Standard Chartered allowed to issue SDR bonds

    STANDARD Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) said Friday that it has obtained approval from the People’s Bank of China to be the first commercial issuer of bonds denominated in Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) in China’s interbank bond market.

    The size of the issuance is 100 million SDRs, or about 925 million yuan (US$137.45 million), and the bond will be settled in the yuan, the bank said in a statement. The International Monetary Fund included the Chinese currency in its SDR currency basket Oct. 1 in line with the growing importance of the yuan in international trade and finance, and as a reflection of China’s global economic heft.

    China Merchants Ports to buy Shenzhen firm

    CHINA Merchants Ports Holdings Co. said late Friday it agreed to buy a Shenzhen property company for 2.53 billion yuan (US$376 million) in a bid to boost its port business development in Shenzhen.

    The Hong Kong-listed port operator said it agreed to buy Shenzhen China Merchants Qianhaiwan Property Co. from Shenzhen China Merchants Venture Co. and Shenzhen Qianhai Pingfangyuanqu Development Co. Both sellers are units of Shenzhen-listed China Merchants Shekou Industrial Zone Co.

    BYD launches monorail transport system

    SHENZHEN-BASED car and battery maker BYD Co. launched a monorail transport system Thursday, as it looks into China’s multibillion-dollar mass transit market.

    BYD said in a statement Friday that it has spent 5 billion yuan (US$750 million) on research and development for the monorail program over the past five years. The monorail will be put into operation at its headquarters in Shenzhen, running for a distance of 4.4 kilometers, a spokeswoman for the company said Friday. Cars on the monorail system are capable of running at speeds of up to 80 kilometers per hour.

    Stocks flat on mixed economic data

    CHINA’S stock ended little changed Friday as investors wrestled with mixed economic reports ahead of third-quarter economic data this week that will shed more light on the health of the economy.

    Trade data Thursday showed exports fell more than expected in September while imports unexpectedly shrank. Inflation data Friday, however, showed producer and consumer prices had picked up. Producer prices in particular rose for the first time in nearly five years.