China Mobile faces growing pressure from competitors

China Mobile Ltd, the world's largest phone company by user numbers, sees its future in the expansion of 4G services to help it cope with threats including from Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat message app, according to Chairman Xi Guohua. Speaking at the company's annual meeting in Hong Kong on Thursday, Xi said the way WeChat has replaced traditional telecom services was "quite severe" on China Mobile, and the company must boost data usage and investment in 4G services in response.

Money-market rate climbs most in over a week

China's money-market rate climbed the most in more than a week on speculation that banks are meeting their month-end capital requirements. The People's Bank of China drained a net 17 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) from the financial system this week, after adding 128 billion yuan last week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It issued 15 billion yuan of three-month bills on Thursday at a yield of 2.9089 percent, unchanged for a seventh sale, according to one trader required to bid at the auctions. The central bank also sold 13 billion yuan of 28-day repurchase agreements, the trader said

Fosun Pharma buys Israeli laser company for $221m

Shanghai Fosun Pharma (Group) Ltd has acquired a 95.2 percent stake in Israel-based Alma Lasers Ltd for $221 million. Set up in 1999, Alma is a developer and manufacturer of laser, light-based, radio-frequency and ultrasound products. It accounts for 15 percent of the global high-end aesthetic devices market. Fosun Pharma said it made the investment together with its subsidiary Pramerica-Fosun China Opportunity Fund, a US-dollar denominated investment fund.

Coal likely to rebound if low-quality imports blocked

The price of Chinese coal is poised to rebound from its lowest level in more than three years as the government prepares to ban lower-quality imports in a move likely to hurt prices in Indonesia, the world's biggest exporter. The price may recover as much as 8 percent should the measure be approved, according to analysts, including Fenwei Energy Consulting Corp Credit Suisse Group AG and Haitong International Securities Group Ltd. Prices are reported to have fallen as low as 600 yuan ($98) a metric ton this week, the weakest since October 2009.

Steel profits fall for fourth straight month

China's steel industry made 153 million yuan ($24.72 million) in profits in April, which marked a fourth monthly decline, according to the China Iron and Steel Association. There was a 2.3 percent rise in the number of steel makers reporting a loss, or 39.5 percent in total. Steel sales in the first quarter increased by 0.8 percent year-on-year to 1.2 trillion yuan, delivering a profit of 2.7 billion yuan, 2.7 times the profit for the same period in 2012. Pig iron output stood at 239 million tons in April, up 7 percent year-on-year.

Pharma expo 'golden chance' for expansion

Next month's three-day CPhl China, an international pharmaceutical ingredient exhibition in Shanghai's Pudong New International Expo Center from June 25, will be "a golden opportunity" for Chinese companies to expand their overseas business, according to Weng Yonghe, deputy general manager of organizer, Shanghai UBM Sinoexpo International Exhibition Co Ltd. China's pharma industry saw revenue of 272.4 billion yuan ($43.9 billion) in the first two months of this year, up 22.7 percent on the same period last year, which delivered profit of 25.74 billion yuan, an increase of 24.3 percent.

Tian Guoli elected chairman of Bank of China

Tian Guoli, the new Party secretary of Bank of China Ltd, was elected chairman of the major State-owned lender on Wednesday after a shareholders' meeting. The Shanghai Securities News reported on Thursday that the appointment of Tian, former vice-chairman of Citic Group, still needs approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission. Tian was appointed as BOC's Party secretary in April to succeed Xiao Gang, the current chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission. He has worked as president of China Cinda Asset Management, the company set up to take over bad loans from China Construction Bank.

DBS prices maiden offshore yuan bond

DBS Bank, Singapore's largest lender, said on Wednesday that it has successfully priced its inaugural offshore yuan bond issue settled in Singapore. The 500 million yuan fixed-rate bonds due June 7, 2016, priced at 99.76 percent. The bonds will bear a fixed coupon of 2.5 percent a year with interest payable semi-annually, and are expected to be issued on June 7, 2013. "The issue attracted strong interest, with an order book of close to 2 billion yuan, being close to four times subscribed," said the bank in a news release.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily USA 05/31/2013 page18)