Toyota fined

CHINA’S market regulator Friday has fined Japanese carmaker Toyota Motor 87.6 million yuan (US$12.5 million) for price-fixing on its premium Lexus cars in eastern Jiangsu Province, according to a document on its website.

The decision comes as China steps up regulation over auto sales in the world’s biggest vehicle market, where more than 28 million cars were sold last year. The anti-monopoly bureau of the State Administration for Market Regulation said that between 2015 and 2018, the Japanese carmaker set a minimum sales and resale price for its cars in coastal Jiangsu Province, which deprived dealers of pricing autonomy and harmed customers’ rights.

Sinochem unit

SINOCHEM Energy, a unit of China’s Sinochem Group, has agreed to sell a 20 percent stake to five State-owned firms for 11.56 billion yuan, Xinhua reported.

The strategic investors included financial investment arms of Agricultural Bank of China and Industrial Bank of China (ICBC), and CITIC Securities Investment Co., the news agency said late Friday. Sinochem Energy operates the group’s oil and petroleum products trading, refining, storage and logistics.

Smaller banks

THE national banking and insurance regulator has tightened the operating rules for smaller banks in villages and towns as part of efforts to reduce financial risks caused by mismanagement in a weak area of the banking sector.

Banks in villages and townships will be banned from cross-regional credit granting and bill financing, and the majority of new loans must be lent to local farmers, communities and smaller firms, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said in its notice.