Power generation output grows year-on-year in April

China's electricity generation output in April grew 6.2 percent year-on-year to 399.4 billion kilowatt-hours, according to the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday. The overall power generation output during the first four months was about 1.59 trillion kilowatt-hours, up 3.8 percent year-on-year, the bureau said.

Moody's says China's shadow banking growing

China's shadow banking activities have risen nearly 70 percent over the past two years and now total more than half the size of the world's second-largest economy, ratings agency Moody's said Monday. Shadow banking includes private lending, off-balance-sheet vehicles and trusts, and it allows borrowers to circumvent banks' formal underwriting standards, as well as official regulations. Such lending has surged 67 percent since the end of 2010, Moody's said in a report, reaching an estimated total of 29 trillion yuan ($4.7 trillion) at the end of last year, or 55 percent of China's GDP.

Mainland stocks fall on IPO resumption reports

China's stocks fell as economic reports overshadowed speculation the government will postpone the resumption of initial public offerings. A gauge of consumer-discretionary stocks dropped the most in two weeks. The Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.2 percent to 2,241.92 at the close. The CSI 300 Index lost 0.4 percent to close at 2,530.77. A resumption of IPOs may be delayed until after June because of the economic environment, the China Securities Journal reported on Monday, citing anonymous sources.

EU slaps tariffs on Chinese fittings, tableware

The European Union imposed five-year tariffs on pipe fittings and ceramic tableware from China. Thailand also faces five-year pipe-fittings duties. The levies as high as 57.8 percent punish Chinese and Thai manufacturers of threaded malleable fittings and Chinese makers of ceramic tableware and kitchenware for allegedly selling them in the 27-nation EU below cost, a practice known as dumping.

Rebar declines in Shanghai as steel mill output rises

Steel reinforcement-bar futures fell in Shanghai as rising output from Chinese steel mills last month added to supply of the building material. Rebar for delivery in October on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell as much as 0.5 percent to 3,622 yuan ($589) a metric ton before trading at 3,631 yuan at 9:47 am local time. The most-active contract climbed 1.6 percent last week, the first weekly gain since April 12.

Biohit targets Chinese market for new product

Biohit Oyj, the Finnish healthcare company whose shares have gained 71 percent this year, sees China as a promising market for the Acetium product to prevent stomach cancer, Chief Executive Officer Semi Korpela said. Biohit is working to register Acetium in China and already has a distribution partner, Grand Pharmaceutical Co, Korpela said. "China is very interesting to us, much more interesting than western Europe," Korpela said. "The prevalence of gastrointestinal cancers in Asia is also because of the diet. Soy sauce with high acetaldehyde levels adds to their exposure."

Hyundai, Kia recalling defective cars in China

Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia will recall more than 175,000 cars due to defective brake light switches, China's consumer quality watchdog said on Monday. Starting on Monday, Beijing Hyundai Motor Co will recall 121,835 of its IX35 models manufactured between April 9, 2010, and Oct 6, 2011, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement. Dongfeng Yueda Kia, a joint venture of Kia with two Chinese companies, is recalling 53,897 of its Sportage vehicles made between July 8, 2010, and Oct 15, 2011.

AIG extends deal deadline by another month

American International Group Inc reached an agreement with a consortium of Chinese investors to extend by one month the deadline to complete a sale of AIG's plane-leasing unit. AIG or the acquirers may terminate the deal for International Lease Finance Corp if it hasn't closed by June 14, the New York-based insurer said on Monday in a regulatory filing.

China Daily-Xinhua-Bloomberg

(China Daily 05/14/2013 page14)