Yuan slumps on growth worries

    CHINA’S yuan fell to its weakest level against the U.S. dollar in more than two years Friday, extending a decline driven by the prospect of a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.

    Investors have been selling the yuan in recent months amid a flurry of disappointing economic indicators out of China, which have raised expectations that China could devalue the currency to stoke growth. Meanwhile, money managers see a steady recovery and higher short-term interest rates in the United States, bolstering the allure of the dollar.

    Outstanding QFII quota rises to US$69.7b

    THE outstanding amount of China’s U.S. dollar-denominated Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) program rose to US$69.7 billion at the end of February.

    The quota was worth US$68 billion at the end of January. The program was created years ago by China to allow foreigners to invest in Chinese capital markets. Norges Bank, Norway’s central bank that manages the country’s sovereign wealth fund, was given another US$1 billion QFII quota in February, taking its total quota to US$2.5 billion, the largest among investors outside China. Hong Kong’s de facto central bank also held a US$2.5 billion quota. South Korea’s central bank was given a US$900 million quota.

    Chengdu Xingrong plans HK listing

    CHEDGDU Xingrong Investment Co., a Shenzhen-listed water distributor and sewage treatment company, plans to raise up to US$800 million with a Hong Kong share sale in the second half of 2015, IFR reported Friday, citing sources familiar with the deal.

    The firm plans to sell about 15 percent of its enlarged share capital and has mandated ABC International and Haitong International Securities to handle the offering, according to the report.

    Lenovo offers free security service

    CHINA’S Lenovo Group Ltd. said Friday that it will offer free subscriptions to Intel Corp. security software to customers who bought laptops that were shipped with a program known as “Superfish,” which made personal computers vulnerable to cyberattacks.

    Lenovo two weeks ago advised customers to uninstall the Superfish program. Security experts and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security recommended the program be removed because it made users vulnerable to what are known as SSL spoofing techniques that can enable remote attackers to read encrypted Web traffic, steal credentials and perform other attacks.