Category: Investment

Kia Motors of South Korea plans a US$600m car plant at an undisclosed mainland location, reported Reuters. The factory should be producing 400,000 vehicles a year by 2005. Kia Motors, an affiliate of Hyundai Motors, will invest a share of the capital through its existing joint venture with Dongfeng Motors and Jiangsu Yueda Investment Co. […]

Prudential Financial is investing in a funds management joint venture with Everbright Securities, reported the Financial Times. The second largest US life insurer will take a minority 33 per cent stake in the fund. While this is currently the maximum shareholding permitted by Chinese regulators, foreign fund managers are likely to be allowed to increase […]

As China's industries become more open to foreign investment, Peter A Kenevan and Xi Pei argue that alliances with local companies represent an attractive and profitable option for many global corporations. Foreign investment in China used to be restricted largely to alliances with struggling state-owned companies. The results were mixed, and some high profile failures […]

Shenzhen's utility companies and Shanghai No 1 Department Store are among 100,000 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) scheduled for privatisation in the coming months and years, reported South China Morning Post. The newly formed Asset Supervision and Administration Commission has been working to merge SOEs into 196 major groups, with all remaining companies to be sold off […]

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in July was down 38 per cent from July 2002 to US$3.1bn, the lowest monthly figure since May 2002. Observers were divided between those who blamed the fall on the Sars outbreak and others who thought that the drop might be a blip caused by an unusually strong July figure last […]