BizChina

China wants to develop the untapped purchasing potential of its domestic consumers and hopes Berlin will support the expansion of Chinese companies in Germany, a top Beijing official said on Wednesday.

Chinese firms should have the chance to further boost some $1 billion in investments in Germany, Vice-Premier Li Keqiang wrote in a guest editorial in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung ahead of his three-day visit to the country later this week.

"We would be happy if ...the conditions for Chinese companies could be improved for investments and business start-ups in Germany."

Li reaffirmed Beijing would support the European Union in sorting out its sovereign debt crisis, and raised the hope that the EU might ease restrictions for high-tech products to China, which he said would create balanced and sustainable trade relations.

China and the United States, the world's two biggest energy consumers, are seeking to expand cooperation on clean energy. The latest area of interest, according to experts, is energy-saving infrastructure.

Several Chinese companies are studying the feasibility of investing in energy-saving infrastructure, such as high-speed railways and intelligent electric grid networks, in the United States, said Wang Boyong, executive deputy secretary-general of the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy.

"Such infrastructure projects can help diversify China's overseas investments and take advantage of the country's advanced solutions in such sectors," Wang said.

"At the same time, they have great potential to offer more job opportunities in the United States," he added.

The second strategic forum on US-China Energy Cooperation will be held in Washington on Jan 18 and 19. The forum is organised by the institute and the Brookings Institution.

China City Complex will be built in Bangkok with 10 billion yuan

China plans to construct a second Yiwu International Trade City, the world's biggest small-commodities hub, in Thailand.

It's part of a move to make the southeastern neighbor a re-export center to promote the country's small-goods exports in a global market troubled by rising trade protectionism.

With investment of 10 billion yuan ($1.51 billion), construction will begin in Bangkok on Jan 18 at the China City Complex, a commercial and wholesale town similar to China's Yiwu.

It will sell Chinese-made goods, including garments, ornaments and household items.

"China City Complex is one of the biggest cooperation projects between China and Thailand, corroborating a strategic business-partner relationship between the two countries," said Alongkorn Ponlaboot, Thailand's deputy-minister of commerce, on Wednesday, who had traveled to Yiwu to woo investors.

Chinese Internet television company Youku.com Inc. has signed a deal with Warner Bros. studio to stream the movie "Inception" over the Internet in China.

The company says the sci-fi blockbuster film is now available on its premium on-demand paid video service. Youku also has online resale rights to the film, the company said in a statement issued Tuesday.

Youku users who watch the film can comment on it, share film recommendations or discuss the plot with other users on the site, the company said.