WARM WELCOME The summer session of the World Economic Forum 2009 was held in Dalian, a coastal city in China's northeastern Liaoning Province, from September 10-12 (YAO JIANFENG)

Telecom Tie-up

China Unicom Ltd. recently announced that its Hong Kong-listed arm has inked a tie-up deal with the Spanish telecom operator Telefonica S.A., Xinhua News Agency reported. Under the deal, both companies will pay $1 billion for each other's shares.

China Unicom would acquire a 0.88 percent stake in Telefonica, according to the company's statement. Telefonica would increase its stake in China Unicom from 5.38 percent to 8.06 percent, the statement said.

The cooperation would also include infrastructure and equipment purchases, mobile service platforms, research and development, and service provisions to multinational clients, according to the deal.

CIFIT Kicks off

The 13th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) opened in Xiamen in southeast Fujian Province on September 8.

With the theme of boosting cross-border investment and pushing forward economic recovery, the fair attracted a record 13,000 overseas businesspeople, the CIFIT organizing committee said.

Addressing the opening ceremony Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said the CIFIT played a significant role in assisting with the economic recovery. The four-day fair is scheduled to hold a total of 23 forums covering topics ranging from green industry to international investment protection.

Launched in 1997, CIFIT has become one of China's most influential international platforms for the promotion of investments.

Banking in China

Hana Bank, the fourth largest lender to South Korea, will purchase an 18.44-percent stake in China's Bank of Jilin in late September, according to a report by the Shanghai Daily.

Hana Bank will buy $316 million worth of newly-issued shares of the Bank of Jilin, according to the report. The buyout comes one year after it reached an agreement with the Bank of Jilin pertinent to stock transaction as Hana sought to expand its overseas operations.

"After completing the stake purchase, we will aggressively tap the Chinese market in alliance with our Chinese unit launched in late 2007," Hana said in a statement.

Legend Aims to Expand

The Legend Holdings Ltd., the parent of the Chinese personal computer giant Lenovo Group Ltd., recently announced plans to invest 10 billion yuan ($1.47 billion) in choice industries within five years.

It will focus the investments on five sectors: clean energy, environmental protection, new materials, hi-tech and finance, said Liu Chuanzhi, President and Chairman of the Board of Legend Holdings Ltd., in a statement. "We hope to become an investment-holding firm with long-term vision and contribute to corporate management improvement and technology development," said Liu. Legend will also seek to become listed in the future, added Liu, without providing further details.

Anti-dumping War

China will continue to impose anti-dumping measures on styrene butadiene rubber imported from Russia, Japan and South Korea, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on September 7. Styrene butadiene rubber is a raw chemical material used in tires and other rubber products.

The anti-dumping measures will be effective for five years, starting September 8, the statement said.

China started levying anti-dumping duties of up to 38 percent for five years on imports in September 2003. After a review launched last year, the ministry decided to continue with the measures to fend off damages to the domestic industry, said the statement.