■ Entertainment
Warner/EMI talks continue
US record company Warner Music Group Corp said yesterday that any offer for Britain's EMI Group PLC was likely to be all cash. In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, New York-based Warner said its shareholders would not be required to notify their interests in its securities under UK takeover regulations if it does bid for EMI. The statement gave no further clues as to Warner's intentions. A merged EMI and Warner Music would control about 25 percent of the global recorded music market, ranking second to Vivendi SA's Universal Music, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said.
■ Economy
China's growth contracts
Economic growth in China this year will drop to single digits for the first time in five years, state media reported yesterday, citing a senior government researcher. The world's fourth-largest economy is expected to expand by 9 percent this year, the China Daily said, citing Liu Shijin (劉世錦), deputy director of the Development Research Center, a think tank attached to the Cabinet. That is down from 10.7 percent last year, the fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth. Liu said China would see growth rates of 7 percent to 8 percent in the next 10 years.
■ Housing
Strong growth in Taichung
The new housing market in Taichung recorded a growth of more than 7 percent last year, Wang Chung-cheng (王忠正), chairman of the Taichung Real Estate Development Association, said yesterday. The value of the new housing projects launched in Taichung last year was NT$117.15 billion (US$3.54 billion), an increase of NT$9.5 billion, or 7.7 percent, from 2005, he said. The city's Hsitun (西屯) District was the most sought-after neighborhood for house buyers, accounting for 35 percent of the new housing market. Wang said that the total value of new projects in Taichung will reach NT$150 billion this year.
■ Banking
Police launch investor probe
Hong Kong police are probing claims that investors cheated to win share allotments in last year's spate of huge stock exchange initial public offerings of Chinese banks, a report said yesterday. Investigators believe some small investors hungry for a piece of the hugely over-subscribed offers had submitted multiple applications under different names to increase their chances of being allotted a portion of shares. A report in the Hong Kong Standard English-language daily said that the scam was first noticed during last year's biggest share offers, of Industrial and Commerce Bank of China (中國工商銀行) and Bank of China (中國銀行).
■ Shipping
Taiwan to build cruise ships
Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) plans to branch into cruise travel, CNA said on Tuesday. "Yang Ming Marine has invested in container shipping, port facilities and land transport. Our mid- and long-term goals are tourism," Chu Tong-ping (朱統平), executive director of the Yang Ming Marine Culture Foundation, said. As very few foreign cruise liners dock at Taiwan's ports, Chu said the company plans to branch into the cruise business and have Taiwan's own cruise ships built, so that foreign tourists can visit on Taiwanese-owned luxury cruise ships. The company plans to launch its first luxury cruise ship in 2012.
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