Crude oil imports rise to all-time high

CHINA’S crude oil imports rose to all-time high on a daily basis in October, customs data showed Thursday.

Imports in October surged 32 percent from a year earlier to 40.80 million tons, or 9.61 million barrels per day (bpd), data from the General Administration of Customs showed, climbing from 9.05 million bpd in September. The previous daily record of 9.60 million bpd was touched in April 2018. The imports rose 8.1 percent for the first 10 months of the year from the same period last year to 377.16 million tons, or 9.06 million bpd, on track for another record year of shipments.

Lenovo profit up 21% on premium computer sales

PC maker Lenovo Group on Thursday reported a 21 percent rise in quarterly net profit, beating expectations, thanks to more premium computers it was able to sell.

Its net profit for the second quarter ended September came in at US$168 million, versus US$139 million a year earlier and an average estimate of US$118 million from 9 analysts, according to Refinitiv data. Revenue rose 14 percent to US$13.38 billion, the highest quarterly revenue in almost four years, thanks to an improvement in product mix.

Datang, Huadian await final merger approval

CHINA Datang Corp. and China Huadian Corp. are in talks to merge and awaiting final government approval for a deal that would create the world’s biggest power generator by capacity, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.

The two electricity producers have reached agreement on most technical issues for a deal, said the sources. They are now waiting for approval by the State Council, which may or may not authorize the combination, said the sources.

Corn output data sharply revised higher

CHINA, the world’s No. 2 corn producer, sharply revised higher its corn output data for the past 10 years, a move that should have wide repercussions for global supply and demand scenarios.

The data overhaul follows last year’s agricultural census, China’s first in 10 years, which led the National Statistics Bureau to revise a broad swathe of data, a bureau official said Thursday. The data show corn output in 2017 rose to 259 million tons, a 20 percent increase from the 215.9 million tons that China had originally reported for the crop.