China Corporate News: CNOOC Partners with Nexen to Explore Gulf of Mexico Wells

CNOOC Partners with Nexen to Explore Gulf of Mexico Wells
CNOOC Ltd (NYSE: CEO, HKG: 0883) and Nexen Inc, a Calgary, Canada-based oil and gas producer, have agreed to a joint venture deal that gives China's largest offshore producer of offshore crude oil and natural gas working interests in six deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico, the Wall Street Journal reported. The deal is the latest in a string of CNOOC investments in North America, aimed at building up its production and reserves growth.

Tudou Sets Up Own Studio
Tudou Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ: TUDO), a leading Chinese video site, has formed its own animation production studio, chairman Wang Wei said. Beijing Tixian Digital Technology Co, which will run the studio, expects to make cartoons which can live up to international standards within three years, Wang added.

Higher Expenses Drags Down Shanda Q3 Net 90%
Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd (NASDAQ: SNDA), a leading Chinese online game developer and operator, posted ¥1.77 billion in revenues and ¥9.7 million in net profits for Q3 2011, up 28% and down 90% year on year respectively. Burgeoning operating costs were blamed for the slide in earnings.

Mecox Lane Posts $14m Loss for Q3
Mecox Lane Ltd (NASDAQ: MCOX), the operator of online retail site M18.com, posted $53.1 million in revenues and $14.4 million in net losses for Q3 2011. Revenue was down 4% and the loss stood in contrast to last year's net profit of $800,000. Larger discounts in response to increased competition were blamed for the worse performance.

BoC Opens 8th Aussie Branch
Bank of China Ltd (SHA: 601988, HKG: 3988) opened a branch in Melbourne, increasing the number of its local branches to eight to become the Chinese lender with the most branches in Australia. Bank of China reaped $95.49 million in net earnings from its operations in Australia in the first 10 months of 2011, and had $13.5 billion in assets as of the end of October.

AgriBank Gets Operation Permits in Britain and S Korea
Agricultural Bank of China Co (SHA: 601288, HKG: 1288) said its representative offices in Seoul and London have been given the go-ahead to upgrade to branches, allowing it to do business locally.

ZTE Sets Up Sourcing Body in Turkey
ZTE Corp (SHE: 000063, HKG: 0763), China's second largest telecom device maker, said it would install a sourcing center in Turkey as part of a strategy tp offer telecommunications solutions to the European, North American and North African markets.

China State Construction to Invest ¥3.6b in Public Housing
China State Construction Engineering Corp (SHA: 601668) plans to invest ¥3.6 billion in 15 public housing projects, board secretary Jiang said. The projects are expected to report a margin well above 10% as land acquisition costs will be much lower than for commercial development, according to Jiang.

CSR Clinches ¥6b Contracts
CSR Corp (SHA: 601766), one of China's top two railway equipment manufacturers, said it and its subsidiaries have recently won sales and service contracts worth a combined ¥5.87 billion.

Listing Rules Eased for Promising Brokerages
The China Securities Regulatory Commission released a circular about easing requirements for small but healthily growing securities brokerages to go public. The new requirements will be implemented on January 1, 2012.

$1 = ¥6.33