SinoCast China Financial Watch articles from August 2006

SinoCast China Financial Watch archives from August 2006

HSBC Expands in Yangtze River Delta.
August 30, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 31, SinoCast -- HSBC Group on Tuesday opened a new branch in Hangzhou, a city with a booming economy and a population of over six million, in a key step toward expansion in the...

BOC in Catch-up Game.
August 30, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 31, SinoCast -- Buoyed by lending in the first half of 2006, Bank of China posts a 28.3% rise in net profit, while the bottom line is falling sharply at its industry rival with...

CNOOC in Record Oil Revenue, Profit.
August 30, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) HONG KONG, August 31, SinoCast -- CNOOC limited (0883.HK), the flagship listed vehicle of China's biggest offshore oil and gas company, in the first half of 2006 saw the net profits surge 37.6...

Dairy Firm Yili Raises H1 Net.
August 30, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 31, SinoCast -- Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co., Ltd. (600887.SH), the dairy industry bellwether in China, reported net profit for the first six months of 2006 rose 18.17...

New China Life Targets Broker Deal.
August 30, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 31, SinoCast -- New China Life Insurance Co., Ltd., the country's fourth-biggest life insurer by market share, may acquire shares worth CNY 100 million to CNY 160 million in Guosen...

Sino-foreign JV Debuts to Buy NPLs.
August 30, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 31, SinoCast -- China Huarong Asset Management Corp. opened a joint venture together with Cathay Capital Company (No.2) Limited and International Finance Corp. The newborn, the first...

China Fund Industry Hits Record.
August 29, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 30, SinoCast -- China's 50 fund management companies performed well according to their reports for the first half of this year, with sizes and fees being very much on the rise....

Surging Cost Stings Baosteel.
August 29, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 30, SinoCast -- Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. (600019.SZ), the listed arm of China's biggest steel producer, in the first six months of 2006 posted a 38.5 percent drop in net profit from...

Roast Duck Titan Prepares for IPO.
August 29, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 30, SinoCast -- Beijing Quanjude Group Co., Ltd., a major roast duck restaurant business, plans to spend approximately CNY 200 million opening more self-operated stores within three...

Threshold for Foreign Buyers Lowers.
August 29, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 30, SinoCast -- China releases a new document regarding the makeshift system of QFII (qualified foreign institutional investor), under which insurers and other long-term buyers are...

IAG Gets Closer to Shanghai Deal.
August 29, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 30, SinoCast -- Insurance Australia Group Ltd., the largest motor vehicle and home insurer in Australia, is in line for a deal of acquiring 24.9 percent of China Pacific Property...

China Life Sweetened by Policies, Deals.
August 29, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) HONG KONG, August 30, SinoCast -- China's largest life insurer posts a 47% gain in revenues for the first six months reflecting a boom of the whole industry, and its earnings are growing at a faster...

Shanghai Firm Said to Partner Morgan Stanley.
August 28, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 29, SinoCast -- Morgan Stanley is to enter into partnership with Shanghai Pengxin Group, a private company with core real estate development business, boosting its expansion in...

Shanghai Eyes Expansion for Financial Center.
August 28, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 29, SinoCast -- China's economic hub Shanghai is making great efforts to build the Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone into the local version of Wall Street. Lujiazui was established...

Zhongjin Gold Sweetened by Bull Market.
August 28, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 29, SinoCast -- As a major player in China, the world's No.4 gold producer and No.3 consumer, Zhongjin Gold Corp more than tripled its net profit in the first half of 2006. The profit...

Sinopec Tops A-Share Companies.
August 28, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 29, SinoCast -- Sinopec Corp, part of whose stock is traded in Shanghai, said Monday that its net profit grew 14.6% year on year in the first half of 2006, which is expected to be...

Shenhua Energy Net Rises on Demands.
August 28, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 29, SinoCast -- China's biggest coal maker in the first six months ended on June 30 saw the net profits rise up to 10.4 percent from a year ago to CNY 8.6 billion, boding a bullish...

China Life, Ping An Insurance in Home IPO Plans.
August 28, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 29, SinoCast -- China Life Insurance Co., Ltd. (2628.HK; LFC.NY) and Ping An Insurance (Group) Co., Ltd. (2318.HK) plan to list in the mainland's stock market to finance their...

BOC Bets on Auto Financing.
August 25, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 28, SinoCast -- Bank of China (3988.HK; 601988.SH), the country's third biggest lender by assets, opened an auto financing joint venture with two partners in Beijing. The venture, the...

Moody's OK'd for China Deal.
August 25, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 28, SinoCast -- China's Ministry of Commerce approves Moody's Investors Service to acquire 49 percent of Chengxin International Credit Rating Co., Ltd., the country's largest credit...

Banks in China Become Cleaner.
August 25, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 28, SinoCast -- Commercial banks in the world's fastest-growing economy posted a nonperforming loan ratio of 7.5% at the end of June, said a regulatory report, which is down 1.1...

CCB, Bank of America in Over $1b Deal.
August 25, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) HONG KONG, August 28, SinoCast -- Beijing-based China Construction Bank said it agreed to acquire the entire share capital of Bank of America (Asia) as part of strategy to expand in the overseas...

Nanning Sugar Net Surges 32 Times.
August 25, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHENZHEN, August 28, SinoCast -- Nanning Sugar Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (000911.SZ) said its net profit for the first six months of 2006 gained 3,273 percent to reach CNY 177 million, powered by the...

Goldwind IPO at Stake.
August 25, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) XINJIANG, August 28, SinoCast -- Goldwind Science and Technology Co. Ltd. is likely to mothball an overseas listing plan and turn to the home equity market, sources familiar with the company said. The...

Asian Bank Pours $30mn in Hangzhou.
August 24, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) HANGZHOU, August 25, SinoCast -- ADB, a multinational financing agency, becomes the latest example that foreign funds are keen to bet on the high-growth story of China's banking industry as policy...

Fixed-rate Mortgages to Expand in China.
August 24, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 25, SinoCast -- Fixed-rate mortgage home loans trend to become a hot pick for home buyers amid the strong market estimate that China's central bank would probably raise the benchmark...

Construction Bank H1 Net Falls on Tax.
August 24, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) HONG KONG, August 25, SinoCast -- Asia's most profitable bank said Thursday that its profit attributable to shareholders for the first half of 2006 fell 18.1% to CNY 23.2 billion, because its taxation...

Bohai Securities Woos Foreign Buyer.
August 24, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) TIANJIN, August 25, SinoCast -- Bohai Securities, who just welcomed the new controller, is showing the olive branch to foreign investors, a people close to the broker told. Tianjin TEDA Co....

PetroChina Tops HK-Listed Firms.
August 24, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) HONG KONG, August 25, SinoCast -- China's biggest oil and gas company in the six months ended on June 30 reaped up to CNY 80.6 billion net profit, larger than that posted by HSBC Holdings (0005.HK),...

China Realty Firms Little Affected.
August 24, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 25, SinoCast -- Property companies in mainland China had strong growth in the first six months of 2006 driven by voracious demands, in spite of unfriendly policy climate. China Vanke...

H1 Net Rises 31% at China's BoCom.
August 23, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 24, SinoCast -- The banking industry has been growing on the fast track on good economy, and as one of the industry's major players, Bank of Communications says it is raising both...

Bank Minsheng's Growth Pain.
August 23, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 24, SinoCast -- Latest figures from China Minsheng Banking Corp mirror an industry-wide concern on short capital base, as lenders have been expanding aggressively in face of voracious...

China Post OK'd for Maiden Fund.
August 23, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 24, SinoCast -- China Post & Capital Fund Management Co., backed by the State Postal Bureau of China, has won the go-ahead to hit the market the maiden fund product. Under the approval...

Conch Cement More than Quadruples.
August 23, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 24, SinoCast -- Anhui Conch Cement Co., Ltd. (600585.SH) in the first half of 2006 posted a 357.6 percent year-on-year jump in net profits, reflecting a recovering performance of the...

Jiangxi Copper Doubles H1 Net.
August 23, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHENZHEN, August 24, SinoCast -- Jiangxi Copper Co., Ltd. (600362.SH; 0358.HK) announced net profit surged 109.31 percent to CNY 2.056 billion for the first six months of 2006, driven by the rising...

Aviva-Cofco Enters Hunan Market.
August 23, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) CHANGSHA, August 24, SinoCast -- Aviva-Cofco Life Insurance Co., Ltd., a Sino-UK joint venture, received regulatory approval to prepare a branch office in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province,...

BOC to Issue Better H1 Book: President.
August 22, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) HONG KONG, August 23, SinoCast -- Compared to Bank of China's flat share price so far this year, its earning power is on the rise following adjustment in client and business structures, President Li...

China OK's Dollar Fund.
August 22, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 23, SinoCast -- The government-backed Hua An Fund Management Co. just won the regulatory nod to launch a fund product under the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor (QDII)...

China Broadens QDII System.
August 22, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 23, SinoCast -- Hua An Fund Management Co, a partner of Lehman Brothers, says it becomes the first licensee of QDII (qualified domestic institutional investor) in the mutual fund...

China National Coal Close to IPO.
August 22, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 23, SinoCast -- China National Coal Group Corp., the country's second-biggest coal producer, expects to list a newly established subsidiary on overseas market this year, sources said....

Shell Said Targeting Beijing Tongyi Deal.
August 22, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 23, SinoCast -- Royal Dutch Shell is seeking to acquire a stake in Beijing Tongyi Petroleum Chemical Co., China's largest privately-owned lubricant oil producer, people close to the...

H1 Report Hurts PICC Shares.
August 22, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) HONG KONG, August 23, SinoCast -- Shares of PICC Property & Casualty Co., Ltd. (2318.HK), the mainland's biggest nonlife insurer, slid over 4.2 percent Monday after it reported less-than-expected...

Beijing Beats Developer, Woos Homebuyer.
August 21, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 22, SinoCast -- The central bank decided to raise the one-year lending rate by 27 basis points since last weekend while raising the rate by a stunning 45 basis points for...

Shanghai Bright Dairy H1 Net Down 40%.
August 21, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 22, SinoCast -- Shanghai Bright Dairy & Food Co. (600597.SH) in the first half of the year posted a 40.17 percent drop in net profit, a continuously waning performance hurt by fiercer...

Northeast Pharmaceutical on Track to Reshuffle.
August 21, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHENYANG, August 22, SinoCast -- Shenyang-based Northeast Pharmaceutical Group is proceeding with the overall reshuffle despite the June 2006 deadline set by the local state-owned asset supervision...

Premiums More Than Double at AXA-Minmetals.
August 21, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 22, SinoCast -- AXA-Minmetals Assurance Company Limited, a joint venture between France's AXA Group and China's Minmetals Group, had its gross premium income soar 132.9 percent in...

Barclays Targets New China Trust.
August 21, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) CHONGQING, August 22, SinoCast -- London-based Barclays is seeking to buy shares in an investment and trust company of West China amid its effort of expanding in this part of the world. The bank has...

Bank to Hold Roadshow for HK IPO.
August 21, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 22, SinoCast -- China Merchants Bank (600036.SH), with shares already floating in Shanghai, is set to debut at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange next month, people familiar with the...

Shenzhen Bank H1 Net Up 176%.
August 18, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHENZHEN, August 21, SinoCast -- Shenzhen Development Bank (000001.SZ) in the first six months of this year reaped up to CNY 464 million net profits, a 176 percent soar from a year ago, said the newly...

Agricultural Bank Eyes Group Listing.
August 18, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 21, SinoCast -- The restructuring scheme for China's No.2 lender is expected to come to light by yearend, under which the ailing lender could be rescued as a whole rather than a...

China Aluminum Firms in Black.
August 18, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 21, SinoCast -- Shandong Aluminum Industry Co., Ltd. (600205.SH) and Baotou Aluminum Co., Ltd. (600472.SH) had strong growth in the first six months of 2006, showed their interim...

Angang New Steel Ranks Top, Oil Firm Bottoms.
August 18, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHENZHEN, August 21, SinoCast -- Shijiazhuang Refining & Chemical Co said on Thursday that its first-half net profit dived to a minus CNY 913 million, which makes it bottom- placed on China's listed...

Goldman Sachs China Deal Makes Headway.
August 18, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 21, SinoCast -- Goldman Sachs receives the approval from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission to acquire China's largest meat- processing company, Shuanghui...

Life Insurance JVs Expand into Zhejiang.
August 18, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) HANGZHOU, August 21, SinoCast -- Two Sino-foreign life insurance joint venture companies are expanding into Zhejiang province with regulatory approval. CITIC-Prudential Life Insurance Co., Ltd., a...

CYPC to Unload $350mn CCB Stock.
August 17, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 18, SinoCast -- China Yangtze Power Co, which just posted a flat first-half report, plans to cash almost a half of the 2 billion shares it has held since 2004 in China Construction...

1st-Half Net Grows at Deutsche Bank China Partner.
August 17, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 18, SinoCast -- Hua Xia Bank, a partner of Deutsche Bank, said its net profit expanded to CNY 745 million for the first half of 2006, as the whole industry is lifted by good condition...

China Fund Market Hits Record.
August 17, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 18, SinoCast -- Since the year beginning, China's fund management companies have jointly hit the market up to 52 fund products with 207.1 billion shares combined, a record high,...

Sinopec Bets on DME Project.
August 17, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 18, SinoCast -- Asia's No.1 oil refiner China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) (0386.HK), together with four partners, is set to launch a CNY 21 billion dimethly ether (DME)...

China No.1 DME Producer Plans Overseas IPO.
August 17, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANDONG, August 18, SinoCast -- Shandong Jiutai Chemical Industry Technology Co., Ltd., the largest dimethyl ether producer in China, plans to offer shares at abroad to finance its expansion amid the...

HSBC Taps Demands of China Insurance.
August 17, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 18, SinoCast -- HSBC Holdings PLC (0005.HK) is in preparation for a life insurance joint venture in mainland China in an effort to improve its global insurance business's...

China Minsheng Eyes Tie-up with Canadian Bank.
August 16, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 17, SinoCast -- China Minsheng Banking Corp. (600016.SH) mulls over forming a fund management joint venture with Royal Bank of Canada, people close to the deal said. The...

Bank Expands Business before $2b IPO.
August 16, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHENZHEN, August 17, SinoCast -- China Merchants Bank, preparing for a Hong Kong listing, was on Tuesday granted a QDII (qualified domestic institutional investor) license by regulators, who recognize...

Bourses Woo Shandong IPOs.
August 16, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANDONG, August 17, SinoCast -- Several foreign stock exchanges are now sending olive branches to ambitious companies in Shandong, an eastern Chinese province. Small and medium enterprises in the...

SEB to Control Zhejiang Supor Cookware.
August 16, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHENZHEN, August 17, SinoCast -- Zhejiang Supor Cookware Co. Ltd. (002032.SZ) announced SEB S.A., a France-based electrical appliance manufacturer, is going to acquire at most 61 percent of its shares...

Ping An Insurance H1 Net Leaps 83%.
August 16, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHENZHEN, August 17, SinoCast -- Ping An Insurance (2318.HK) announced its net profit for the first six months of 2006 soared 83.4 percent from a year earlier, outpacing the market estimates. The net...

China Life Tops HK$100b Mark.
August 16, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) HONG KONG, August 17, SinoCast -- China Life and other mainland insurers saw their market value soar in Tuesday trading on rumors that they will be allowed to invest more in the stock market, as...

Buyout Firm Cashes in on China Banking.
August 15, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 16, SinoCast -- China SAFE Investments Ltd has seen its capital injection of up to USD 45 billion into China Construction Bank and Bank of China profitable in just nearly two years,...

China Assets Grow at Credit Suisse, Schroders.
August 15, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 16, SinoCast -- ICBC Credit Suisse Asset Management Co and Bank of Communications Schroder Fund Management Co each have raised three fund products since their inceptions almost a...

HSBC Prepares for 07 Opening.
August 15, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 16, SinoCast -- HSBC will be allowed to offer renminbi services to China's 1.3 billion consumers in 2007 and it will be a vital year for the British-backed group's retail banking...

China Post OK'd to Sell Mutual Funds.
August 15, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 16, SinoCast -- The State Postal Bureau of China, also known as China Post, is to sell mutual funds as agents based on its widespread network across the country, a move to seek for...

Angang Steel Q3 Net to Soar 250-300%.
August 15, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHENZHEN, August 16, SinoCast -- China's leading steel maker Angang New Steel Co. (000898.SZ) forecast the net profits in the third quarter are to surge 250 percent to 300 percent from a year ago on...

Taikang Life Plans Big Debt Issue.
August 15, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 16, SinoCast -- Taikang Life Insurance Company, a midsize insurer in China, is to issue altogether CNY 340 million subordinate debts to boost the solvency ratio. The company has won...

SPDB Plans Bancassurance Arm.
August 14, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 15, SinoCast -- Shanghai Pudong Development Bank hopes to set up an insurance company to enrich its product lineup, according to an executive, meanwhile saying that its strategic...

Hua Xia Bank to Open Ningbo Branch.
August 14, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 15, SinoCast -- Another national joint- stock commercial lender will make inroads to this eastern Chinese city to cash in on its growing number of well-heeled residents, in the...

Zinc Firm Zhuye to Issue 100mn A-shares.
August 14, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 15, SinoCast -- China's No. 1 zinc maker Hunan Zhuye Torch Metals Co., Ltd. (600961.SH), whose shares are floating in Shanghai, is mulling a non-public offering to seek a bigger...

Mainland Firms to Raise Over HK$31b in Sept.
August 14, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) HONG KONG, August 15, SinoCast -- The Hong Kong Stock Exchange will have more mainland flavor as the fast-growing China Merchants Bank is expected to debut here next month with an as much as HKD 18.7...

Chalco Continues China Takeover.
August 14, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) BEIJING, August 15, SinoCast -- Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (2600.HK), the country's biggest alumina and primary aluminum producer, has agreed to acquire a smaller peer based in the...

Shenyin Wanguo Wins Innovative Broker Status.
August 14, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 15, SinoCast -- Shenyin & Wanguo Securities Co. has won the innovative broker license from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to enlarge the business scope. Debuted in the...

China Merchants Bank Eyes Sept-End Listing.
August 11, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHENZHEN, August 14, SinoCast -- China Merchants Bank (600036.SH), the country's first-class bank by profitability, is on the verge of launching an initial public offering in Hong Kong, said a source....

Shandong Gold Mining H1 Net Gains 64%.
August 11, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 14, SinoCast -- Shandong Gold Mining Co., Ltd. (600547.SH), one of the largest gold miners in China, reported its net profit in the first six months of 2006 gained 64.93 percent from...

China Liquor Maker H1 Net up 423%.
August 11, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SICHUAN, August 14, SinoCast -- China's several listed distilled spirit brands posted soaring performances in the first six months of 2006, reflecting a flourish in the whole industry buoyed by the...

Yuan Peaks on July Trade Figure.
August 11, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 14, SinoCast -- The central parity rate of the Chinese yuan was set at 7.9688 to the dollar on Thursday, buoyed by currency speculation, and as statistics show that China has been in...

Stanford, GE OK'd to Buy China A-shares.
August 11, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 14, SinoCast -- China has just granted three new QFII (qualified foreign institutional investor) licenses, a move to wider open the capital market. Stanford University, GE Asset...

HSBC OK'd with $500m QDII Quota.
August 11, 2006... (From SinoCast China Financial Watch) SHANGHAI, August 14, SinoCast -- British group HSBC becomes the first foreign bank in mainland China to issue overseas wealth management products to its local clients as the market opens wider under...