Eyeing China as one of the world's biggest plastics markets, the London Metal Exchange will start its roadshow promoting its new plastics futures market in Shanghai today, the South China Morning Post reported. The market is scheduled to open when two polypropylene contracts begin trading in late May, enabling buyers to hedge against price fluctuations as they do in metals, oil and other commodities. The LME, which moves on to Singapore on the next leg of its tour, says annual world plastics trading totals US$120 billion a year, about the same as metals, but with trading in plastics growing at a faster rate.

September commissions helped improve first three-quarter numbers for China's battered brokers, collectively earning RMB 2.53 billion, nearly double August's RMB 1.31 billion. According to state media reports, the recovery helped push nine-month earnings up 36.7%, to RMB 23.19 billion from RMB 16.96 billion for the first nine months of 2003. Commissions on A-share sales jumped nearly 48%, to RMB 20.14 billion, for the whole period, disguising a sharp slowdown as share prices slumped for months.

London-based Barclays Bank has won approval to invest US$75 million in China's renminbi-denominated A-share and debt markets under the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor scheme (QFII), Reuters reported. The approval brings to 20 the total number of QFIIs known to have secured quotas to invest in China's US$500 billion stock market. Seven other overseas institutions have won approval to invest but have yet to secure quotas.

China's state assets regulators cleared the way for San Francisco-based Newbrige Capital to buy 18% of the Shenzhen Development Bank. The decision clears the final hurdle for Newbridge to become the first overseas investor to gain control of a Chinese lender. The sale was approved by the Chinese banking regulator in September. The deal will see the US private equity firm spend $145 million to buy 348.1 million non-tradable shares from the bank's Chinese shareholders, making Newbridge the biggest single shareholder. The firm is now discussing board changes and has agreed not to sell its holding for at least five years.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country's largest commercial bank, saw its operating profit rise 21.5% year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2004. Profits hit US$6.9 billion for the nine months to the end of September, the rise coming despite worries about government lending restrictions eroding profits. The bank said it has restricted lending to overheated industries the State is trying to cool down, but had increased lending to companies with good business prospects, to small and medium-sized enterprises, and to consumers. The state-owned bank is preparing for an initial public offering slated for late 2006.