China :: Business & Economy

South Africa Ambassador: China, Africa good partners Video: BRICS embraces Rainbow Nation South Africas full membership of BRICS will add an "Africa dimension" to the world's major emerging economies' club, which also includes Brazil, Russia, India and China. Dr. Bheki Langa, Ambassador of South Africa to China, made those comments on Wednesday in his interview with People's Daily Online. South Africa is known as Rainbow Nation. South Africa's economy is much smaller than any other BRICS members. Its GDP, 286 billion U.S. dollars, is less than one quarter of Russias. However, given its influence and position in the African continent, its BRICS membership will bring huge opportunities for Africa and the rest of world both politically and economically, said the Ambassador. There are some doubts and controversy over South Africas BRICS membership. Goldman Sachs economist Jim Oneill, who coined the name of BRIC in 2003, for example, has questioned ...

SHANGHAI'S stock index eased this morning as financials and mining-related shares fell. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.19 percent to 2,743.83. Turnover declined to 54.51 billion yuan (US$8.28 billion) from yesterday morning's 63.45 billion yuan. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's biggest lender, was down 0.47 percent to 4.22 yuan. Huaxia Bank decreased 2.30 percent to 11.06 yuan. Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of the People's Bank of China, told a forum that China will continue to lift the reserve requirement ratio to sterilize capital inflows despite that it is already at a high level. The central bank's latest reserve requirement increase took effect last Thursday. The 50 basis point adjustment removed nearly 400 billion yuan in inter-bank liquidity, taking the ratio for large banks up to a record 19 percent. Zhou also said that liquidity can be controlled via credit growth as that will lead to a reduction in the money multiplier. Gold produ...

CBS has gained ownership of more than 20 Chinese Internet companies after it acquired CNET in 2008 for $1.8 billion, through its subsidiary CBS Interactive. CBS Corporation, the media giant who owns the most-watched US broadcasting network, has found a right way to realize its business ambition in China - by establishing the biggest vertical interactive media empire in the country. Despite Chinese restrictions on allowing foreign players to launch television broadcasting services, CBS Corp, through its entertainment subsidiary CBS Interactive (CBSi), gained ownership of 20-plus Chinese Internet companies after it acquired CNET in 2008 for $1.8 billion. CBSi launched a new round of acquisition bids for three Chinese websites focused on women's interests last week. The websites are Haibao.cn, Kimiss.com and 51jiemeng.com. The company declined to reveal the financial terms of the acquisitions. It has been the first purchase worldwide for CBSi since global financial crisis hit the comp...

The 41st World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, kicked off Wednesday with delegates gathering to try and paint a comprehensive picture of the post-crisis world they now inhabit. One of the main topics of debate is who the principal artists of this new fresco will be: the established schools of the US and Europe, or the innovative movements of the emerging world, coming from China, India and Brazil. As these "new realities" are being discussed, cautious optimism has dominated the meeting so far, as many officials feel it is high time to look beyond the crisis and establish guidelines as global economic power shifts from West to East, as suggested by Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the WEF. Looking at China's place in this new reality, almost half of the 1,201 CEOs of international firms polled by PricewaterhouseCoopers claimed they were "very confident" about China's growth in the 12 months to come. China topped the poll of business...

The Development and Reform Commission of Henan Province declared on Wednesday that another regional economic zone, which is to be located in Henan, has been included in national strategic economic planning. This planned area, known as the Zhongyuan Economic Zone, will promote the development of the central area of China. So far, all other similar economic zones have been located at the coastal region. For example, the others include the Bohai-Ring, the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta. National planning for regional development in China provides strategic, fundamental and binding guidelines for the utilization of the country's territory. According to the recently-released document, the Zhongyuan Economic Zone will include cities around Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan province and is based on its position as a hub of land transportation. This area is expected to grow into a base for China's key hi-tech industry, advanced manufacturing, modern se...

Macau's gambling magnate Stanley Ho has filed a court claim against his children to recover his assets, according to a signed court document, in another U-turn in a feud over the ailing tycoon's empire. Just a day earlier, Ho, chairman of Macau's biggest casino operator SJM Holdings , had given a television interview saying he would not sue and that he wanted to resolve the matter privately with his family to end the feud. The latest move in the zig-zagging tussle for the 89-year-old tycoon's billions of dollars of assets suggests an intensification in the scramble between factions of Ho's family, which includes four wives and at least 17 children. Ho's lawyer, Gordon Oldham, said today he had filed a court claim on Ho's behalf against his children including Pansy and Lawrence Ho, other relatives and companies. A copy of the court claim filed at Hong Kong's High Court stated that Ho was suing his third wife and the five children of his second wife for is...

Japanese exports rose a better-than- expected 13.0 percent in December from a year earlier, suggesting Japan's export-led recovery may be getting back on track, the Finance Ministry said Thursday. According to the ministry, the value of exports in the recording period totaled 6,112.8 billion yen (74.5 billion U.S. dollars) and marked the 13th straight month of growth. December's figure also beat economists' expectations for a 9.2 percent rise and increased from the 9.1 percent rise booked in the year to November. Exports to China, Japan's largest trading partner, jumped 20.1 percent from a year earlier in December and shipments to countries in the wider Asian region rose 14.8 percent, the finance ministry reported. Asia accounts for more than 50 percent of Japan's total exports and is driving the nations export-led economic recovery. Separately, the ministry announced that Japan's trade balance rose 34.1 percent from a year earlier to 727.7 billi...