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Airbus lands US$10bn Chinese
deal
Brussels:
European plane-maker, Airbus has signed an order worth
almost US$10bn for 150 aircraft with the Chinese government
on Monday. This will be the manufacturer's biggest single
order in China, the world's fastest-growing aviation market.
The US$9.7bn deal underlines the growing demand in China,
where the aviation market is expected to expand at 9%
a year.
Boeing,
which won an order for seventy 737 single-aisle jets when
President George Bush visited China last month, says it
has secured 800 orders up to November 30, while Airbus
says its firm orders are approaching 700, not counting
yesterday's deal.
Qantas,
the Australian national carrier, is due to decide on a
US$10bn order tomorrow.
Airbus,
which is 80% owned by EADS, the European aerospace and
defence group, and 20% by BAE Systems, is to supply 150
of the A320 family of aircraft to several Chinese airlines,
including the three biggest - China Southern, China Eastern
and Air China.
According
to Boeing, China will buy more than 2,500 jets over the
next 20 years.
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NTL
confirms merger moves with Virgin Mobile
London: Broadcaster BSkyB's shares took a beating
on the bourses after cable company NTL confirmed an £817mn
takeover approach to Virgin Mobile. The merger would create
a TV, internet and telecoms giant and also put Sir Richard
Branson into a direct battle with Rupert Murdoch's BskyB.
If
the deal proceeds the merged company intends to offer
"a quadruple play of internet, television, fixed
line and mobile telephony" under the Virgin brand,
according to an NTL statement.
Sir
Richard Branson's Virgin Group holds 72 per cent of Virgin
Mobile. It does not own a telecom network but instead
rents capacity from T-Mobile which has indicated support
for the merger in preliminary discussions with NTL.
If
the merger succeeds the merged group would be a £4.5billion
communications giant with 9mn customers.
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China
opens up hinterland to foreign banks
Shanghai: China has opened seven more of its cities
to operations by foreign banks. Liu Mingkang, chairman
of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, said Monday
that foreign banks will now be allowed to lend in yuan
to local firms in Harbin, Changchun, Lanzhou, Yinchuan,
Nanning, Shantou and Ningbo cities.
The move raises to 25, from 18, the number of cities opened
to foreign banks for domestic currency business.
Liu said five of the northeastern and western cities were
opened to foreign banks a year ahead of a Dec. 1, 2006,
schedule agreed with the World Trade Organization, in
order to help develop western China and revitalize industry
in the northeast, where growth has lagged coastal cities.
So far banks, like Citigroup and HSBC, have focused on
wealthier cities.
The commission also said Monday that it would lower the
capital requirement for foreign banks to open a branch
in China to 400 million yuan, or US$49.5mn, from 500 million
yuan. For joint ventures involving a foreign partner,
the capital requirement would be reduced to 200 million
yuan from 300 million yuan.
China allows its banks to be 25 per cent-owned by foreign
banks, with a single financial institution owning no more
than 20 percent.
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