Surging wages 'threaten economy's competitiveness'

China's surging wages and other costs are showing signs of undermining the competitiveness of the nation's economy, threatening its growth potential, the Asian Development Bank said. Average inflation-adjusted wages have more than tripled in a decade, and non-wage costs for procedures such as hiring and firing have risen since the introduction of a 2008 labor law, the ADB said in a report published on Tuesday. The labor market is being squeezed across the nation as the pool of working-age people shrank last year.

Failed mining deals top $45b on Hanlong bungle

Sichuan Hanlong Group's botched $1.2 billion bid for Australia's Sundance Resources Ltd brings the value of China's recent failed mining deals to $45 billion, a record that's prompted stricter Chinese scrutiny of acquisitions. Chinese companies attempted $107 billion worth of mining takeovers over the past five years, with about $45 billion, or 42 percent by value, of deals ending in failure. Of $562 billion of deals proposed globally in the same period, $180 billion, or 32 percent, didn't proceed, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Qantas targets HK approval for airline by year-end

Qantas Airways Ltd expects to get approval to start a budget carrier out of Hong Kong by the end of the year as Australia's biggest airline seeks to tap travel demand in China with its low-fare unit Jetstar. Jetstar Hong Kong, set up in partnership with China Eastern Airlines Corp, will focus on flying to secondary Chinese cities, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said at the Boao Forum in Hainan, southern China, on Sunday. The airline will have about 18 aircraft, he said. The first Hong Kong-based budget airline will help Qantas challenge Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd for passengers in the financial hub as Joyce tries to turn around unprofitable international operations.

Bank of Shanghai seeks IPO in HK to raise 15b yuan

Bank of Shanghai plans to raise about 15 billion yuan ($2.39 billion) through an initial public offering in Hong Kong this year to supplement its capital, the Shanghai Securities News reported on Tuesday, citing an internal document circulated to the bank's shareholders. The newspaper said the lender also plans to raise about 15 billion yuan via a public listing on the mainland, without giving a timetable. The planned listings in Hong Kong and on the mainland are subject to the approval of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the SSN report said.

Vanke's sales soar 31.9% to 15.2b yuan in March

China Vanke Co, the country's largest property developer by market value, said on Monday that its sales in March reached 15.2 billion yuan ($2.45 billion), up 31.9 percent year-on-year. The company sold 1.27 million square meters of residential and commercial properties in March, up 15.7 percent year-on-year, it said. It added that sales in the first quarter were 43.65 billion yuan, up 40.5 percent compared with the same period of last year. However, the company's sales in February were only 9.37 billion yuan, a sharp fall from January's 19.07 billion yuan, likely due to the impact from the Chinese New Year holiday, Vanke said.

CNPC plans dollar bonds as borrowing costs drop

China National Petroleum Corp, the country's largest oil producer and owner of the nation's biggest energy producer, is marketing US dollar-denominated notes, as borrowing costs fall to an almost six-week low. CNPC General Capital Ltd, a unit of CNPC, is offering three-year securities at a spread of about 135 basis points more than Treasuries, five-year notes at about 160 basis points and 10-year bonds at about 195 basis points, a person familiar with the matter said. Average yields on dollar notes dropped three basis points to 4.26 percent on Monday, the lowest since Feb 27.

Dairy firm Synutra given French factory go-ahead

Synutra International Inc has been given approval from China's commerce authorities to go ahead with a 100-million-euro ($130 million) investment project that will result in the construction of a milk factory in France. Li Ke, the general manager of Synutra - which based in the city of Qingdao in Shandong province - said construction will start in western Brittany in September with production expected to begin in the first half of 2015. Synutra's first overseas factory, it will supply cheese products to the European market and allow for whey powder to be shipped to China.

Indonesia palm oil exports expected to drop

Palm oil shipments from Indonesia, the world's largest producer, are likely to have dropped by the most in two years in March, slowing a decline in inventories as demand eased from China, the second-biggest buyer. Sales plunged 19 percent to 1.65 million metric tons from 2.04 million tons a month earlier, according to the median of estimates from four plantation company executives and one analyst compiled by Bloomberg. The result would be the steepest drop since March 2011, data from the Indonesian Palm Oil Association, or Gapki, show. Output fell 5 percent to 1.9 million tons, while inventories dropped 1.7 percent to 2.95 million tons, according to the estimates.

Copper and zinc rise as Chinese inflation fears ease

Copper and zinc rose for a second day in London, keeping pace with gains by industrial metals, after weaker-than-estimated Chinese inflation eased concerns about tightening of monetary policy in the country. Consumer prices increased 2.1 percent in March from a year earlier, China's statistics bureau said on Tuesday, below the 2.5 percent median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Prices also climbed after aluminum producer Alcoa Inc's first-quarter earnings exceeded analysts' estimates.

EcoMotors plans first engine factory in China

EcoMotors International, the fuel-efficient engine maker backed by billionaires Bill Gates and Vinod Khosla, chose China as the location for its first factory, which will be built with support from the automotive-parts conglomerate Anhui Zhongding Holding Group Co. Zhongding will invest more than $200 million to build the plant in China's Anhui province, Allen Park, Michigan-based EcoMotors said on Tuesday in a statement. Closely held EcoMotors expects the plant to produce 150,000 engines a year starting in 2014, representing $1 billion of potential revenue, Chief Executive Officer Don Runkle said in a phone interview. The deal "gives us a toehold in the biggest engine market and fastest-growing engine market in the world," Runkle said.

Christie's to hold sale in Shanghai in autumn

Christie's International will hold a sale in Shanghai in the autumn of 2013, making it the first international auction house to hold its own branded events in mainland China. The London-based company, which has maintained an office in Shanghai since 1994, has been granted a license to operate independently in China, it said on Tuesday. Details of the inaugural auction will be announced later, it said. Sales of art and antiques in China raised 10.6 billion euros ($13.7 billion) in 2012, making it the world's second-biggest market, according to a report published last month by the European Fine Art Foundation.

TCL estimates profit surge in the first quarter

TCL Corp, China's top television maker, on Tuesday said its first-quarter net profit could hit at least 295 million yuan ($48 million), nearly seven times higher than a year ago. Steady sales growth in liquid crystal displays and multimedia household electrical appliances were the major contributors in the profit surge, said the Guangdong-based company. TCL rolled out about 4 million LCD TVs and 1.45 million smartphones in the first quarter. In addition, the Shenzhen-listed company estimated its annual revenue may hit 85 billion yuan this year, compared with 69.6 billion yuan last year.

China Daily - Agencies