PetroChina’s net profit grew 29.4% in the first half to a less than expected CNY65.33 billion. Oil and gas production operating profit jumped 94.9% to CNY73.37 billion, driven mainly by a 62% rise in the average price of oil. Oil output rose 1.7% to 424.7 million barrels, while gas output gained 12.9% to 1.15 trillion cubic feet. The oil and gas results were largely offset by a 78.3% decline in refining operating profit to CNY2.99 billion, and a 27.4% fall in chemicals profit to CNY2.47 billion. Expansion in Central Asia, Africa, North America, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region is now a key part of PetroChina’s strategy. Its first-half overseas oil and gas output rose 8.3% year on year to 55.2 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE).

Russia officially launched the Russian section of an oil pipeline that delivers east Siberian oil to China. At the opening ceremony of the branch of the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline held in Skovorodino in the far eastern Amur region, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin hailed the pipeline as a multi-dimensional project to enhance Sino-Russian energy cooperation. “We will deliver 30 million tons of oil and, in case of expansion, 50 million tons to the Asia-Pacific Region,” he said. The ESPO pipeline, running from Taishet in eastern Siberia to Nakhodka, is more than 4,000 kilometers long. The Russia-China branch runs from Skovorodino to China’s oil city Daqing and is designed to pump up to 220,000 tons of crude per day from Siberia to China.

A luxury villa project in the Pudong New Area registered the highest sale price in Shanghai last week when one of its villas was sold for an average CNY138,214 per square meter. The 494-sq m unit, located on Yinliu Road in Zhangjiang, was one of 18 luxury villas launched in mid July. The asking price for the remaining 17 villas — with a gross floor area of between 494 sq m and 669 sq m — is CNY138,000. A total of 20 apartments at a high-end residential development in downtown Luwan district were sold for an average CNY53,277 per sq. According to a survey done by real estate information portal Soufun, more than 70% of respondents view homes in Shanghai as too expensive and 37% of them think that houses beyond the Outer Ring Road are particularly overpriced. Over 50% of the respondents said they will continue to “wait and see” in the next two months.

Beijing-based commercial developer Soho China increased its completed projects, boosting net profit 136 times to CNY1.72 billion in the first six months. Last year, the company’s interim earnings were only CNY12.53 million after completing just three projects, but this year, six major commercial and residential developments in Beijing and Shanghai resulted in turnover also surging 119 times to CNY8.66 billion. Soho China booked a total floor area of 182,934 square meters from the developments. The average price of projects climbed 31% to CNY46,837 per sq m, with a gross profit margin of 50%. The developer had set a target of generating CNY18 billion from contract sales this year. Chairman Pan Shiyi said it had already achieved 75% of that target, with CNY13.57 billion generated from four new projects in the first seven months. The projects are the Galaxy Soho, Soho Nexus Center and Sanlitun Soho in Beijing and The Exchange-Soho in Shanghai. Their average price was CNY53,216 per sq m, 23% higher than the contract sales in 2009. Chairman Pan said the developer would stick to the three economic centers of Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai.

Gome Electrical Appliances Holding reported a 65.8% jump in earnings and set September 28 for a special shareholders’ meeting to try to thwart a challenge by jailed founder Huang Guang-yu, who is trying to wrest back control of the company. In May, Huang was sentenced by a Beijing court to 14 years in prison after being convicted on charges of bribery, insider trading and illegal operations. Huang was replaced by Chen Xiao as Chairman after being detained in 2008. Huang’s wholly-owned Shinning Crown Holdings on August 4 sent a letter to Gome’s board proposing a special general meeting to vote on Chen’s removal and the cancellation of a mandate to issue new shares. Chen said that capital was of vital importance to the sustainable long-term development of Gome, but added the board had made no decision on issuing additional stock at the moment. When Huang was detained “he left the company almost on the verge of bankruptcy,” Bloomberg quoted Chen as saying. Chen holds a 1.38% stake in Gome. It is widely anticipated that to dilute Huang’s 34% stake in the company, Chen and his team will issue new stock, the South China Morning Post reports.

By the end of 2014, the number of stores is expected to be doubled from 726 at the end of last year to more than 1,400, focusing mostly on China’s second and third-tier cities. The company plans to open about 100 new stores in the second half. Gome’s first-half profit rose by 66% to CNY962.3 million on strong consumer demand, enabling it to post its best performance since 2008. According to Thomson Reuters, Gome has 180 institutional shareholders, with JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Fidelity Fund accounting for 21% of the company’s institutional shareholders.