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World Business Quick Take

■ RERAILERS
"China-made paints recalled
Toys "R" Us is recalling thousands of art sets made in China owing to excessive levels of lead in some black watercolor paints. Toys "R" Us Inc and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall on Thursday, saying the printed ink on the packaging of the Imaginarium Wooden Coloring Cases also showed lead content, but no injuries had been reported. "Toys "R" Us bought the sets from Funtastic, a unit of a Hong Kong distribution firm called FPL Group. Toys `R' Us has terminated its relationship with Funtastic, effective immediately," the company said in a statement.

■ FLAT PANELS
Sharp to offer touchscreens
Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp plans to start shipping a new touchscreen liquid-crystal display (LCD) with scanner functions for mobile electronic devices this month, the company said yesterday. Osaka-based Sharp, known for its Aquos brand of LCD TVs, said in a statement that the new screen would be thinner and offer clearer, higher quality images than existing touchscreen displays. The screen can respond to more than one touch at a time, allowing users to perform tasks by making tapping, pinching and squeezing motions with their figures, Sharp said. The Japanese company said that volume production may start next spring.

■ SOFTWARE
Firms vie for MarketRX
Infosys Technologies and Wipro, India's second and third-biggest software firms, are competing to purchase a US analytics firm in a deal valued at up to US$160 million, a report said yesterday. The Bangalore-based firms have shown early interest in buying New Jersey-headquartered MarketRX -- the first time they are both targeting the same acquisition, the Economic Times cited unnamed sources as saying. The eventual purchaser would be able to tap MarketRX's established and potentially lucrative practice in analytics, including people trained in diverse branches such as mathematics, statistics and accountancy.

■ OIL
China may suspend exports
Two of China's largest oil producers may suspend gasoline exports this month to guarantee domestic supply amid surging international crude prices, state media reported yesterday. Sinopec Corp (中國石化) and China National Petroleum Corp (中國石油天然氣) slashed gasoline exports to less than 100,000 tonnes last month and will continue to do so, or even suspend the export, this month, the China Securities Journal said. The domestic supply of refined oil has been affected by the international crude price surge since June, peaking at US$78 per barrel at one point, worsening losses of Chinese refineries and causing some small ones to close down, the report said.

■ REAL ESTATE
Compensation promised
China's real estate law has been amended to ensure that homeowners are compensated for property taken from them by the government, Xinhua news agency said yesterday. Parliament voted on Thursday to add into the law a clause that allows the expropriation of buildings in the public interest while promising compensation to owners, Xinhua said. The new clause also highlights that the legal rights of the owners must be protected and residence conditions of private owners after resettlement must be guaranteed, Xinhua said.
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