Economy outlook ‘very good’

THE outlook for China’s economy is very favorable, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China said Monday.

“I think (the outlook for) China’s economy is very good,” Wu Xiaoling said, ahead of a meeting of Group of 10 central bankers in Basel. Asked about whether investors had recovered their confidence after recent declines in equity markets, Wu said it was to be expected that prices would fluctuate. “It’s natural for the stock market to go up and down,” Wu said. But she added that it would be beneficial to the market if investors behaved “more rationally.”

Intel chip plant approved

THE State Council has approved a plan by Intel Corp. to invest US$2.5 billion in a microchip plant in the northeastern city of Dalian, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said yesterday.

The 12-inch wafer plant will have a monthly capacity of 52,000 chips, said the NDRC on its Web site. Intel, which has invested about US$1 billion in China to date, already has major test and assembly plants in Shanghai and Chengdu.

CMB sees credit card business growth

CHINA Merchants Bank (CMB), China’s largest credit card issuer, says it expects its total number of credit cards in issue to reach 15 million by the end of 2007. That’s up from 10 million credit cards in issue at the end of 2006 for the bank, which entered the Chinese credit card market five years ago.

CMB chief executive Ma Weihua says CMB earned 100 million yuan (US$12.9 million) from its credit card business in 2006, according to a Reuters report. CMB says it has around a third of the Chinese credit card market. Recent CMB credit card launches include a co-branded card with Japan’s JCB and a MasterCard issued with China Southern Airlines.

China Merchants eyes Dachan port stake

PORT operator China Merchants Holdings (International) Co. Ltd. is keen to gain a stake in the second phase of Shenzhen Dachan Bay project worth about US$516 million, its top executive said yesterday.

The shareholding structure of the 4 billion yuan (US$516.4 million) project’s phase-two will be unveiled later this year, chairman Fu Yuning said on the sidelines of an annual shipping industry conference. Also, China Merchants’ State parent hopes to list some 12 billion yuan worth of toll-road assets, though Fu did not elaborate.