Nasdaq OMX to help businesses from China's Tianjin to go public abroad

TIANJIN, May 14 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-based Nasdaq OMX Group Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Tianjin, the largest coastal city in northern China, on cooperation to help local Chinese businesses to go public abroad.

Under the accord, the American group will provide financing and information services -- in market research, corporate management and investment analysis in particular -- for listed companies from Tianjin.

Nasdaq pays great attention to the Chinese market, which promises wide development prospects, according to Robert H. McCooey, Jr., who is in charge of newly listed companies and capital market with the American group.

He said now there were 97 Chinese firms listed on Nasdaq. Among108 companies listed on the bourse last year, 22 came from China. China boasts the second largest number of Nasdaq-listed companies next only to the United States, he said.

As the world's largest stock exchange, Nasdaq OMX Group, with more than 3,800 companies listed, provides trading and related technical services for companies around the globe. It has set up representative offices in Beijing and Hong Kong.

Special Report: Global Financial Crisis

Plans moving forward to enable foreign firms to list in Shanghai

BEIJING, May 13-- China is advancing its study of plans to allow
foreign companies to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and may work out
preliminary arrangements as early as this year, industry sources said yesterday.

The country is expected to step up communications with other nations in the
coming months on the development of an international board in the city after
concluding a deal with Britain on Monday for further stock-market reform, the
sources said.

"China agrees to allow qualified foreign companies, including United
Kingdom companies, to list on its stock exchange through issuing shares or
depository receipts in accordance with relevant prudential regulations," the two
countries said in a joint statement issued on Monday.

The agreement, reached by Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan and British
Finance Minister Alistair Darling following a meeting in London, is set to pave
the way for large British companies like HSBC to sell shares in Shanghai.

HSBC said in a statement yesterday that it "would like to be the first
foreign bank to list in Shanghai if the authorities allow," and is working
toward that goal. It did not give a specific timetable for a stock sale in the
city.

Peter Wong, executive director of HSBC subsidiary Hongkong Shanghai
Banking Corp, said earlier this month that a Shanghai listing would consolidate
HSBC's brand influence and raise funds for expansion in the Chinese mainland
market.

Two years ago, China started to consider permitting foreign companies to
issue yuan shares to help boost the status of its fledgling stock market on the
mainland. But the program has proceeded slowly as regulators worked to ease
investor jitters over a stock glut.

Program revived

The project entered the spotlight again after China's State Council issued
a guideline in late March allowing Shanghai to prepare for allowing overseas
companies to sell yuan-denominated shares and bonds on the city's bourse.

Other companies including Hong Kong-based Hang Seng Bank and the Bank of
East Asia have also publicly expressed an interest in listing shares in
Shanghai.

"Apparently, the program was revived," said a Beijing-based brokerage
executive close to the China Securities Regulatory Commission. "Preparatory work
will be paced up, with the initial arrangement likely to be settled by year
end."

Industry insiders said any public stock sale by an overseas company would
not be likely to occur until at least late next year as there's a great deal of
work to be done.

One key obstacle for foreign companies is that they will have difficulty
switching the proceeds of their mainland listings into other currencies and
repatriating the money as the yuan is not fully convertible.

Hu Xiaolian, head of China's foreign exchange regulator, indicated in
London on Monday that the country won't likely move quickly to free up the yuan
under the capital account.

(Source: Shanghai Daily)

S Korean banks' corporate loan growth recovers in April

SEOUL, May 11 (Xinhua) -- Growth of South Korean banks' lending to
companies restored in April thanks to government credit guarantees, the central
bank said Monday.

According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), local banks' outstanding loans to
companies stood at 472.4 trillion won (381.6 billion U.S. dollars), marking a
month-on-month increase of 3.22 trillion won (2.6 billion U.S. dollars).

The April rise compared with a 2.1 trillion-won (1.7 billion-U.S. dollar)
increase in March, the central bank said.

The rise in loan growth comes as bank loans to smaller companies picked up
with state-run agencies' providing loan guarantees, the BOK said.

Local banks' loans to smaller companies climbed by 3.2 trillion won (2.6
billion U.S. dollars) to come in at 412.3 trillion won (333.1 billion U.S.
dollars), while those to larger companies marked an increase of mere 19.1
billion won (15.4 million U.S. dollars) to reach 60.1 trillion won (48.5 billion
U.S. dollars, the BOK added.

The South Korean government has endeavored to help local lenders increase
loans to smaller firms by providing credit guarantees as lenders stayed
concerned over their financial health.

Canton Fair receives less orders, sign of trouble ahead

Special
Report: Global Financial Crisis

GUANGZHOU, May 7 (Xinhua) -- China's leading trade
fair, known as Canton Fair, ended Thursday with export orders down almost 17
percent, a sign of troubles ahead for China's exporters amid the financial
crisis, organizers said.

The export agreements for more than 20,000 Chinese
companies reached 26 billion U.S. dollars at the 105th China Import and Export
from April 15 to May 7, down 16.9 percent compared to the previous fair last
October, said the fair's organizers.

"Statistics show that China's export will continue to
decline in the next two quarters," said Wen Zhongliang, director of the Business
Office of the fair and deputy director of the Department of Foreign Trade,
Ministry of Commerce.

"It may get better in the fourth quarter," Wen said.

The Canton Fair, with a history of 52 years, opened
with the world's close attention amid the global downturn as a barometer for
China's import and export situation.

Fair sales showed that China's economic situation is
still grim despite of the "positive signs", Wen said.

"The financial crisis had hit the real economy and
its impact on consumer demands still continues," Wen said.

Mechanical and electrical product deals, which
account for half of China's exports in money terms, reached 11.3 billion U.S.
dollars, down 19.5 percent. Textile deals was 1.6 billion dollars, down 15
percent, and the daily commodities down 2.4 percent.

The "positive changes" in textile industry in March
was a temporary and partial change, which should not lead to over-optimism for
the industry, said Wang Yu, vice president of China Chamber of Commerce for
Import and Export of Textiles.

"The orders are still decreasing, which is a great
challenge for China's 40,000 textile companies," Wang told Xinhua.

More than 165,000 oversea buyers attended the fair,
down 5.1 percent from the previous fair.

"Many old customers decreased or even canceled their
purchasing plan this time," said Du Yanhua, manager of Shanghai Flying Horse
Import and Export Group Ltd..

Many Chinese companies said their export agreements
are becoming "shorter" and "smaller". "My company's export to a Spanish company
was reduced to 200,000 from one million dollars and the delivery time was
shortened to two months from three months," said a sales manger of Aux Group
Company Ltd..

Although Europe and America are still the major
markets for China, the deals are down 28 percent and eight percent respectively
compared to the previous fair while agreements increased in new markets, said Mu
Xinhai, fair spokesman.

China's exports to Argentina, India and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations rose 10, six and seven percent
respectively, Mu said.

"Chinese companies are trying to explore new markets
while old ones are shrinking," Mu said.

More companies also turned to the domestic market.
Two domestic trade sub-fairs were held during the Canton Fair. Deals volume
exceeded 460 million yuan (about 67.6 million yuan) at one of the fairs, Mu
said.

Confidence could be seen at the fair amid the
downturn. Some companies said the most severe time had ended.

"Our business has become more stable compared to last
November and December, which gives us more confidence to counter the crisis,"
said Cao Xiaojian, general manager of Jiangsu Sainty International Group
Cooperation Ltd..

Companies which survived the crisis had improved
themselves and reinforced their competitiveness, Wen Zhongliang said.

"With the recovery of the world's economy, Chinese
companies have the confidence to be more competitive in the international
market," Wen said.

Dairy scandal casts lasting shadow
over China's food exports

GUANGZHOU, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Visitors were scarce at the Guangdong Dongtai Dairy Products booth during the third phase of the 105th China Import and Export Fair, also called the Canton Fair.

The third phase of China's largest trade event began
here Sunday and ended Thursday. Full story

Export-oriented Taiwan business seeks breakthrough in mainland amid global downturn

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- As orders from North America and Europe shrink
amid the global downturn, many Taiwan businesses are restructuring their
strategies and the mainland market is moving up in their agenda.

Tu Chi-bing is running an aluminum alloy plate factory for the Taiwan-based
bicycle company Giant in Kunshan city of eastern Jiangsu Province, which
produces 40,000 tonnes of plates annually.

While a large portion of the products is sold to developed countries, he
found that business potential in the mainland's commercial aircraft industry has
just taken off.

The mainland has invested about 50 to 60 billion yuan (7.25 to 8.7 billion
U.S. dollars) in developing domestically built large commercial aircraft. They
are expected to be put on the market by 2020.

"My company can supply quality aluminum alloy plates for this project," Tu
said.

"We can see a trend that both Taiwan and mainland businesses are trying to
find a way to integrate industries so that they can benefit from each other's
advantages," said Prof. Li Fei from Taiwan Research Institute of Xiamen
University.

Taiwan and mainland business people have been busy talking with each other
since the beginning of this year. In February, telecom companies from both sides
held a forum in southwestern Chongqing Municipality to discuss industry
standards that can be applied on both sides. A month later, LED solar lamp
producers met in Taipei to seek opportunities of cooperation.

Some Taiwan companies are moving their factories from more developed
coastal areas to the interior, and not only for the sake of cutting labor costs.

"It will also help us expand the mainland market," said Lin Shean-jhang,
deputy president of Guangzhou Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises who
runs a mineral company in Guangzhou.

Now he plans to move factories to the central or western provinces, change
the Guangzhou company to the marketing headquarters and set up a new marketing
department in Beijing to take charge of the mainland market.

Taiwan electronic appliance maker Airmate reported 800-million-yuan
(115.94-million-U.S. dollars) sales revenue in the mainland market last year, a
year-on-year increase of 40 percent. This helped the company pull through the
slowdown in the Western market, said Tsai Cheng-fu, vice president of Airmate
Electrical (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd.

"The global downturn has made many Taiwan companies realize the importance
of balancing Western and mainland markets," he said. "If you had not included
the mainland market, you should have done it now. If you did not do it now, you
would regret it tomorrow."

Besides adjusting their marketing strategies, Taiwan companies are turning
to new business fields, from labor-intensive industries to those producing more
added values, from traditional manufacturing to the service sector.

In Kunshan, a Taiwan investment hub in the mainland, more than 400 Taiwan
companies are registered as service businesses, including catering, e-commerce,
logistics and consulting.

A few insurance companies and banks in Taiwan have dabbled in the
mainland's financial business. Taiwan Life Insurance and Fubon Financial set up
joint ventures with mainland companies in Xiamen city in southeastern Fujian
Province last year.

"Taiwan financial companies will see a faster growth in the mainland as the
two sides have signed a new agreement on financial cooperation. This market is
very important for them," said Peng Jin-peng, a researcher from the Department
of Political Science under the "National Taiwan University."

The agreement, signed at the meeting on April 26, was about cooperation of
money regulation, accessibility of financial institutions to each other's
market, and an arrangement for information exchange for financial regulatory
purposes. The two sides also agreed to encourage commercial banks from both
sides to start business on money exchange and the like.

Some companies, especially small and medium-sized ones, are not willing to
risk for new business or large sum of investment in marketing and updating
technologies but they consider another way out -- to unite.

Taiwan shoe makers, whose factories are in China's manufacturing hub the
Pearl River Delta, plan to establish a new complex in Guangzhou.

The project, supported by the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises
on the Mainland (ATIEM), will not only have factories but also set up designing
and marketing centers that serve all companies in the complex.

"Many Taiwan shoe makers just make shoes based on designs that their
Western clients order but they do not have the resources to develop their own
design or brand. The complex can provide such a service for them," said ATIEM
deputy president Yu Yue-jiang.

He is talking with Guangzhou government about land use and infrastructure
for this complex.

"Through this new idea, we hope to reform a traditional labor-intensive
industry," Yu said. "We have to do it sooner or later if this industry wants to
go further. The global downturn makes it happen earlier."

Chinese listed companies net profit up 450% in Q1

Special
Report: Global Financial Crisis

BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The combined net profit of
all the 1,624 listed companies in the Chinese mainland hit 203.8 billion yuan
(about 30 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter, up 450.39 percent from the
last quarter in 2008, reports from the country's two main exchanges showed
Monday.

Among them, 1,186 companies reported gains, taking up
73.03 percent of the total. The number of companies suffering losses increased
nearly 200 compared with the same period last year to 436.

The total net profit in the first three months
dropped 25.81 percent year on year.

"The quarter-on-quarter profit surge showed
production began to stabilize in the first three months after taking the major
blow from the global financial crisis in the fourth quarter last year," said Qin
Xiaobin, chief analyst with Beijing-based Galaxy Securities.

Measures issued by the government to support the key
industries also helped with the profit rise, experts said.

However, companies are still troubled with
over-capacity that led to the year-on-year decline and it is still too early to
tell if the overall economy has bottomed out, according to Qin.