Coal output rises 4% to 198.77m tons

THE country’s coal production rose 4 percent year on year in October to 198.77 million tons, data from the National Bureau of Statistics indicated yesterday.

It means domestic coal output in the January-October period totaled 1.88 billion tons, up 10.2 percent on the first 10 months of 2006. China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of coal.

Canon sees China sales growth of 30%

CAMERA and office equipment maker Canon Inc. expects 30 percent annual sales growth in China until 2010, the chief executive for China said Friday.

Hideki Ozawa said Canon would actively design products especially for the China and Asian markets, but he did not elaborate. Ozawa said sales in China would exceed US$1 billion this year and reach US$10 billion in 17 years. The executive made the comments at an event marking the 10th anniversary of Canon in China. Sales growth in China would remain strong to 2010, with annual growth of 30 percent, Ozawa said.

Toyota aims for 46% rise in China sales

TOYOTA Motor Corp. said yesterday it aimed to sell 700,000 vehicles in China next year, up 46 percent from the year before, after raising its China sales target for 2007 by nearly 12 percent, buoyed by hot-selling models.

Toyota, which competes with Honda Motor Co. and other global carmakers in China, sold about 380,000 vehicles in the country in the first 10 months of this year, up 67 percent from a year earlier, a company executive said.