FLYING HIGH China's first domestically developed regional ARJ21 jet takes off in Shanghai on July 15. This was its longest trial flight of 1,300 km in about two hours from Shanghai to Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province (PEI XIN)

Stock Debut

Guilin Sanjin Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. and Wanma Cable Co. Ltd. debuted on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on July 10 for public trading. They were the first two firms to receive approval for initial public offerings (IPOs) after a nearly yearlong IPO freeze.

Chinese regulators halted new stock IPOs last September after the Shanghai index had tumbled 60 percent from its peak in 2007.

The drugmaker Guilin Sanjin Pharmaceutical rose 64.14 percent from its IPO issue price of 19.8 yuan ($2.9) to 32.5 yuan ($4.8) per share at the opening, while Wanma Cable jumped 95.65 percent from its IPO issue price of 11.5 yuan ($1.7) to 22.5 yuan ($3.3) per share.

RMB Goes Global

Bank of China Ltd. (Hong Kong) announced on July 14 that it had successfully conducted the first cross-border renminbi trade finance transaction. It marks the official launch of Hong Kong's renminbi trade finance business following the renminbi trade settlement transaction that kicked off in Hong Kong on July 6.

In addition, the bank introduced a range of favorable service offerings including instant opening of renminbi accounts, a handling fee waiver for renminbi remittance and preferential exchange rates.

The bank has automatically extended the existing trade finance facility of its corporate customers to renminbi trade transactions to better meet their business needs.

Forging Port Titan

Hebei Province recently set up the largest bulk cargo port company in the world—Hebei Port Group. The state-owned company is based in Shijiazhuang, the capital city of Hebei Province.

The group was created through a merger of several ports in Qinhuangdao, Caofeidian and Huanghua that account for nearly 70 percent of the province's cargo capacity.

The move was intended to consolidate the fragmented port industry in the province and strengthen cooperation between the ports, the State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission of Hebei Province said in a statement.

Baosteel Raises Prices

The Shanghai-based steelmaker Baosteel Group Corp. will increase the prices of its major steel products by up to 14 percent in August, the biggest one-off increase since the company moved from quarterly to monthly prices in May 2008.

Analysts say the price hike is supported by a recovery in domestic demand and exports. A sustained recovery in auto markets and the construction sector is spurring demand for steel, they said.

Baosteel's August price increase is the third monthly increase in a row, taking prices to their highest since November 2008, when global demand began to collapse.

Tapping Into China

The German self-service wholesaler Metro Cash & Carry AG plans to invest 80 million euros ($112 million) to open four new wholesale stores in China this year, China Daily recently reported. Metro Cash & Carry is the major growth driver of the retail giant Metro Group.

The new stores will be located in Kunshan and Changshu of Jiangsu Province, and Hangzhou and Cixi of Zhejiang Province.

The company said it planned to have a network of 42 wholesale stores across the country by the end of this year. Metro will continue to invest and grow in China in coming years, company president Tino Zeiske told the newspaper.