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Business Tianjin Magazine - Business English Magazine in China
PetroChina says profit down 23%
Thursday, 29 October 2009 15:46
PetroChina Ltd., Asia's biggest oil producer, said Thursday its third-quarter profit plunged 23.4 percent from a year earlier as it suffered a double blow from lower crude prices and weak demand.
Profit for the three months ending Sept. 30 was 30.8 billion yuan ($4.5 billion) or 0.17 yuan (2 U.S. cents) per share, compared with 40.1 billion yuan or 0.22 yuan per share a year earlier, the Beijing-based oil company reported.
Total revenue fell 12 percent from a year earlier to 267.7 billion yuan ($39.3 billion) on weak demand amid the global economic crisis, PetroChina said.
The company said its production unit suffered from sharply lower crude prices, earning an average $49 per barrel over the first nine months of the year, compared with $97.24 for the same period of 2008. It did not give third-quarter figures.
Oil production for the first nine months of the year fell 3.7 percent to 631 million barrels, the company said.
PetroChina and rival Sinopec, or China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., have been hurt by government controls that blocked them from passing on 2008's record-high crude costs to Chinese consumers. Retail prices were cut this year as crude costs fell, preventing the producers from taking advantage of the decline to reap fatter profits.
Despite the slump in demand at home, PetroChina said it was taking advantage of lower prices abroad to pursue access to oil and gas resources.
In August, it agreed to buy liquefied natural gas from Australia's Gorgon field in a deal worth 50 billion Australian dollars.
PetroChina, with shares traded in New York, Hong Kong and Shanghai, is the world's most valuable company by market capitalization after Exxon Mobil Corp.
China's outbound investment triples in Q3
Wednesday, 28 October 2009 17:09
Overseas investment by Chinese firms has rebounded strongly since June, more than making up for the first six months of the year. Overall investment has risen by half a percent so far this year over last year.
The Ministry of Commerce says investment nearly tripled in the third quarter. Nearly 44 percent of the investments so far this year were in the form of acquisitions, primarily in the mining and manufacturing sectors.
The ministry did not provide further details, but said a range of measures, including more clear rules on outbound investments and official "going out" policy were helping to underpin the increase.
China has now started to encourage a more proactive approach. Some say firms now have good opportunities to invest overseas due to lower asset prices and a loosening of investment rules in many countries.
Vice Premier: economy's rebound has become firmer
Tuesday, 27 October 2009 15:11
BEIJING (Dow Jones)--China Vice Premier Li Keqiang said Monday the domestic economy's rebound is firmer, echoing the government's assessment of the recovery after third-quarter data issued last week showed growth continued to accelerate.
Li, who was speaking at an international tax conference in Beijing, said he is confident China will meet its target of achieving 8% gross domestic product growth this year.
China's GDP in the July-September period grew 8.9% from a year earlier, up from 7.9% in the second quarter and 6.1% in the first.
Li said China will continue with its active fiscal policy and moderately loose monetary policy.
He reiterated China will increase the flexibility and sustainability of its economic policy.
But the foundations of the global economic recovery still aren't firm, Li said. Trade protectionism is on the rise globally and imbalances in the world economy are an issue, he said.
China, ASEAN sign MOUs to deepen cooperation
Monday, 26 October 2009 16:13
China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Sunday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the establishment of a China-ASEAN center and two MOUs on cooperation on intellectual property rights and technological standards.
The MOUs were signed by representatives of China and the ASEAN countries, at ceremonies attended by national leaders, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit and related summits.
The MOU on establishing the ASEAN-China Center, to be based in Beijing, is designed to facilitate bilateral cooperation under the free trade area mechanism.
The other two MOUs are the Memorandum of Understanding between ASEAN and China on Cooperation in the Field of Intellectual Property, and the Memorandum of Understanding between ASEAN and China on Strengthening Cooperation in the Field of Standards, Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment.
China, and the ASEAN countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines signed a framework agreement on economic cooperation in the east ASEAN growth region.
Q3 GDP growth rises to 8.9% y-o-y
Thursday, 22 October 2009 13:59
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- China's GDP increased 8.9 percent for the third quarter, moving closer toward the goal of 8 percent growth for the year.
Growth for the first three quarters of the year is up 7.7 percent; economists says 8 percent growth is needed to keep current employment levels.
The growth was in line with analyst expectations, although there are rising fears that the government's massive stimulus package may be inflating stock and property prices. The Chinese government spent $586 billion to bolster its economy.
"We have obtained obvious achievements and further strengthened the steady upturn trend of the economy. The overall situation of national economy is good," said Li Xiaochao, of the National Bureau of Statistics.
"At present, it's a crucial stage for the national economy to realize stable growth," Li said. "Yet the basis of the economic recovery still needs to be consolidated, and the insufficient external demand is still severe with the arduous task of expanding domestic demand and adjusting the structures."
China's economy has been picking up pace the first three quarters of the year, growing at 6.1 percent the first quarter and 7.9 percent the second quarter.
Foreign trade has continued to drop, but its rate of decline is slowing. The total volue of imports and exports in September was down 10.1 percent compared to the same month last year, but up 14.2 percent from August.
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