Manufacturing

Nothing much good has been happening to Chinese battery and auto producer BYD Co recently. Its latest earnings, released this week, were down sharply as sales for its gasoline-fueled cars in China took a nosedive. It has also delayed a much-hyped launch in California of one of its all-electric battery cars. And, earlier this month, China’s central government ordered the company to surrender land in a zoning dispute, a decision that is likely to stunt its growth.

But there has been one bright spot for the automaker this year: Daimler AG’s decision to tie up with BYD to create a new electric-car joint venture for the Chinese market.

Rumors are flying in China’s aerospace community ahead of the Zhuhai air show next month.

People speculate that Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, or Comac, might unveil some of the initial orders for its coming commercial jetliner that is being designed to compete with Boeing Co.’s B737 and Airbus’s A320.

Aerospace industry insiders say rumors have it that Shanghai-based Comac may announce during the air show in southern China, scheduled for Nov. 16 through Nov. 21, that Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, as well as maybe Hainan Airlines, have placed orders for the new aircraft—the Comac C919.

An unmanned train using the APM (Automated People Mover) system is on trial operation in the tunnel of Chigang Pagoda Station in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong province on Oct 21, 2010. The first APM train in Guangdong will be put into use in November, which will run for 18 hours a day and charge 2 yuan per trip at all its nine stations. Passengers will need to transfer from a subway train to this transportation system, since the railways between the APM train and the subway are different.

China successfully launched the "SinoSat-6" satellite for radio and television live broadcast at 12:14 a.m.Sunday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The satellite was carried on the Long March 3B rocket which took the SinoSat-6 into a geostationary transfer orbit 26 minutes after the launch.