Nod for Shenzhen-HK link may come before July

    OFFICIALS may announce the approval of the stock trading connection between Shenzhen and Hong Kong stock exchanges in the next two months, Bloomberg reported yesterday.

    Official approval and a starting date for the connect, which would be the second link between the mainland and Hong Kong, may be unveiled before July. The connection of Shenzhen to Hong Kong would come after the Shanghai-Hong Kong link and will let offshore investors access many of China’s technology and high-growth shares.

    Baidu raises funds for video business subsidiary

    BAIDU Inc. has completed raising around 1 billion yuan (US$154.69 million) for a new video business subsidiary, it said in a posting on its microblog yesterday.

    The subsidiary will comprise three Baidu units, including online video streaming service iQIYI, group-buying service Nuomi and Baidu’s video portal, it said. No further details were provided. Meanwhile, Baidu said it will expand its mapping service to more than 150 countries and regions by the end of 2016.

    Sinosteel cedes half of chrome claims in Zimbabwe

    CHINA’S Sinosteel Corp.’s business in Zimbabwe has ceded half its mining claims to the government, complying with Zimbabwe’s demands to chrome producers to give up some of their claims, a company official said Tuesday.

    The Southern African nation holds the world’s second-largest deposits of chrome, which is smelted to produce ferrochrome, a raw material used in the making of stainless steel. Zimbabwe’s mines minister last year asked Sinosteel’s Zimasco and Zimbabwe Alloys, which owned 80 percent of all chrome mining claims, to release some ground for distribution to new investors.

    HKEx to launch more yuan futures contracts

    HONG KONG Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. (HKEx) plans to introduce additional yuan currency futures contracts by June to provide more instruments to hedge foreign exchange risk.

    These new contracts will include euro-yuan, yen-yuan, Australian dollar-yuan, which will be settled in the yuan, and yuan-U.S. dollar futures that will be settled in the U.S. dollar, the bourse said in a statement yesterday. “Cash-settled yuan currency futures are part of our plan to expand our product portfolio across asset classes,” said Romnesh Lamba, the stock exchange’s co-head of market development.