China

China's Cabinet rejected a bid by a group led by Societe Generale, France's third-largest bank, to let it raise a US$2.92 billion bid for Guangdong Development Bank to make the offer more competitive, the Standard of Hong Kong said, citing people involved in the sale. Societe Generale is vying with Citigroup to be the first overseas investor to take control of a state-run bank in China, a move that would free them to open branches without approval from the government. Bidding for China's 11th-biggest lender ended two months ago when a US$3 billion bid by a Citigroup-led consortium was accepted. Societe Generale had joined with Cabinet-controlled Baosteel Group in an attempt to reopen the bidding.