BizChina

South Australia's (SA) world- renowned wineries on Wednesday said they hope to tap into China's burgeoning wine market with a trade mission and wine tastings.

Twelve wineries, including Belvidere, Chalk Hill and Bethany, spanning every wine growing region in the state are being represented on a mission to China, SA Minister for Industry and Trade Tom Koutsantonis said.

"The rapidly expanding Chinese middle class is creating outstanding opportunities for South Australian wine," the minister said in a statement.

services companies, the new great frontier is China. Obviously the question at the forefront of everyone’s mind is how to expand into this region without having your proprietary technology pirated by this region’s upstart competitors. The reality is there is no safe way. I’m sure that’s not what the reader wants to hear but the reality is whenever you are bringing a technology concept to a newly industrialized territory you’ll run into corruption, the way to enter this market is to set up safeguards and strategies to protect the integrity of the technology and any other proprietary concepts.

For those looking to have their products manufactured in China this can save a fortune if it’s done properly. You should look at the construction of your product in this area as if you were dealing with a DOD project. Have different aspects of your devise manufactured at different locations without issuing information about the identity of the end product. This seems to work extremely well.

Singapore's state investment fund Temasek plans to invest up to $300 million in the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) ahead of its roughly $20 billion initial public offering (IPO), a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Temasek's commitment to China's third largest bank is a positive step for the offering, although it is less than the $1 billion that ABC's underwriters are hoping to get from Middle East and Asian sovereign wealth fund cornerstone investors.

So-called cornerstone investors are a key layer of financial backing for an IPO. ABC's Shanghai-Hong Kong listing will be the world's largest ever IPO if it exceeds $21.9 billion.

Temasek declined to comment. ABC could not immediately be reached. The source was not authorized to speak on the record about the deal.

Reuters earlier reported that Temasek, and sovereign funds from Kuwait and Qatar were expected to sign on to ABC's offering.

China and Kazakhstan have signed a deal to build and finance a natural gas pipeline and deepen their cooperation on nuclear energy, extending the two countries' ties on resources.

Under the agreement signed on Saturday during a visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao, the two countries will build a 1,400-km gas pipeline. It will link with an existing gas pipeline running between China and Central Asia.

The project will help meet gas demand in southern Kazakhstan. Feasibility studies will also be undertaken, looking at increasing gas exports to China from the Caspian Sea area and other Central Asian countries through the pipeline, China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) said on Sunday.

Analysts said the deal underlines the importance of energy cooperation between China and central Asian countries, which are rich in natural resources. "These countries will play an increasingly important role in China's overseas energy strategy," said Xia Yishan, an expert at the China Institute of International Studies.