IN BRIEF (Page 24)

Guizhou secures $1b Apple cloud center

Apple Inc will invest $1 billion to build its first China data center in Guizhou province, in a move to meet local consumers' growing demand for better cloud services. The move is part of a deal Apple signed with the Guizhou provincial government on July 12 and came as the US tech giant intensifies resources to compete with local rivals. The new data center will be located in the Guian New Area, Guiyang. It will be operated by Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry Co Ltd, a company owned by the Guizhou provincial government. The company will be the sole operating partner of Apple's iCloud service on the Chinese mainland. Apple will register a business in Guiyang to help build the data center and offer technological support, the Guizhou provincial government said.

Belt and Road shipping indexes are released

The Shanghai Shipping Exchange officially launched the Belt and Road shipping indices on July 11, to track freight trade data among economies involved in the initiative, after a two-year trial. The indices include a Belt and Road trade index, a Belt and Road freight volume index and a Maritime Silk Road freight index. The Belt and Road Initiative was proposed by China in 2013 to build trade and infrastructure links along ancient overland and maritime Silk Road routes, connecting economies in Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania. Exchange President Zhang Ye says the indexes will help the shipping industry keep tabs on trade volumes and freight rates. The indexes will also boost market transparency, he adds.

Huawei, partner begin drive into Africa

Huawei has partnered with UK money transfer service operator World-Remit to serve African expatriates sending money home to subscribers of the tech giant's mobile money service platform on the continent. The deal, announced on July 11, will enable Huawei to add a ready-made solution for remittances - a growing mobile money product offering - to its suite of services. "International remittance is a very important mobile money service in Africa, and our partnership with WorldRemit will bring international remittances directly to Huawei's customers across the continent," says David Chen, vice-president of Huawei Southern Africa.

COSCO has offered to buy Hong Kong rival

Chinese mainland shipping giant COSCO has offered $6.3 billion to buy Hong Kong rival Orient Overseas International Ltd, which would make it one of the world's largest container liners in an industry dominated by European players. The move is the latest in a consolidation wave following the 2008 global financial crisis, which led to too many vessels chasing too little cargo and shrinking freight rates. Industry leaders are hoping the string of mergers will boost rates once more. COSCO-OOIL will become the third-largest shipping player behind Danish conglomerate Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Co if the takeover gets the green light.

Gas regulator station to launch soon in Egypt

The first gas regulator station operated by a Chinese company in Egypt will be operational in September, a company representative said on July 11. The Beni Suef station, operated by China Petroleum Technology & Development Corp, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corp, will start pumping natural gas in September, says Qitang Li, a CPTDC representative in Cairo. CPTDC signed a $20 million deal with Egyptian Natural Gas Co in 2016 to establish three gas regulator stations in Egypt. Under the deal, the Beni Suef station, 150 km south of the Egyptian capital of Cairo, will start operating in September, while the other two stations at Burullus and the new administrative capital will start assembling work soon, Li says. The full capacity of Beni Suef station is 920,000 standard cubic feet per hour, making it one of the biggest gas regulator stations in Egypt, according to Wenqing Li, project manager of the CPTDC team. It will regulate gas to the 4.8 GW combined cycle power plant built by Siemens.

Ethiopia to inaugurate two industrial parks

Ethiopia is to inaugurate two Chinese built industrial parks in September, as the East African nation strives to become the continent's manufacturing hub. A statement was made on July 10 by Tadesse Haile, state minister of economic affairs at the office of the Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn. The two parks are the Dire Dawa Industrial park 446 kilometers east of the capital of Addis Ababa and the Adama Industrial Park 99 km east of the capital. Both parks are being built by China Civil Engineering Construction Co, at a cost of $190 million and $125 million, respectively. They are primarily aimed at fulfilling Ethiopia's ambitions to be a textile and apparel manufacturing hub in Africa, earning the country $1 billion by 2020 and providing ample employment opportunities for its estimated workforce of 45 million.

Railway delivers German products

Rail freight is bringing more German products to China, according to Chinese customs authorities. "German goods are thought to be durable. Dinnerware, children's car seats, water purifiers and baby formula are very popular with Chinese consumers," says Hu Xiaoxiao, manager of Dolphin Cross-Border Technology Co Ltd, an e-commerce company. Hangzhou customs say German goods are some of the most diverse imported items they see. Since May last year, more than 64 million yuan ($9.4 million; 8.34 million euros; ￡7.29 million) worth of German products have been imported via the China-Europe rail link, about 37 percent of the total amount of products imported via the route, according to Hangzhou's customs.

Bank to strengthen ability to adjust rates

China's central bank said on July 6 that it would strengthen its ability to adjust interest rates and improve the efficiency of its medium-term lending facility, standing lending facility and reverse repo operations in 2017. In a report on financial market development in 2016, the People's Bank of China said it will increase the yuan's flexibility against the dollar, actively guide and stabilize market expectations and balance cross-border capital flows. It will also study and steadily push forward financial regulatory reform and improve the stability of financial institutions, as well as appropriately deal with some high-risk institutions this year.

Volkswagen China reports record sales

Volkswagen Group China says it had record sales in the first half of 2017, driven by strong SUV sales. Volkswagen delivered nearly 1.4 million vehicles to the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong from January to June. In June alone, Volkswagen's year-on-year sales rose by 5.4 percent, according to Stephan Wollenstein, CEO of Volkswagen China Passenger Cars Brand. The SUV remained the primary force of growth for the group, with sales of the Tiguan model up by 39 percent.

( China Daily European Weekly 07/14/2017 page24)