China Corporate News: Sina, Baidu Form Tie-Up for Wireless Search; Suning Posts 29% Drop in 1H Earnings

Sina, Baidu Form Tie-Up for Wireless Search
Sina Corp (Nasdaq: SINA), the operator of a leading web portal and China's most popular microblogging service, and Baidu Inc (Nasdaq: BIDU), China's most used search engine, announced a strategic partnership in wireless services. Sina will integrate Baidu search into its mobile site, and Baidu plans to have a cloud service, which stores data on the internet, with preinstalled Sina Weibo app.

AsiaInfo-Linkage Q2 Earnings Fall 3%
AsiaInfo-Linkage Inc (Nasdaq: ASIA), a Chinese provider of telecommunication software solutions and services, posted $126.3 million in revenue and $6.2 million in net profits for Q2 2012, up 8.7% and down 3.1% respectively from Q2 2011. The increase in revenue was due to continued investment in IT software from China's telecom carriers, while the decrease in earnings was due to an increase in employee compensation, share-based compensation and the increased costs of sales and R&D expenses, the company said. The figures were unaudited.

Suning Posts 29% Drop in 1H Earnings
Suning Appliance Co (SHE: 002024), China's largest chain store by revenue, posted ¥47.19 billion in revenues and ¥1.74 billion in net profits for 1H 2012, up 6.7% and down 29.5% respectively from the same period a year ago. The exit of government incentives that had spurred sales of home appliances and electronics and the formulation of a new business framework added to expenses and therefore dragged down earnings. The company's e-commerce division sold ¥5.28 billion of goods over the past six months, up 105.5% from 1H 2011. As of June 30 2012, Suning was operating 1,689 stores across 264 mainland cities, 28 in Hong Kong and 11 in Japan. The figures were unaudited.

Jiangxi Copper to Build ¥8b Joint Plant
Jiangxi Copper Co (SHA: 600362, HKG: 0358), China's biggest copper producer, signed a deal with two Zhejiang-based smelters to jointly build two copper plants in the province, the China Mining Association reported. The project is expected to cost a total of ¥8 billion and produce 200,000 tons of raw copper and 370,000 tons of electrolytic copper per year. Construction is scheduled to begin in Q4 2012.

Guangzhou Auto Said to Seek Mitsubishi Motors Partnership
Guangzhou Automobile Group Co (SHA: 601238, HKG: 2238) is in talks with banks to raise ¥5 billion for the establishment of a joint venture with Japan's Mitsubishi Motors, Hong Kong media reported, without disclosing more financial details. The joint venture's first product is said to be a light-duty SUV.

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