Expanding in China

BRIDGING SHANGHAI:Construction is completed on the Renmin Road Tunnel in Shanghai on March 1. As part of the infrastructure improvements for Shanghai World Expo 2010, the 3,097-meter tunnel is scheduled to come into use later this year (XIN HUA)

Standard Chartered Plc. announced on March 3 that it would continue to expand its operations on the Chinese mainland despite the economic slowdown.

"We are still investing in building up the banking network on the mainland," said Jaspal Bindra, the company's CEO, in a statement.

According to the British bank's annual report for 2008, its Chinese mainland operations generated a total income of $632 million in 2008, a 27-percent increase year-on-year.

Repeal of Toy Ban

India officially lifted its ban on imports of Chinese toys on March 2, according to a recent report by Xinhua News Agency. Toy imports from China can be allowed if the consignments are accompanied by international quality assurance certificates, the Indian Government said in a statement.

India imposed a six-month ban on made-in-China toys on January 23, alleging that they threatened public safety and health. In response, China dismissed the ban as an act of protectionism.

Internal pressure had been mounting for the Indian Government to ease the ban when toy dealers complained they risked going out of business after toy prices skyrocketed in January.

CIC's Choice

China Investment Corp. (CIC) will increase its holdings in the big three domestic state-owned commercial banks and invest in natural resource assets, Jesse Wang, Executive Vice President of the sovereign wealth fund, told Xinhua News Agency. He said the company also may invest in H-shares listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Central Huijin Investment Co., a wholly-owned subsidiary company of CIC, is the largest shareholder of the big three banks, namely the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the Bank of China Ltd. and China Construction Bank Corp.

CIC also will invest in commodity assets to take advantage of their current low prices, Wang said.

SOE Restructuring

China will create an asset management company to help advance the restructuring of smaller state-owned enterprises (SOEs), according to a recent report by Xinhua News Agency.

The company will merge some smaller and underperforming SOEs to help fulfill the government's target of reducing the number of SOEs to 80-100. It also will foster the development of 30-50 large, globally competitive entities by the end of 2010.

So far, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council has set up two state asset management companies-the State Development and Investment Corp. and China Chengtong Group. They have played a positive role in restructuring SOEs, the report said.

New Refinery

China National Petroleum Corp. and Russian oil titan OAO Rosneft plan to start building a giant refinery in the Tianjin Binhai New Area in 2010, according to a recent report in the Shanghai Daily.

The 21.1-billion-yuan ($3 billion) refinery will be able to process 10 million tons of crude oil annually and is scheduled for completion by 2012.

The project was reportedly part of an agreement reached by China and Russia during a visit by former Russian President Vladimir Putin to Beijing in May 2006 to deepen their oil and gas production cooperation. (See page 14)