Business Briefs

Policy

Green standards issued for rare earths

Environmental standards governing the production of rare earths, specifically concerning pollutants, were issued on Feb 28 to ensure the

The standards, which come into force on Oct 1, set strict emission limits possibly affecting at least

60 percent of companies in the industry and could lead to consolidation in the sector, industry sources said.

An executive from Ganzhou Rare Earth Mineral Industry Co Ltd, who declined to be named, said at least 60 percent of producers would have difficulty meeting the standards, which means they will face increasing production costs trying to implement them.

Under the standards, enterprises will have to increase investment in pollution treatment facilities.

This investment will provide a more accurate picture of the true environmental and financial cost of the industry, according to Wu Xiaoqing, vice-minister of environmental protection.

Retail

'Reselling' claims put pressure on Carrefour

French retailer Carrefour SA resold products bought from its suppliers to intermediate distributors at a discount in China to inflate sales figures, a report on the news portal NetEase.com said on Feb 25.

The retailer also allegedly increased the charges for promotional and management activities to its suppliers, to make up for losses incurred in the reselling process, the report said citing former Carrefour store managers in Shanghai.

These activities account for between 5 and 15 percent of sales at Carrefour stores in Shanghai.

Carrefour earned 36.6 billion yuan (4 billion euros) in sales in 2009. That means, at the lowest rate of 5 percent, about 900 million yuan of the retailer's sales in China in 2009 came from the practice of reselling.

Auto

Volvo aims to spend $11b on expansion

Volvo Car Corp, the Swedish automaker acquired by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co, plans to invest as much as $11 billion (8 billion euros) worldwide over the next five years to tap rising demand in markets including China.

The company is also working to win government orders and is considering manufacturing cars in China to be exported, CEO Stefan Jacoby said on Feb 25.

Premium marques including Volvo, Audi AG and Daimler AG are expanding in China, the world's biggest automobile market and second largest economy, as rising incomes and economic growth boost spending.

The Swedish brand, whose chief executive presented its China strategy alongside Geely Chairman Li Shufu, is counting on rising demand to help double sales to 800,000 vehicles in 10 years.

BYD reveals electric ambitions for Europe

BYD, the Chinese carmaker, plans to begin selling electric and hybrid cars in Europe next year, its chairman and founder said.

The Shenzhen-based producer would launch its e6 electric car and the S6DM, a dual-mode electric vehicle similar to a plug-in hybrid, by the end of 2012, Wang Chuanfu said.

The cars, which premiered on March 2 in Geneva, will be produced in China.

Wang said that BYD and

Daimler would launch their jointly developed electric car in China in 2013.

"Everything is moving quite smoothly," he said.

BYD plans to launch the e6 in the United States in the first quarter of 2012, he said.

The number of 3G users in China is expected to reach 150 million by the end of this year. Provided to China Daily

Telecom

User numbers for 3G Internet top 50 million

Three years after the establishment of third-generation (3G) networks by China's three major telecommunications companies, the number of 3G users passed 50 million in January, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

That number is expected to swell to 150 million by the end of this year, the ministry said.

According to statistics from China Mobile, it had a total of 22.6 million 3G users in January, while China Unicom had 15.47 million and China Telecom attracted 13.64 million.

Investment

DSM plans to build new factory in Jiangsu

Royal DSM NV, the global life sciences and materials sciences company, will launch a 500 million yuan (55.2 million euros) project in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, to build a new production facility for composite resins targeted at the Chinese market.

The facility, scheduled to be operational in June 2012, will produce 100,000 tons of composite resins annually. It will be a joint venture, with 75 percent shares owned by DSM Assets Management Co Ltd, said Michael Effing, president of DSM Composite Resins, on Feb 25.

Chemical

Henkel to drive sales from emerging nations

German detergent and glue maker Henkel plans to draw 45 percent of its global revenue from the emerging economies by 2012, up from the current 41 percent in 2010.

In fact, the Asia-Pacific region contributed 14 percent to the global sales in 2010, and almost 40 percent of the region's revenue came from China.

Henkel's growth was powered by a global economic revival last year and the German business group reported a year-on-year increase of 11.2 percent in sales totaling 15.09 billion euros.

Banking

HSBC plans to expand more on mainland

HSBC, Europe's biggest lender, is set to continue its expansion on Chinese mainland and will set up 15 new outlets in cities and three rural outlets this year, a senior executive has revealed.

"As the central bank continues to raise interest rates, we expect revenue from the net-interest margin to continue rising as we have already altered our borrowing rates in accordance with the changes," said Peter Wong, chief executive of Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp Ltd on March 1.

Commerzbank puts premium on Asia

Commerzbank, Germany's second largest lender, announced on Feb 28 ambitious plans with a cross-border focus for corporate customer business with China and Asia.

It expected its corporate banking business volume in the world's second largest economy to increase by 20 percent this year alone, twice as high as that for Asia as a whole, said Michael Kotzbauer, an Asian region board member of the bank, at a news conference in Beijing.

The bank will target German small- and medium-sized enterprises that do business in China, and serve Chinese firms looking to do business in Germany with products ranging from loans and cash management to hedging products and consulting on purchasing companies.

China Daily