U.S. says yuan still ‘undervalued’

    THE Obama administration yesterday said that it is concerned about the recent drop in China’s currency, calling it “significantly undervalued” and saying it is watching the value of the yuan closely.

    In a semiannual report to Congress, the U.S. Treasury stopped short of declaring China a currency manipulator, but singled it out among large U.S. trading partners for its currency practices. The report noted that China’s yuan rose in value last year, but it said the increase was too slow and did not go far enough.

    China State Grid mulls dollar bond sale

    STATE Grid Corp. of China, the nation’s largest power distributor, is considering a U.S. dollar-denominated bond offering following sales from other government-backed giants.

    The company will meet investors in the United States and Asia from April 21, according to a person familiar with the matter. China Petrochemical Corp., known as Sinopec Group and parent of Sinopec Corp., Asia’s largest oil refiner, raised US$5 billion by selling securities April 2 in Asia’s biggest dollar bond offering in a decade. Chinese developer Poly Real Estate Group Co. is offering five-year debentures at about 390 basis points more than U.S. Treasuries, another person familiar with that matter said.

    Baidu launches mobile payment app

    BAIDU Inc., China’s leading Internet search provider, has launched a mobile payment and wealth management platform after its main domestic rivals launched similar products.

    Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., through its mobile payment arm, Alipay, launched Alipay Wallet in January 2013, which included a money-market investment product, Yu’e Bao, marketed as a high-yielding substitute for traditional bank deposits. Tencent followed in August with WeChat Payment, a payment and investment platform linked to its popular WeChat mobile messaging app.

    Greenland in talks for more land in Malaysia

    SHANGHAI-BASED developer Greenland Group is in talks with Iskandar Waterfront Holdings to buy up to three more land parcels in the southern state of Johor, the Malaysian real estate developer said yesterday.

    Greenland paid 600 million ringgit (US$184.67 million) for its maiden purchase, a 13.9-acre plot of land in Johor, despite a looming slowdown in the Malaysian property market after regulatory curbs to rein in surging house prices.