World Business Quick Take

■ China
Moody's reviews rating
China's A3 foreign-currency debt rating is under review and may be raised because export growth has strength-ened the nation's foreign reserves, Moody's Investors Service said. The ratings company cited strong for-eign investment in China, the nation's modest over-seas debt and China's for-eign reserves, which were at a record US$356.5 billion at the end of July. "These factors make the possibility that the central government would default on its foreign-currency bonds even more remote," Moody's said. Moody's said it also may upgrade the ratings of Hong Kong, Macau and at least three Hong Kong companies whose ratings traditionally have been tied to the city's: subway operator MTR Corp, electricity supplier CLP Holding Ltd and the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corp.

■ South Korea
Roh to tackle labor unions
South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun plans to crack down on militant labour unions in a drive to cut by half the number of strikes afflicting the country, according to the Financial Times yesterday. Roh told the London-based news-paper in an interview that legislation aimed at sooth-ing concern among foreign investors would be sub-mitted to the National Assembly early next year. Months of labor unrest have alarmed foreign investors and worsened this year's recession in South Korea, the newspaper said. "I do realize that the number of strikes held in Korea is quite high and the strikes that are held are quite militant," the paper quoted Roh as saying. "So I have this plan to reduce by half each year the number of strikes and conflicts between labour and man-agement."Roh said the planned legislation would curb union power and give employers more freedom to hire and fire.

■ Airlines
Swiss Air suspends trading
The financially-troubled Swiss Air said yesterday it had suspended trading in its shares on the Swiss stock exchange, pending a major announcement. The airline has been holding talks in recent months with the Oneworld alliance led by British Airways and with the Lufthansa about possible closer ties with one of the companies, executives have said. Swiss Air last sus-pended share trading for two days in June before it laid out a new business plan which included 3,000 job cuts in the company's 9,000 strong workforce as well as a one-third reduction in the size of its fleet. The com-pany announced last month that its first-half net loss had been trimmed to 210 million euros (US$240 million), as it battled against the global slump in travel caused by the impact of the SARS outbreak and the economic slowdown. The airline made a full-year net loss of 667.5 million euros last year. Chief executive Andre Dose has stated repeatedly that he was looking for a loan of of about 321.5 million euros (US$367.3 million) to secure the airline's future.

■ Luxury goods
Gucci's Asia sales to rise
Gucci Group NV, expects sales in Asia, not including Japan, to contribute more than 30 percent of the group's global sales in 10 years, driven by China. The company, which has four stores in China, will open another four over the next year and a half, chief executive officer Domenico De Sole said. Asia, excluding Japan, makes up 18 percent of the group's sales, De Sole said. The company declined to say how much it now sells in China.