IN BRIEF (Page 24)

Baidu expands mapping service beyond China

Search engine giant Baidu Inc is expanding its mapping services to tap into the growing demand from Chinese tourists traveling overseas. A spokesperson for the company said it had launched the desktop and mobile mapping service in Japan, Thailand, South Korea and Singapore, in the hope of luring Chinese travelers away from using Google Inc's mapping function. The firm has timed the launch to coincide with Spring Festival, which begins on Feb 8, one of the country's biggest tourist seasons, to help it gauge user reaction and use.

Alipay, Uber to make travelers' lives easier

Ride-hailing company Uber China and e-commerce giant Alibaba's financial arm Ant Financial Service Group announced a joint effort involving online payment on Feb 1, allowing Chinese mainland Uber users to utilize the car-hailing services overseas and pay in renminbi, China's currency. On Feb 1, the overseas payment function of Alibaba's payment tool Alipay was activated within Uber. Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are the first places to roll out the service before Spring Festival, which falls on Feb 8 this year.

Shanda to make VR theme park a reality

Shanda Group is planning to build China's first virtual reality theme park, where visitors would find themselves immersed in a digital world riding spaceships, dodging bullets and fighting dragons. The Shanghai-based Shanda, which once operated a top online gaming platform in the country, also pledged a $350 million investment in the VR sector, according to Robert Chiu, president of Shanda. And the company said it would build The Void theme park at an undisclosed location in China.

CIC backs Qube bid for Australia's Asciano

Australian port operator Qube Holdings Ltd said the state-owned China Investment Corp joined its consortium as it made an A$8.9 billion ($6.25 billion; 5.73 billion euro) offer for ports and rail giant Asciano Ltd. The A$9.17-per-share cash and shares offer beats a A$9.10 offer from Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc, which Asciano has already said it supports. Its statement on Jan 28 confirms that it had made a binding offer with the involvement of a Chinese government co-investor.

Wanda delays opening of giant movie studio

Dalian Wanda Group Co is pushing back by a year the opening of a 50 billion yuan ($7.6 billion; 7 billion euro) entertainment complex that would house the world's biggest movie studio. The Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis park is now scheduled to open in August 2018, Wanda said on Jan 28, without explaining the delay.

Longi to invest $517m in solar panel units

Xi'an Longi Silicon Materials Corp, a Chinese maker of solar wafers and ingots, plans to invest 3.4 billion yuan ($517 million; 474 million euros) in production plants to make solar panels and their raw materials. The facilities would have an annual capacity to produce 3 gigawatts of solar ingots, 3 gW of wafers and 500 megawatts of panels, according to a statement to the Shanghai stock exchange on Jan 27.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 02/05/2016 page24)