Deal

DLA Piper taps into China's education sector

DLA Piper has given legal advice to Softbank Asia Infrastructure Fund (SAIF), a private equity firm focused on China, on the financing of Global IELTS Schools. SAIF's investment will be used to upgrade facilities, add new courses and open more language schools by the Beijing Global Education & Technology Group which operates Global IELTS Schools. "In China, equity-linked investments have tended to focus on companies in the technology, media and telecommunications sectors," said Rocky Lee, head of DLA Piper's venture capital and private equity practice in China who led the deal. "But this is an encouraging sign that other sectors with promise are increasingly sought after by venture investors". Global IELTS has over 200 learning centres in 43 Chinese cities and two cities abroad. Airbus sells five aircraft to Shanghai Airlines Shanghai Airlines has become one of Airbus' newest customers through its purchase of five A321s from the France-based aircraft manufacturer. The deal will place the airline as the 11th A320 family operator on the Chinese mainland. Airbus President and Chief Executive Officer and EADS co-CEO, Louis Gallois, said "I am delighted to welcome Shanghai Airlines as a new Airbus customer. This decision once more reflects the value of the leading Airbus Single Aisle Family on the market, be it in China or in the rest of the world and the high level of commitments ensures work for many years at high production rates." By the end of September this year, ten operators on the Chinese mainland operated 249 A320 family aircraft, accounting for over 80 percent of the total Airbus in-service fleet in China.

Shell acquires stake in China's leading lubricants company

Shell has acquired a 75 percent stake in Beijing Tongyi Petroleum Chemical Company Limited and Xianyang Tongyi Petroleum Chemical Company Limited. The two companies produce and sell China's leading independent lubricant brand. David Pirret, Executive Vice President - Lubricants, Shell International, said "China is the fastest growing consumer lubricants market in the world, forecast to grow annually by 10 percent at least until 2010 ... Both Tongyi and Shell have been expanding in China and this acquisition strengthens both brands' growth platform". The new lubricants joint ventures will market Tongyi's brands and product lines separately from Shell lubricants brands but supply chain and other processes in China will be integrated between the two companies. Shell has three lube oil blending plants in China with a total capacity of about 200,000 tons per year and the deal with Tongyi gives Shell the third largest share of China's rapidly growing lubricants market, currently estimated at over six billion litres a year.

Nokia leading GPRS network provider in Guangdong

Nokia has signed a contract with Guangdong MCC to provide its GPRS packet core solution for MCC's eighth GPRS expansion. The deal makes Nokia the leading GPRS network provider in Guangdong province. It will supply Guangdong MCC with the Nokia Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN), Nokia Flexi Intelligent Service Node, and the Nokia Charging Gateway, as well as network planning, implementation and integration services. "It is our great pleasure to work closely with Guangdong MCC, the largest provincial mobile operator in China," said James Lin, Vice President, Networks, Nokia China. "Nokia's innovative GPRS solution enables the operator to meet the increasing needs of data service in the province and offer their subscribers a smooth migration path to 3G and All-IP services in the future." The network will serve over 11 million data subscribers in the Eastern Guangdong province. Nokia's partnership with Guangdong MCC began in 2001 when the Finland-based firm provided MCC with its WAP and GPRS equipment. The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Nokia and Guangdong Provincial Government in October in Finland enhanced Nokia's role in the information industry development of Guangdong province.

Launch

CMA CGM expands North China shipping service

The France-based container shipping company has upgraded its North China Express service with a new direct call to Lebanon at the Port of Beirut and a weekly additional direct call to Le Havre in France. The service which starts in northeastern China's Xingang includes stops in Dalian, Qingdao, Hong Kong and Yantian. The first call at Le Havre took place on October 28 with CMA CGM Baudelaire. CMA CGM is the world's third-largest container shipping company and has 600 agencies and offices worldwide including 58 in China.

BMW enlarges range of models for China market

BMW has enlarged its range of models to meet the particular demands of the Chinese automobile market. The new models are Long Wheelbase versions of the BMW 5 series and were presented for the first time at the International Auto China 2006 Motor Show in Beijing in November. The car's wheelbase of the BMW 5 Series Saloon has been extended by 140 millimetres and the new models are powered by straight-six power units ranging in output from 130 kW/177 hp to 190 kW/258 hp. The new series was developed at BMW's Development Headquarters in Munich and produced at its Shenyang Plant in Liaoning province in northeastern China, which also builds the BMW 3 Series for the Chinese market. The Germany-based automotive firm experienced an increase of 66 percent in sales in the first half of 2006, making China its fastest-growing country in percentage terms.

Hewitt Associates launches mobility services in Shanghai

The global HR services company has launched mobility operations in Shanghai to provide relocation, logistics, international assignment administration and other benefits to several multinational clients operating in Asia. "As our Asia-Pacific hub for mobility services, Shanghai is an important part of Hewitt's global HR BPO (business processing outsourcing) strategy," said Jim Konieczny, global HR BPO leader at Hewitt's. "With mobility operations on the ground in Shanghai, we can provide even better service to our clients by interfacing more directly with their employees who are moving in and out of the Asia-Pacific region." Hewitt began serving companies in the Asia-Pacific region as early as 1987 and now provides HR outsourcing and consulting services in 11 markets across the region. In total, Hewitt delivers mobility services to more than 200 multinational clients and 10,000 employees in 100 countries.

Novartis sets up R&D centre in Shanghai

Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical company, announced plans to set up a US$100 million biomedical research and development centre in Shanghai's Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park. A start-up operation is scheduled to open in May 2007 and construction of the 38,000 square metre facility will begin two months later. The centre will be staffed primarily by scientists from Shanghai's academic, biotech and pharmaceuticals research institutions and will focus initially on the infectious causes of cancer endemic in Asia. "The level of scientific expertise in China is rising rapidly. At the same time, the healthcare needs of the Chinese are growing, primarily the result of urbanization, lifestyle changes and associated chronic diseases," said Dr. Daniel Vasella, Chairman and CEO of Novartis. "The Shanghai centre will allow us to combine modern drug discovery approaches with those of traditional Chinese medicine that have been used to treat patients in China for thousands of years". Novartis is the fourth largest pharmaceutical company in the Chinese hospital market with a compound annual sales growth rate of more than 30 percent over the last five years.

Opening

Carrefour's Beijing opening marks its 1000th branch worldwide

Carrefour has opened its first Chinese suburban branch in Beijing's Tongzhou District. With an investment of US$5.3 million and covering more than 8,000 square metres, the outlet is Carrefour's 1000th branch worldwide. Qin Hong, head of the Beijing branch, said "Over 95 percent of the workers in the new branch are from Tongzhou District, who will receive systematic training and serve the locals." The world's second biggest retailer currently has 84 branches in China. It said it plans to establish more outlets in the country's medium and small-sized cities and continue to support the economic development in China's western regions.