The family backgrounds of rural Chinese students create a major barrier to their entry into universities and the job market. This conclusion appears in the 2009 Blue Book of Employment, which is the first of an annual series to be published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The report states: ‘The current reforms of [...]
China and Russia addressed fast-growing bilateral trade and investment, and signed a loan agreement after broad talks between the two countries’ presidents. “Deeper, practical cooperation has an especially important significance in overcoming the difficulties that face our countries,” said President Hu Jintao during his state visit to Russia. During the meetings, Export-Import Bank of China [...]
The top Communist Party official in charge of the Tianjin Binhai New Area has been fired and expelled from the Party over corruption charges. Pi Qiansheng had been under investigation before his firing for “serious discipline violations.” Removal from the Communist Party suggests that internal investigations have been completed and that Pi’s case will be [...]
China Qinfa Group is hoping to raise nearly US$82 million in a Hong Kong listing. The Guangzhou-based firm, China’s largest non-state-owned coal trading and logistics firm, is planning to sell 250 million new shares in Hong Kong at US$0.26 to US$0.33 each in order to finance the construction of a new coal handling terminal. China [...]
China’s product-quality watchdog is set to establish a publicly available blacklist of companies that fail to hit acceptable standards. The move was made in an effort to halt the string of product safety scandals that have hit China over the past year. Sun Bo, the head of the quality management department of the General Administration [...]
Sinopec and Korea National Oil Co (KNOC) are locked in a battle over the acquisition of Addax Petroleum. Bids for the Swiss oil and gas explorer have reached in excess of US$8 billion, including debt. Both KNOC and Sinopec are still negotiating with Addax. A source with direct knowledge of the matter told the Post, [...]
Goodman Group, Australia’s largest industrial-property trust, announced that China Investment Corp (CIC) will commit US$158.9 million to a financing facility alongside Macquarie Group. Goodman is planning to use the capital from China’s sovereign wealth fund to reduce its debt – which stood at nearly US$3.2 billion as of December 31 – and to help it [...]
Coca-Cola, General Electric and Wal-Mart are among US-based companies that may be looking to list on China’s stock exchanges, according to a note obtained from UBS. In a letter to clients, John Tang, a UBS strategist, wrote that he expected roughly 12 western firms with a “strong presence” in China to offer shares in the [...]
The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) is set to choose a few small-cap firms to resume the allowance of initial public offerings (IPO) after a nine-month hiatus. Sources close to the CSRC said that the regulator could approve the first group of listings as early as this weekend, with a launch of new share sales [...]
