Mobile phone output rises 58%

CHINA’S production of mobile phones in 2006 rose 58 percent to 480.14 million units, almost double the growth rate in 2005, according to data from the Ministry of Information Industry issued yesterday.

In 2005, the output of mobile phones in China rose 30 percent to 303.54 million units, according to ministry data. Production of computers in 2006 rose 16 percent to 93.36 million units, slower than the 35 percent rise to 80.84 million in 2005, the ministry said.

PICC January premiums income up 34%

PICC Property & Casualty Co., China’s top non-life insurer, said its premium income stood at 10.4 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) last month, up 34 percent from the same month a year earlier.

PICC, which is 9.9 percent owned by U.S. insurance giant American International Group, reported premium income of 7.7 billion yuan for January 2006.

Shangshe Group eyes HK IPO

SHANGSHE Group, a State-owned conglomerate based in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing and with investments ranging from department stores to hotels, is considering listing in Hong Kong this year, a city official said.

Huang Qifan, vice mayor of Chongqing, told a news conference that Shangshe, also known as Chongqing General Trading Group, was one of the three major companies from the municipality looking into an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong this year. The group had total assets of 6.5 billion yuan (US$839 million) at the end of 2005, with turnover of 15 billion yuan that year, according to its Web site. The other two firms considering Hong Kong listings are Chongqing City Commercial Bank and Chongqing Machinery & Electronics Holdings (Group), Huang said.

Credit Suisse cuts Jiangxi Copper to neutral

CREDIT Suisse has downgraded Jiangxi Copper Co. Ltd., the top integrated copper producer in China, to neutral from outperform on lower estimated copper prices.

The investment bank said yesterday that its global metals and mining team had cut the copper price forecast by 13 percent to US$2.83 a pound for 2007 and maintained its forecast of US$2.30 a pound for 2008. “We revised Jiangxi Copper’s earnings down by 9 percent in 2007 and up 19 percent for 2008,” it said in a research report. Credit Suisse estimated the implied copper price for Jiangxi Copper at US$2.50 a pound. This compared with the current spot copper price of around US$2.85 a pound in the U.S. market.