BUSY LOCK: A cargo vessel passes through a lock in the Three Gorges Dam. By the end of November 30, 2010, a total of 70 million tons of cargo had been transported through the lock, the largest in the world (ZHENG JIAYU)

Hydropower Endeavor

China has approved several new hydropower projects as part of its effort to drive the clean energy sector.

The National Development and Reform Commission said on November 29 that it had approved the construction of the 2.6-gigwatt (gw) Changheba hydropower project in Sichuan Province.

It had also approved the 2.4-gw Guan'di hydropower station and the 600-megawatt Tongzilin hydropower project, both in Sichuan.

The country's total hydropower capacity reached 200 gw in August and top energy official Zhang Guobao said capacity had to reach 380 gw by 2020 if the country was to meet its clean energy and emissions targets.

Expensive Fertilizer

China started to impose a 110 percent tariff on some fertilizer exports in December in order to ensure adequate domestic fertilizer supplies for the coming spring, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

The new export tariff includes a 35 percent increase in the temporary tariff and 75 percent in a special tariff.

Those fertilizers affected by the new tariff include urea, diammonium hydrogen phosphate, ammonium dihydrogen phosphate, and the mixture of diammonium hydrogen phosphate and ammonium dihydrogen phosphate.

The MOF said the tariff hike seeks to curb fertilizer exports, ensure domestic fertilizer supplies for the coming spring and help control the rapidly rising prices of domestic agricultural products.

Gold Fund

China approved the country's first mutual fund focused on gold prices, as demand for the precious metal continues to rise.

Lion Fund Management Co. said on November 29 that it won approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to launch the Lion Global Gold Fund, which invests in gold-backed exchange traded funds overseas.

The fund will be launched under China's qualified domestic institutional investor (QDII) scheme, which invests Chinese money overseas, the company said.

E Fund Management Co., another mutual fund, is also waiting for regulatory approval to launch a gold fund under the QDII scheme.

GE's China Move

The U.S. electric giant General Electric Co. will invest $500 million in research and development (R&D) in China, much of it to develop new medical facilities in the next three years.

The $500 million will largely go to setting up six R&D and innovation centers in China in the next three years, the first three to be built in Chengdu in Sichuan Province, Xi'an in Shaanxi Province, and Shenyang in Liaoning Province. The locations of the other three are under discussion, and 1,000 engineers will be hired for the six new centers, said Diana Tang, General Manager of Clinic System Business, GE Healthcare China.

Globally, GE Healthcare is investing $1 billion each year in R&D, more than 6.7 percent of its revenue in 2009.

A Distribution Deal

U.S. drug wholesaler Cardinal Health Inc. has bought a Chinese distributor—a private company called Zuellig Pharma China, known locally as Yong Yu—in a $470 million deal.

Cardinal assumed about $60 million in net debt under terms of the deal and funded the remainder with cash.

Yong Yu has annual sales of more than $1 billion and its offerings include distribution to about 49,000 hospitals and clinics, and more than 123,000 pharmacies, according to Cardinal. Dublin, Ohio-based Cardinal expects the transaction to slightly add to earnings in its fiscal 2011 year.