Blogbus forecasts profitability in second quarter
Leading mainland blog service provider (BSP) Blogbus CEO Dou Yi told China Venture the company would achieve overall profitability by the second quarter of this year. Dou said Blogbus has been profitable on a month-by-month basis since 2006, and  expenditures and revenues have been balanced since the end of 2006. The company  received a US$3 million cash injection in 2006 from Japanese venture capital firm JAIC and Japanese online advertising firm Cyber Agent during uncertain times in the sector. Blogbus, which offers free blog hosting but charges VIP membership fees up to US$15 a year, hosts more than 2 million blogs, including those on Yourblog.org and 52blog.net, which it owns.

Woku.com raises US$5 million
Blogging service provider Woku.com raised $5 million from CID Group, a China-focused venture capital firm, in a series B financing round, China Venture reported. Woku.com, which adopted its name after selling its domain name 139.com to China Mobile in February this year, provides a wireless virtual community centered around  entertainment sharing and user interaction over Internet and mobile platforms. The new domain name is intended to target young netizens.

Chongqing plans 6-star hotel
Chongqing China Travel and AFG Trust New Zealand will invest 1.2 billion yuan (US$153.85 million) to build a six-star luxury hotel in the southwestern city, the Chongqing Business Times reported. A source at the Chongqing Tourism Administration told the Times an overseas hotel brand would run the hotel, with Singapore’s Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts and America’s Starwood both linked to the project. However, it is understood AFG is also in talks with Versace.  The source added that a pier and luxury ferry service would link the resort to the Three Gorges tourism area. The Chongqing Municipality government announced last week a one billion yuan (US$128.2 million) investment to boost tourism at Three Gorges.

Shanxi International Electricity eyes HK listing
Shanxi International Electricity Group (SIEG) will reorganize core assets into an energy company and an international holding company and attract strategic investors ahead of a Hong Kong listing, China Venture reported, citing a company source. The source confirmed that Deutsche Bank and Korea Electric Power will pay cash for a combined 53% stake in the new 10 billion yuan (US$1.28 billion) energy company, while SIEG will inject its energy assets for a 47% holding. It will retain its financial assets and local grid assets in the international holding company. “The proposal has already been submitted to the Ministry of Commerce,” the source said. SIEG  is Shanxi province’s third largest state-owned enterprise with total assets valued at 22.23 billion yuan (US$2.85 billion). It has controlling stakes in 33 companies, including domestically-listed Shanxi Top Energy.

Sunshine Property Insurance enters life sector
Mainland property insurer Sunshine Property & Casualty Insurance (SPCI) has received approval from China’s insurance regulator to enter the life insurance business, Economic Information Daily reported. The company was founded in September 2005 with a 1.1 billion yuan (US$141 million) investment from Sinopec, China Southern Airlines, Chinalco, Sinotrans, and Guangdong Electricity. It was one of China’s top 10 property insurers in 2006 with 1.75 billion yuan (US$224.35 million) in insurance premiums.