Govts & policies

New energy vehicles help drive profits

Shares related to new energy vehicles, the IT, software and nonferrous metals sectors, were the best performers in net profit growth last year among China's listed companies. A total of 1,489 Chinese listed companies had released preliminary earnings reports as of Sunday and about 72 percent of them showed a net profit increase last year, China Securities Journal reported on Monday. They registered combined revenue of 5.82 trillion yuan ($844 billion) in 2016, up 18.76 percent year-on-year. However, their combined net profits grew at a slower rate of 11.54 percent to 656.5 billion yuan. New energy vehicle sales rose 30.3 percent year-on-year in February, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed.

Investment from Taiwan grows

Gansu province saw robust growth in investment from Taiwan last year, local authorities said. Gansu signed 34 investment deals worth a total of 7.25 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) with Taiwan businesses last year, said Wang Feng, head of the provincial Taiwan affairs office. Actual investment from Taiwan last year was about 1 billion yuan, almost three times that of 2015, Wang said. Taiwan entrepreneurs set up nine new companies in Gansu. Gansu organized dozens of exchange activities for college students and young people from the two places last year. The province plans to use its advantage in the Belt and Road Initiative to boost cooperation with the island in agriculture, biomedicine and culture.

Companies & markets

Yuan weakens against US dollar

The central parity rate of the renminbi, or the yuan, weakened 130 basis points to 6.9118 against the US dollar on Tuesday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. In China's spot foreign exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 2 percent from the central parity rate each trading day. The central parity rate of the yuan against the US dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day.

Website sued over misleading ads

A Beijing court ordered digital service company eLong.com to pay 105,660 yuan ($15,278) to a customer who booked stays at fake five-star hotels via its site. Beijing Chaoyang District People's Court upheld its first instance judgment to order the internet firm to pay three times the customer's booking fee. The customer, who was identified as Mr Li, filed the lawsuit after he found the three hotels that he booked via eLong.com in January 2016 were not five-star hotels as advertised. Previously, eLong.com refused to pay a fine of 150,000 yuan issued by the city's industry and commerce department in June 2016 for misleading advertising.

CRRC to build exploration machine

The CRRC Zhuzhou Institute Co Ltd has announced that its unit Soil Machine Dynamics Ltd will build the world's biggest subsea trenching machine at its British manufacturing center. The trenching machine will weigh 178 metric tons and can lay oil and gas pipelines at a depth of 1,000 meters, at a speed of 1,000-meters per hour. SMD Deputy General Manager Mike Jones said it would be the most efficient subsea oil and gas pipeline laying equipment in the world. It is scheduled for delivery to a Shenzhen subsidiary of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, next year. Times Electric, a subsidiary of CRRC, acquired SMD in 2015.

Intel moves on Mobileye

Intel Corp and Mobileye NV announced on Monday an agreement under which the US computer chipmaker will acquire the Israeli self-driving vehicle technology developer for about $15.3 billion. California based Intel said the deal would bring together Mobileye's leading computer vision know-how with Intel's high performance computing and connectivity expertise, to create automated driving solutions from cloud to car. The goal of acquiring the Jerusalem-based company, the world's biggest chipmaker said in a statement, is to position Intel to accelerate innovation for automakers and to capture fast-growing market opportunities in the sector, estimated to be worth up to $70 billion by 2030.

Around the world

Singapore launches Aussie startup hub

Singapore officially launched a startup hub, or what it called a "landing pad," for Australian startups on Monday, to promote greater connectivity and network of contacts for entrepreneurs. The landing pad is the latest initiative under a strategic partnership program launched in 2015. Speaking at the official opening in the city state, Singaporean Minister for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran reinforced the strong and long-standing bilateral ties between the two countries. He said Singapore offered a strong value proposition as a global partner for Australian startups. Singapore's startup sector is one of the fastest growing ones in the world.

Interest rate caps hit Kenyan banks

Kenyan banks posted flat or reduced earnings in 2016 following interest rate caps introduced last September. At least four banks announced their earnings over the last few days, with their results highlighting how the fixing of interest rates affected the financial institutions. Kenya capped commercial banks' lending rates last November at 4 percent above the Central Bank Rate, which currently stands at 10 percent and further set a minimum interest rate for deposits in interest-earning accounts. Before the law, lending charges stood at between 19 percent and 27 percent, with proponents of capping then noting that banks were exploiting their customers through their high rates to make billions of dollars in profits.

Air passenger numbers take off

An estimated 52.2 million passengers were transported by air in Vietnam in 2016, up 29 percent from the previous year, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam on Monday. Domestic passengers accounted for 28 million person-times, a yearly increase of 30 percent, Vietnam's State-run news agency VNA reported. Last year, patronage of low-cost carriers rose dramatically to around 15 million person-times, said the CAAV, attributing the rise to the strong growth in budget carriers such as VietJet and Jetstar Pacific.

Indonesian inflation to ease in March

Indonesia's annual inflation was expected to ease at a slower pace in March, from a year earlier, after prices of several unprocessed foods decreased. Governor of Indonesian Central Bank Agus Martowardojo said on Monday his bank forecast annual consumer price index at 3.81 percent in March, compared with 3.83 percent in February. The acceleration of inflation was driven by a hike in administrated prices, electricity tariffs and the price of chilly peppers, he said. The central bank expects inflation to range between 3 to 5 percent this year, with the economy expanding 5 to 5.4 percent.

Bulgaria's non-EU trade increases

Bulgaria's exports to and imports from non-European Union countries in January increased by 12.7 percent and 30.8 percent year-on-year respectively, official data revealed on Monday. Exports to non-EU countries amounted to 1.312 billion lev ($713 million) in January, according to the National Statistical Institute. Bulgaria's main trade partners were Turkey, Egypt, China, Serbia and Macedonia, which accounted for 52.7 percent of the exports to non-EU countries, the data showed.

Pound weakness stimulates exports

Short-term industrial data showed that the UK economy is enjoying a sustained lift in its manufacturing sector, as well as continued strength in exports stimulated by the recent depreciation in sterling. Three sets of figures released by the official data body the Office of National Statistics showed positive results in industrial output, manufacturing output and construction output. In addition, trade balance figures showed a positive stimulus from weakened sterling. Industrial production grew by 1.9 percent in the three months November to January, the strongest growth in rolling three-month figures since June last year.

China Daily - Agencies