Shanghai school students were the best in an international test of financial literacy, organized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). More than 40% of Shanghai entrants showed the highest level of proficiency, compared to an overall average of less than 10% among other countries. The PISA financial literacy test was taken by 15-year-old students in 18 countries. Shanghai students had the highest average score of 603 points, while the average for all countries was 500 points. The South China Morning Post reported that Shanghai was followed by the Flemish community of Belgium, Estonia, Australia, New Zealand and the Czech Republic. At the bottom of the list were Croatia, Israel, the Slovak Republic, Italy and Colombia. The testing was part of the Program for International Student Assessment, which aims to evaluate education systems worldwide. The financial literacy study was administered in 2012 to about 29,000 15-year-old students in 13 OECD countries and economies and five partner countries and economies.

Peking University President Wang Enge said plans to build the elite Yenching Academy at the campus’ Jingyuan Park was up for debate, constituting a small victory for students and scholars who fear the prestige project would sow divisions and elitism. They fear the 100 Yenching students will become the super-elite with other students becoming second-class. The Academy is modeled on the Rhodes scholarship program. Yenching fellows would receive graduate degrees after only one year of classes. Students said they did not expect the project to be cancelled because of their opposition to it, because it was simply too high-profile to disappear. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and American first lady Michelle Obama congratulated Peking University on the establishment of Yenching Academy earlier this year.

Sino-U.S. pork producer WH Group will relaunch its stalled initial public offering (IPO) in a deal that could raise USD3 billion in one of the biggest share sales in Hong Kong this year. “The deal is expected to be completed before mid-August,” a source with knowledge of the listing plan told the South China Morning Post. The April flotation at first aimed to raise USD6 billion and was eventually scaled back to USD1.9 billion before being scrapped. WH updated its prospectus with new financial data showing a surge in first quarter net profit to USD407 million, more than three times the USD125 million it earned in the same period a year ago. Bankers believe the improved profit performance, U.S. pork prices at record levels and steadily increasing demand for China’s favorite meat should be enough to counter any lingering doubts among investors who rejected the April deal as overpriced. The shares are likely to be priced at around 12 to 15 times 2014 expected earnings, said one investment banker. The original April deal marketed shares in the range of 16 to 20 times earnings. The listing aims to raise funds to pay back loans incurred by the formation of WH when Shuanghui, China’s top meat producer, bought out U.S. pork supplier Smithfield Foods in a landmark USD4.7 billion deal last year.

Wharf has launched a new luxury hotel brand for hotels located at its flagship commercial complexes. Niccolo, named after Marco Polo’s father, enters the market almost 30 years after the company launched its Marco Polo brand. Last month, Wharf Chairman Peter Woo said the group had reservations about investing in China’s residential market in the next two years because of risks from the government’s austerity measures. The Niccolo and existing Marco Polo brands will be under Wharf’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Marco Polo Hotels. The first Niccolo hotel will open in the first quarter of next year within the newly opened International Finance Square (IFS) Chengdu in Sichuan province.

China and Germany signed a series of trade and investment deals during a visit by Chancellor Angela Merkel. They included agreements to build two new Volkswagen factories in Tianjin and Qingdao with an investment of €2 billion and the sale of 123 Airbus helicopters over up to six years to three Chinese companies. Merkel’s visit was her seventh to China since coming into power in 2005. Lufthansa also said it had signed a memorandum of understanding to form a joint venture with Air China. The new partnership, which will come into force in October, will give passengers additional travel options and flight connections, and allow Lufthansa “to have even better access to the second largest aviation market after the United States”, according to the German carrier. China also agreed to grant Germany an CNY80 billion investment quota under the qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII) program. In his meeting with Merkel, President Xi Jinping called Germany an “important strategic partner.” Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will visit Germany in October.