WINE DEAL: COFCO Wines & Spirits, a subsidiary of COFCO, China's largest food processor, manufacturer and trader, acquired a Bordeaux winery—Chateau de Viaud—for 100 million yuan ($15.19 million). The chateau is located in Lalande-de-Pomerol, a prestigious wine-producing area in France (LI MING)

China vs. Japan

China surpassed Japan to become the world's second largest economy in 2010.

China's nominal GDP for 2010 was about $5.9 trillion, said China's National Bureau of Statistics. Japan's nominal GDP was $5.47 trillion in 2010. Japan is now the world's third largest economy, behind the United States and China. But China still has a long way to go to narrow the per capita GDP gap with Japan—China's per capita GDP is only 10 percent of Japan's.

Yuan Options

China will start the domestic trading of yuan options against other currencies beginning April 1, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said on February 16.

The yuan options, which will be offered on the interbank market, will meet market demand for more currency hedging tools as the yuan becomes more flexible. Investors are only able to exercise their rights after the contract expires.

Banks and enterprises will be allowed to buy, but not sell, options during the initial phase. This move is designed to ease foreign exchange trading risks.

Banks involved in the business should have more than three years of experience in trading foreign-exchange forwards.

Treasury Bonds

China's Ministry of Finance sold 30 billion yuan ($4.55 billion) in treasury bonds from February 17-21. The five-year treasury bonds have a fixed annual par interest rate of 3.6 percent.

The bonds became tradable in all exchange markets from February 23. Interest will be paid annually.

This is the fourth national book-entry treasury bond issue by the ministry this year.

Telecoms Deal

China Mobile Ltd. and Vodafone Group Plc. signed a cooperation agreement on February 15 in Barcelona. The two telecommunications giants will share technical and operational expertise and conduct exchanges among corporate management.

They will cooperate in several areas, including enhanced roaming services, multinational customers, green technology, network roadmap management, joint innovation and research and development.

The two companies will promote converged long-term evolution (LTE) technology and LTE terminal development as the industry moves toward 4G as the next step in mobile broadband.

Chery Sales High

Chery Automobile, China's largest automobile exporter, said its global sales reached a record high of 86,299 vehicles in January, an increase of 17.52 percent over the same month last year. Of this total, 10,505 were sold overseas, more than doubling last year's January overseas sales, said Jin Yibo, company spokesman.

Chery said market growth would remain stable in 2011.