons

More Chinese high school students are going overseas for university preparatory schools, and one US high school is using an unusual pitch in addition to academics to attract students: golf.

Excel Christian School in the state of Nevada joined more than 50 other international-based schools last weekend at the 2013 China International Education Exhibition Tour in Beijing.

Excel is a member of the US International Golf Academy and provides golf lessons for students. Golf coach Geno Ivaldi said the lessons help build students' character.

"Not all of them will become professionals, but golf training will bring them advantages in daily life, such as on business occasions," he said.

Only 65 Chinese students studied in secondary schools in the US in 2006.

The number climbed to 6,725 in 2011, according the US Department of Homeland Security .

Tuesday__________________March 12

US seeking more tourists

China is one of the main targets for a $150 million global marketing campaign aimed at attracting more tourists to the US.

"Our latest promotion efforts include television commercials in nine nations, including China," said Anne Madison, spokeswoman for Brand USA, the name of the partnership between the federal government and the tourism industry.

US tourism industry officials said the US share of overseas visitors has shrunk by almost a third in the past decade, according to the Washington Post.

Family planning policy won't change

China is creating a new commission through the merger of the Health Ministry and the National Population and Family Planning Commission, but it isn't changing its family planning policy.

"The pressure facing residents and resources still persists in our country with such a huge population," said Wang Feng, deputy head of the State Commission Office for Public Sector Reform.

Without the policy launched more than 30 years ago, the Chinese population could be 400 million higher than the current level.

Wednesday_________March 13

Suntech closing plant in Arizona

Suntech Power Holdings Co will close its only US manufacturing facility on April 3. The Chinese company, one of the world's biggest makers of solar panels, cited higher production costs "exacerbated" by US tariffs on Chinese-made solar cells and aluminum frames and global oversupply.

The announcement to close the plant that opened in 2010 in Goodyear, Arizona, near Phoenix, and dismiss 43 employees came one week after Suntech ousted its founder as chairman.

Samsung's sales in China jump to a record

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, the world's largest mobile phone and television maker, said sales in China last year jumped more than 50 percent year-on-year.

The South Korean company recorded $14.3 billion in sales, and data from research company Strategy Analytics showed that for the first time Samsung topped China's smartphone market in 2012, with sales nearly tripling year-on-year.

With 17.7 percent of the market share in the country, the company sold more than 30 million smartphones in China last year, up from 10.9 million the previous year.

Samsung's long-time rival, Apple Inc, ranked third, behind local electronics giant Lenovo Group Ltd.

Thursday_______________March 14

Chinese executives outdo US on salary

Salaries of corporate executives in China rose 8 percent in 2012, compared with 3 percent for US executives, according to a survey by London-based consulting firm.

The higher salaries mean Chinese executives will have greater spending power than their American counterparts by 2017, said the study by ECA International, which provides software and services for corporate management of foreign employees.

UnionPay plans to expand globally

China UnionPay Co Ltd, the country's largest bank card payment processor, plans to expand internationally and lower its co-branding with Visa Inc and MasterCard.

The card will increase its global footprint over the next two to three years from the current 141 countries and regions, said UnionPay President Xu Luode.

Ninety-five percent of debit cards issued by UnionPay on the Chinese mainland are single-branded, meaning that all transactions can only go through the UnionPay payment channel.

Xu said about half of its credit cards are co-branded with international players such as Visa and MasterCard, but his firm will try to lower the proportion in the next few years as its own overseas network expands rapidly.

UnionPay has issued more than 16 million cards abroad, which are all single-branded cards bearing the UnionPay logo only, he said. He said he expects that number to soar by between 30 and 50 percent annually over the next three years.

Spending on art and antiquities plunges

Chinese spending on art and antiques plunged by nearly a quarter in 2012, ending a streak that made China the biggest player in the market by 2011, according to a report.

Chinese art sales fell by an estimated 24 percent to 10.6 billion euros ($13.78 billion) in 2012, said the study compiled by academic Clare McAndrew, founder of the consulting firm ArtsEconomics.

Auction sales in China dropped an even steeper 30 percent, pushing it into second place in the art market rankings with a 25 percent share behind the United States, which regained its position as market leader with 33 percent, said the report.

The worldwide art and antiques market contracted by seven percent last year to 43 billion euros, the report said.

The study was commissioned by theEuropean Fine Art Foundation which organizes The European Fine Art Fair.

(China Daily 03/15/2013 page8)