Business news with words billion+chinese+commission. 24 news.

CHINESE insurers' investments rose 60 percent in the first 11 months due to a broader investment scope, the industry watchdog said yesterday. Insurance investments rose to 1.83 trillion yuan (US$245.6 billion) through November, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission said yesterday on its Website. China has allowed 20 insurers to invest overseas, mainly in the Hong Kong stock market, under the qualified domestic institutional investor scheme, the top insurance regulator said in November. Insurers including Ping An, China Life, Taikang, Sino Life and American International Assurance have won the go-ahead to invest in the Hong Kong market. The investments are mainly limited to H-shares and red chips. H-shares are the shares of Chinese mainland companies and red chips are shares of overseas-incorporated companies whose main business is derived from the mainland. In July, China raised the limit for domestic insurers to invest in overseas stocks and bonds from five percent to

NANYANG Commercial Bank plans to at least double its network on the Chinese mainland in two years, after it opened its local incorporation yesterday to fully tap the mainland market. The bank said in Shanghai yesterday it would offer unlimited yuan services. The Hong Kong-based bank gained the approval to set up the local incorporation with a registered capital of 2.5 billion yuan (US$341 million) from the China Banking Regulatory Commission on December 4. The local incorporation was set up on December 14. Nanyang Commercial Bank has six branches and one sub-branch on the Chinese mainland in cities of Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Dalian and Haikou. "Network expansion is a key part of the local incorporation's business development," a bank spokesman said. He said the bank would first focus on major cities in the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and coastal areas in the geographic expansion. It will also seek opportunities to open outlets in

NANYANG Commercial Bank plans to at least double its network on the Chinese mainland in two years after it opened its local incorporation today. Nanyang Commercial Bank (China) Ltd opened in Shanghai yesterday to offer unlimited yuan services to Chinese. The Hong Kong-based bank gained approval to set up the local incorporation with a registered capital of 2.5 billion yuan (US$341 million) from the China Banking Regulatory Commission on December 4. Nanyang Commercial Bank has six branches and one sub-branch on the Chinese mainland in Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Dalian, Haikou and Shanghai. "Network expansion is a key part of the local incorporation's business development," the bank said. The bank will first focus on major cities in the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and the coastal area. It will also seek other opportunities in other areas. The bank will focus on personal financial planning products and services in retail banking. In corporate banking,

CHINA has rejected an application by American International Group Inc to turn its Shanghai life insurance branch into a wholly owned subsidiary, the top insurance regulator said yesterday. AIG's American International Assurance unit has applied to transform its Shanghai branch into a subsidiary, which "actually" equals setting up a wholly owned life insurer and is against Chinese regulations, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission said yesterday on its Website. The attempt by the world's biggest insurer contravenes China's World Trade Organization agreements - overseas life insurers can only set up joint-venture life insurance business in China and can own no more than 50 percent. Legal barriers The plan has "legal barriers" and won't be approved, the regulator said. AIA was not available for immediate comment yesterday. AIA is one of the first overseas life insurers to tap the Chinese market. Its premiums topped 7.02 billion yuan (US$949 million) at

CHINA Securities Regulatory Commission yesterday approved the A share initial public offering plan of China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co Ltd. The company will issue one billion A shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, making it the third insurer listed on the Chinese mainland after its larger rivals China Life and Ping An Insurance. The A shares will account for 12.99 percent of China Pacific's expanded share capital and the money raised through the domestic listing will be used to replenish capital to help expand business, its prospectus said. Analysts estimated the shares would be sold at 20 yuan apiece and start trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange before the year-end. The diluted earnings per A share are estimated at 0.84 yuan, as the company anticipates a net profit of 6.45 billion yuan this year.

DOMESTIC insurers plan to expand overseas through investment over the long term, but they should ensure they are prepared for global competition, a senior official said in Beijing yesterday. The comments by Yuan Li, the spokesman for China's Insurance Regulatory Commission, followed the sector's first overseas purchase of a global financial institution. Yuan also urged Chinese insurers to take full advantage of domestic opportunities. On Thursday, Ping An announced that it had purchased 4.18 percent of Fortis for 1.81 billion euros (US$2.67 billion), becoming the largest shareholder of the Belgium-based financial institution. Fortis's market capitalization was 48.6 billion euros on October 31, making it one of the top 15 European financial institutions. In another development, Yuan disclosed that the commission had provided an opinion letter to securities authorities on the listing plans of China Pacific Insurance, which will involve one billion yuan-denominated A shares on

THE Chinese joint venture of GMAC, the financing unit of General Motors Corp, has gotten the go-ahead to be the first non-banker in China to issue asset-backed securities, the banking regulator said yesterday. GMAC-SAIC Automotive Finance will sell a pool of auto loans worth 1.995 billion yuan (US$270 million) through Fortune Trust on the interbank bond market before the end of the year, Zhang Xiaojun, deputy general manager and chief finance officer of GMAC-SAIC Automotive Finance, told Shanghai Daily yesterday. GMAC-SAIC Automotive Finance is a joint venture between GMAC, Shanghai Automotive Industry Group Finance Co and Shanghai GM. The company filed its application earlier this year to the People's Bank of China and the China Banking Regulatory Commission. The CBRC, the country's banking industry regulator, gave the green light, the Shanghai Bureau of the CBRC said yesterday. The company is now awaiting the central bank's approval, which is expected before the year's end.

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Chinese securities regulators Friday approved China Shipping Container Line Co.'s plan for an initial public offering of yuan-denominated shares in Shanghai, according to reports. CSCL, a unit of state-owned China Shipping (Group) Co., may sell as many as 2.4 billion shares, according to wire reports which cited a statement on China Securities Regulatory Commission's Website Friday. The share sale could be worth as much as 14.72 billion yuan, based on the Friday closing price of CSCL's Hong Kong shares. CSCL, Asia's second largest container shipping line, said earlier it plans to spend about 8.8 billion yuan of the funds on the purchase of 16 container ships and 2 billion yuan on container handling and other port equipment. Shares of CSCL fell 6.6% to HK$6.35 in Hong Kong trading Friday.

CHINESE brokerages will likely see growth enter a "golden period" in the coming two years on the backdrop of a booming stock market and regulatory support to new businesses, industry analysts said. However, domestic securities firms are expected to meet a raft of challenges including moves to lessen dependence on brokering incomes and measures to retain existing clients, insiders noted. The combined brokerage commission income of Chinese mainland stock houses may reach 150 billion yuan (US$20.1 billion) to 170 billion yuan this year, jumping nearly five-fold from a year before, according to estimates by Everbright Securities Co. The cumulative brokering commissions had reached about 137 billion yuan in the first three quarters during which the benchmark stock index in Shanghai more than doubled amid hectic turnover. "The brokerage business will still be the key to shoring up stock firms' bottom line in the next few years," said Wei Quanhui, a Huatai

COMMERCIAL banks in Shanghai have recorded combined operation profits of 48.1 billion yuan (US$6.4 billion) in the first three quarters, up 43.45 percent from the same period a year ago, the Shanghai branch of the China Banking Regulatory Commission said yesterday. Chinese banks in Shanghai had an average bad loan ratio of 2.56 percent at the end of September, down 0.3 percentage points than in January. Their bad loans dropped 717 million yuan to 43.4 billion yuan.

GIANT Interactive Group Inc, developer of China's most popular online game last year, and a shareholder may raise US$801 million in the largest US initial public offering by a Chinese company since at least 1999. The Shanghai-based company and the daughter of its chief executive officer will sell almost 57.2 million American depositary receipts, equivalent to a 22-percent stake, at US$12 to US$14 each, according to a document posted yesterday on the Website of the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Giant Interactive is raising funds to finance capital expenditure and potential acquisitions. Sales of online games in China may more than triple to US$3 billion in 2011, from last year's US$815 million, according to a forecast by International Data Corp, a market research firm. Chinese companies have raised US$3.3 billion in US IPOs so far this year, more than the last two years combined, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. Nasdaq-quoted ADRs of Perfect World Co, a

GUOYUAN Securities Co has gained regulatory approval to take over Shenzhen-listed Beijing Huaer Co for a back-door listing, becoming the latest in a raft of domestic brokers to tap pubic funds for growth. Huaer has been given approval to issue 1.36 billion new shares to existing shareholders of Guoyuan in exchange for the stake it holds in the broker, the listed company said in a statement to the Shenzhen stock exchange today. The move means that shareholders of Guoyuan can swap each of the broker's stocks they own for 0.67 of a share of Huaer, according to the statement. After the stake transfer, Huaer will be renamed Guoyuan Securities as a listed firm. As part of the deal, Huaer will also sell all the assets and liabilities to its current largest shareholder Beijing Eastern Chemical Co, a unit of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, in a bid to become a "clean'' listing shell. Guoyuan charted gross revenues of 1.74 billion yuan (US$232 million) in the first half of 2007, up 533 percent from the same period last year. First-half net profit jumped 217 percent to 968 million yuan. Huaer shares last traded at 13.36 yuan on March 26 before the firm halted trading due to an announcement on the back-door listing plan by Guoyuan. Since then, the benchmark Shenzhen Composite Index has jumped by more than 80 percent. ``Guoyuan derives most of its revenue from securities brokering and proprietary trading, which largely depends on stock market conditions,'' said Shao Ziqin, a Ping An Securities Co analyst, in an earlier note. ``We expect its second-half performance to lag that of the first half.'' Chinese authorities are encouraging stronger domestic brokers to list publicly to raise funds for expansion and improve corporate governance before the nation further deregulates the market to foreign players. The China Securities Regulatory Commission has approved plans by Haitong Securities Co, Northeast Securities Co and Changjiang Securities Co to conduct back-door listings this year. Haitong and Northeast have already made their trading debuts.

SHHANGHAI is awaiting the new head of its banking regulator with Wang Huaqing, the former head, leaving to act as the commissioner of discipline inspection at the country's top banking watchdog. Wang, also former assistant to the chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, was the first head of the Shanghai Bureau of the CBRC. The Shanghai Bureau of the CBRC confirmed the move. The new head will not be sought in the Shanghai Bureau of the CBRC according to internal rules, the Shanghai Bureau said. Wang, a 54-year doctor of economics, has been the head of the local branch of the CBRC since September 2003. He has also worked for the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank. Shanghai is home to more overseas banks than any other mainland city, including HSBC, Citibank, Bank of East Asia and Standard Chartered Bank. At the end of June, the outstanding value of loans at overseas banks in Shanghai topped US$40.57 billion. Overseas banks yuan assets topped 264.95 billion yuan (US$35.28 billion), up 37.7 percent from the start of the year. Their Chinese currency assets accounted for 44.48 percent of total assets.

CHINA Minsheng Banking Corp will buy up to 20 percent of UCBH Holdings Inc in its first overseas expansion move. Minsheng, China's seventh-largest bank by market value, will initially buy 5.4 million shares of UCBH for between US$97 million and US$145 million, representing a 4.9 percent stake, Minsheng said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday. Next year, Minsheng will increase its ownership to 9.9 percent for between US$115 million and US$172 million. The bank also has the right to increase its UCBH stake to 20 percent, the statement said. Minsheng will pay up to a combined US$317 million for the 9.9 percent stake. "The strategic investment offers Minsheng a platform to step into the US markets and also marks Minsheng's first foray overseas," the Beijing-based bank said. The lender has no overseas network now, and UCBH's 70 branches on the east and west coast of the United States and its sound base in the Chinese community in America will help boost Minsheng's business. The investment is pending approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. UCBH is the biggest bank serving the Chinese community in the US. UCBH, the holding company for United Commercial Bank, has US$10.7 billion in assets and 70 branches in the US and one in Hong Kong. UCBH will use the proceeds for an acquisition in China, the US bank said. That part of the deal will close in the fourth quarter. In March, UCBH said it would buy China's Business Development Bank Ltd. Meanwhile, Minsheng plans to acquire a 26.58 percent stake in Shaanxi International Trust & Investment Corp for 2.34 billion yuan (US$311.6 million). The deal represents the second move by a lender to buy a stake in a trust company in China. The deal awaits approval by the CBRC and the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Minsheng Bank shares closed at 16.30 yuan yesterday in Shanghai, up 3.1 percent. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.53 percent to 5,692.76.

CHINA'S securities watchdog hasn't approved any new A-share investment fund in more than a month in an apparent attempt to ease the stock markets' abundant liquidity, industry sources said yesterday. But the regulator may resume vetting applications as early as this week as large equity sales on the Chinese mainland bourses should soak up capital, the sources said. "We've seen a hiatus since early September as worries were mounting about overheating and excess liquidity," said a Shanghai-based fund source familiar with the situation. "We applied for a new equity fund three months ago and were not given a clear timetable for its launch." Officials at the China Securities Regulatory Commission were not available for comment yesterday. The stock authority last month slowed the pace of approving new domestic funds after allowing six fund managers to pool more than 50 billion yuan (US$6.67 billion) in client capital in August. The last new mainland A-share fund was launched by China Asset Management on September 5. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index has risen 27 percent since the start of August as blue chips were snapped up over rosy prospects for earnings growth. The index has jumped more than 110 percent this year on top of a 130 percent gain in 2006. "Regulators also want to use the period to encourage capital outflows to help reduce pressure on the country's bulging foreign-exchange reserves," said a Shenzhen-based fund executive. "We are now on track to launch products in that area." China's financial regulators have given licenses to six domestic fund managers to start helping customers invest in overseas securities in the past two months under the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor program. China Southern Fund Management and China Asset Management each raised US$4 billion last month through their pilot QDII products, while Harvest Fund Management will start the sale of an overseas-invested equity fund this week. The sources noted that the stocks watchdog will likely resume reviewing proposals for new A-share fund sales this month as capital is set to tighten up as a result of large initial public offerings. China Shenhua Energy Co raised 66.6 billion yuan late last month in Shanghai in the world's biggest stock sale so far this year. The country's top coal miner's shares start trading today. "As more Hong Kong-listed firms and domestic companies are likely to conduct IPO

SOHO China Ltd, the largest developer in central Beijing, rose yesterday after starting trade in Hong Kong on its initial public offering. The company's stock rose 17 percent to HK$9.74 at the noon break in Hong Kong after climbing as much as 23 percent earlier. Soho China raised HK$12.9 billion (US$1.7 billion) in its initial share sale. Individual investors ordered HK$220 billion worth, or 169 times the shares set aside for them, the company said. "I won't expect them to gain too much from the IPO price," said Francis Lun, general manager at Hong Kong-based Fulbright Securities Ltd. "Compared with competitors, their land bank isn't as attractive. The oversubscription probably reflected the amount of excessive liquidity in the market more than anything." Sino-Ocean Land, the city's largest builder by area sold, surged 43 percent on its September 28 Hong Kong trading debut, according to Bloomberg News. Share sales provide an alternate source of funding after China raised interest rates to a nine-year high on September 14, seeking to damp speculation in property and equities. Soho is one of two Beijing builders debuting in Hong Kong this month, the other being China Aoyuan Property Group Ltd. Land prices in 70 Chinese cities surged 13.5 percent in the second quarter, according to the National Development and Reform Commission. Property price increases reached a two-year high of 8.2 percent in August, the state planner said. Soho China and stockholders have sold a combined 1.55 billion shares, a 31-percent stake, at HK$8.30 each. The price, set at the top end of the range, helped rank the share sale as the third-largest Hong Kong property IPO since the beginning of 1999, when Bloomberg began to track such data. The developer in 2003 called off its first attempt to go public, when it sought to raise US$250 million in the United States. That offer faltered when banks helping sell the stock disagreed on the profit outlook, bankers involved said at the time. Soho China, founded by Pan Shiyi and his wife, former Goldman Sachs analyst Marita Zhang Xin, has built 1.2 million square meters of properties, according to a sale document distributed to investors before the share sale. It's raising capital to finance construction, acquisitions and repay debt. It has built or is building six Soho-branded developments in the Beijing and also built the Commune by the Great Wall boutique hotel.

CHINA Minsheng Banking Corp will buy up to 20 percent of UCBH Holdings Inc as its first attempt at overseas expansion. Minsheng, China's seventh-largest bank by market value, will first buy 5.4 million shares of UCBH for between US$97 million and US$145 million, representing a 4.9 stake, Minsheng said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday. Next year, Minsheng will increase its ownership to 9.9 percent for between US$115 million to US$172 million. The bank also has the right to increase its UCBH stake to 20 percent, the statement said. Minsheng will pay up to a combined US$317 million for the 9.9 percent stake. ``The strategic investment offers Minsheng a platform to step into the US markets and also marks Minsheng's foray into the overseas market,'' the Beijing-based bank said. The bank has no overseas network now and UCBH's 70 outlets on the east and west coast of the United States and its sound base in the Chinese community in America will help boost Minsheng's business. The investment is pending approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. UCBH is the biggest bank serving the Chinese community in the US. UCBH, the holding company for United Commercial Bank, has US$10.7 billion in assets and 70 branches in the US and one in Hong Kong. UCBH will use the proceeds for a pending acquisition in China, the US bank said. That part of the deal will close in the fourth quarter. In March, UCBH said it will buy China's Business Development Bank Ltd. Minsheng plans to buy a 26.58 percent stake of Shaanxi International Trust & Investment Corp for 2.34 billion yuan (US$311.6 million). It is also the second move from a lender to buy stake of a trust company in China. The deal is pending approval from CBRC and the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Minsheng Bank closed at 16.30 yuan today in Shanghai or a rise of 3.1 percent. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.53 percent to 5,692.76.

SHANGHAI stocks rallied to a new high on the first trading day after a weeklong holiday spurred by robust growth in the banking sector. The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks both yuan-denominated A shares and hard-currency B shares, jumped 2.53 percent, or 140.45 points, to close at 5,692.75. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which covers the smaller mainland stock market, rose 0.57 percent, or 8.69 points, to 1,541.35. Turnover in the morning amounted to 158 billion yuan (US$21 billion). Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the biggest Chinese lender, surged by the daily-limit 10 percent to 7.27 yuan per share. China Merchants Bank rose 6.9 percent to 40.91 yuan and Bank of China advanced 6.24 percent to 6.30 yuan. China Minsheng Banking Corp grew 3.1 percent to 16.30 yuan after it announced plans to buy 20 percent of UCBH Holdings Inc by 2009, the first stake purchase by a mainland bank of an American bank. Minsheng, China's first non-state-owned bank and the seventh-largest bank by market value, will buy 5.4 million shares of UCBH shares for US$96 million, taking up a 4.9 percent stake this year as the first step of its three-year acquisition plan. China Life, the biggest insurer on the mainland, surged 8.65 percent to 67.81 yuan and Ping An Insurance rose 4.77 percent to 141.39 yuan. Real estate companies reported widespread growth thanks to a booming property market during the Golden Week, apparently unaffected by the latest government efforts to cool the market. On September 27, the People's Bank of China and the China Banking Regulatory Commission announced that mortgage holders who applied for another home loan would be required to produce a down payment of at least 40 percent and pay a 10 percent premium on their interest rate. China Vanke, the No. 1 publicly traded real estate developer, climbed 10 percent to 33.22 yuan and Poly Real Estate also jumped 10 percent to 82.04 yuan. Air China dropped 6.74 percent to 22 yuan and China Eastern Airlines dropped 6.65 percent to 17.13 yuan. China Southern Airlines lost 6.81 percent to 22.31 yuan and Hainan Airlines declined 5.43 percent to 11.14 yuan.

CHINA'S securities watchdog has halted approving sales of new A-share funds for more than a month in an apparent attempt to ease growth of already abundant stock-market liquidity, industry sources said today. But the regulator may resume vetting applications to kick off new funds to invest in yuan-backed A stocks as early as this week as big-sized equity sales on the mainland have been working to soak up capital, according to the sources. ``We've seen a hiatus since early September as worries were mounting about overheating and excess liquidity,'' said a Shanghai-based fund source familiar with the situation. ``We applied for a new equity fund three months ago and were not given a clear timetable for its launch.'' The stock authority last month slowed the pace of approving new domestic funds after allowing six fund managers to pool more than 50 billion yuan (US$6.67 billion) of client capital in August. The last mainland A-share fund was launched by China Asset Management on September 5. Officials at the China Securities Regulatory Commission were not available to comment today. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index has risen by about 27 percent since the start of August as blue chips were snapped up on rosy earnings growth prospects. The index has jumped more than 110 percent this year on top of a 130 percent gain in 2006. ``Regulators also want to use the period to encourage capital outflows to help reduce pressures on the country's bulging foreign-exchange reserves,'' said a Shenzhen-based fund executive. ``We are now on track to launch products on that aspect.'' Chinese financial regulators have given licenses to six domestic fund managers to start helping customers invest in overseas securities in the past two months under the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor scheme. China Southern Fund Management and China Asset Management last month each raised US$4 billion for their pilot QDII products while Harvest Fund Management will start the sale of an overseas-invested equity fund this week. The sources noted, however, that the stock watchdog will likely resume reviewing proposals for new A-share fund sales this month as capital is set to be tight amid large initial public offerings. China Shenhua Energy Co raised 66.6 billion yuan late last month in Shanghai in the world's biggest stock sale so far this year. The country's top coal miner's shares will start trading tomorrow. ``As more Hong Kong-listed firms and domestic com

SHANGHAI stocks rallied to a new intraday high on the first trading day after a weeklong holiday as investors build their positions due to a lack of new tightening measures. The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks both yuan-denominated A shares and hard-currency B shares, jumped 2.99 percent, or 166.19 points, to 5,718.49 at 11:30am. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which covers the smaller mainland stock market, rose 0.7 percent, or 10.74 points, to 1,543.41. Turnover in the morning amounted to 86.8 billion yuan (US$11.56 billion). Robust growth in the banking sector contributed a lot to the market's surge. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the biggest Chinese lender, surged 9.38 percent to 7.23 yuan per share. China Merchants Bank rose 7.39 percent to 41.10 yuan and Bank of China advanced 6.41 percent to 6.31 yuan. China Minsheng Banking Corp grew 4.36 percent to 16.50 yuan after it announced plans to buy 20 percent of UCBH Holdings Inc by 2009, the first stake purchase by a mainland bank of an American bank. Minsheng, China's first non-state-owned bank and the seventh-largest bank by market value, will buy 5.4 million shares of UCBH shares for US$96 million, taking up a 4.9 percent stake this year as the first step of its three-year acquisition plan. China Life, the biggest insurer on the mainland, surged 9.85 percent to 68.56 yuan and Ping An Insurance rose 7.45 percent to 145 yuan. Real estate companies reported widespread growth thanks to a booming property market during the Golden Week, apparently unaffected by the latest government efforts. On September 27, the People's Bank of China and the China Banking Regulatory Commission announced that mortgage holders who applied for another home loan would be required to produce a down payment of at least 40 percent and pay a 10 percent premium on their interest rate. China Vanke, the No. 1 publicly traded real estate developer, climbed 5.2 percent to 31.77 yuan and Poly Real Estate jumped 5.39 percent to 78.60 yuan. Air China dropped 5.93 percent to 22.19 yuan and China Eastern Airlines dropped 5.99 percent to 17.25 yuan. China Southern Airlines lost 3.93 percent to 23 yuan and Hainan Airlines declined 4.92 percent to 11.2 yuan.