SWEET SEASON: A worker loads up sugarcanes in a sugar factory in Liucheng County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on December 3. This year, Liucheng has produced 2 million tons of sugarcane so far (DENG KEYI)

FTZ Trial

Starting from December, businesses in Shanghai's pilot free trade zone (FTZ) are allowed to open bank accounts to guarantee tax payments as local Customs authorities move to streamline clearance procedures.

The enterprises need to deposit a certain amount of funds in the accounts upon opening and have a letter of guarantee issued by a bank before they are able to make delivery of goods prior to paying tariffs.

When a company transfers goods outside the zone with duty payment certificates, the bank will deduct the amount that is payable. As soon as Customs authorities confirm that the duty is paid, the bank will refund the amount automatically into the account.

The new account will cover Customs matters such as centralized declaration, exhibition, inspection and maintenance of bonded goods outside the zone and processing trade on a trial basis.

Bank of China, Bank of Communications, China Minsheng Bank, China Merchants Bank and the Bank of Shanghai are the first batch of banks to operate such accounts for FTZ-based businesses.

Merger on Track

China's two largest train makers, China CNR Corp. and CSR Corp., have submitted the first draft of their merger plan to the State Council, China's cabinet.

CSR will buy all CNR shares through a secondary public offering, and the latter will delist from the capital market, 21st Century Business Herald reported on December 3, citing anonymous sources at the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

The new company will be named China Railway Vehicle Corp, the report said.

On October 27, CSR and CNR said that they were preparing for a major development. Their shares were suspended from trading in Shanghai and Hong Kong at the same time.

The merger will create a new train manufacturing giant, which is expected to hold assets of more than 300 billion yuan ($48.74 billion).

According to official statistics, the two corporations hold the lion's share in the world's high-speed train market, with total sales revenue equal to that of the rest of the world's top five makers combined.

Cloud Computing

China's leading smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp. and software company Kingsoft Co. Ltd., both co-founded by Chinese billionaire Lei Jun, announced on December 3 that they would invest $222 million in 21Vianet Group Inc., the largest carrier-neutral Internet data center service provider in China.

Kingsoft will take an 11.6-percent stake in 21Vianet as a result of the transaction, while Xiaomi will take 3.4 percent. Temasek Holdings, the Singaporean Government's investment arm, also agreed to pour $74 million into 21Vianet.

Teaming up with a major local cloud computing provider will enable Lei to put more mobile services on smartphones made by Xiaomi and software products developed by Kingsoft.

"The 21Vianet investment is one of the key steps in Kingsoft's cloud strategy for the next three years," said Lei, who serves as chairman of Kingsoft. "We believe that cloud services will be the critical breakthrough for the company."

Xiaomi is the second largest smartphone vendor in China by shipment at present, closely following South Korea-based Samsung Electronics Co., said research company Analysys International.