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Updated: 2014-02-14 09:56
( China Daily Africa)

What's news

New vehicles ready for delivery at a Geely Holding Group Co Ltd plant in Taizhou, Zhejiang province. Provided to China Daily

Auto

Geely given green light to supply cars to APEC

Diplomatic gatherings and international events are giving domestic vehicle producers a chance to raise their global profiles.

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co Ltd, which made its name in the global market with the successful acquisition of Swedish luxury car brand Volvo in 2010, became the first domestic company to be designated an official car supplier for Asia-Pacific Cooperation meetings being held in China this year.

Geely will supply vehicles for the first senior officials' meeting from Feb 15 to 28 in Ningbo, Zhejiang province.

Technology

Lenovo targetsWest Africa

Lenovo Group Ltd, the world's largest maker of personal computers, plans to expand its smartphone business in three West African countries as it builds on a surge in demand in Nigeria. The company will start selling models of data-enabled phones, including the Vibe X and S930, in Nigeria starting in the first week of March, Graham Braum, Lenovo's general manager for Africa, said in a Feb 4 interview in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital. The company may start sales in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire later this year, he said. "Smartphones are fast becoming a primary platform for work, entertainment and social networking" in Nigeria as in the rest of the world, Braum said.

Property

Divergence in housing prices to grow

Home prices in China will experience greater regional divergence in 2014, with an increasing risk of price declines in smaller cities, industry experts said.

"It's a time of further divergence in China's real estate sector, whether in cities, enterprises or products," said Gu Yunchang, deputy head of the China Real Estate and Housing Research Association.

Marked regional divergences intensified in 2013 as prices rose, which was very different from the housing boom in 2009-10.

Prices in first-tier cities rose much faster than elsewhere last year, driven by a lack of supply and tougher curbs. In November, new home prices surged more than 20 percent in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Retail

Lunar New Year shinesfor luxury outlets

Western luxury stores and brands have conjured up a range of activities to cater to high-spending Chinese shoppers during the Lunar New Year holiday.

For the first time in its 306-year history, one of London's most famous and traditional stores, Fortnum & Mason, on Feb 4 hosted a celebration for the Lunar New Year and the Year of the Horse.

Harrods increased its exposure in China in September when it became the first British retailer to launch a WeChat social media account.

Austerity bites into restaurant business

Restaurants recorded their weakest growth for the Spring Festival in six years as an austerity campaign hit sales, the China Cuisine Association said on Feb 10.

From Jan 31 to Feb 6, retail and catering industry sales totaled 610.7 billion yuan ($100 billion), up 13.3 percent, the slowest growth rate since 2009.

The association said the industry's situation "isn't promising" for at least the first two months of this year, with growth likely to be the same as in January and February 2013.

Ministry of Commerce figures showed that restaurants targeting the mass market recorded sales growth of more than 15 percent during the Lunar New Year festival, while sales of medium and high-end restaurants only grew about 10 percent.

Company

Booming ad revenue bolsters Sohu.com

Sohu.com Inc, which owns China's third-largest search engine, posted a quarterly profit on better-than-expected advertising revenue. Net income was $2 million in the three months ending Dec 31, the Beijing company said on Feb 10. That figure compares with the $14.3 million net loss projected by an average of five analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue rose 29 percent to $385 million, compared with analyst expectations of $387.7 million. Sohu, whose advertising revenue rose 55 percent, is targeting online video and mobile services to become less dependent on its Web portal business amid competition from Baidu and Tencent Holdings Ltd.

Trading put on holdamid Dongfeng talks

Dongfeng Motor Group Co halted trading of its stock in Hong Kong pending an announcement on its negotiations to buy a stake in PSA Peugeot Citroen. Trading was halted at 10:04 am on Feb 10, according to the Wuhan-based company's statement to the Hong Kong exchange. A spokeswoman declined to comment. Peugeot, Europe's second-biggest carmaker, said last month that it was in talks to sell stakes to Chinese partner Dongfeng and France's government in an initial step of a 3 billion euro ($4.1 billion) capital increase to fund a reorganization.

Dairy firms looking at mergers, acquisitions

The heat of merger and acquisition activity in the domestic dairy industry is expected to reach its peak in May, with time ticking for small and medium-sized enterprises to find buyers, an industry analyst said.

Industry analyst Song Liang estimates that China's dairy industry will be further consolidated by this spring.

Since the start of 2014, large dairy companies have already taken action.

Leng Youbin, chairman of Feihe Dairy, a subsidiary of Feihe International, said it was time domestic infant formula companies merged.

Finance

National capital account swings to surplus

China recorded a $242.7 billion surplus in its capital and financial account and a $188.6 billion surplus in its current account in 2013, according to preliminary data issued by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

This was a marked change from the $16.8 billion deficit in the capital and financial account in 2012. The country had a $193.1 billion surplus in its current account that year.

SAFE said that in the fourth quarter, China had an $81 billion surplus on its capital and financial account, including a 362.1 billion yuan ($59 billion) net inflow of direct investment.

Sweeping measures to maintain stability

China's central bank announced that it "will take comprehensive measures to maintain financial stability and hold the bottom line to prevent systemic and regional financial risks".

"We will strengthen our efforts in monitoring local government debt and solvency and explore the use of market mechanisms to solve problems in local government debt," said the People's Bank of China in a quarterly monetary policy report issued on Feb 8.

The major financing model for construction led by local governments in recent years stabilized GDP growth, but it also increased economic operational risks, according to the central bank.

China Daily - Agencies

( China Daily Africa Weekly 02/14/2014 page18)

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