BizChina

ChinaJoy 2011 Debut Show

China's fledgling services sector grew in July at its slowest pace in three months as new orders ebbed, a private survey showed, in a further sign that tight monetary policy is sending chills through the world's second-biggest economy.

The HSBC's Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) edged down to 53.5 in July from 54.1 in June, signalling strong but slowing growth. The 50-point level demarcates expansion from contraction.

The slowdown signalled by HSBC PMI contrasts with a services PMI compiled on behalf of the government which rose to 59.6 in July, from June's 57, as new orders climbed. This index is published by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.

A pull-back in China's services sector, which accounts for under 45 percent of its economy, would mirror the plight of its manufacturers, who are grappling with tight policy and softening global demand.

China's Haier and Japan's Sanyo have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Haier's acquisition of a portion of Sanyo's home appliance division, said a senior Haier company official on Tuesday.

The two parties are expected to ink a formal agreement at the end of September, said Hair Group Vice President Du Jingguo.

Haier, China's home appliance giant, intends to acquire Sanyo's refrigerator, washing machine, and other electrical-appliance businesses in Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, according to the MOU.

The acquisition would also cover Sanyo's washing machine brand AQUA.

The company did not disclose the amount of the transaction.

Haier would have two research centers and four manufacturing bases in Japan and Southeast Asia after the acquisition, Du said.

Tencent's Headquater Building in Shengzhen 2010.

Social games maker Zynga is partnering with Tencent Holdings Ltd, the Chinese Internet company, to launch its first game in mainland China as it tries to find new users by tapping into the $5.8 billion Chinese games market.

Zynga will release an early version of a game called Zynga City on Tencents' open platform, Zynga said in a statement on Monday.

The game will be a Chinese version of Zynga's most popular game, CityVille. It will feature Chinese architecture, references to Chinese pop culture, as well as events and contests in the game that will be linked to Chinese holidays and news, the company said.

China's top search engine Baidu Inc forecast revenue well ahead of Wall Street's expectations as large advertisers increased spending, sending its shares up around 7 percent.

Baidu, which has increased its focus on online video and e-commerce, has steadily grown its search market share since Google Inc curtailed its operations after a fallout with Beijing over censorship.

It was benefiting from higher income from big advertising clients in the world's largest Internet market, which helped nearly double its net profit in the second quarter to $252.6 million.

"The company is pretty confident on the longer term outlook since growth is coming from across the industries," said Dick Wei, an analyst at JPMorgan in Hong Kong.