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Technology

Xiaomi air purifier part of smart-home strategy

Beijing's choking smog has prompted electronics giant Xiaomi Corp into its latest product launch - an air purifier that sends its users real-time pollution updates.

Industry insiders said the new gadget shows that Xiaomi is moving ever closer to creating its own smart-home division, and the Beijing-based company is now expected to announce it is joining forces with other manufacturers in building a series of next-generation household appliances.

Expected to hit the market very soon, the device can deliver as much as 406 cubic meters of clean air in an hour, but more significantly, at 899 yuan ($145), it is a fraction of the cost of rival products with similar capacities sold by global players such as Blueair AB and Sharp Corp, which retail at more than 4,000 yuan.

Watch for childrenan intelligent idea

Sogou Inc, a Chinese search engine company, officially launched its first intelligent hardware, a children's smart watch, in Beijing, declaring its entrance into the intelligent hardware market.

The product is especially designed for children aged from three to nine, with a voice intercom, position location, motion sensing games and other functions, putting strong emphasis on parent-child companionship.

"It is an important step for Sogou to upgrade its business map, and our intelligence service will be enjoyed by more users through our hardware," said Sogou's CEO Wang Xiaochuan.

CEOs of US companiesmeet Internet regulator

The head of China's Internet regulator met the chief executives of Facebook Inc, Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc during a recent visit to the US, a government-run website says. Lu Wei, minister of the Cyberspace Administration of China, visited the companies' offices, according to the State Council website China.com.cn. The post did not elaborate on the reasons for Lu's visits or the dates. The report included photos of Lu with Apple CEO Tim Cook, who appears to be showing him a wristwatch-like device. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg greeted Lu in Mandarin, and Lu spotted a copy of President Xi Jinping's book The Governance of China on the billionaire's desk.

Trade

Leaders' new pushon trade zones

Work on setting up free trade zones and on building an open economic system will be stepped up, top leaders said during a meeting of the Political Bureau of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee on Dec 5. Market insiders said China will set up free trade zones with countries and regions along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, for which plans will be made public soon. Tianjin and Fujian are expected to set up pilot free trade zones along the lines of the one in Shanghai, they said. The zones will promote the upgrading of the country's processing trade and interest rate liberalization, as well as the development of offshore financial centers, market insiders said.

Economy

Cooling economyputs brake on pay

Workers in China enjoyed double-digit wage growth until five years ago, but the pace has slowed with the cooling of the economy, the International Labor Organization says. Average real wages in state-owned enterprises grew 7.3 percent last year, compared with 9 per cent in 2012, it says.

Wages of workers in private enterprises grew 10.9 percent last year, compared with 14 percent in 2012. The report says real wages in East Asia, driven by China's rapid growth, have tripled since the beginning of the century.

Resources

Steel exports breakrecord, ore imports fall

Steel product exports rose to a record as the economy cooled, while iron ore imports slid with prices. Shipments last month rose 14 percent from October to 9.72 million metric tons, the country's customs administration said on Dec 8. Total exports in the first 11 months rose 47 percent from the same period last year at 83.6 million tons.

Imports of iron ore, the main material for steel making, fell 15 percent last month to the lowest since February. Steel exports have set records for three straight months as slowing expansion and a cooling construction sector dampen demand.

Metals hold gainsas imports drop

Nickel and copper held weekly gains as an unexpected decline in Chinese imports increased speculation that the government will loosen monetary policy to stimulate growth in the world's largest industrial-metals user.

China's inbound shipments last month fell 6.7 percent from a year earlier, the customs administration said on Dec 8, compared with projections of a 3.8 percent increase in a Bloomberg News survey. Exports rose 4.7 percent, missing the 8 percent median estimate.

"The falling imports and rising exports reflected weak domestic consumption in China," said Xu Yongqi, a senior analyst at Guotai Junan Futures Co in Shanghai.

Company

Sany joins groupto launch bank

Heavy equipment producer Sany Heavy Industry Co Ltd says it is preparing for the launch of the first private bank in Changsha, Hunan province, along with several other companies. Sanxiang Bank Co Ltd, with registered capital of 3 billion yuan ($486 million), is still waiting for government approval.

Sany Automation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sany Heavy, will hold 12 percent of the bank's shares and Sany Group Co Ltd will hold 18 percent. Other major initiators include Hunan Hansen Pharmaceutical Co Ltd (15 percent), Yonker Environmental Protection Co Ltd (14 percent) and Gongchuang Group (10 percent). This year the China Banking Regulatory Commission approved the establishment of five private banks.

Energy

Parent drafts plan foroil company cost cuts

Offshore oil and gas producer China National Offshore Oil Corporation says it has completed research on the oil and gas output plan for 2016-20 for its subsidiary CNOOC Ltd. CNOOC can now go ahead with the exploration and development plan for 2016-20, the company said, as it needed a proper assessment of the risks and potential of its gas and oil fields and effective measures for reducing production costs.

Medicine

Longer approval timefor drugs expected

Foreign pharmaceutical companies in China say recent regulatory delays could push back plans to introduce their newest medicines into the country by as long as two years.

At least 34 applications from foreign multinationals have been or are set to be delayed after Chinese regulators began requiring an added procedure, according to the R&D-Based Pharmaceutical Association Committee, an industry group. The resulting delays highlight the uncertainties that international drug manufacturers face in China, where government scrutiny of sales practices has intensified. It is estimated that the top 15 pharmaceutical multinationals have annual sales of about 100 billion yuan ($16 billion; 1.9 billion euros) in the country.

China Daily-Agencies

( China Daily Africa Weekly 12/12/2014 page18)