Sinopec to sell Phoenix to Changhang Sinopec announced that it had signed an agreement with the Changhang Group to turn over its stake in natural gas producer China Phoenix, Oriental Morning Post reports. Sinopec's 40.72% interest in China Phoenix will be sold to Changhang for 578 million yuan (US$71.3 million). Sinopec had announced a similar deal to turn over its 40.72% in July, 2004, to Qingjiang Investment and the Guodian Group, but it ultimately failed when Phoenix's restructuring plan was rejected by China's securities oversight body. That deal was priced slightly higher, at 621 million yuan (US$75.1 million at the time). Changhang is China's largest water transport company. Link: http://news.hexun.com/detail.aspx?lm=1720&id=1368048   Taobao to remain free for three years Alibaba announced that its Taobao online auction sit would continue to offer its services free for the next three years, ChinaByte reports. Alibaba will also invest another US$120 million into development of electronic commerce in China and create 1 million employment opportunities. eBay responded by calling this move a reaction to eBay's tremendous growth in China. Link: http://tech.sina.com.cn/i/2005-10-20/1149744171.shtml   Volvo cleared for China Volvo has been approved to set up an automotive financing company in China, Beijing Times reports. The company, which will go into operation in six months, will provide financial services, to commercial vehicles, including passenger cars and trucks. Volvo becomes the sixth international auto company to receive approval to operate such services in China. Link: http://www.bjt.net.cn/news.asp?newsid=123379   HC Int'l sets up English-language B2B portal HC International, the company behind the search engine Zhongsou, will launch an English-language portal for setting up business connections between domestic exporters and international buyers, China Business Daily reports. The domain name for the new site, madeinchina.com, was acquired at a cost of 1 million yuan (US$123,000) and will compete with services provided by Yahoo partner Alibaba. Its new site is primarily aimed at small- and mid-sized foreign companies, since large companies make connections through their own established channels, HC CEO Guo Fansheng said. Link: http://dycj.ynet.com/article.jsp?oid=6597968   China Phoenix: 000520 Sinopec: 600028 HC International: 8292.HK