GOING WEST The 15th China Lanzhou Investment and Trade Fair is held on June 12-15 in Lanzhou, the capital city of northwest Gansu Province, to provide a platform for domestic and overseas investors looking for opportunities in central and west China NIE JIANJIANG

Stabilizing Pork Prices

In a bid to increase falling pork prices, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, announced on June 15 that the government had recently started stockpiling frozen pork.

It also said the stockpile price of pork should not be lower than the average wholesale price in markets.

The pork oversupply problem has become more acute, adding a sense of urgency to the stockpiling measures, the NDRC said. As a result, the government has advised pig breeders to reduce their number of sows and piglets.

Analysts believe concerns about the A/H1N1 influenza virus have also dragged down pork prices.

CIC's New Move

China Investment Corp. (CIC), the country's sovereign wealth fund, will invest AU$200 million ($159 million) in Goodman Group of Australia, the country's largest real estate investment trust company, to help it repay mounting debt. Macquarie Bank Ltd., the largest investment bank in Australia, will also commit AU$285 million ($227 million) to Goodman.

In addition, CIC together with Macquarie will buy options on 255 million new shares of Goodman. The deal remains yet to be approved by Australian regulators.

Goodman has extensive operations in Europe and Asia.

CIC announced on June 2 that it would invest $1.2 million in Morgan Stanley.

PingAn Ups Stake in SDB

PingAn Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd. recently announced that it agreed to pay up to 22 billion yuan ($3.2 billion) for more than 30 percent of shares in Shenzhen Development Bank Co. Ltd. (SDB).

PingAn currently holds a 4.68-percent stake in the bank. The deal has yet to be approved by the government.

The capital injection will strengthen the bank's capital positions and will bode well for its long-term prospects, said Frank Newman, President of SDB, in a statement.

Ma Mingzhe, President of PingAn, said the move would help the company improve its financial services and achieve balanced growth in insurance, banking and investment.

Telecom Solutions

American IT giant IBM Corp. opened a telecom solutions center in Beijing on June 16 to help Chinese telecom companies with developing technology solutions, streamlining product delivery and innovating their services.

The center will serve as a platform to connect telecom carriers and service developers, said Matt Wang, Vice President of IBM, as quoted in a report in China Daily.

"I have confidence that the center will make contributions to China's telecom industrial takeoff," Wang said.

Fancy Fair

The 20th China Harbin International Economic and Trade Fair, held on June 15-19 in Harbin, the capital city of northeast Heilongjiang Province, attracted some 120,000 domestic and foreign participants from 68 countries and regions.

The scale of this year's fair was far larger than expected given the global financial crisis, organizers of the fair told Beijing Review.

For the first time since 1990, the fair received delegates from Latin America, including Cuba and Brazil. This year also saw more exhibitors from culture, education, tourism and science and technology fields.