By the end of April 2008, the number of mainland enterprises listed on the Main Board and GEM of Hong Kong Stock Exchange reached 443, including 148 H shares, 93 red chips and 202 non-H-shares of private enterprises from the mainland.
The latest statistics released by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange show that the mainland stock shares take up 58.6% of the total market value and 74.2% of the total market turnover of the Hong Kong stock market.
Regarding Hong Kong itself, there were 1,244 listed companies with a total market value of about 18 trillion Hong Kong dollars by the end of April. And up until the end of last month, Hong Kong owned in total 4,808 derivative warrants, 260 callable bull/bear contracts, 26 trust funds and 173 bonds.
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China, Hong Kong stock exchange, listing, mainland
In spite of the unfolding global credit crisis and soaring energy prices, auto sales in China maintained double-digit growth since the beginning of the year. Passenger car sales rose 17.84% year-on-year in the first four months of 2008.
According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), sales reached 2.46 million cars, including 1.81 million sedans, 75,500 mini-vans and 141,300 sport-utility vehicles. And the figure for March was unusually large, showing the most rapid year-on-year growth in seven months.
Volkswagen AG’s two Chinese ventures — FAW Volkswagen and Shanghai Volkswagen — continued to top the sales list last month, as well as in the first four months. They are followed by the Detroit-based car maker’s venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp, Shanghai GM. And domestic auto producers sold 463,100 sedans in the first four months, accounting for a 25.46% share of the total sedan sales.
China, the world’s second-largest car market, produced 8.88 million automobiles last year, of which 8.79 million were sold. And this year, auto sales are anticipated to exceed 10 million units, which stand for a 14% full-year sales growth.
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automobile, China, GM, sales, Volkswagen
After the announcement of the direct air route between Beijing and Seattle, China’s Hainan Airlines together with Berlin airport announced plans to begin direct flights between Beijing and Berlin from September.
From September 5th, Hainan Airlines will start to offer four non-stop flights a week between the two capital cities employing Airbus A33—200 aircraft. The new route will shorten travel hours to less than nine hours.
By then, Berlin will be the fourth German city to have direct flights to China following Frankfurt, Munich and Dusseldorf.
On the part of China, the launch of the new route will help enhance economic, cultural and tourism cooperation between China and Germany and contribute to the friendly cooperation between the capital cities.
And on the part of Germany, the direct route is of great importance in promoting exchanges and cooperation between Germany and China as well as other Asian countries, bringing potential economic benefits to Berlin.
By opening more convenient air routes to Europe, China extends its welcome hands to more countries worldwide. Likewise, BPOVIA Ltd, with its excellent virtual assistants and professional consultation services, always welcomes every client, old and new alike and tries its best to facilitate his business processes in the country.
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Beijing, Berlin, China, flight, Hainan Airlines
Compared with the fourth quarter last year, sales of smartphone in the Chinese market in the first quarter saw a 4.8% growth.
The average price of a smartphone in China is around 2,470 yuan. Compared with high-end ones, low-end smartphones enjoy much wider popularity among buyers. And smartphone produced by Nokia and Motorola took up 85.9% of the market share.
In terms of sales volume, the market saw a record of 8.24 million units in the first quarter, accounting for 19.1% of all types of cellphones sold on the domestic market. And sales revenue stood at 20.4 billion yuan in the first three months, registering an increase of 7.6% over the same period last year.
The Chinese consumer market is in full swing in recent years, which is to a large extent attributable to the rapidly developing economy of the country and growing purchasing power of the Chinese people. Such a robust and huge potential market naturally attracts business people around the world like a strong magnet. For any businessman who is interested in the Chinese market and looking for assistance to facilitate business processes in the country, BPOVIA Ltd based in China, with its excellent virtual assistants and professional consultation services, can always be the source.
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BPOVIA, China, consultation, consumer market, sales, smartphone
A company to build large passenger aircraft was unveiled on May 11th in Shanghai, a major step closer to the country’s ambitious goal to produce homemade jumbo jets.
The new company has a registered capital of 19 billion yuan. The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission is the largest shareholder with an investment of 6 billion yuan for a 31.58% of the shares. Other shareholders are Shanghai Guo Sheng (Group) Co Ltd (26.32%), China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I) (21.06%), and China Aviation Industry Corporation II (AVIC II) (5.26 %).
The company will set its focus on five sectors—aircraft development, system integration, marketing, customer service and certification. And Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd (CACC) will undertake the chief responsibility of researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing the aircraft.
Within the first few years, CACC plans to finish delivery of ARJ21 aircraft—the first homegrown regional jet—and establish an operating system and train talents. The 70- to 90- seat ARJ21-700 came off the production line in Shanghai last December, and will start its maiden flight in the autumn.
Besides helping to improve the country’s independent innovation capabilities, the large-jet program is also of great significance in meeting the rapidly expanding domestic civil aviation market.
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China, civil aviation, industry, jumbo jet, Shanghai
Chalco, China’s largest aluminum producer whose shares are traded both in Shanghai and Hong Kong, agreed last Friday to set up a joint venture with Malaysia’s MMC and the Saudi Binladin Group to build and operate an aluminum smelter plant in Saudia Arabia.
The plant is to be built in three stages and the total investment is estimated to reach $4.5 billion. In the joint venture, the aluminum producer Chalco will own a 40% stake to become the largest single shareholder. Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary-backed MMC will hold a 20% share while a consortium of local investors led by the Saudi Binladin Group will hold the remaining stake.
The smelter plant is to be located in the Middle East country’s Jizan Economic City (JEC), where electricity costs an average of $20 per megawatt-hour compared with $28 in the US and $40 in China for the same measure. The annual aluminum production capacity of the plant is expected to reach one million tons.
In addition, an associated 1,860mW power plant with an estimated $2 billion will also be built, in which Chalco will take a 20% stake to become the third largest shareholder.
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aluminum, Chalco, China, industry, investment, joint venture, Malaysia, MMC, Saudia Arabia
A Global Telecommunication Center has been set up in Beijing by Ernst & Young, one of the big four accounting firms in the world, with the aim to power the expected restructuring of the China’s telecommunications sector and surging mergers and acquisitions.
The center will gather Ernst & Young’s global telecom resources to enlarge the scope of its client service skills and to provide up-to-date solutions on critical issues and latest trends facing the sector. It plans to provide Chinese telecom operators with services including auditing, risk control, tax, financial transactions, advisory, finance and operations and serve as the hub for the country’s increasing demand of the telecommunication industry.
“There’s an increasing demand for accounting services from Chinese telecommunication operators which are to be restructured and are seeking overseas expansion,” said Vincent de la Bachelerie, leader of Ernst & Young Global Telecommunications Industry, expressing his optimism about the Chinese telecom outlook.
“The telecommunications industry is a key sector for Ernst & Young, and it is important for us to strategically align our services in the Chinese market, where we are witnessing significant growth and change,” said Jonathan Dharmapalan, head of the Global Telecommunications Center.
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accounting, China, Ernst & Young, telecom
Great headway has been made by the China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park in the past 13 years due to policies encouraging innovation and investment.
Built in May 1994, the park covers about 4% of Suzhou’s land and population and produces 15% of the city’s GDP, 25% of its foreign investment and 30% of foreign trade. It mainly targets capital-intensive, technology-intensive and flagship projects. So far, the industrial park has set up a comprehensive network to attract investors and ensure that the park secures multibillion-dollar projects.
Recently, the park has attached greater importance to projects that highlight science, technology and service.
It has approved more than 3,000 foreign-funded companies with total actual foreign direct investment of $13.4 billion. Its trade volume has grown to $56.7 billion. In addition, it has made over 10 policies to improve innovation and encourage investors to set up R&D centers. And plans encouraging IPR protection and aiming to attract skilled professionals have also been launched.
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China, industrial park, investment, Singapore, Suzhou
The first direct air route between Beijing and Seattle, the commercial and technology center in the north-western Pacific, will be launched on June 9th by Hainan Airlines. This will be the fastest air link between China and the US.
The new route will be operated by Airbus A330-200s, each of which contains 36 business classes and 186 economic classes, meeting passengers’ different demands.
The direct route will shorten the original 16-hour flight to 11 hours, making travels on the two sides of the Pacific more convenient. Flights are scheduled to operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Hainan Airlines will have return tickets with the competitive price of RMB2580 on sale from June 9th to June the 30th and single tickets from Beijing to Seattle priced at RMB3990 during June 9th and October 31st.
On May 8th, Hainan Airlines signed an agreement with the well-known NBA of the US to jointly promote the popularity of the new air route and the legendary player of NBA Gary Payton is invited as the ambassador of the Seattle line.
This air route will provide overseas business people with much easier access to China to explore its markets and search for business opportunities. In the same way, BPOVIA Ltd based in China connects our clients with the country by offering reliable and professional consultations and virtual assistant services.
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Beijing, BPOVIA, China, flight, Hainan Airline, Seattle
According to a report by Beijing-based CCID Consulting, sales of flat screen TVs in China soared 71% year-on-year to 2.98 million sets in the first quarter.
In terms of sales volume, Samsung ranked first in the liquid crystal field, followed by Hisense and Skyworth. Sales of 32-inch liquid crystal flat screen TVs took up less than 35% of the total while sales of 40-inch and above sets exceeded 35%. And it is estimated that flat screen TV sales will total 9.26 million sets this year, 11.57 million in 2009 and 15.71 million in 2010.
Regarding revenues, sales of flat screen TVs grew to 60.6% year-on-year to 24.64 billion yuan.
“The surge owes much to the upcoming 2008 Olympics as consumers brought forward their purchase plans and favored bigger sets,” CCID senior analyst Tian Xiaona.
China’s consumer market is rapidly expanding due to the increasingly strong purchasing power of the people. This unfolds great opportunities for business people world wide. For all those interested in exploring the Chinese market, BPOVIA Ltd based in China can always be the source. With our talented team offering consultation and virtual assistant services, our clients can expect the most professional services in the business process outsourcing circle.
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BPOVIA, China, consumer market, TV
