■ BANKING
Non-green lending to stop
In the latest government initiative to improve China's grim environmental record, the central bank yesterday instructed banks to stop lending to projects that cause heavy pollution and waste energy. The People's Bank of China urged banks to realize the "importance and urgency" of using financial services to promote green development. In a statement on its Web site www.pbc.gov.cn, it instructed banks to call in existing loans and to extend no new credit to projects deemed undesirable by the government; it also told banks to lend less to sectors where there is overcapacity. Energy conservation and environmental protection are rising fast up the political agenda in China, where about 460,000 people die prematurely each year from breathing dirty air and drinking polluted water, according to World Bank estimates.
■ CAMERAS
Samsung moving to China
South Korea's largest electronics parts maker said yesterday that it would move all its camera module production lines for mobile handsets to China this year. Samsung Electro-Mechanics, a sister firm of Samsung Electronics, said the relocation was designed to cut costs and meet rising demand from clients in the Chinese market. "The relocation is already under way. We will complete it in the third quarter of this year," a spokeswoman said. "It is to meet growing demand from our clients, including Motorola, in China." The company already produces 70 percent of its camera modules at its plant in Tianjin, she said.
■ METALS
Rusal mulls London float
Russian aluminum producer Rusal could put some of its shares up for sale on the London stock market as soon as November in the biggest global initial public offering (IPO) this year, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The business daily, citing sources close to the matter, said the sale of 25 percent of Rusal could raise as much as US$9 billion. Rusal was poised to appoint six investment banks to advise it on the London float, FT said. The report added that Rusal would pursue a listing on the main stock exchange, which would likely hand the Russian titan a place in London's prestigious FTSE 100 index of leading shares.
■ PETROCHEMICALS
Samsung wins UAE order
South Korea's Samsung Engineering Co said yesterday it had won an order worth 279 billion won (US$303 million) to build a petrochemical plant in the United Arab Emirates. The plant, to be built by the end of 2009, was ordered by the UAE's Abu Dhabi Polymers Co, Samsung Engineering said in a regulatory filing.
■ CONSUMER GOODS
Unilever eyes Chinese firm
Anglo-Dutch consumer products giant Unilever is eyeing a stake in Chinese personal hygiene firm Shanghai White Cat Shareholding Co (上海白貓), which was recently at the center of a safety scandal, state media said yesterday. "We have approached them," Unilever China vice president Zeng Xiwen (鄭西文) was quoted by the China Business News as saying. "[We] do not rule out Unilever acquiring White Cat." Last month, White Cat admitted to mixing potentially dangerous diethylene glycol into its Maxam brand toothpaste that is exported, heightening global fears about the safety of Chinese-made products.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from