THE MARKETS

Profit Unaffected

In the first quarter, the net profit of China Vanke Co., China's largest property developer by market value, rose 15.8 percent year on year to 1.4 billion yuan ($222.18 million), according to the company's first-quarter report.

Due to the government's persistent control efforts in the real estate sector, the company's monthly transactions saw big fluctuations in the first quarter, with sales in 14 major cities hitting the lowest level since January 2006, down 72 percent year on year.

Although sales gradually picked up in February and March, the company saw declining transactions for the whole quarter. Compared with the same period last year, sales in terms of floor area in the 14 cities dropped 25.5 percent while turnover across the country declined 15.5 percent.

UnionPay Expansion

China UnionPay and the Taiwan-based Taishin Bank inked a memorandum of cooperation to expand the use of UnionPay cards in Taiwan on April 23.

In addition to the acceptance of UnionPay cards at point-of-sale and ATMs in Taiwan, card owners can withdraw cash from branches of Taishin Bank for emergency use if their cards are lost.

With individuals from more mainland cities being approved to visit Taiwan for tourism, the two sides will see strengthening cooperation, said Xu Luode, President of China UnionPay.