China Eastern Airlines Corp. Ltd. said on August 10 that its preliminary agreement to sell a 24-percent stake of the company to Singapore Airlines Ltd. (SIA) and Lentor Investments Pte. Ltd. failed.

The preliminary agreement became invalid because no further decisions had been made as of August 10, the document's expiration date.

SIA and Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd., Singapore's state-linked investment firm and the parent of Lentor Investments, signed a preliminary deal last September to buy a 24-percent stake in China Eastern for $923 million.

China Eastern shareholders voted down the deal in January, because they believed the price did not reflect the company's fair value.

Favor to Clean Vehicles

China will adjust its vehicle tax rates from September 1 as part of its energy conservation and emissions reduction campaign, according to a joint announcement by the Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation on August 13.

The tax on cars with engine capacities of 3-4 liters will rise to 25 percent from 15 percent, with the rate for engines larger than 4 liters doubling to 40 percent.

The rate on cars with engines that are 1 liter or less will fall to 1 percent from 3 percent.

"We hope the new policy will help restrain the production and sales of high-emission vehicles while promoting low-emission cars," the ministry said.

Energy Discovery

CNOOC Ltd. said it discovered oil and natural gas in the Yellow River Mouth Sag of China's Bohai Bay.

The test flows were about 1,500 barrels of oil and 220,000 cubic feet of gas per day, according to a company statement issued on August 12.

Listed on exchanges in Hong Kong and New York, the company is the listed arm of China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), the nation's largest offshore oil producer.

Zhu Weilin, Executive Vice President of CNOOC Ltd., told Xinhua News Agency that the company had made six discoveries in the same area since 2006.

CNOOC Ltd. produced 171 million barrels of oil equivalent last year, up 2.6 percent from the previous year.

Steel Exports Rebound

China's steel exports swelled to 7.21 million metric tons in July, up 21.38 percent year on year. The amount was 1.99 million metric tons more than in June, China Securities News reported on August 12, citing China Customs statistics.

The report said the surge was attributed to the deferred export of alloy steel produced in June.

Spurred by rising prices on the international market, the country's steel exports have showed signs of rebounding since March. Chinese Customs suggested that the government reinforce its supervision of steel exports to prevent them from getting out of control.

Customs statistics indicated that national steel exports stood at 34.15 million metric tons in the first seven months this year, down 14 percent over the same period in 2007.

Nuclear Power Joint Venture

Electricité de France SA (EDF), Europe's biggest power producer, signed a final agreement to form a joint venture with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co. Ltd. to build and operate two European pressurized water reactors in Guangdong.

EDF will take a 30-percent stake in the new company-Guangdong Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Co. Ltd., the Paris-based company said in a statement on August 12.

Areva SA, the world's biggest maker of nuclear reactors, and Alstom SA previously had signed contracts with Guangdong Nuclear to supply nuclear equipment and turbines, EDF said in the statement.