Sun, May 17, 2009 page11

• Bussiness Quick Take

  • AGENCIES
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  ■SHIPPING

  China opens ports to Taiwan

  China approved five additional ports for direct shipping with Taiwan, bringing the total to 68, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported, citing China’s transportation ministry. The addition of ports Tongling, Shidao, Laizhou, Taizhou Damaiyu and Ningbo-Zhoushan were announced yesterday at a meeting on cross-strait direct shipping in the southern city of Xiamen, Xinhua said. China agreed to waive business taxes and corporate income taxes for Taiwanese shippers on profit earned in China from direct shipping, Xinhua said. The exemption is effective from Dec. 15 of last year, it said.

  ■STOCKS

  China’s IPO backlog mounts

  China, whose stock market is the world’s third-best performer this year, has 300 to 400 companies waiting to hold initial public offerings, Citic Securities Co (中信證券) chairman Wang Dongming (王東明) said. That backlog will take two years to clear, Wang, who heads China’s biggest brokerage by market value, said yesterday at a forum in Shanghai. China hasn’t had an IPO since September. The nation’s securities regulator plans to set up a new system for pricing initial public offerings and may “soon” end a moratorium on IPOs, China Securities Regulatory Commission Vice Chairman Fan Fuchun (范富春) said on March 6. Listings were halted “because the market needed a rest,” Fan said. “The decision on who to list, how to price the listing should be given to the investment bank, company and investors,” Wang said.

  ■STOCKS

  Shanghai, Taipei in talks

  The Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Taiwan Stock Exchange are in “detailed discussions” on cooperation, Shanghai bourse executive vice president James Liu (劉嘯東) said on Friday at a forum in the Chinese city. Implementation of the initiatives under discussion will depend on government approval, Liu said, without giving details. Taipei will host a conference on exchange-traded funds next week, Taiwan Stock Exchange Chairman Schive Chi (薛琦) said at the forum.

  ■REAL ESTATE

  Report predicts HK rebound

  Hong Kong home prices may rebound to levels seen in early September, before the global financial system imploded, according to a report yesterday by Centaline Property Agency Ltd (中原地產). “With sales transactions stabilizing at a normal level and investors preferring to buy fixed assets, we may see home prices back to those levels by year-end,” Wong Leung-sing (黃良昇), an associate director at Centaline, said in a phone interview. Four of the biggest mass housing estates Centaline tracks have already risen past prices posted in early September, the agency said.

  ■FINANCE

  ADB criticizes Philippines

  The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said yesterday the Philippines has failed to follow a commitment to reduce the number of state-run corporations that have been bleeding government coffers dry. It said Manila sought ADB technical assistance in 2006 to improve the efficiency of ­government-owned or government-­controlled corporations that perform socially oriented services such as maintaining food supply stability or provide basic services in areas including transport, housing and utilities. State enterprises have been “problematic” with “weak institutional and regulatory frameworks” and “most” have been bleeding red ink, the Manila-based ADB said.
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