Suning Plans First Hong Kong Store
Electrical appliance retailer Suning will open in its first store
beyond mainland China in Hong Kong some time during 2009, the company
has said. Suning plans to open 200 more outlets in China this year,
including 20 in Shanghai and Beijing.
Markor Buys U.S. Firm
Chinese furniture company Markor International has acquired U.S.-based
Schnadig Inc. for USD8.94m, state media reports. The Chinese firm has
reportedly obtained all the assets and debt of the Illinois-based
furniture company. The acquisition will allow Markor to enter the
American market and make use of Schnadig's design, technological
development and manufacturing infrastructure. Schnadig has two
distribution centres in California and Mississippi, a sales and
marketing division in South Carolina and a sourcing office in Hong
Kong.
Huawei's Sales Up 46 Per Cent
China's largest telecom equipment maker Huawei Technologies increased
46 per cent year-on-year in 2008, state media reports. Contracted sales
stood at USD23.3 bn of which 75 per cent came from overseas markets,
Chairwoman Sun Yafang said. For 2009, Sun expects sales to rise to
USD30 bn despite the global economic slowdown.
Alibaba Sets Up Cloud Computing Centre
Hangzhou-basedB2B e-commerce company Alibaba is investing RMB100m to
set up a cloud computing centre in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu
province, state media reports. Wang Tao, General Manager of Alibaba's
software subsidiary Alisoft, said four more similar centres are planned
in the near future. Alibaba's cloud computing service will include
computing, memory, network and e-commerce services for domestic and
foreign companies located in China.
Lenovo Lays Off 200 Staff
Computer maker Lenovo Group is planning to dismiss 200 employees at its
headquarters in Beijing, Caijing magazine reports. On 8 January, the
company is reportedly expected to announce a restructuring plan that
could include changes in the top management and job lay-offs. In
September, Lenovo posted a 78 per cent drop in net profit, to
USD23.44m, for the third quarter of 2008.
Datang Enters African Market
The Datang Group, China's second-largest power producer, has signed an
agreement with the China-Africa Development Fund to setup and fund
"electricity and relevant industries" in Africa, Bloomberg writes. New
reports show that the continent needs up to USD300 bn over the next 20
years to build the necessary energy infrastructure to sustain the
expected economic growth. The fund is being backed by the Chinese
government to the tune of USD5 bn, and aims to support Chinese
companies that are investing in Africa.
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