RoundUp November 4

PE funds register

From August 2008 to June 2009, 11 foreign private equity (PE) funds have registered in Shanghai with a total registered capital of 4.86 billion yuan ($711.9 million), a municipal official said.

Fang Xinghai, director of the Shanghai Financial Service Office, told a conference October 28 that private equity firms will play an important role in making the city an international financial center, according to a press release.

The municipal government issued favorable policies for foreign PE management companies and has attracted 10 fund managers with registered capital of $32.46 million as of August, Fang said.

Shanghai will further encourage this development by facilitating such procedures as setting up securities trading accounts for the PE firms, Fang said.

LG Display signs deal

The Republic of Korea's LG Display said Tuesday it has signed an agreement to help set up a $4 billion plant to make liquid crystal display (LCD) panels in southeast China.

The company, the world's second largest flat panel maker, said production at the plant in Guangzhou would begin in 2012 to meet growing demand in one of the world's fast growing markets for flat-screen televisions.

A joint venture will be set up, with LG owning 70 percent and the remainder held by the Guangzhou city and a Chinese LCD TV maker.

Market researcher DisplaySearch said China is expected to become the world's biggest LCD TV market, with projected sales of 25 million units in 2009 and 41 million in 2012.

Unicom 3G users up

China Unicom, the country's No. 2 mobile carrier, said yestersday it had signed up over 1 million 3G subscribers and that the launch of Apple's iPhone will boost revenue in the fourth quarter.

Chairman Chang Xiaobing and other executives also said the company had already signed up 5,000 iPhone subscribers, but did not give a forecast for how much the iconic handset would help its income.

All three carriers in China have been under pressure since late last year when they initiated a $58.5 billion plan to build 3G networks capable of carrying more data and multimedia content to the world's largest wireless market.

Global Times/Agencies

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