LOW-CARBON EXPO: Workers pass by the solar powered roof of a themed pavilion covering more than 30,000 square meters at the Shanghai Expo. The roof is capable of generating 2.8 million kwh of electricity a year (PEI XIN)

Tightening Financing

China will step up work to monitor non-banking financing, said the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) in a statement on its website on March 9.

More focus will be placed on businesses in connection with trust companies and the real estate sector to prevent banks from using non-banking financing to circumvent policies, said CBRC Chairman Liu Mingkang.

Non-banking financial institutions under the CBRC supervision include trust companies, finance companies, financial leasing companies, auto financing companies and money brokers.

Mobile Phone-Bank Deal

China's largest mobile phone service provider became a strategic investor in a mid-sized bank based in Shanghai after a multi-billion dollar stock purchasing deal announced on March 10.

Guangdong Mobile, China Mobile's branch in Guangdong Province, bought 2.2 billion shares of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank at the cost of 39.8 billion yuan ($5.83 billion), claiming 20 percent of the bank and becoming its second largest shareholder.

Money from the state-controlled telecom operator will provide a sizable cushion to the bank's capital adequacy ratio at a time when the Chinese Government is encouraging the country's major banks to boost their capital in view of rapid loan growth, said Moody's Investors Service in a report.

Mining Deals

The privately owned conglomerate Sichuan Hanlong Group recently signed a series of agreements with the U.S. Amex-listed General Moly Inc. (GMO) for the purchase of a 25 percent stake in the latter through Hanlong (USA) Mining Investment Inc. to become the controlling shareholder.

As part of the deal, Sichuan Hanlong will provide a loan guarantee to GMO for a $665-million bank loan.

GMO has an 80-percent stake in the world's largest molybdenum mine, whose reserves in Mountain Hope, Eureka, Nevada, total 1.3 billion pounds. The remaining 20 percent is owned by Pohang Iron and Steel Co. (POSCO), a South Korean firm.

In February, Sichuan Hanlong was approved to purchase a 55.3-percent stake in Moly Mines Ltd., a molybdenum company based in Australia.

Rural Insurance

PICC Group, a leading insurer in China, said on March 10 it would continue to expand into the rural market in 2010, drawing on government policies for rural development.

The new rural pension scheme and reform of forestry tenure will provide great opportunities for tapping the rural insurance market, Wu said.

By the end of 2009, PICC had covered crops and poultry worth 257.6 billion yuan ($37.7 billion), and paid 4.86 billion yuan ($711 million) in claims to 10.5 million rural households, said PICC Chairman Wu Yan.

Automaker to Viet Nam

Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co. Ltd. (JAC), an auto producer based in Anhui Province, will start building its first overseas plant to produce trucks in Viet Nam in April this year, according to reports from China Daily.

The plant, a joint venture with Vietnamese partners, will mainly produce medium and light-duty trucks, JAC Chairman Zuo Yan'an told China Daily.

Construction of the plant is part of the company's overseas development, said Zuo. The company plans to export 15 percent of its products to overseas markets by the end of 2015.

JAC produced 322,000 automobiles in 2009 with only 6-7 percent exported to its main overseas markets in the Middle East, South America and Southeast Asia.