Category Investing in China

QUALCOMM Makes Investment In China

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Qualcomm today announced in Shanghai that it is working with China TechFaith Wireless Communications Technology (TechFaith) to create a new Chinese firm, TechSoft. Qualcomm and TechFaith will invest up to $35M to found TechSoft, a new company focused on developing application software for wireless devices. The investment by Qualcomm is part of a $100M effort the firm announced in 2003 to invest in early- to mid-stage Chinese companies building CDMA-based products. TechFaith is a handset application software provider based in China.

http://www.socaltech.com/fullstory/0003549.html

Corning Announces $15 Million Investment to Expand Emissions-Control Manufacturing Plant in China

Company Cites Growing Global Demand for Clean-Air Products for Passenger Cars

CORNING, NY – March 29, 2006: Corning Incorporated announced today that its board of directors recently approved a capital expenditure of approximately $15 million to expand the manufacturing capabilities for clean-air products at Corning Shanghai Company, Ltd. (CSCL) in Shanghai, China.

This investment will increase the manufacturing capability of the facility to meet anticipated demand for Corning advanced ceramic substrates for light-duty vehicle applications. Corning advanced ceramic substrates include thin-wall products that deliver higher performance for emission reductions. The expansion is expected to be fully operational by mid-2007.

“The tightening of emissions standards in Asia and around the world continues to drive demand for Corning clean-air products,” said Thomas Appelt, vice president and general manager, Corning Automotive Technologies. “Through the expansion of our facility in China, we will be better able to supply clean-air products to our global customers, while still maintaining a strong presence in China.”

“Corning is proud of its long history in China,” said Curt Weinstein, general manager, CSCL. “We value our highly skilled, dedicated employees and the many relationships we have developed over the years. This additional investment in the facility is further proof of our commitment to the region.”

In China, demand for cleaner vehicles is being driven by the Euro III and upcoming Euro IV regulations that will require lower emissions. Tighter global regulations, along with growth in the China economy, make China an attractive market for Corning.

CSCL, which is wholly owned by Corning Incorporated, is a state-of-the-art, high-tech emissions control substrate facility, that first began shipping product in early 2001. In addition to manufacturing advanced substrates, CSCL also includes sales, marketing and engineering operations that provide world-class service for Corning customers in China and throughout Asia.

Corning is a leading supplier of advanced catalytic converter substrates and particulate filters, supplying all of the world’s major manufacturers of gasoline and diesel engines and vehicles. The company invented an economical, high-performance cellular ceramic substrate in the early 1970s that is now the standard for catalytic converters worldwide. Corning also developed the cellular ceramic particulate filter to remove soot from diesel engine emissions in 1978.

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2006/03/29/002345.html

GE Real Estate Enters China With US $20 Million Investment in CITIC Capital Vanke China Property Development Fund

Wednesday March 22, 11:26 am ET

STAMFORD, Conn., March 22 /PRNewswire/ — GE Real Estate today announced its first commercial real estate investment in China. GE will invest US $20 million and be the sole Strategic Investor in the newly formed CITIC Capital Vanke China Property Development Fund.

The Fund, together with China Vanke Co., Ltd., the largest publicly listed real estate developer in China, plans to invest a total of US $100-150MM in residential real estate assets in specified economically developed regions in China, including the Pearl River Delta Region, the Yangtze River Delta Region, the Pan Bohai Region and other selected inland cities.

The Fund will be managed by CITIC Capital, a member of the CITIC Group (CITIC), a Chinese transnational financial services conglomerate. China Vanke Co., Ltd. will be the exclusive development manager for all Fund investments. A CITIC group entity and China Vanke Co., Ltd. will also make a substantial capital commitment to the Fund. The Fund will be domiciled in the Cayman Islands and governed by Cayman Islands law.

Michael Pralle, President and CEO of GE Real Estate, commented, “The CITIC/Vanke China Property Development Fund is the ideal vehicle for entry, as we are partnering with two of the most reputable companies in China.”

“Investing in residential properties is the right entry strategy, because it is the most robust and liquid commercial real estate segment in China. The value of this partnership exists in learning this market and establishing a confident presence in multiple business centers throughout China,” noted Mark Hutchinson, President, GE Real Estate Asia-Pacific. “Also, as the sole strategic investor we have a right to further co-investment, giving us the potential to scale up the portfolio managed by this partnership significantly.”

Pralle added, “Also, we will be exploring investment opportunities in other asset types throughout China, including retail, hotel, office and industrial properties. We have a pipeline of deals totaling several hundred million dollars which we will review as we move forward. We see great potential in China.”

Following this transaction GE Commercial Finance Real Estate Asia-Pacific will have real estate investments and operations in Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India and China.

Notes to editors:

About GE Real Estate

GE Real Estate (http://www.gerealestate.com) is a world leader in real estate capital. Formed in 1972, the business has more than $35 billion in core assets with 34 offices located throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia/New Zealand. GE Commercial Finance Real Estate, backed by its parent company’s AAA rating, offers a broad range of financing, equity and servicing solutions including: intermediate and long-term mortgage financing, restructuring and acquisition capital, niche equity investment/joint ventures, capital markets securitization and placements, and asset management. As one of the fastest growing units within GE Commercial Finance, Real Estate has experienced annual growth of more than 10% for the last ten consecutive years.

GE Commercial Finance (http://www.gecommercialfinance.com) offers businesses an extensive array of financial services and products worldwide. With approximately $217 billion in assets and an expertise in the mid-market, GE Commercial Finance provides loans, operating leases, financing programs and innovative structured capital to help customers grow. GE Commercial Finance is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the General Electric Company (NYSE: GE – News), a diversified services, technology and manufacturing company with operations worldwide.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060322/phw025.html?.v=51

Economists Say China Now Offering Promising Investment Opportunities

Tuesday March 21, 8:00 am ET

DENVER, March 21 /PRNewswire/ — China’s economic growth has stabilized and offers exceptional investment opportunities over the long term, according to research published by economist Burton Malkiel and others in the most recent issue of the Journal of Investment Consulting, the formal publication of the Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA®).
In their paper, “Investment Strategies to Exploit Economic Growth in China,” Malkiel and co-authors Jianping Mei and Rui Yang show why they expect China to enjoy economic growth rates well above those of the developed world.

They acknowledge, “returns from investments in Chinese equities have been unattractive for the past decade, and corruption and corporate governance issues, as well as a variety of restrictions, make direct investment in Chinese opportunities difficult.”

However, the Chinese economy has turned a corner, they write, and China is becoming more appealing and less risky for investors. “Chinese equities are now attractively priced relative to their earnings, their historical valuations, and their growth rates, and … some risks have been attenuated over time.”

The authors say that they believe there is an excellent probability that the growth of the Chinese economy will continue to be “exceptionally rapid” over the decades to come. They back up their optimism with the following three observations:

1) The market economic institutions necessary for growth in China are
established and the country already has enjoyed years of success;
2) China’s government is pragmatic and will continue to guide the
economic transformation of the economy; and
3) China is home to an abundance of underutilized human capital and
considerable savings, both of which are necessary to fuel growth.

Finally, the authors outline the potentials and risks of the various ways that investors can directly and indirectly take advantage of this promising forecast.

Malkiel, a long-time professor of economics at Princeton, is best known for his book, A Random Walk Down Wall Street. Mei, an expert in international asset pricing and real-asset finance, is a professor at New York University. Yang is deputy director of research for Boshi Fund Management in Shenzen, China.

The Journal of Investment Consulting is the formal publication of the Investment Management Consultants Association, the premier professional and accreditation organization of the investment consulting industry. For more information about IMCA and this issue of the Journal, visit www.imca.org.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060321/latu031.html?.v=44

Red Hot China Venture Capital Forum Strikes Reform Gong

China’s venture capital’s emerging industry has struck the gong for much needed reforms for domestic venture firms at the sell out China Venture Capital Forum now being held in Shenzhen with over 1000 attendees. Sure, this discussion does reaffirm the purpose of this blog to educate and inform more global investors on these prescient trends: China’s policy drivers have full intentions to reform its nascent venture capital industry, liberalize the listing requirements for domestic startups and increase the available research and development funding for science parks.

According to an article in the Red Herring, “of the total of 183 Chinese venture-backed IPOs to date, 76 percent, or 143 were in foreign capital markets, and only 24 percent (4) were domestic claims the father of China’s venture industry, Cheng Siwei, Vice Chairman of National People’s Congress.

Siwei’s keynote address was bolstered by the voice of Xu Guanhua, the Minister of Science & Technology, who also sounded a clarion call to the Communist Party to dramatically relax listing requirements for Chinese companies so they no longer have to go offshore.

Of course, there are many reasons for the short march of Chinese venture capital liberalization. Professor Haiyang Li, Assistant Professor at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University commented on this trend in a recent e-mail to CVN.

“I believe that the rush of venture capital funds into China’s technology industries is driven by two types of factors: domestic and international. From a domestic point of view, over the past 15 years, many Chinese technology firms have been growing very fast and they are facing “bottleneck” right now in terms of managerial capabilities, strategic market selection and financial support.”

Many western investors believe that the increased entry of China venture capital funds might solve some of these problems.

The key point sounded at the opening day forum is China’s ambitious goal to increase funding for research and development by 20010 to almost $112 billion. The view form both academics and industry watchers is that the Chinese government’s mandate on proprietary innovation over the next decade sends a clear signal to the capital markets that China Inc. expects to see more technology entrepreneurship.

Expect to read here about a flood of deals to be announced over the course of the next few months.

http://www.chinaventurenews.com/50226711/red_hot_china_venture_capital_forum_strikes_reform_gong.php