TAXI FOR HIRE To combat high domestic labor costs and inflation at home, more Chinese companies are setting up shop in southeast Asian countries. Among them is Guangdong Gaolubao Trade Development Co. Ltd., which opened the first taxi company in Cambodia on July 11

Microcredit companies could make a debut in Zhejiang Province in July on a trial basis to meet the growing need for capital by small and medium-sized enterprises, according to a report by the Shanghai Securities News.

To standardize and regulate private capital, each county in the province will have one or two microcredit companies, the report said.

After receiving a go-ahead, the first group of lenders will start issuing small loans in September.

Zhou Dewen, head of Wenzhou Small and Medium Enterprises Development Institution, told the Shanghai Securities News that setting up microcredit companies is the key to solving the financing difficulties of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Online Olympics

Three leading Chinese dot-com firms have been granted rights to broadcast the events of the 2008 Olympic Games.

Nasdaq-listed NetEase.com Inc., Sina Corp. and Hong Kong-listed Tencent Communication Corp. announced on July 15 that they signed agreements with CCTV.com for Olympic video-broadcasting rights and online video-on-demand services.

This means they will face competition from Sohu.com, an Olympic sponsor and an original holder of the rights. The Olympics are bringing big business opportunities for online firms, which may receive huge fees from advertisers, observers told China Daily.

Happy Ending

China’s second largest iron ore trader, Sinosteel Corp. (Sinosteel), announced on July 10 that it had purchased a controlling stake in Australian iron ore miner Midwest Corp. (Midwest) for AU$1.36 billion ($1.31 billion) in cash.

Sinosteel’s offer, priced at AU$6.38 ($6.17) per share, thwarted a rival offer from Australian Murchison Metals Ltd.

Sinosteel now holds over 213.8 million shares, or 50.97 percent, of Midwest. It was the first successful hostile takeover by a Chinese company.

Branding China

Fifteen Chinese brands were listed among the world’s top 500 brands in 2008, three more than in 2007, the World Brand Lab, compiler of the list, announced in Beijing on July 13.