FANCY SHOW The first China (Taiyuan) International Trucking Exhibition was held on June 2-4. More than 20 domestic and overseas truck manufacturers displayed their latest products and technologies (MENG CHENGUANG)

Auto Deal

The struggling U.S. automaker General Motors Corp. (GM) announced on June 2 that it had reached a preliminary deal with Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. Ltd. to sell its Hummer brand. The U.S. auto giant filed for bankruptcy protection on June 1.

No financial details about the deal were released. Shedding Hummer is part of GM's overall restructuring plan to endure its near-collapse amid the ravages of the economic crisis.

Tengzhong is a major domestic private manufacturer of construction equipment. It will invest in research and development to produce more energy-efficient Hummer products, the Chinese company said in a statement.

Tengzhong is also reportedly expected to sign a long-term contract for auto assembly and material supply with GM.

Financing China

The World Bank approved on June 2 loans totaling $250 million to finance three projects in China to help the country with ecological and educational improvements.

The three projects include a water and wastewater management project in east coastal Jiangsu Province, a flood management project in northwest Qinghai Province and a technical and vocational education and training project in Guangdong Province.

"These projects are excellent examples of the ways in which the World Bank is helping China address environmental and social issues through innovative approaches that can potentially be scaled up to have significant effect at the national level," David Dollar, World Bank Country Director for China, said in a statement.

Trade Tussle

The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) recently announced that it had started an anti-dumping investigation into electrical steel imported from the United States and Russia.

The probe will cover the alleged subsidies and dumping behavior of the products such as underpricing in China, and would seek to find out whether they had damaged the domestic electrical steel industry, said the announcement.

The investigation, to be concluded before June 2010 under normal circumstances, would strictly follow regulations of the World Trade Organization and domestic trade laws to protect the rights and interests of domestic industries, said MOFCOM spokesperson Yao Jian.

Meeting Cotton Demand

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), announced on June 2 that it would put 1.52 million tons of state reserve cotton on sale in domestic markets. The exact time to complete the sale remains unclear.

This move is believed to help satisfy the growing demand of textile manufacturers for cotton. The domestic cotton price reached 13,152 yuan ($1,926) per ton on May 31 due to a supply shortfall, far above the average monthly price of 11,619 yuan ($1,701) last year, according to NDRC data.

Green Summit

The Global Green Business Summit, organized by BusinessWeek magazine, was held in Tianjin on June 7-8. Hundreds of global business leaders and economists were scheduled to attend.

The summit took a deep look at how global companies and governments could revive economies with green stimuli and adequately react to changes in world environmental protection.

"It provided an opportunity for the business world to better tap the green products market and turn around the global economies in a more sustainable way," Christina Lee, Managing Director of BusinessWeek Asia, said in a statement.