Russia's O1, Vanke in stake sale talks

O1 Properties, one of Russia's largest commercial property owners, is in talks with Chinese developer Vanke Group about a potential stake sale, a source close to the talks told Reuters on Sept 26. Vanke, China's second-largest property developer by sales, has been diversifying into commercial businesses and businesses such as rental housing amid tough competition in China's residential sector. A source close to the talks said O1 Properties, controlled by businessman Boris Mints and his family, is talking with Vanke about a stake worth up to 51 percent in the Russian company. An O1 spokeswoman said there were no specific deals at the moment.

Abu Dhabi to sell exec-jet business

An Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund plans to sell the executive-jet business of Italy's Piaggio Aerospace to a State-backed Chinese consortium in a deal that is now under scrutiny by Rome, a source familiar with the matter said. The deal comes at a sensitive time for Chinese investments in the European Union, with the head of the European Commission recently proposing to limit state-backed foreign takeovers in high-tech manufacturing, among other industries. An Italian defense company such as Piaggio Aerospace must notify the government of any big asset sale, even if it does not involve a defense asset.

Ant Financial creating a joint venture

Ant Financial is forming a joint venture with tycoon Li Ka-shing's CK Hutchison Holdings to sign up more local users. The two companies are poised to set up a 50-50 joint venture to offer a consumer-oriented digital wallet under the AlipayHK brand. The deal is expected to be completed later this year, subject to obtaining regulators' approval. Neither company has disclosed the amount of its contribution to the joint venture. But market experts speculate that the parties are not disclosing the figures due to the negligible amount compared with the companies' massive portfolios. Ant Financial, the financial services arm of Chinese mainland e-commerce titan Alibaba Group Holding and operator of the world's largest online payment app Alipay, entered the Hong Kong market with AlipayHK mobile wallet in May. The e-payment app attracted more than 100,000 active users in the two weeks since its launch, and is now accepted at more than 4,000 leading retail brand outlets in the city.

Russia now China's top oil supplier

Russia beat Saudi Arabia as China's top crude oil supplier for a sixth month in a row, with shipments in August at about 1.04 million barrels per day, down by 4.5 percent from the same month last year, customs data showed on Sept 26. Supplies from Saudi Arabia dropped last month by 16.2 percent from a year earlier to about 861,200 barrels per day, as the kingdom slipped to third place behind Angola. Shipments from Angola surged last month by nearly 28 percent from a year ago to about 983,500 barrels per day, the data showed.

Alibaba to invest $15b in logistics

Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group announced it will invest 100 billion yuan ($15.1 billion; 12.8 billion euros; ￡11.2 billion) over five years to build a global logistics network and also take control of a $20 billion unit. Alibaba is investing 5.3 billion yuan in Cainiao Smart Logistics Network to boost its stake to 51 percent from 47 percent. The investment would value Cainiao, a joint venture of top Chinese logistics companies, at around $20 billion. The announcement comes as Alibaba is rapidly expanding its e-commerce and logistics network abroad, including newly announced direct sales channels in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, facilitated by a $2 billion investment in Southeast Asian online retailer Lazada Group. Alibaba's latest investment in Cainiao also signals its intention to boost control over the domestic warehousing and delivery market, which has become increasingly competitive as companies seek to capitalize on logistics data assets.

Qingdao launches new tech transfer area

An overseas technology transfer demonstration zone was launched in Qingdao, Shandong province, on Sept 25, aiming to introduce worldwide innovation resources and encourage international cooperation. That move reflected the province's ambitious reform to replace old growth drivers with new ones, with an emphasis on innovation and technology. The base has headquarters in the city's Laoshan district and plans to build overseas technology transfer centers in the United Kingdom, Germany and Israel.

Leshi buying finance business

Leshi Internet Information& Technology, the main listed unit of Chinese technology conglomerate LeEco, said on Sept 24 that it plans to buy investment and financial service assets from an affiliate for up to 3 billion yuan ($450 million; 383 million euros; ￡336 million) as part of a restructuring exercise. Leshi said the move, a financial arrangement between the listed video content company and its affiliate Leshi Investment Management (Beijing), fits its strategy and would help it provide internet finance to Leshi's users. Leshi Investment Management is LeEco's finance arm, with businesses in online payment, online transaction and asset management. It is applying for licenses in banking, securities brokerage and finance leasing. Leshi has been suspended from trading on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange since April pending a major asset restructuring. Its founder, Jia Yueting, has been battling financial problems facing his LeEco group, whose businesses were seen to have expanded too rapidly in recent years.

Wuhan offers R&D center incentives

A Sino-French industrial park in central China's Hubei province has offered cash incentives to French companies to set up research and development centers there. The Wuhan Ecological Demonstration City said R&D centers established by French companies on the Fortune 500 list or industry leaders can receive up to 5 million yuan ($754,000; 639,000 euros; ￡560,000) annually for three years. Preferential policies related to funding, land use and subsidies have been issued to lure French companies to the demo city, which was set up in 2014 to house ecofriendly and innovative businesses. Renault and Electricite de France are among the French companies that have settled in Wuhan's demo city. The Wuhan industrial park project was launched after the success of a similar project between China and Singapore in the northern port city of Tianjin. The Tianjin Eco-City is home to entertainment, information, new energy and financial industry companies.

Alipay, Norway forge tourism link

China's leading mobile and online payment service Alipay and Norway's tourism promotion agency on Sept 21 announced a mutual promotion partnership to provide better services to Chinese tourists in the Nordic country. The partnership agreement was reached by Alipay and the Scandinavian Tourist Board, a joint initiative by Denmark and Norway for promoting tourism in China, the two sides said in a joint statement. Alipay is China's leading third-party online payment solution. According to the agreement, Alipay will promote Norway as a Chinese-friendly travel destination and a mobile payment oriented country via Alipay's mobile application and external communication channels in China and in Europe. In cooperation with Alipay's European partners APay Nordic and 2paynow, STB will promote Alipay services in Norway by recommending and encouraging local merchants to consider and accept Alipay's mobile payment solution as well as Alipay's marketing platform. Alipay officially launched its operations in Norway on Sept 4 to boost Chinese customers' shopping experience in the country.

(China Daily European Weekly 09/29/2017 page24)