EUROPE

China’s trade center begins operation in RussiaThe Greenwood International Trade Center， financed by China Chengtong Development Group， has begun operation in Moscow， the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Russia announced on February 16.Speaking at a press conference， chamber chairperson Cai Guiru said about 70 percent of the construction of the center has been completed and 28 Russian enterprises have signed contracts with the center and stationed in the quarter. The Greenwood will be put into full operation three months later， Cai said.He stressed the trade center， the largest Chinese investment project in Russia， is expected to be built as a China brands trade center in the largest scale and highest grade.The Greenwood would not only serve as a platform for Chinese products to enter the Russian market， but also help build the “Made-in-China” brand image in Russia， Cai said.Ling Ji， minister counselor for economic and commercial affairs at the Chinese embassy to Russia， told the press conference that total trade volume between China and Russia in 2010 hit 55.45 billion U.S. dollars， increasing by 43.1 percent over the previous year.Sino-Russian trade has rebounded to the pre-crisis level， Ling said， adding that China’s non-financial direct investment to Russia has surged more than 70 percent in last year.Against such a backdrop， the two countries should pay more attentions to China’s investment to Russia’s real economy， Ling noted.Oleg Schwartzman， CEO of Russian Financial Groups， said he believed the trade center would draw more high-tech enterprises from both countries and become an innovation platform to facilitate those enterprises.The Greenwood covers an area of 200，000 square meters， with a total construction area of 132，600 square meters. (Xinhua)China， Switzerland launch free trade agreement talksChina and Switzerland formally launched bilateral talks on a free trade agreement January 28 at the World Economic Forum in Davos.Speaking at the opening ceremony， Chinese Commerce Minister Cheng Deming said the agreement talks between China and Switzerland have attracted huge attention and interest from the countries’ leadership and business communities.Cheng expected a successful conclusion of the FTA negotiations. Cheng said a free trade agreement would enhance mutual trust between the two sides and promote economic development and closer ties between China and Switzerland.Swiss Federal Councilor Johann Schneider-Ammann expressed similar aspirations for the agreement as did his Chinese counterpart.“The free trade agreement would further enhance trade and investment relations on a mutually beneficial basis， but also create many new opportunities for close exchange and cooperation，” Schneider-Ammann said.China and Switzerland have seen fast-growing bilateral trade and investments for decade. In the past 10 years， China’s exports to Switzerland have grown by 18 percent while Switzerland registered an even stronger 25 percent surge in exports to China.Currently， China is the largest trading partner of Switzerland in Asia， while Switzerland ranks ninth among China’s trading partners in Europe. (Xinhua)CSR to branch out to BritainBritain plans to rent or buy high-speed trains from China， produced by CSR Corporation Limited (CSR)， according to the 21st Century Business Herald (21st CBH) citing information from authoritative sources February 16.Britain is considering adopting Chinese technology in building high-speed trains， and China will lease a batch of trains to help it remodel its high-speed network， according to industry insiders.On January 12th， Chinese vice prime minister Li Keqiang visited Britain， and both sides agreed to cooperate more in infrastructure construction， including high-speed train projects， leaving open the possibility for joint ventures in the future. (Global Times)Brief on China’s import and export in Jan 2011 with EU countriesChinese-Spanish telcos raising stakes in each otherChina Unicom and Spain-based Telefonica SA will buy US$500 million worth of shares in each other to boost their stakes and raise cooperation between two telecommunications giants in China and Europe， the companies said January 24.Telefonica agreed to increase its stake in China Unicom， Apple’s sole partner for the iPhone， to about 9.7 percent while China’s No. 2 telco aims to boost its holding in Telefonica to 1.37 percent， according to their joint statement. The higher stake will help China Unicom get a representative position on the Spanish telco’s board.Each company will buy US$500 million of shares in the other， with China Unicom paying Telefonica 17.16 euros(US$23) for each share. Telefonica will buy China Unicom shares from third parties over the next nine months.China Unicom’s Shanghai-listed shares grew 1.58 percent to close at 5.78 yuan (88 US cents)， compared with the 0.72 percent drop in the key Shanghai Composite Index January 24.In December， China Unicom was reported to have added 1.28 million 3G users which raised its total number of 3G users to 14.06 million last year due to booming sales of iPhone 4 since the phone debuted in the domestic market in September.China Unicom is expected to attract 30 million new 3G users this year， according to China International Capital Corp， which rated the company “Overweight.” (Shanghai Daily)COFCO swallows BordeauxCOFCO Wines Spirits， a subsidiary of COFCO， the country’s largest food processor， manufacturer and trader， has acquired a Bordeaux chateau at the price of 100 million yuan($15.19 million)， according to a press release from the company February 16. The agreement was signed on the same day in France.The property， Chateau de Viaud， is located in Lalandede-Pomerol， a prestigious wine production area in France. After the purchase， all wine produced by the French chateau will be sold under the name Great Wall， COFCO’s own wine brand.COFCO aims to further strengthen the international presence of its Great Wall wine and its image as a premium wine brand， according to the press release.This is not the first overseas purchase the food conglomerate has made. In September 2010， COFCO paid $18 million for a vineyard in Chile， which added annual production capacity of 1，400 liters for the company.Analysts believe that the two international purchases could enhance Great Wall’s brand image.“Wine culture is originally from the Western world， and people generally believe Western wine， especially French wine， is the best. Therefore， the purchase of a French chateau is absolutely a plus for the company’s image，” said Chen Gang， an industry analyst with Shanghai-based Sinolink Securities.According to Chen， the wine production model in a cha- teau represents premium production skills and higher quality， which is different from mass-produced wines. So this deal is important for Great Wall， which is aiming high as a premium wine maker.But Li Fei， a wine judge working with Beijing-based wine culture training center Ease Scent， said that it will still take a long time for Great Wall to join the club of world-renowned wine makers.“Western consumers prefer wine with a long established history and reputation， so it is hard for a new brand like Great Wall to compete，” commented Li.Even so， China’s domestic market alone could be a source of huge profits for wine makers.In 2011， wine consumption in China is expected to top 828 million liters. In other words， people will consume more than 1.1 million bottles of wine annually， said the COFCO press release.Sinolink’s Chen estimated that the industry could grow by 20 percent each year in terms of sales income.Ease Scent’s Li also noted that wine consumption has huge potential in China.“Not only wine companies are eyeing foreign chateaus. It is quite common for wine lovers to purchase a foreign chateau nowadays. After all， a small chateau might cost only 10 million yuan ($1.52 million) sometimes，” said Li. (Global Times)ICBC opens branch in MilanThe world’s largest bank， Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)， inaugurated its first Italian subsidiary in Milan on January 21.At the official opening ceremony， ICBC President Jiang Jianqing said the establishment of ICBC Milan will help bridge the two countries in trade， economic， cultural and tourism cooperation.“Over 40 years after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Italy， the two countries have achieved remarkable progresses in their exchanges，” Jiang said during a gala dinner organized in Mezzanotte Palace， seat of the Milan Stock Market.“Currently there are nearly 400，000 Chinese citizens coming to Italy every year and there are over 2，500 Italian enterprises investing in China，” he said.Economic Development Minister Paolo Romani stressed that the opening of the new subsidiary will further extend the existing financial cooperation between China and Italy， encouraging enterprises to augment their mutual investment.According to Chinese Ambassador to Italy， Ding Wei， the total volume of trade exchange between the two countries grew from $15.7 billion in 2004 to $45.1 billion in 2010.ICBC’s choice to open its first Italian subsidiary in Milan， he added， was a recognition of the city’s financial position in the world.On January 24， the ICBC head announced in Luxembourg the establishments of five European branches in Paris， Brussels， Amsterdam， Milan and Madrid.