Cross-border yuan business reviewed

    CHINA’S central bank is looking into a media report on cross-border yuan business, Xinhua reported Friday.

    The People’s Bank of China didn’t name the target of the review or the media source, but the announcement came after a China Central Television (CCTV) report Wednesday accused Bank of China Ltd. of helping clients skirt the country’s controls on cross-border fund transfers and laundering money. Bank of China said the CCTV report is “factually incorrect” and there is “misunderstanding” about how its cross-border money transfer business works. In conducting the business, the bank adheres to regulatory requirements, including those prohibiting money laundering, it said.

    Small brokerages post soaring profits

    CHINA’S small brokerages posted soaring profits in the first half of the year with one doubling its year-on-year return, driven by the resumption of initial public offerings (IPOs) and successfully adding new areas of business, according to preliminary half-year reports.

    The country’s listing hiatus, which began at the end of 2012, ended briefly at the start of the year, before another four-month-long halt that ended in June. The lack of IPOs pushed many brokerages into other business areas to bolster earnings. Guoyuan Securities Co., a small Shenzhen-listed brokerage, more than doubled its half-year profit to 607 million yuan (US$97.98 million) from the same period in 2013.

    Foton launches vans for African market

    CHINESE automaker Beiqi Foton launched its van for the Africa market Saturday, Xinhua reported yesterday.

    Foton’s general manager Wang Jinyu said that Kenya is an emerging market for commercial vehicles on the continent. “We hope to provide transport solutions for growing urban centers in Kenya and the entire Africa region,” he said. Foton has invested more than US$30 million in an assembly plant in Kenya and has four branches in Kenya and one in Uganda.

    Baosteel to keep product prices unchanged

    BAOSHAN Iron and Steel (Baosteel) said Friday it will keep its major product prices for August delivery unchanged from July.

    Steel consumption is seasonally weaker in China during the summer months that start from June as construction activity thins, extending a slow period for the steel sector and prompting big producers to curb output.