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■ Chunghwa PT takes Fujian firm
Flat-panel display maker Chung-hwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管) is becoming the biggest shareholder of a Chinese television maker caught up in that market's price cuts and falling margins. Chunghwa is paying 310.8 million yuan (US$38.5 million) to become the biggest shareholder of the Fujian-based Xiamen Overseas Chinese Electronic Co (廈華電子), a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange said yesterday. The announcement comes nine days after the company said it would sell its stake in a telecommunications venture to Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) to concentrate on its own business. The 32.6 percent, non-tradable stake is being sold by the Chinese firm's parent, Overseas Chinese Group, the Chinese television and monitor maker said in its statement to the exchange. Another Taiwanese electronic equipment maker will buy a 3.5 percent stake from the parent company for 33.4 million yuan, according to the statement. Through both sales, the parent is cutting its 58.27 shareholding to 22.13 percent, becoming the second-largest shareholder.

■ Economic signs are good
With the nation's economic growth rate expected to register 5.28 percent in the final quarter of this year, the Cabinet will continue to expand domestic demand to stimulate economic growth next year, officials said yesterday. The officials said that the rate increased from 2.49 percent in the first quarter of this year to 4.38 percent in the third quarter, which they claimed was the result of measures taken by the Cabinet to boost the economy. The unemployment rate between January and November was 4.15 percent, with November falling to 3.94 percent -- the lowest level for that month in five years. They said the government's bid to strengthen social security had narrowed the wealth gap, with the richest families category 6.03 times largest than the poorest families category last year, down from a high of 6.39 in 2001. The non-performing loan ratio of local banks declined from 11.27 percent in 2001 to 2.8 percent in October, they said. Meanwhile, foreign remittances to the stock market totaled US$104 billion at the end of November, while stocks held by foreign investors accounted for 28.88 percent of the stock market's value at the end of last month, compared with just 6.7 percent at the end of last year, they said.

■ Banks smile on Hannstar
Hannstar Board Corp (瀚宇博德), which counts Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) among its clients for its printed circuit boards, a component in notebook computers, hired five banks to help arrange a US$72 million loan for its China unit, a banker arranging the deal said. It is Hannstar's second syndicated loan to expand in China this year. The loan is for Hannstar Board Technology (Jiangyin) Corp and matures in three years. Hannstar Board is also planning for an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong. Funds raised will be used for expansion, mainly in China. The company is appointing a lead arranging bank for the IPO.

■ China to track Web site use
Internet service providers in China, which already use software to monitor user behavior, will soon have to record by law which Web sites their users visit and what time they logged on. The new regulations, effective March 1, are aimed at limiting "illegal activity," including computer viruses, as well as "harmful" junk mail, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement issued through the Xinhua news agency. Service providers will not be allowed to divulge private details of individuals such as passwords and personal information, it said.

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