An employee solders strings of solar cells together at the Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd facility in Goodyear, Arizona. Suntech develops, manufactures and delivers cost-effective solar energy solutions. Ken James / Bloomberg

Energy

Suntech tries to boost ADS prices

Debt-ridden Suntech Power Holdings Co, one of the world's largest solar panel makers, is seeking ways to boost the price of its American depositary shares, or ADS, after it received a de-listing alert from the New York Stock Exchange on Sept 21.

As of Sept 10, the average closing price of the company's American depositary shares was less than $1 per ADS over a consecutive 30-day trading period.

Under NYSE rules, the company has six months following the receipt of the notification to comply with the minimum share price requirements.

Suntech was recently hit by a financial fraud case of 554.2 million euros ($680 million).

Airbus, Sinopec to develop jet fuel

The European Aircraft maker Airbus SAS and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, or Sinopec, the country's largest fuel supplier, have agreed to work to develop cleaner jet fuel in China.

The companies are helping China establish airworthiness certification for renewable jet fuels made from locally grown plants, a process which could take two years, said Frederic Eychenne, Airbus new energies program manager.

The companies are also working to set up an alternative fuel "value chain" in China, which will bring together growers, distributors and government agencies to help accelerate its commercialization.

Food

China overtakes US as largest crop importer

China passed the US last year for the first time to become the biggest importer of agricultural products in the world, while also increasing its exports, according to data from the World Trade Organization.

Imports, including food and beverages, rose 34 percent to $144.7 billion (112 billion euros) in 2011 from $108.3 billion in 2010, according to Bloomberg calculations based on data released by the Geneva-based trade body.

China's exports gained 25 percent to $64.6 billion, beating Canada to become the sixth largest worldwide, the data show.

Kellogg inks China deal to gain market share

Kellogg Co is expanding its presence in China's fast-growing breakfast and snack foods market through a new joint venture with Singapore palm oil producer Wilmar International, months after the US cereal maker sold its stake in a cookie and cracker manufacturer in the country.

Kellogg said Wilmar will contribute infrastructure, supply chain scale and its sales and distribution network in China.

The joint venture will market Kellogg's and Pringles branded products, said the maker of Mini-Wheats and Rice Krispies.

Technology

Google closes music search service in China

Google Inc has closed its music-search service in China, the world's largest Internet market where the search engine's share keeps declining.

Google launched the service in 2009 in partnership with Top100.cn, a copyrighted-music website that has basketball star Yao Ming as an investor. The service was meant to fend off competition from Chinese rival Baidu Inc, which at the time provided users with links to copyright-infringing music websites.

China had 538 million Internet users at the end of June, the most in the world. However, Google's market share in the market has continued to drop after it moved its servers and redirected mainland traffic to Hong Kong in 2010.

Operator Orange sets up solution center

Orange Business Services, the France Telecom-Orange branch that provides integrated business communications, has set up a solution center in Beijing in an important step toward expanding in the Asia-Pacific region, officials said.

The new center is its eighth globally and will hold interactive activities to measure local clients' specific needs and help them design customized solutions, said Patrick Li, CEO of its Chinese division.

Orange Business Services already has a Beijing research and development center with about 120 staff, but is exploring other business opportunities in emerging markets such as China and India.

Retail

Dutch health store chain opens first outlet

Vitaminstore, a Dutch health store chain, opened its first Chinese outlet over the weekend in Xiamen, in eastern China's Fujian province.

With 20 stores in every major city in the Netherlands, Vitaminstore is a major provider of food supplements, sports nutrition and natural cosmetics in its home country.

Vitaminstore plans to open 300 stores across China in the coming years. The construction of its first Shanghai store is currently under way.

Starbucks near temple triggers debate

International coffee company and coffeehouse Starbucks has again brewed debate over business versus historical interests in China after its opening of an outlet near a famed Buddhist temple in East China.

The controversial Starbucks outlet opened on Sept 22 in the scenic zone of secluded Lingyin Temple, or the Temple of Soul's Retreat, which is located in a wooded area on the bank of the West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.

This is not the first time Starbucks has run into controversy in China. In 2007, similar disputes over commercialism in points of historical interest eventually forced the closure of a seven-year-old Starbucks cafe in Beijing's Forbidden City.

Investment

Ping An seeks arbitration on merger

Ping An Insurance (Group) Co, China's second-biggest insurer, said it is seeking international arbitration after negotiations with the Belgian government for compensation on its investment losses in Fortis failed.

"The Belgian government's misconduct toward Fortis back in 2008 violated the legitimate rights and undermined the interests of Fortis investors," the Shenzhen-based company said.

Ping An wrote off 22.8 billion yuan ($3.6 billion, 2.8 billion euros) in 2008 on its investment in Brussels- and Amsterdam-based Fortis, which was bailed out by three European governments after Belgium's once biggest financial-services firm became a casualty of the global credit crunch. Fortis shareholders in 2009 approved the sale of banking units to BNP Paribas SA, a move the Chinese insurer opposed at the time saying it destroyed the company's value and impaired shareholders' interests.

Firm buys controlling stake in Hollywood firm

Chinese film producer Beijing Galloping Horse Film & TV Production Co has joined forces with India's Reliance MediaWorks to buy US-based Digital Domain Media Group, according to a source in the Chinese company, Beijing Business Today reported on Sept 25.

Previous reports said the two companies acquired Digital Domain for $30.2 million (23.4 million euros). Reuters reported that the Chinese business holds a controlling 70-percent stake in the US business, with Reliance MediaWorks holding the remaining 30 percent.

Founded in 1993 by Titanic and Avatar director James Cameron and special effects guru Stan Winston, Digital Domain is one of the best-known special effects companies in Hollywood.

It ran into financial difficulties recently and filed for bankruptcy on Sept 11.

Regulator speeds up QFII applications

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange said on Sept 24 that it had approved $9.18 billion (7.11 billion euros) worth of investment projects that 72 qualified foreign institutional investors, or QFII, applied for between Jan 1 and Sept 19.

To encourage the reform of the domestic capital market, the administration has accelerated its processing of QFII applications.

By the end of August, as many as 181 overseas institutions had obtained QFII licenses from China's securities regulator.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily 09/28/2012 page14)