Chinese auto exports to Russia are booming, albeit from a low base. But as Economic Information Daily reports, export bottlenecks are hiding behind the impressive headline numbers. Chinese automakers must move quickly or risk missing the golden opportunity.

China’s hotel and restaurant revenues climbed 18% to US$76 billion (RMB581 billion) in the first six months of 2007, the China Business News reported, citing Ministry of Commerce figures. The ministry predicted sales revenues could reach US$84 billion (RMB639 billion) in the second half of the year.  The sector accounted for 14% of China’s total retail sales, which totalled US$461 billion (RMB3.5 trillion) in the first five months of the year according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Singaporean water-treatment company Hyflux Ltd said it has signed two water-treatment projects in China worth a combined US$31.2 million (RMB 237 million), the Strait Times reported. They include a US$17.7 million (RMB135 million) project to build and run a water-treatment base in the Beichen district of the northern city of Tianjin, which will be completed by 2009, and a US$14.5 (RMB102 million) project to build and run a water-treatment base in Xiajin county in the northern province of Shandong, which will be completed by the end of 2008.

HSBC Holdings announced it would buy 53,000 square meters of grade A office space in the Shanghai International Financial Center in the Pudong Lujiazui financial area from Sun Hung Kai Properties, Tao Kung Pao reported. The building will serve as the London-based HSBC’s headquarters in China, and the bank also has the right to rename the building. In 1999, the bank spent US$33 million to buy 4,800 square meters in HSBC Tower, also located in Lujiazui financial area, which until now has been its biggest property acquisition in China.