Yuan hits new high on central bank guidance

    THE yuan rose to a record level against the U.S. dollar Friday after trading in a narrow range for almost three weeks, as China’s central bank surprisingly pushed the yuan fixing to a fresh high.

    On the over-the-counter market, the yuan hit a modern-era high when the dollar was at 6.0670 yuan after the People’s Bank of China set the dollar/yuan central parity rate at 6.1050, much lower than Thursday’s 6.1156. The central bank’s daily parity rate is the center of the yuan’s permitted trading band for the day. The dollar closed at 6.0686 yuan, down from Thursday’s 6.0746 yuan. It traded in a range of 6.0670 yuan to 6.0736 yuan.

    Sinopec Engineering in coal-to-chemical deal

    SINOPEC Engineering Group has entered into a deal to build a US$3.1 billion plant in northern China to turn coal into petrochemicals, as China seeks to reduce its reliance on petrochemical imports.

    Sinopec Engineering will be responsible for engineering, procurement and construction of the project in Inner Mongolia, which it said would be the largest of its kind in the world. The plant will produce 3.6 million tons a year of olefins, mostly ethyelene which is a building block for petrochemicals that are widely used in construction, textiles and automobiles.

    Foreign investor quota hits US$49.7b

    CHINA granted US$450 million in fresh combined quotas to licensed overseas institutional investors in December, according to data released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Friday.

    This increases the total quotas issued under the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) program to US$49.7 billion at the end of December, from US$49.25 billion a month earlier.

    Oceanwide to buy Los Angeles project

    BEIJING-BASED property developer Oceanwide Real Estate Group Co. said Friday it has agreed to buy a mixed-use project in downtown Los Angeles for no more than US$200 million.

    Shenzhen-listed Oceanwide Real Estate said it plans to purchase and develop Fig Central, a hotel, retail and residential project located at the entrance of L.A. Live, a sports and entertainment complex. The project site is currently a surface carpark with a few management buildings and the authorities’ approval to build the project has been secured. Fig Central has a site area of 18,700 square meters, with a gross floor area of 223,000 square meters.