China's coal imports more than tripled from the previous year to reach 130 million tons in 2009, making it a net importer for the first time.

China Mobile Slowdown

China Mobile, the world's largest telecom operator by subscribers, is losing steam as a maturing market and intensifying competition eat into its profits.

The company raked in a net profit of 29.6 billion yuan ($4.4 billion) from July to September, representing a modest growth of 3.5 percent year on year, down from 6.8 percent in the second quarter.

Revenues grew 7.8 percent to 352.6 billion yuan ($52.6 billion) in the first nine months as the company added 41.47 million new customers, bringing the total customer base to 569 million.

"We are experiencing a slowdown in growth because of the widening penetration of mobile services and an increasingly competitive market," said a China Mobile statement. "In addition, most of our new users live in the countryside, where customer spending is typically lower."

The average revenue per user—a key barometer for long-term growth prospects—slipped to 72 yuan ($10.6) in the first three quarters from 75 yuan ($11) a year earlier.

In an attempt to keep its dominant position, the company plans to increase spending on handset subsidies this year to 15.5 billion yuan ($2.3 billion) from 11.7 billion yuan ($1.7 billion) in 2009. This has helped consolidate the customer foundation, but has also undermined profit margins, said Jin Tang, an analyst at the Shanghai-headquartered Shenyin & Wanguo Securities Co. Ltd.

BYD Struggles

While China's auto market booms, BYD Automobile Co. Ltd. is barely trudging along.

The Shenzhen-based company generated a net profit of 11.34 million yuan ($1.7 million) in the third quarter, less than 1 percent of a year ago.

A former manufacturer of rechargeable lithium and nickel batteries, BYD has been a pioneer in exploring new energy vehicles. It was even considered a rising star when U.S. investor Warren Buffet in September 2008 paid $230 million for a nearly 10-percent stake in the company.

Chen Huanyu, an analyst at the Guotai & Jun'an Securities Co. Ltd., attributed the downturn to a drop in auto sales. BYD sold 33,085 vehicles in September, down 24.9 percent year on year. Total sales for this year are estimated at 600,000 units, down from the original forecast of 800,000 units.

Part of the reason was many dealers of the company bowed out of its sales network or joined rival manufacturers, said a report by the Beijing Youth Daily.

Weighing down the performance was also the relatively high comparison base last year when the market thrived, said Yin Guohui, an analyst at the BOCOM International Holdings Co. Ltd.

The gloom may ease later this year, but a substantial turnaround is unlikely, said Yin.

Latin American Trade

The Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have committed to financing up to $200 million worth of trade activity between China and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region over the next two years.

The partnership will be a groundbreaking initiative to support increased trade activity since trade is a fundamental economic driver of both LAC and China's economies, said Luis Alberto Moreno, President of IDB.

China-LAC trade grew at an average annual rate of 31 percent from 2000 to 2008. Even during the global economic meltdown, the bilateral trade maintained its dynamism, and amounted to $121.5 billion in 2009, 12 times that of 2000.

In January 2009, China became a member of the IDB, the world's largest regional development bank and the main source of multilateral finance for the LAC region.

HR Seminar

The Career International Inc. held a seminar on October 26 in Beijing with a number of experts and researchers offering fresh insight into the latest trends in career development and human resource management. Career International is a leading recruitment solution provider based in Beijing.

"Human resource management has evolved far beyond employee performance evaluation and training," said Lu Lingmin, former PR manager at the Baidu Inc., at the seminar. "The focus is now strategy design for corporate development and coordination between various parts of the organization."

An Ran, a senior manager of Career International, said multinationals are increasingly outsourcing their recruitment process so they could focus on their core businesses.