In a move to spur growth, Chinese banks opened the floodgate of lending, with new renminbi loans totaling an eye-popping 9.59 trillion yuan ($1.4 trillion) last year.

But analysts think the lending binge has put a dent on the capital adequacy ratio of Chinese banks, offering an opportunity for foreign banks to snap up stakes in their Chinese counterparts.

Travel Sector Price War

As China's travel market booms ahead, a price war could be in the making among the travel agents.

On March 10, Ctrip.com, China's top online travel agent, announced to provide the lowest price for online hotel reservations. If customers find lower prices elsewhere, they will be compensated three times the price difference, said the Shanghai-based company.

This move sent a shockwave throughout the industry and prompted smaller rivals to follow suit. Cui Guangfu, CEO of Elong.com, accused Ctrip of market monopoly, and pledged to keep prices on par or lower than Ctrip's.

After spilling red ink for 10 consecutive years, the Beijing-based Elong raked in profits of 19.9 million yuan ($2.9 million) in 2009, though barely 3 percent that of NASDAQ-listed Ctrip.

The price war reflects the heated competition in the crowded sector. Analysts say online agents had mushroomed across the country to carve up a bigger slice of the growing travel pie. More disturbing is the fact hotels and airlines are making a push into direct sales, skipping online agents as the distributors.

That is also why agents are trying to consolidate customer bases and strengthen bargaining power with hotels and airlines, said Chen Chi, Vice President of Kuxun.cn, a lifestyle search engine.

But low prices are not enough to foster customer loyalty, and the agents must further improve their services and wean their reliance on hotel reservations as a source of income, Chen said.

China Mobile's Profit Slows

China Mobile Ltd., the country's top wireless carrier, posted a net profit of 25.5 billion yuan ($3.7 billion) in the first three months of 2010, up merely 1.1 percent year on year, compared with 24.9 percent of the first quarter of last year.

China Mobile faces adverse factors such as market saturation and fierce competition, said Wang Jianzhou, Chairman and CEO of China Mobile.

Since last year China Telecom and China Unicom have adopted aggressive strategies, such as handset subsidies, to attract users and challenge the dominance of China Mobile.

Trading Base Launched

The China International Commodity Trading Platform (CICTP) was launched in Beijing on April 20 to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) explore the domestic and international markets.

With a total investment of 300 million yuan ($44 million), the platform is jointly set up by the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

It will provide a variety of services for SMEs home and abroad, including product exhibition, information sharing, and branding and marketing, said Xu Chunjing, President of the CICTP, at the inauguration ceremony.

It will own at least 1,000 member enterprises and become an effective vehicle to facilitate communication and cooperation between SMEs, said Xu.

In addition, the United Nations Global Trade Point Network (GTPNet) has linked with the base to share the latest trade and investment information, said Bruno Lanvin, President of GTPNet.

Hi-Tech Expo

The 13th China Beijing International Hi-Tech Expo will be held in Beijing on May 27-31. This year's expo will focus on enhancing the capability of innovation and accelerating the transformation of the development pattern of Chinese companies.

Expo events include exhibitions, summits and project promotions. More than 2,000 companies from home and abroad have confirmed their participation and 20 business people from global top 500 companies will attend the expo for an advisory conference with the mayor of Beijing. n