What's news

Property

Coast resort a jewel in Wanda's crown

China's richest man, Wang Jianlin, continued a recent buying spree with the purchase of the Jewel resort project on Australia's Gold Coast, the fifth overseas real estate purchase his Wanda Group conglomerate has made since last year.

As Jewel's absolute controlling shareholder, Wanda will jointly develop the project with its original owners, property developers Riyu Li and Fengliu Wu. The Wanda company plans to invest $900 million in building a luxury five-star Wanda Vista hotel and serviced apartments.

Auto

Tata Motors surges as profit jumps

Tata Motors Ltd, India's biggest automaker, rose the most since September in Mumbai trading after beating analysts' estimates with a threefold jump in profit. Sales of Jaguar and Land Rover in China, the world's largest car market, surged 61 percent, helping Tata Motors, which is struggling to revive demand in India. Deutsche Bank AG and Credit Suisse Group AG were among brokerages that raised their share price target for the maker of the Nano hatchback and Indigo sedan after the earnings announcement.

Trade

Australia port peaks iniron ore sent to China

Iron ore exports to China from Australia's Port Hedland climbed to a record last month, adding to signs that demand for overseas supplies in the world's biggest user may be improving as local output is displaced. Shipments to China stood at 30.6 million metric tons in July, up from 29.2 million tons in June, data on the port authority's website showed.

Soy imports to surge as demand increases

Soy imports by China, the world's top buyer, will surge 17 percent in the year ending September to a record of over 70 million metric tons, according to a forecast by an official thinktank issued on Aug 13. Appetite for soy has been growing as the world's second-largest economy expands, with farmers feeding products made from soy to pigs and chickens. The forecast by the China National Grain and Oils Information Center is higher than an estimate of 69 million tons by the US Department of Agriculture for the current year.

Aviation

China Southern seessunnier skies in H2

After a loss in the first six months, China Southern Airlines Co, Asia's biggest carrier by passenger numbers, forecast a better second half as economic growth picks up and the yuan's volatility eases, Chairman Si Xianmin said.

China Southern, which is the most reliant on the domestic market among the nation's biggest carriers, is accelerating its overseas expansion to help improve its "unbalanced" network structure, Si said. The carrier started a Guangzhou-New York route on Aug 6.

"We've seen a loss in the first half mainly because the economic slowdown has caused growth in the aviation market to slow," Si said.

"We forecast our second-half performance will surely be better than the first half. We don't foresee big volatility in the foreign exchange rate of the yuan versus the dollar in the second half."

Shipping

Ports see slower growth in cargo throughput

Major ports witnessed slower growth in cargo and container throughput in July, according to a report in China Communications News. In July, the country's major ports handled cargo throughput of 928.15 million metric tons, representing a mild increase of 1.3 percent year-on-year. The growth rate was down 3.5 percentage points from that in June.

Industry

Textile industry draftsnew development plan

China has started preliminary surveys for the draft of its 13th five-year development plan for the textile industry covering 2016-20, said Du Juezhou, honorary chairman of the China National Textile and Apparel Council.

Industry insiders say chemical fiber is expected to help link the smart, digital and information-oriented development of the textile industry and will be a key element of the plan.

Entertainment

City moviegoers boostbox-office revenue 30%

Urban box office receipts are expected to exceed 27 billion yuan ($4.4 billion) in 2014, posting year-on-year growth of 30 percent, Luan Guozhi, vice-director of the Film Bureau of China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and TV, said.

By Aug 3, ticket sales generated by urban theaters nationwide had reached 17.65 billion yuan, to which domestic films contributed 52 percent.

Property

Developer defaults seen as financing woes rise

The slumping property market in China is fueling speculation that the industry is set for a shakeout as small developers face problems raising funds to pay off debt.

Yield premiums on Chinese real-estate bonds denominated in dollars have jumped 35 basis points this month to 582 basis points over Treasuries, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes. Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's said some smaller Chinese developers may default in the second half.

Company

Sohu takes 6% stakein S. Korea's Keyeast

Chinese Internet company Sohu announced that it would invest $15 million in South Korean artist management agency Keyeast Co Ltd to become its second-largest shareholder.

Sohu will hold 6 percent of Keyeast and become Keyeast's exclusive Internet partner in China.

Founded in 2006, Keyeast represents a number of celebrated actors and actresses, including Kim Soo-hyun, who starred in the hit TV drama My Love from the Star, and Bae Yong-joon, who still owns 29 percent of Keyeast's stocks.

Beijing-based Sohu offers advertising, search engine, on-line gaming and other services.

Resources

Shale gas forecast fallsamid exploration snags

Experts have halved the volume of shale gas that China is likely to produce by 2020 after early exploration efforts to unlock the unconventional fuel proved challenging, according to an industry website and a government source. Citing Wu Xinxiong, head of the National Energy Administration, industry website cpnn.com.cn reported that China aims to pump 30 billion cubic meters of shale gas by 2020, compared with an earlier goal of 60 billion to 80 billion cubic meters.

Guizhou gas exploration project wins approval

The Ministry of Land and Resources has approved shale gas exploration in the northern part of Guizhou province. The project is expected to be completed by 2020 and will explore the potential for producing 1 billion cubic meters of shale gas annually.

The area covers 36,000 square kilometers and boasts shale gas reserves of 3.88 trillion cubic meters, according to the provincial department of land resources.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily Africa Weekly 08/15/2014 page18)