Gold exchange eyes international board

    THE Shanghai Gold Exchange plans to launch an international board in Shanghai’s pilot free trade zone in the first half of this year to attract overseas capital to invest in China’s gold market.

    “We are pushing for the international board to be launched during the first half,” Song Yuqin, deputy general manager of the Shanghai bourse, was quoted as saying in Shanghai Daily on Friday. “It will definitely be launched within the year,” Song said, adding that the contracts on the international board will be priced in yuan instead of foreign currencies. The bourse is now looking for a site for a bonded warehouse in the zone, he said.

    Wanxiang allowed to bid for Fisker

    A U.S. judge Friday rejected a planned sale of Fisker Automotive to a Hong Kong tycoon, opening the way for China’s largest auto parts company to buy the defunct maker of the Karma plug-in hybrid sports car.

    U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross said competitive bidding between a company affiliated with the tycoon, Richard Li, and a unit of Wanxiang Group was the best way forward. “I think that, for me, at the end of the case, whether or not the price paid was fair or reasonable, I think an auction will provide that mechanism. That is the most favored method,” said Gross.

    Shareholders of Bumi approve CIC debt deal

    SHAREHOLDERS of Indonesia’s Bumi Resources, Asia’s biggest thermal coal exporter, approved a crucial US$1.3 billion debt-for-equity swap deal with China’s sovereign wealth fund, CIC, even without the presence of its largest owner.

    Only one-third of shareholders were required to approve the deal after the Indonesian company delayed a previous vote from Dec. 20. A collapse of the Chinese deal would have been disastrous for Bumi Resources, which has suffered downgrades from ratings agencies and faces a heavy debt burden even as coal prices remain soft.

    China Coal Energy to invest in coal mine

    CHINA Coal Energy Co. will invest 17 billion yuan (US$2.8 billion) to develop a coal mine in northern China as power demand increases in the world’s second-biggest economy.

    Targeted production from the mine in Shaanxi Province is 15 million metric tons a year, the Beijing-based company said in a statement Friday. Development of the mine, which has recoverable reserves of 3.28 billion tons, will take more than five years, the company said.