Premier Li Keqiang is visiting Latin America. Brasilia, Li and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff watched the signing ceremony of agreements worth over USD53 billion on a wide range of topics including trade, industrial cooperation and climate change. Wang Zhen, a former Chinese Ambassador to Uruguay and Venezuela, said the action plan for industrial production marks the start of a new era of economic cooperation between China and Brazil. The deals also include the start of a feasibility study of a transcontinental railway linking Brazil’s Atlantic coast and Peru’s Pacific coast. China has been Brazil’s largest trade partner since 2009, accounting for 18% of the country’s foreign trade. Despite a slight decrease, bilateral trade last year reached USD78 billion. China had invested more than USD18.9 billion in Brazil up to last year.

Li is the highest-ranking official from China to visit Colombia since the two nations established diplomatic ties 35 years ago and his visit was hailed as historic by President Juan Manuel Santos. The two countries’ leaders discussed the possibility of initiating talks aimed at signing a free trade agreement (FTA). In talks with Peruvian President Ollanta Humala, Li called for cooperation in the oil, clean energy, mining, agriculture, forestry and fishery sectors. Ten cooperation agreements were signed. On the last leg of his Latin American tour, Premier Li visited Chile, where he held talks with President Michelle Bachelet. China and Chile agreed to upgrade their free trade agreement to cover more products and bring more tax cuts. 18 cooperative agreements covering fields such as trade, finance, public infrastructure facilities construction, energy, industrial capacity cooperation, astronomy and cultural exchanges were signed. China also award CNY50 billion of QFII quotas to Chile to promote financial cooperation.

Automotive

• Alibaba has teamed up with the Shanghai free trade zone (FTZ) to sell parallel import automobiles. Alibaba’s business-to-consumer (B2C) site Tmall will tie up with the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Automobile Exchange Market Co, one of the 17 government authorized imported car dealers. Tmall will open a special store by the end of this month for consumers to collect their vehicles.
• Shanghai’s monthly car plate auction attracted a record turnout as 156,007 people competed for just 7,482 plates. The nominal success rate fell to 4.8%. The number of plates on offer was 806 lower than in April, while the number of registered bidders rose by more than 3,700. The average winning bid at the sale dropped by CNY1,660 from last month to CNY79,099.
• Volkswagen’s new plant in Changsha, capital of Hunan province, has begun operation with a Lavida sedan rolling off the production line. The plant has an annual capacity of 300,000 units. Volkswagen Group China, which includes Shanghai Volkswagen and FAW-Volkswagen, delivered 3.68 million automobiles in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong in 2014, up 12.4% year-on-year.

Finance

• Shanghai is considering issuing yuan-denominated municipal bonds in the city’s free trade zone (FTZ). Investors will be domestic financial institutions operating within the FTZ. Chinese banks would be able to tap offshore funds for their purchases of the municipal bonds in the FTZ.
• Jiangsu province has fired the first shot in China’s CNY1.77 trillion annual local government bond sales program by selling securities at a yield only slightly above that of sovereign bonds. The province issued CNY52.2 billion of municipal bonds, including securities to be swapped for existing debt and new general notes. Three-year securities were sold at 2.94%, five-year securities at 3.12% and seven-year and 10-year paper at 3.41%, according to the ChinaBond website.
• An investigation was launched after a group of customers alleged that more than CNY20 million was taken out of their accounts without their permission at two branches of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province. Customers said they were asked to open online banking accounts at the branches in Hebei province and to apply for a security device that would allow them to make large transactions online.
• A program allowing cross-border sales of investment funds between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong will be launched on July 1. The Mainland-Hong Kong Mutual Recognition of Funds program will allow funds domiciled in the mainland and Hong Kong to be sold in each other’s market. The initial quota for the program will be CNY300 billion in each direction. Around 100 Hong Kong and 850 mainland funds are eligible for the program.
• Shanghai’s first private bank – Shanghai Huarui Bank – has opened for business in the city’s pilot free trade zone (FTZ). Chairman Ling Tao said the bank would meet the funding needs of small and high-technology companies. Registered in the FTZ’s Waigaoqiao area with a CNY3 billion capital, Huarui Bank, which started trial operations in January, is one of the first three private banks approved by the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) last July.

Foreign investment

• A new investment company to help domestic enterprises invest abroad has been established. It is a subsidiary of state-owned China Investment Corp (CIC), one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds. The company was set up with an initial capital of USD5 billion. Ding Xuedong, Chairman of CIC, is also Chairman of CIC Capital.
• Shanghai’s foreign direct investment (FDI) realized in April slumped 23.4% from a year earlier to USD1.3 billion, but contracted FDI more than doubled to USD4.3 billion, the Shanghai Statistics Bureau said. “The sharp decline was due to a high comparative base,” the Bureau said. “The growth momentum is expected to stabilize in the coming months.” The service sector attracted USD3.6 billion of the contracted investment, or 82.9% of the total.

Foreign trade

• Six Chinese nationals were charged with economic espionage in the United States after they were accused of stealing mobile phone technology and trade secrets from the U.S. companies Avago Technologies and Skyworks Solutions. At least four of them are affiliated with Tianjin University. One of the four, Professor Zhang Hao, was arrested at Los Angeles airport. The two companies are developing film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) technology, which has numerous military applications. China’s Foreign Ministry said it was “seriously concerned” about the arrest.
• China informed the World Trade Organization (WTO) that it had scrapped its rare earth export quota system. It had been given time until May 2 to implement the changes. The quota system was introduced in 2011. China is a leading player in rare earths and holds 90% of the global market share despite having only 23% of the world’s reserves. Under the new guidelines, rare earth minerals will still require an export license in China but the amount that can be sold abroad will no longer be covered by a quota.
• China Railway Construction Corp (CRCC) is expected to receive a compensation of USD1.31 million after a high-speed rail project it won in a bidding process in Mexico last year was suspended for four months.
• Imports of fine art will be made easier through the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ). Importers will no longer need the China Compulsory Certificate to import works listed in the CCC catalog. China is the world’s second-largest art market with a trading volume of over USD6 billion in 2014. Many imported art works were stranded at customs without the CCC.

Macro-economy

• The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has approved close to CNY250 billion of investment in six new projects, including a CNY46.7 billion subway system in Chengdu; a CNY60 billion railway line connecting Qingdao and Jinan; and two new rail connections between cities in Inner Mongolia and the existing Beijing-Shenyang high-speed railway, which together will cost CNY42.5 billion. The acceleration in project approvals coincides with a 33.2% jump in fiscal spending last month, which quickened sharply from the 4.4% rise seen in March.
• China plans to raise funds for its environmental clean-up and carbon-reduction goals by creating public-private partnerships (PPPs) and issuing “green” bonds, to fill the gap between shrinking local budgets and the cost of measures demanded by the public to improve the environment. To achieve its environmental goals, Beijing needs to lure up to CNY10 trillion of private capital to green businesses over the next five years. “Bank credit and bonds will likely account for 70% of green investment,” said Ma Jun, Chief Economist of China’s central bank.
• China will invest more than CNY1.1 trillion over the next two years to upgrade its broadband and 4G networks. The Chinese government urged telecom operators to improve their services and reduce internet charges. Faster and cheaper connections will help promote the country’s “Internet Plus” scheme to form a new growth engine for the economy.
• China’s manufacturing activity could see a rebound in May but remain in contraction. The HSBC Flash China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index for May is 49.1, up from April’s final reading of 48.9. It has been below the 50 mark which separates expansion from contraction for the third straight month after a brief rebound in February. Deflationary pressures remained relatively strong, with both input and output prices continuing to decline. Premier Li Keqiang is confident China can meet its 2015 economic growth target of around 7%. The sub-index on new export orders fell to a 23-month low of 46.8 in May.
• Private capital is encouraged to invest in public infrastructure projects in China in the form of a “public-private partnership” (PPP). A list of 1,043 projects worth CNY1.97 trillion covering water, transport, urban facilities, public services and the environment was posted on the website of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The projects are also open to foreign investors provided they are in categories encouraged or permitted in the Catalog for the Guidance of Foreign Investment.

Mergers & acquisitions

• Hewlett-Packard announced that it was selling a 51% stake in its China-based server business for USD2.3 billion, creating a joint venture with Tsinghua Holdings called H3C that would be the leader in China in computer servers, storage and technology services. The deal brings together HP with the investment arm of China’s Tsinghua University in a company with some 8,000 employees and USD3.1 billion in annual revenue.
• Ctrip.com led a group to acquire a nearly 38% stake in eLong for about USD400 million to cement its leading position in China’s booming online tourism market. Shanghai-based Ctrip, listed on Nasdaq, together with two partners, bought the stake from Expedia. Keystone Lodging Holdings, Plateno Group and Luxuriant Holdings also bought parts of Expedia’s stake in eLong.

Retail

• Taiwan has given Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding six months to wind down the operations of its online marketplace Taobao after it failed to apply for the permit required for a mainland Chinese company to do business there. An official at Taiwan’s Investment Commission said a fine of NTD240,000 had also been imposed on Taobao. In March, Alibaba.com was told to leave Taiwan within six months and fined NTD120,000 for a similar reason.
• Walt Disney Co’s first retail store in China opened in Shanghai’s Pudong district. There was a kilometer long cue of customers before its opening. More than 2,000 Disney products, including clothing, smartphone covers, stationery and bags, are being sold in the store at prices about CNY20 to CNY50 more expensive than in Disney stores in Hong Kong and Tokyo.
• Women entrepreneurs are edging out their male counterparts in China’s booming online shopping industry, according to an industry report. Figures from Taobao, one of the largest online shopping platforms, showed that 50.1% of its online shops were started by women, according to the “Women Entrepreneurs Report” published by Taobao’s owner, Hangzhou-based Alibaba Group.

Science & technology

• Researcher Chen Saijuan from Ruijin Hospital, who made a breakthrough in the study of leukemia, was honored by the Shanghai city government with the highest award at the Shanghai Science and Technology Awards. He led a team which decoded the leukemia mechanism through genetic screening technology and discovered a series of new molecular targets for leukemia diagnosis and treatment.
• Foreign technology companies are moving into second-tier cities to set up research centers, according to a report by Gartner. Suzhou, Xian, Chongqing and Chengdu are among the hottest locations. Tina Tang, Research Director of IT services at Gartner, said that a perfect R&D location should be close to mega metropolises, have elite universities to tap into talent and have a developed industrial park hosting major players.
• Shanghai Party Secretary Han Zheng said efforts to build the city into a science and innovation center with global influence are being stepped up. Shanghai will further simplify administrative management to reduce red tape for innovation, increase supporting funds and make them more targeted. The city will also introduce reforms to attract more professionals, including relaxing the rules on local residential certificates for foreign scientists, innovators and entrepreneurs. The process of applying for permanent residential certificates for senior foreign professionals will be cut to three months.

Stock markets

• Huatai Securities Co, China’s largest brokerage by trading volumes, launched its initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong. Huatai plans to raise as much as HKD34.7 billion in what could be the largest IPO in Hong Kong so far this year. The offering price represented a 27-40% discount to its A shares, making it appealing to investors. The IPO has attracted 13 cornerstone investors, including Pony Ma, Chairman and CEO of Tencent, and William Ding, Founder and CEO of news portal NetEase.
• China’s Hanergy Thin Film Power Group lost nearly half its market value of almost USD40 billion in 24 minutes on May 20, prompting trade in the stock to be suspended. The company is under investigation by Hong Kong’s market watchdog for alleged market manipulation. Before the plunge, Hanergy had seen its value climb five-fold since September. At its share price peak in March, it was worth USD48 billion, more than its nearest two dozen rivals combined.
• Shanghai-based Focus Media, which delisted from Nasdaq in 2013, has decided to re-list on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange instead of Hong Kong. The return to the capital market will be made through a reverse merger with a Shenzhen-listed company. The case highlights Hong Kong’s diminishing competitiveness to attract companies in the fields of technology and innovation to its stock exchange.
• HKEx Chief Executive Charles Li said the Shanghai-Hong Kong stock connect quota will increase “very soon” while he hopes to establish a link with commodity exchanges in mainland China and set up a network of domestic warehouses for physical metal deliveries in three to five years. At the opening of the annual LME Asia Week in the Hong Kong Convention Center, he called for HKEx and LME to work together with mainland commodities exchanges and traders.
• China led in the number of initial public offerings (IPOs) by technology companies globally in the first quarter. Eight Chinese technology companies went public, down 27% from a quarter earlier, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said in its Global Technology IPO Review. The Chinese technology companies raised a combined USD1.1 billion in proceeds, down 26% quarter-on-quarter.

Travel

• A trial helicopter service launched by Chinese general aviation operator Reignwood Star Co and China’s biggest taxi hailing platform proved a hit in Beijing. More than 10,000 applicants signed up for the helicopter service using Didi Kuaidi’s platform, but only 100 managed to hail a ride during a three-day trial run from May 15. The 230 kilometer Beijing-Tianjin round trip in a Bell-429 helicopter costs CNY3,500 per person, while a round trip to suburban Yanxi Lake costs CNY1,999.
• Beijing and Hebei province have signed an agreement to transfer management of Hebei’s two main airports in Shijiazhuang and Qinhuangdao to Capital Airports Holding Co, the company running Beijing Capital International Airport, to further deepen the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. A fund was also set up to support airport development.
• Dalian Wanda Group has agreed to invest CNY150 billion to build a large Wanda Cultural Tourism City and 28 Wanda Plazas in Chongqing. “The deal is one of the company’s largest ever and will make Wanda Chongqing’s largest investment partner,” the real estate developer said on its website. Wanda aims to lower the revenue contribution from its property business to less than 35% of total revenue by 2020 from the current 66%.

• The public submitted 1,463 pollution reports through the 12369 telephone hotline last year, and most were related to air pollution, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said. Five provinces in central and eastern regions－Henan, Shandong, Jiangsu, Hubei and Guangdong – accounted for the highest number of reports, at 43% of the total nationwide. Henan province ranked No 1, the Ministry reported.
• Yao Mugen, former Vice Governor of Jiangxi province, has been indicted for abuse of power and graft, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate said. He is accused of taking advantage of his positions at the provincial government to seek benefits for others, and accepting huge amounts of cash and gifts.
• Yu Yuanhui, Communist Party Secretary of Nanning, capital city of Guangxi, has been accused of corruption. Yu was reported to be carrying out official duties the day before he was detained. Eleven Alternate Members of the Communist Party Central Committee, including Yu, have come under investigation for alleged corruption since President Xi took power in 2012.

The Antwerp Shanghai Trade & Investment Forum is organized in close cooperation by the City of Antwerp, the Port of Antwerp, Antwerp Headquarters, the Flanders China Chamber of Commerce, Voka Kamer van Koophandel Antwerpen-Waasland, Flanders Investment & Trade, and POM Antwerpen. It will take place on 4 June 2015 from 14h till 17h30 at the Antwerp Hilton Hotel, Groenplaats 32, 2000 Antwerp.

Programme:

• Investment Environment Antwerp and Flanders by Mr. Marc Van Gastel, Investment Director of Flanders Investment and Trade
• Investment Environment Shanghai by Mr. Gu Jun, Vice Chairman of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce
• Investment Opportunities Antwerp:
Blue Gate Antwerp and BlueChem by Mr. Guido Muelenaer, Manager Strategy & Innovation at Business & Innovation City of Antwerp
• Churchill Industrial Zone by Mrs. Isabelle Van Looy, Sr Consultant Investment Policy at Port of Antwerp
• Investment Opportunities Shanghai, Shanghai Huayi Group by Mr. Liu Xunfeng, Chairman of the Board
• Speech by Mayor City of Antwerp Mr. Bart De Wever.
• Speech by Party Secretary of Shanghai Mr. Han Zheng.
• Signing of MoU Ceremony between City of Antwerp and Shanghai.
• Closing by Vice Mayor Mr. Philip Heylen.
• Networking Cocktail.

Register before May 26.

More information is available at ondernemeninantwerpen.be

Major automakers started slashing prices in mid-April to sell larger volumes of cars, after sluggish sales in the first four months in the cooling Chinese market. The latest move was by Ford China who announced CNY40,000 off the suggested retail price for its imported Ford Explorer SUV on May 15. The largest price cut of CNY53,900 was made to the locally-made Chevrolet Captiva by Shanghai General Motors, which marked down 40 versions of 11 models, including Cadillacs. Shanghai Volkswagen declared cuts of up to CNY10,000 on the manufacturer’s suggested retail prices for several models. FAW Volkswagen slashed prices of its entire lineup with cuts of up to CNY7,800. Beijing Hyundai offered to waive consumer loan interest for as long as three years for buyers, a move that followed on the heels of Chang’an Ford, which offered to cover buyers’ 10% purchase tax of up to about CNY30,000. The country’s passenger car sales totaled 8.14 million units in the first four months, with 2.77% year-on-year growth, down from 10.5% growth during the same period last year, the China Daily reports.