China Patent Grants Rise
China approved 168,000 patents in the first half of 2007 up 40.5 per
cent on the same 2006 period, according to the State Intellectual
Property Office. More than 142,000 patent rights were granted
domestically, and 26,000 were granted overseas. Invention patents
totalled 32,000, and there were 71,000 designs patents. The state
office received 268,926 patent applications in the first half of 2007,
up 7.3 per cent year on year.
London vs Beijing for 2018 World Cup?
Having promulgated the scrapping of the continental rotation policy for
the location of the World Cup, which is held every four years, FIFA
president Sepp Blatter has opened the door for London to compete again
to host football’s premier tournament, following its failure to land
the 2006 finals. This could mean a head-to-head pitch with Beijing, as
the hosts of the next two Olympics Games compete to host the world’s
largest single sport event. China has long been touted as a potential
host of the 2018 World Cup, which, under FIFA’s rotation system would
have been earmarked for Asia. But now England may also join the bidding.
Shenhua Share Debut Impresses Everyone But Chairman
Shares in China Shenhua Energy jumped 87 per cent on the first day of
trading this week, following its successful Shanghai IPO, raising
questions about whether the list price was considerably undervalued.
The company’s chairman, Chen Biting, was not impressed, however. “It
was within expectations,” he said, “But I am a bit disappointed.”
Still, he can console himself with China’s largest initial public
offering that raised RMB66.58 bn in new capital. So far this year, IPOs
on China’s two exchanges, Shanghai and Shenzhen, have raised
RMB328.4bn. The figure for the full 2006 year was RMB273 bn. The
Shanghai exchange in particular is rising at breakneck speed, and is
trading at a price-earnings ratio of around 66 times.
Billionaires Getting Rich(er) Fast
China has 106 US Dollar billionaires, up from just 15 in 2006 – and
none in 2002, according to the annual Hurun Rich List. Of the ten
wealthiest people in China, nine own listed companies, six of whom are
real estate developers. The total wealth of China’s 800 richest
individuals totals USD459.3bn. Yang Huiyuan, a 26-year-old heiress, is
China’s richest person, with a USD17.5 bn fortune bequeathed by her
property magnate father. Last year’s number one, 50-year-old paper
recycling tycoon Zhang Yin, ranks second on this year’s list.
Jiangsu to Expand Nuclear Power Plant
East China’s Jiangsu province will sign an agreement with Russian
company, Atomstroyexport, to build two new 1,000MW nuclear power
reactors at the Tianwan power plant. The Russian company provided the
first two reactors for the plant, which began construction in 1999. The
Tianwan plant will eventually incorporate eight nuclear reactors, with
a total capacity of around 10,000MW. China has a set a target for four
per cent (up from 1.1 per cent in 2006) of the nation’s energy supply
to be generated by nuclear power by 2020.
Beijing Opens New Subway Line
Beijing opened a new subway line on Sunday, part of the capital's
massive infrastructure investment ahead of next year's Olympics Games.
The new 27.6km-long No. 5 subway line, denoted by the colour purple,
starts at the Tiantongyuan North station and runs from north to south
ending at Songjiazhuang station.
Last update : Sunday, 14 October 2007
|
|
|
News & Interviews 
(0 vote)
