BizChina

A consortium led by the China National Petroleum Corp.(CNPC), China's largest oil company, won a bid to develop Halfaya oilfield in Iraq, CNPC said on Wednesday.

Under the 20-year deal, CNPC, Total, Petroleum Nasional Berhad (Petronas), and Iraq's state-owned South Oil Co. will jointly develop the 4.1 billion barrel Halfaya field.

Shares in Shanghai Nine Dragon Co Ltd, a Shanghai-based real estate company, dipped 2.97 percent to close at 8.23 yuan ($1.21) on Wednesday despite a forecast jump in annual net profits last year.

From panel spraying, frame welding to fittings assembly, these are the workshops of a factory of China's electronic giant Haier in Thailand. The products were so familiar, and so was the scene of lots of identical, nearly- finished refrigerators queuing on the assembly lines. Only one thing: the workers here are all Thais.

The factory of China's Haier Electric PCL in Prachinburi province, Thailand, was purchased by Haier three years ago, Ding Gaofeng, the assistant manager in charge of refrigerator workshops, told Xinhua reporter.

It is the first factory that Haier ever owned in Thailand as well as in Southeast Asia, he said.

"I believe this is also the first time that a Chinese electric brand makes a large-scale presence in Thailand's market," the manager said, adding that Japanese and South Korean brands have been dominating this market for decades.

He was confident that more and more made-in-China electric products will enter Thailand and other ASEAN markets soon following the establishment of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area ( FTA) on Jan. 1 this year and the gradual implementation of the FTA terms.

Luxury carmaker Aston Martin launched its flagship store in Beijing Sunday evening in a push to increase its presence in the premier Asian market.

The store, located at 66 Jinbao Street, Chaoyang District, is more than twice as big as Beijing's other two Aston Martin stores and is the largest in Asia Pacific. The 500 sq m showroom will display seven of the luxury vehicles each costing roughly 1.3 million yuan.

"(Beijing) is a representation of the history of China, of the life in China, and this is why we are here," CEO of Aston Martin, Ulrich Bez told METRO Sunday.

Despite the economic recession's impact on luxury good sales, Bez said Aston Martin continues to expand worldwide and the Asia market is one of the fastest growing.

"Whatever the situation is in the economy if you have a great product, you will be successful and if you have a bad product you will suffer," he said.