QFII quota rises to US$81.07b

    THE outstanding amount of China’s U.S. dollar-denominated Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) program rose to US$81.07 billion as of Dec. 25, from US$79.10 billion at the end of November, the country’s foreign exchange regulator said yesterday.

    The QFII program was created by China to allow foreigners to invest in Chinese capital markets.

    China Railway Construction in Mali rail deal

    MALI has signed an agreement with China Railway Construction Corp. to renovate a rail line linking its capital Bamako to the border with neighboring Senegal at a cost of US$1.486 billion.

    The project is part of a plan to upgrade the ageing, 1,200-kilometer railway between Senegal’s coastal capital Dakar and landlocked Mali. Once started, work on the project is expected to last four years, said Malick Kasse, Mali’s national transportation director. China Railway Construction penned a similar agreement worth US$1.26 billion with Senegal on Thursday last week.

    China Jinmao to raise stake in Beijing site

    CHINA Jinmao Holdings Group Ltd. has agreed to raise its stake in a site in Beijing for 985.5 million yuan (US$152.1 million).

    The real estate developer said yesterday it will buy a 49 percent stake in a site in China’s capital from Ping An Trust Co., a unit of Shenzhen-based insurer Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China, raising its stake to 100 percent from the current 51 percent.

    PetroChina’s LNG imports delayed

    BEIJING has suspended gas supplies to some industrial users after liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports by PetroChina Co. were disrupted.

    Gas supplies have dwindled in northern China as LNG imports intended to satisfy peak winter demand were unable to unload because of heavy fog and wind, PetroChina’s parent, China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), said on its website. Heating in public buildings in the capital has been curtailed and authorities are working with PetroChina to restore deliveries as soon as possible, the Beijing Municipal Commission of City Administration and Environment said in its official microblog Saturday. Northern China, including Beijing, has experienced the lowest temperatures in 64 years, leading to a big increase in natural gas consumption, according to CNPC.