IN BRIEF (Page 24)

Anti-subsidy duties on feed ingredient

China will impose anti-subsidy duties of between 10 and 10.7 percent on imports of a US animal feed ingredient known as distillers' dried grains, the Commerce Ministry said on Sept 28. The move was widely expected after the government announced a similar move on anti-dumping duties in early September. This latest move also affects some of the biggest players in the US ethanol industry, including global traders Archer Daniels Midland Co, along with ethanol producer Poet LLC, oil refiner Valero Energy Corp and grains group Andersons Inc.

Trade with UAE gets fresh momentum

Trade ties between China and the United Arab Emirates have received a boost thanks to a visa waiver agreement and direct yuan trading, a UAE official said on Sept 27. Ahmad Muhamed bin Ghannam, acting executive director of international economic relations for the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, made the remarks at the one-day Abu Dhabi China Investment Forum 2016. Bilateral relations between the Gulf Arab state, a major oil supplier, and China are based on mutual respect, the will to grow together, he said.

MMG in deal to sell Aussie nickel mine

China's MMG Ltd said on Sept 28 it plans to sell its long-idle Avebury nickel mine in Australia to a private exploration company for A$25 million ($19.2 million; 17.1 million euros). The sale, which MMG expects to finalize by year-end, requires Dundas Mining of Australia to pay a deposit of A$1.5 million. According to MMG, the sale agreement will be completed only when full payment is made.

Abu Dhabi container terminal awarded

Abu Dhabi Ports has awarded China's COSCO Shipping a 35-year concession to build and operate a container terminal at Khalifa Port, the company said on Sept 28. The terminal is expected to be operational in 2018.

Companies interested in Aussie wind farm

Origin Energy Ltd, an energy producer and retailer in Sydney, has received expressions of interest from at least five Chinese suitors for the sale of its Australian Stockyard Hill wind farm project, company sources said. The asset has attracted Chinese state-owned companies including China General Nuclear Power Group, China Datang Corp and China Guodian Corp as well as Golden Concord Holdings Ltd and Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co, the sources added. First-round bids are reportedly expected at the end of next month.

Lenovo to cut up to 1,000 jobs at Motorola

Lenovo Group Ltd confirmed on Sept 27 a new round of layoffs of about 1,000 employees, mostly from the overseas Motorola unit, as it attempts to turn around the fortunes of the loss-making smartphone business. The world's largest PC maker said in a statement that its "structure optimizing" plan affects fewer than 1,000 employees, mostly in countries outside China, as part of an "ongoing strategic integration between Lenovo and its Motorola smartphone business".

Anti-dumping tariffs on US chicken to stay

The Ministry of Commerce said it will extend anti-dumping measures on imports of US broiler chicken products for a further five years, effective from Sept 27. A suspension of the measures would potentially hurt Chinese firms, according to a statement from the ministry on Sept 26. China first imposed the duties on chicken imports from the United States in 2010 on the grounds that they were priced below fair market value and this was injuring Chinese producers.

Australia must not 'close the door'

The Chinese investment mogul behind the vetoed $285 million bid for Australia's largest cattle-raising landholding said he had "given up" dealing with Australia, urging the government not to "close the door" on foreign money. Charles Liu, founder and chairman of HAO Capital, told local media on Sept 26 that Malcolm Turnbull's government's "protectionist" attitude toward Chinese and other foreign investment would continue to discourage investors from making investment there.

EU grants approval for HNA acquisition

European Union regulators have greenlighted the acquisition of Swiss Gategroup by Chinese conglomerate HNA Group, the EU said on Sept 21. The European Commission, the bloc's executive body, in a statement said that the acquisition would "raise no competition concerns because of its limited impact on the market structure." HNA Group, founded in 1993, is a Chinese conglomerate encompassing core divisions of aviation, holdings, capital, tourism and logistics.

Airbus launches global student competition

Airbus launched the fifth edition of its biennial "Fly Your Ideas" global student competition at Beihang University in Beijing on Sept 22, with the participation of about 150 university applicants. Registration for the competition is available at airbus-fyi.com. Students are required to register as a team of three to five members. The competition aims to stimulate innovative ideas for a more sustainable aviation industry.

$18b contracts signed at China-Eurasia Expo

Contracts valued at $18 billion were signed during the Fifth China-Eurasia Expo in Urumqi, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Contracts were signed covering areas such as science, agriculture, mineral resources, energy, manufacturing and finance. A total of 16 corporate finance cooperation projects were signed. Delegates from 57 countries and regions and six international organizations attended the expo, along with 3,500 professional purchasers.

Prebiotic honey maker eyes Chinese market

Capilano, Australia's largest honey company, has produced the world's first clinically-tested prebiotic honey, Beeotic, which will be sold locally and in China. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Sept 27 that Beeotic will be sold to Australian supermarkets and pharmacies, with great emphasis placed on Chinese middle-class consumers who have in the past developed a penchant for Australian honey.

Anbang completes bulk of purchase of US hotels

Anbang Insurance Group Co has completed most of its $6.5 billion acquisition of Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc, helping bolster the Chinese company's credibility as a global buyer after its abrupt withdrawal from the bidding war for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc this year. The insurer bought 15 of Strategic's 16 properties, according to people with knowledge of the deal. It's the second-largest US acquisition by a Chinese buyer, after the $7 billion sale of Smithfield Foods Inc to Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd.

( China Daily Africa Weekly 09/30/2016 page24)