BizChina

While the move by China’s capital to ease traffic congestion by radically limiting new vehicle registrations is expected to impact car sales, especially those of affordable low-end cars from indigenous Chinese brands like BYD and Geely, analysts have said premium brand cars should escape any substantial sales hit.

Still, over the weekend, Jaguar Land Rover China President Bob Grace struck a relatively cautious tone when he said at a dealer opening event in Beijing that it was “too early” to determine what kind of impact his brands – Jaguar and Land Rover – might feel from Beijing’s move.

The city announced last month that it would limit the issuance of license plates for new cars in Beijing, including popular low-cost microvans, to 240,000 in 2011, which is less than a third the number of cars estimated to have been sold last year in the city of nearly 20 million people.

China Hongqiao Group Ltd., a Chinese aluminum producer, plans to raise as much as US$2.2 billion from an initial public offering ahead of its Hong Kong listing on Feb. 11, according to a person familiar with the situation.

Hongqiao, which is located in Shandong province and mainly produces molten aluminum alloy, plans to sell 1.74 billion shares at an indicative price range of 7.10 to 9.90 Hong Kong dollars each (US$0.91 to US$1.27), the person said Saturday. There is a greenshoe option to increase the offering size 15% in the event of strong demand, which would boost the deal up to US$2.5 billion. Institutional bookbuilding will begin Monday.

Hongqiao officials couldn't be reached for comment.

China's economy unexpectedly accelerated in the fourth quarter of 2010 despite a series of tightening measures, spotlighting Beijing's difficulties managing growth and fueling market concerns about further government moves to combat inflation.

The fourth quarter's 9.8% expansion in China's gross domestic product makes it all but certain that China became the world's second largest economy in 2010, ending Japan's 42-year reign in that position—although Japan doesn't report its year-end economic data until next month. Acknowledging the milestone and the anxiety its impending arrival has caused some Japanese, Japan's minister of economic and fiscal policy, Kaoru Yosano, said it appears likely that China has surpassed Japan and that "the Japanese people should welcome our neighbor China's growth."

China's economy surpassed Japan's based on quarterly data for the two countries in the March-June period, but global rankings are generally based on full-year output. China's economy remains much smaller than that of the U.S: For the full year, China's GDP grew 10.3%—up from 9.2% growth in 2009—to about $5.88 trillion. The International Monetary Fund forecast in October that U.S. GDP would top $14.62 trillion.

President Obama’s joint press conference with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the White House Wednesday may be remembered more for its translation snafus than anything else. But the biggest news of the actual summit so far is the corporate dealmaking.

As a central feature of Hu’s state visit, the White House announced $45 billion worth of trade and investment deals with Beijing. China has approved the purchase of 200 planes from Boeing, for an estimated $19 billion. General Electric is part of several announced deals, including a project to expand high-speed rail in the U.S. using Chinese technology and a joint effort with Shenhua Gasification to building clean energy generators. American Electric Power and Duke Energy are also participating in clean energy projects in China.  The Obama administration says that Chinese companies have signed 70 contracts–in the agriculture, machinery, chemical and other sectors–that could boost exports in 12 states by a total of $25 billion.