The Chinese government blocked Google’s global website after 9pm local time Wednesday evening. Although access to Google.com and Gmail was blocked, the websites could be accessed through proxy a server which typically means that a website is being blocked by internet censors. The move by Beijing indicated an escalation in the government’s crackdown on Google [...]
Suning Appliance announced that it will buy a 27.36% in Japanese retailer Laox. The Chinese consumer electronics company has agreed to pay US$8.4 million for the stake in its Japanese rival which will also make it the largest shareholder in the all-cash deal. The deal, once completed will see the Nanjing-based firm pay JPY12 (US$0.13) [...]
A court in Hong Kong is expected to allow a controversial Chinese-led offer to buy Zhaoqing Guangdong-based Asia Aluminum to go through. The high-profile Chinese firm had been placed in provisional liquidation earlier this year after foreign investors rejected a US$1.2 billion debt restructuring plan. Asia Aluminum’s provisional liquidator, the firm Ferrier Hodgson, has scheduled [...]
Beijing Automotive Industry Corp (BAIC) held discussions this week with General Motors (GM) about the possibility of buying its Opel unit if Magna International’s bid fails. GM executives met with BAIC representatives in Europe after BAIC again expressed in interest in buying the Opel unit. The source said that GM agreed to meet with BAIC [...]
The Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has given Zhejiang Wanma Cable approval to launch an IPO on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Zhejiang Wanma Cable, plans to float 50 million shares in hopes of raising nearly US$49.76 million on the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) board. The company announced in a statement to the Shenzhen Stock [...]
China said Asia’s largest iron ore deposit was discovered in northeast China. The discovery, located at Dataigou in Liaoning province, has an estimated reserve of nearly 3 billion tons but the ore itself is located more than 1,200 meters below the surface making extraction difficult. However, the find could help China reduce its reliance on [...]
Sinopec announced that it has agreed to buy Addax Petroleum. China’s second-largest oil company, has agreed to pay US$7.2 billion for Addax which is a Toronto and London-listed firm with assets in Africa and Iraq. Sinopec will offer, via its subsidiary Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corp, C$52.80 (US$45.99) per share. That is a [...]
Gao Ye, the “man on the street” featured in the CCTV report who complained about finding pornography through Google searches may be a CCTV intern. The report from CCTV aired last Thursday. It featured an interview with Gao in which he talked about a friend who had been captivated by pornography found on Google. The [...]
China’s tax agency will increase levies on cigarettes. Taxes on higher-priced cigarettes will increase from 45% to 56%, and taxes on lower-end brands will rise from 30% to 36%. A 5% tax on sales from wholesalers to retailers will also be imposed. China has 350 million citizens who smoke, more than the entire population of [...]
Henan-based pharmaceutical company Hualan Biological Engineering claimed yesterday that it has developed a vaccine for the H1N1 swine flu. The vaccine could be on the market in months, said Pan Ruowen, deputy director of Hualan. “We need to conduct 13 tests to ensure the vaccines are safe and effective,” he told broadcaster CCTV. “[Laboratory tests] [...]
