TRADE BRIDGE: A Nepalese resident walks along the China-Nepal Friendship Bridge in Zhangmu Town, Shigatse of Tibet. As an important trade port on the border, the town accounts for around 82 percent of bilateral trade between the two countries, which totaled $273 million in 2009 (XINHUA)

Guangdong-HK Cooperation

China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Guangdong Province reached a framework agreement on cooperation on April 7, in a bid to build the most vibrant and competitive city cluster in the Asian-Pacific region.

The agreement covers cooperation in many areas including trans-boundary infrastructure, modern services industry, manufacturing and scientific technology innovation, business environment, living environment, education and talents. The two sides hope to build a leading world-class economic area.

The two sides also want to further enhance Hong Kong's status as a global financial center and speed up Guangdong's financial services development through cooperation, according to the agreement.

Flying Across the Straits

China Eastern Airlines Co. Ltd. on April 6 signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China Airlines, a premier airline from Taiwan, to extensively cooperate on cargo flights, passenger flights, logistics, aircraft maintenance and marketing.

Under the deal, the two carriers will extend their cooperation in some key areas such as code sharing, said Liu Shaoyong, Chairman of China Eastern.

"That means, when passengers take flights of China Eastern, they will also be receiving services from China Airlines," Liu added.

In addition, their cooperation will also boost the service quality of flights across the Straits during the World Expo in Shanghai, Liu said.

Restructuring SOEs

China will encourage mergers and acquisitions between its centrally administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and reduce the number of central SOEs to less than 100 from the currently 127 by the end of 2010, said Shao Ning, Vice Chairman of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC).

This move is intended to strengthen the competitive edge of the enterprises and foster global players, said Shao.

In its latest move, the government precipitated a merger between China Era Group Corp. and China Energy Conservation Investment Corp. In 2003 when the SASAC was established, it administered as many as 193 central SOEs.

Banking Globally

China Construction Bank (CCB), the nation's second largest lender by market capitalization, aims to build a global footprint by tapping into regional financial hubs and economies that have close trade and investment ties with China, said Fan Yifei, CCB Vice President.

Expansion over the next two years could include setting up branches in Canada, Taiwan and Brazil, said Fan.

With two new branches in London and New York, the bank now has an overseas network of 60 outlets. It recorded a net profit of 1.28 billion yuan ($188 million) from its overseas business in 2009, accounting for 0.93 percent of the total.

Electronic Recovery

China's large electronic information manufacturers recovered at a faster-than-expected pace in the first two months of this year, according to data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on April 6.

The output, export volumes and operating revenue for the manufacturers with annual sales exceeding 5 million yuan ($732,500) in China all posted growth of more than 20 percent year on year, according to MIIT.

The electronic information manufacturing industry produces mobile phones, personal computers, television sets, digital cameras and other communications equipment, electronic components and home appliances.