2007-06-19 Biz Roundup

China's government will give the stock-market regulator the power to approve bond sales by publicly traded companies, in order to expand the debt market. The China Securities Regulatory Commission will have the power to approve the sales of bonds by domestic companies with maturities of more than one year, and whose shares trade at home and abroad. The regulator didn't say when the new rule will take effect. The National Development and Reform Commission currently approves bonds sold by all domestic companies. The commission will retain the power to approve bonds issued by large state companies which aren't listed.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission has said the country is considering allowing foreign financial institutions to issue renminbi bonds on the mainland. But it didn't elaborate on a date when the plan will be finalized. The move is expected to help ease pressure on the Chinese currency to appreciate, and boost the country's underdeveloped bond market.

China is expected to issue national standards for portable digital players by year end after many have been found to contain defects. Earlier this month, the Ministry of Information Industry announced that over 60 percent of the 33 types of MP3 players it inspected last year were defective, possessing poor sound quality and unsafe power adapters. In 2006, about 100 million MP3 players were produced in China, and half of them were exported.
 
The assets of qualified foreign institutional investors, or QFII, funds in China fell for the first time in two years due to a large redemption by investors in an uncertain market in May. According to advisory service provider Lipper, the combined QFII assets dropped nearly 13 percent in May, or down some 900 million US dollars from a month before. The government has approved over 50 QFIIs, and is expected to triple the quota of QFIIs from the current 10 billion US dollars.

The European Commission has decided to ask all EU member states to lift the ban on imports of China's processed poultry.
However, no date has yet been set for the trade resumption. The EU imposed the ban on the imports of China's processed poultry following the outbreak of bird flu in the Chinese mainland in 2004.

China's 18 steel pipe producers have teamed up in Beijing to respond to dumping and subsidy charges from their US counterparts. The group of 18 has appointed as attorney John Larose from US law firm Vinson & Elkins LLP's Beijing office.

Six US makers of welded standard steel pipes and the United Steelworkers union have asked the US Commerce Department to impose anti-dumping duties of up to 88 percent, and extra countervailing charges on steel pipes from China. They say Chinese steel pipes are being sold at unfairly low and subsidized prices. The US International Trade Commission will make a preliminary decision next month regarding whether or not Chinese steel pipes are damaging US companies.

Chip giant Intel will expand its business in Shanghai to mobile TV and Internet Portal TV - also known as IPTV - by linking up with the city's TV and radio media giant. A research and development center will be established in Shanghai on further applications of wireless Internet access, high-definition TV and the broadband industry. Intel has said that IPTV will be the focus of future cooperation with the Shanghai Media Group.

And finally:

For 194 million US dollars, the mainland's leading automaker, Shanghai Automotive Co., has agreed to buy out its partner in a truck maker and an auto-parts venture to combine and expand its commercial-vehicle operations. The SAIC Motor Corp. unit will take over Shanghai Huizhong Automotive Manufacturing and Shanghai Wanzhong Automotive Components. SAIC already owns half of both ventures. The deal will add 30-ton trucks to the product line-up of China's largest carmaker, which includes Roewe-brand sedans and vehicles made in collaboration with General Motors.