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Investment bank longing to exit CICC

Yvonne Dong — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:40:42 +0000

Morgan Stanley, global financial services giant, is still trying to sell its entire holdings in China International Capital Corp (CICC), the country’s first and most profitable investment bank, confirmed by both the US-based financial advisor and CICC on Nov. 4, 2009.

Citing people familiar with the situation, the report in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday pointed that Morgan Stanley had asked potential buyers to submit indicative first-round bids for its 34.3 percent stake in CICC.

It reported the deal may obtain more than $1 billion.

Two people work for the US investment band and CICC, who both would like to keep anonymity, confirmed separately the news, saying that the CICC stake sale was a signal to Morgan Stanley setting up another local joint venture.

The Chinese government will not agree with the new joint venture, unless it sells the CICC stake, the sources added.

Morgan Stanley is going to form a joint venture securities firm with Shanghai-based China Fortune Securities Co, which it will have more management say.

Morgan Stanley was the first foreign investment bank who entered the country in the year 1995 when it invested $35 million in partnership with State-owned China Construction Bank to form CICC.

As one of the China’s biggest investment bank, CICC has specialized in clear up Stateowned firms in front of initial public offerings.

However, Morgan Stanley did not have much influence over CICC’s management led by Zhu Yunlai, the president of the enterprise, and had limited control to the operation of the brokerage during the past ten years.

The time that the US firm began to selling its stake was in 2007. Several international private-equity firms all included in the final bidders, such as Bain Capital, TPG and a consortium comprising General Atlantic, Starr International and JC Flowers.

However, early in the year 2008, this process came to an end after offers came in below expectations amid the onset of the global credit crisis.

The Financial Times reported, quoting people familiar with the situation, by the end of the first round, the original offer of more than $1 billion for the stake had dropped to around $600 million.
This followed a due-diligence process when bidders fond that the CICC management was unsatisfied with the current shareholding arrangement.

Under the structure, non-voting shares were allowed by the management which entitled them to paid dividends and could effectively dilute Morgan Stanley’s shareholding to around 27 percent.

But on Nov. 5, 2009, a source from CICC announced that this time around, it was very likely that Morgan Stanley is going sell its 34.3- percent stake for $1 billion since China’s booming stock market could propose considerable bargaining power on the seller’s side.

In 2007 the CICC’s net profit was 1.24 billion yuan, however, in the year 2008, the net profit dropped 49 percent to 627.4 million yuan. Net profit is expected to climb this year amid a rebound in China’s capital markets, one of the few bright spots worldwide. CICC has taken on little debt and has concentrated on fee income, leaving it with a strong balance sheet.

After inheriting the stake originally held by China Construction Bank, China’s sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp, became its largest shareholder with a 43.35- percent stake. Government of Singapore In vestment Corp, another sovereign wealth fund, holds a 7.35-percent stake.

Are you interested in the business opportunities in China?

China is one of the world’s great growth markets and is likely to be for many years to come. Foreign companies often face difficulties in assessing Chinese market demand and enacting effective strategies because of the language barriers, culture differences, and high expense.

BPOVIA is the leading virtual assistant and Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) service provider in China. BPOVIA is the only virtual assistant company ever been nominated for the prestigious “Red Herring 100 Asia” Awards 2008. Combines international perspective with local know-how, BPOVIA can provide our clients China business development service and help our clients doing successful business in China.

Please visit http://www.BPOVIA.com/ for details about our service.

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST CONSULTANT SERVICES

Yvonne Dong — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 03:53:09 +0000

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

CONSULTANT SERVICES

Wind Power Short Term Forecast Service In Selected Locations of Inner Mongolia

CHINA RENEWABLE ENERGY SCALE-UP PROGRAM

CONSULTING SERVICES

LN 4792-CHA, TF054833

Project ID No: P067625

Notice No: A1-B7-CS-REI -2009-009

The Government of China has received a grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) under the China Renewable Energy Scale-up Program (CRESP) and intends to apply part of the proceeds for provision of wind power forecast service.

The China Renewable Energy Scale-up Program (CRESP) was developed by the Government of China in cooperation with the World Bank and the GEF, in order to provide assistance with the implementation of a renewable energy policy development and investment program. The program objective is to enable commercial renewable electricity suppliers to provide energy to the electricity market efficiently, cost-effectively, and on a large scale. The core of the program is GEF-financed support for institution and capacity building for the scale-up of renewable energy based electricity generation capacity. CRESP is managed by the Project Management Office (PMO) established by the National Energy Administration (NEA).

The CRESP PMO intends to hire qualified consultants to carry out:

a) Meteorological Data Forecast, including but not limited to, wind speed, wind direction, air density, and air temperature

b) Power Generation: The forecasted meteorological data should than be transferred to wind data (i.e. expressed in MW) In selected locations of Inner Mongolia for one year.

The forecast results by the provider will be used to certify and justify the wind power forecast models developed by local service provider.

Qualified candidates should have the following qualifications:

● Have a high-level professional team with extensive knowledge and practical experiences in wind power forecasting;

● Familiarity with the current short-term wind power forecast methodology;

The service will be provided for 12 months, and it is anticipated that the service would start on March 1, 2010.

The CRESP PMO invites qualified consultants to indicate their interest in providing the services. Interested consultants must provide information indicating that they are qualified to perform the services (brochures, description of similar assignments, experience in similar conditions, availability of appropriate skills among staff, etc.). Consultants may associate to enhance their qualifications.

A consultant will be selected in accordance with the procedures set out in the World Bank’s Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants by World Bank Borrowers (current edition).

Interested consultants may obtain further information at the address below during office hours, i.e. Monday to Friday, from 09:00 to 17:00 hours.

Expressions of interest must be delivered to the address below by July 31, 2009.

Project Management Office

Attn: Ms. Ni Xiaole; Mr. Luo Zhihong

GEF/WB China Renewable Energy Scale-up Program (CRESP)

National Development and Reform Commission, the People’s Republic of China

Email: nixiaole@cresp.org.cn; luozh@cresp.org.cn

Fax: +86 10 6390 8086-102; +86 10 6390 8086-103

For more information about CRESP, please visit www.cresp.org.cn

Are you interested in this REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST CONSULTANT SERVICES in China?

BPOVIA is the pioneering virtual assistant and Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) service provider in China. Combines international perspective with local know-how, BPOVIA can provide our clients China business development service and help our clients doing successful business in China.

Please visit http://www.BPOVIA.com/ for details about our service.

IFB Bid for Wuhan Wastewater and Stormwater Management Project

Yvonne Dong — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:55:45 +0000

Invitation for Bids

1. The P. R. China has applied a loan from ADB towards the cost of Wuhan Wastewater and Stormwater Management Project, and it intends to apply part of the proceeds of this loan to payment under the contracts for procurement of Goods and related service as follows:

Package 1: Procurement of Equipment for Changqing Pumping Station (Phase II)

Package 2: Supply, Installation and Commissioning of Equipment for Changqing Pumping Station (Phase II)

Package 3: Supply, Installation and Commissioning of Equipment for Yangsigang Pumping Station

2. Instrimpex International Tendering Company (CNIITC), the authorized Procurement Agent of the Purchaser as shown below, now invites sealed Bids from eligible Bidders for the supply of the Goods and related services mentioned above.

3. The Bidding Document may be purchased in CNIITC from July 2, 2009 upon payment of a nonrefundable fee of RMB2,000 or equivalent USD for English version for each package. For mail order, the document will be sent by courier services at an additional fee of RMB100 for domestic delivery or USD20 for overseas delivery.

4. Bids must be delivered to the Meeting Room of the Purchaser’s address given below at or before 9:30 a.m. (Beijing time) on August 13, 2009. The bids will be opening simultaneously.

The Procurement Agent: Instrimpex International Tendering Company

ADD: Room 1002, Genertec Plaza, 90 Xisanhuan Zhonglu, Beijing, China

Tel: 86-10 63348944; Fax: 86-10 63373642

The Purchaser: Wuhan Urban Construction Utilization of Foreign Investment Project Management Office

ADD: Room 206, 2nd Floor, No. 40, Changqing Road, Wuhan

Tel: 86-27 65653533; Fax: 86-27 65653533

Are you interested in this Invitation for Bids opportunity in China?

Please visit http://www.BPOVIA.com/ for details about our service.

Financial services M&As being more active this year

Yvonne Dong — Mon, 25 May 2009 06:17:22 +0000

According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report, because of more Chinese Financial institutions expanding their business, the financial services M&As in Asia will be more active.

215 senior financial services executive, of which 20% come from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, finished the survey.

The survey showed that comparing with 2008, the figure of respondents intending to make an acquisition increases 4% this year. Most Chinese mainland and Taiwan respondents like to use M&A deals.

Nelson Lou, transaction partner, PwC, said that the keenness in China should owe to stronger balance sheets and fewer use of outbound M&A activity in the past few years.

Among the respondents, over 63% people from Chinese mainland are actively planning to expand their business in the current environment while the figure is only 43% among HK respondents.

The potential driver for M&As in china will be the need to expand business lines and enlarge the sources of fee income. Over 42% of respondents who based on Chinese market would enlarge their business, 42% are developing a new business line, and 69% are entering the newer markets.

Matthew Phillips, transaction partner, PwC, said that since activity in china has been low till now, they are rebuilding their confidence and he would not be surprise to see the renew in foreign trade by Chinese institutions in a few mouth.

In 2008 Chinese banking sector use financial service M%As to restructure. Central Huijin Investment Co,s inject $19 billion to the Agricultural Bank of china, making it the largest transaction.

Nearly 50% of respondents thought the main barrier for M&A to develop its business in Asia is asset valuation. Over 42% of the respondents mentioned the lack of clarity on financial position of many institutions as the most difficult to fair valuation, while 40% worried about the market stagnant.

Transaction value of financial service of several areas in Asia-Pacific, including banks, insures, securities firms and mutual funds, decreased from $125.96 billion in 2007 to $99 million in 2008.

The Economist Intelligence Unit finished the survey in January and February 2009, which is the fourth PwC report on financial services M&As.

Are you interested in the business opportunities in China?

Please visit http://www.BPOVIA.com/ for details about our service.

Opportunities in Nanjing

Yvonne Dong — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 02:14:33 +0000

Top 50 foreign investments

in service enterprises in Nanjing

(in terms of tax paid)

1. ZTE Software Nanjing Co Ltd

2. Golden Eagle International Group

3. BSH Home Appliances (China) Co Ltd

4. Suguo Supermarket Co Ltd

5. Yanlord Investment (Nanjing) Co Ltd

6. Nanjing Shimao Real Estate Development Co Ltd

7. Mingfa Group (Nanjing) Real Estate Development Co Ltd

8. Nanjing KFC Limited

9. Nanjing Agile Property Co Ltd

10. Suyuan Group Jiangsu Property Development Co Ltd

11. Pearson Qinlin (Nanjing) Construction Development Co Ltd

12. Nanjing Red Sun Real Estate Co Ltd

13. GCL (China) Engineering Limited

14. Nanjing Hong Kong & China Gas Co Ltd

15. Jiangsu Five Star Appliance Co Ltd

16. Nanjing Wuning Real Estate Development Co Ltd

17. Merchants (Nanjing) Real Estate Co Ltd

18. Ford Motor Research & Engineering (Nanjing) Co Ltd

19. Jinli (Nanjing) Construction Development Co Ltd

20. Nanjing Xiaguan Urban Construction and Development (Group) Co Ltd

21. Nanjing Xincheng Property Development Company Ltd

22. South Pacific Land (Nanjing) Limited

23. Sinopec and Shell (Jiangsu) Petroleum Marketing Co Ltd

24. Jiangsu Jeanswest Garments Co Ltd

25. Chungwai (Nanjing) Real Estate Development Co Ltd

26. Nanjing New City Shopping Mall Development Co Ltd

27. Nanjing Li & Fung (Trading) Co Limited

28. Nanjing Deji Plaza Co Ltd

29. Fengshang International Real Estate Company Limited

30. Nanjing Jianrui Real Estate Development Co Ltd

31. Jiangsu Cheung Ning Industry Co Ltd

32. Nanjing Dejia Real Estate Co Ltd

33. Winsan Industry (Nanjing) Development & Construction Co Ltd

34. Jiangsu Nanre Power Generating Co Ltd

35. Nanjing Zhongjia Real Estate Co Ltd

36. Nanjing Wuyi Real Estate Development Co Ltd

37. Nanjing Xinlidu Real Estate Development Co Ltd

38. Nanjing Lucent Sci-Tech Communications Co Ltd

39. Jiangsu Overseas Chinese Real Estate Development Co Ltd

40. Nanjing Eastern Real Estate Development Co Ltd

41. Nanjing Lek Yuan Group

42. Nanjing Jade Golden Wheel Realty Co Ltd

43. Nanjing Ou Rui Real Estate Development Co Ltd

44. Nanjing Qiaosen Real Estate Co Ltd

45. Nanjing McDonald’s Restaurants Food Co Ltd

46. Nanjing Guogang Real Estate Development Co Ltd

47. Nanjing Golden World Real Estate Development Co Ltd

48. Minmetals Real Estate (Nanjing) Co Ltd

49. Nanjing Hongpu Real Estate Development Co Ltd

50. Nanjing Tianhui Real Estate Development Co Ltd

Are you interested in the business opportunities in China?

Please visit http://www.BPOVIA.com/ for details about our service.

Virtual Assistant Service Provider BPOVIA Won Top 100 Global Company Award

Yvonne Dong — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:14:29 +0000

BPOVIA, the leading Virtual Assistant service provider, today announced that it has been awarded as one of the Red Herring Top 100 Global Companies. Red Herring Top 100 Global Companies are chosen from winners and finalists of the previous North America, Europe and Asia Red Herring Top 100 Companies. Out of 1,800 successful and highly eligible companies, the Red Herring editorial team deployed a detailed process to drill-down the best companies first to 200 finalists, then to the top 100 winners of this global award. Evaluations were made on both quantitative and qualitative criteria, such as financial performance, innovation, management, global strategy, and ecosystem integration. “We were so pleased to announce BPOVIA as a Red Herring Top 100 Global Company,” commented Red Herring publisher Alex Vieux. “BPOVIA has proven to be a company excelling in virtual assistant industry and its ripples have turned into waves. It was difficult for us to narrow down, but we are pleased to have included BPOVIA in our list of promising companies. We look forward to the changes BPOVIA makes to virtual assistant industry in the future.”

The virtual assistant industry is booming. Most of virtual assistants aren’t physically located in the same place as their employers. They communicate with their employers via email, phone, Instant messaging tools and fax. Most of them are typically self employed and work at home. The services they provide are limited by individuals’ education and expertise. Most of them only provide secretarial service. The reliability and quality of service are highly unpredictable.

BPOVIA takes the concept of virtual assistant to next level by transforming this self employed, work-at-home practice to more serious business. All BPOVIA virtual assistants are full-time employees working in the central service center in China. BPOVIA brings corporate employee management, state-of-the-art IT infrastructure and sophisticated project management system together to ensure the high quality, reliable and cost-effective service.

BPOVIA is also one of the first virtual assistant firms who can provide one-stop solution of essential business services like secretarial task, website design, graphic design, internet research, market research, data entry, accounting, CAD, word processing etc. BPOVIA can handle almost all the tasks which do not need physical presence.

The hourly rate of BPOVIA is only $10 per hour or less. Clients can purchase BPOVIA service hours Pay-As-You-Go, or signup for monthly plan. There are no setup fee, no termination fee. The typical clients of BPOVIA are small and medium sized companies, solo entrepreneur and busy individuals. They find BPOVIA can not only help them save cost, some have even found that work done by virtual assistants may be of better quality than what they were used to getting from their in-house employees.

“Being selected a Red Herring 100 Global winner shows that our hard work has been noticed and acknowledged by the world.” said James Huang, CEO of BPOVIA. “Virtual assistant and telecommuting are reinventing the traditional notion of a job. BPOVIA gives businesses and individuals access to an on-demand, scalable workforce. We are very proud that BPOVIA is the first and only Virtual Assistant service provider in the world who has ever won such a prestigious award. We will try our best to help our clients run their business professionally and efficiently with minimum overhead and liabilities.”

Cultural service industry full of opportunities in worldwide turmoil

Yvonne Dong — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 03:11:00 +0000

On September 28, 2008, the Shanghai International Cultural Service Trade Platform was officially launched in the city’s bonded area. It was China’s first platform for international trade in cultural goods and services.

The 130-m-high Oriental International Cultural Trade Center, which is an important facility of the platform, is close to Customs Terminal 2 of Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone and has about 59,000 sq m of gross floor area.

The Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone, which is the first and largest among the 14 free trade zones on the mainland, has attracted 150 of the companies on the Fortune 500 list to open offices in the zone. Its economic volume alone equals the combined total of the other 13 zones.

Co-funded by the Shanghai municipal government and Shanghai’s Pudong district government, the platform is a 38-story building including a conference center, an exhibition center, a business service center and an audio-visual center.

Subway line 6 lies right in front of the platform and it takes only 30 minutes to drive to the People’s Square, the center of Shanghai, It is also 40 minutes by car to either of the city’s two airports and is about 25 minutes by subway to the Shanghai 2010 Expo park in Pudong. The facility offers convenient access to a developed traffic network.

The platform will increase in size by the end of 2009 when construction is completed on a 115-m-tall facility with a total floor space of 36,000 sq m. Because of China’s encouraging the cultural services, including movies, TV programming, animation and property rights, to go global, the platform in Shanghai can serve not only as a one-stop site for imports and experts, a gathering place for foreign and domestic cultural service enterprises, but also a testing ground for implementation of cultural trade policies and an exhibition venue for cultural products, as well as a training center for industry professionals.

Ren Yibiao, chairman and general manager with Shanghai Oriental Huiwen International Cultural Service Trading Co Ltd, the operating company of the platform, expressed his opinion about the platform as follows:

In the process of communicating with foreigners, we Chinese realize the urgency of redefining and promoting our cultural products so as to make people in other nations understand us easier. Especially after the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games gives wide exposure to Chinese culture, the cultural service platform will provide more opportunities for the world to understand China better through movies, music, dramas, shows and forms. What’s more, the cultural service trade center offers culture-related companies a leasing price much lower; even though Shanghai’s high-end office rental is already $2 or $3 a day per sq m.

Companies in the platform can enjoy a package of favorable treatment offered by the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone. For example, Waigaoqiao, a bonded area “inside the border yet outside customs”, means goods made in China will not be treated as domestic products, while products made overseas will not be levied tariffs as they are considered still outside the country.

As to import equipment for their own use, the registered companies in the free trade zone will not be charged tariffs. The tariff exemption will reduce the purchase price as much as 30 percent, significantly lowering startup and hardware costs.

To see part 2

Are you interested in the business opportunities in China?

China is one of the world’s great growth markets and is likely to be for many years to come. Foreign companies often face difficulties in assessing Chinese market demand and enacting effective strategies because of the language barriers, culture differences, and high expense.

BPOVIA is the leading virtual assistant and Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO ) service provider in China. BPOVIA is the only virtual assistant company ever been nominated for the prestigious “Red Herring 100 Asia” Awards 2008. Combines international perspective with local know-how, BPOVIA can provide our clients China business development service and help our clients doing successful business in China.

Please visit http://www.BPOVIA.com/ for details about our service.

Service outsourcing booming in Shanghai

Yvonne Dong — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:55:00 +0000

Shanghai, the core city in the economic circle in the Yangtze River Delta with a population of 13.7 million, is on the heels of a global shift in the manufacturing industry and the diversion of the service industry since China begun its reform and opening-up policy 30 years ago.

As service outsourcing has been pushed to the central stage of world economy, driving the development of service outsourcing has become the major task for the Shanghai government to meet its strategic need for an economic structure oriented to a service economy.

Today’s Shanghai is a prosperous city full of vigor and with an abundance of development. In order to keep pace with the world economy, the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Shanghai municipal government have placed great emphasis on service outsourcing.

Suggestions on how to advance the service outsourcing in Shanghai was released by the local government in August 2006.

With the effort from the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce (SCOFCOM) and the guidance and full support from the Ministry of Commerce (SCOFCOM), the city’s service outsourcing is now booming fast.

In October 2006, Shanghai was granted the first group of service outsourcing bases by MOFCOM, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

A month later, Pudong New Area, Luwan district, Changning district and Caohejing High-Tech Park were authorized to be service outsourcing model areas.

Five service outsourcing parks accredited by the SMCC in March 2008 include Shanghai Zhangjiang Financial Information Outsourcing Center, Shanghai Zhangjiang Biomedicine Outsourcing Center, Shanghai Nanhui Biomedicine Outsourcing Center, Shanghai Information Technology Outsourcing Center and Shanghai Human Resources Outsourcing Center.

Today, the SCOFCOM has accredited Shanghai Pudong Software Park and Luwan Human Resources Outsourcing Park as Shanghai information technology service outsourcing and human resource outsourcing centers. An additional 40 key outsourcing firms have also been accredited.

Shanghai now is stretching its arms to welcome people all over the world, in which, 2010 World Expo will be held.

Are you interested in the business opportunities in China?

BPOVIA is the leading virtual assistant and Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO ) service provider in China. BPOVIA is the only virtual assistant company ever been nominated for the prestigious “Red Herring 100 Asia” Awards 2008. Combines international perspective with local know-how, BPOVIA can provide our clients China business development service and help our clients doing successful business in China.

Please visit http://www.BPOVIA.com/ for details about our service.

Foreign Law Firms provide legal services in China (No. 79)

Yvonne Dong — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 03:48:50 +0000

Ministry of Justice of the People’s Republic of China

Notice No. 79

According to the “Measures on Administration of Hong Kong and Macao Law Firms’ Representative Offices on the Chinese mainland” (Order of China’s Ministry of Justice, No. 104), the following 61 Hong Kong law firms’ representative offices, which have passed the annual review, are permitted to provide legal services, not including Chinese law practices.

PART 1

Are you interested in the Ministry of Justice of the People’s Republic of China?

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Foreign Law Firms provide legal services in China (No. 78)

Yvonne Dong — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:47:26 +0000

Ministry of Justice of the People’s Republic of China

Notice No. 78

According to the Regulations on Administration of Foreign Law Firms’ Representative Offices in China (Order of China’s State Council, No. 338), the following 177 foreign law firms’ representative offices, which have passed the annual review, are permitted to provide legal services, not including Chinese law practices.