BEIJING, Oct 11 (Reuters) – Sinopec International Petroleum
Exploration and Production Corp (SIPC), a wholly-owned unit of
state-owned Sinopec Group, has completed the purchase of an 18
percent stake in Chevron Corp’s Indonesian deep-water
project for $680 million, a Sinopec official told Reuters on
Tuesday.

The move marks Sinopec Group’s return to Indonesia after its
withdrawal in 2006.

BEIJING, Sept 26 (Reuters) – A Ford Motor executive
said China’s car market would likely grow 5-6 percent this year,
at the low end of previous guidance from the U.S. carmaker,
after the government removed most of its policy incentives.

“What we said going into the year was that we thought China
would grow 5-10 percent. We said that back in December and in
fact it is quite closer to 5 percent,” Joe Hinrichs, president
of Ford’s Asia and Africa operations, told reporters on Monday.

BEIJING, Sept 21 (Reuters) – European aircraft maker Airbus
(EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) aims to supply at least half of the over 4,000
commercial jets that China is expected to need over the next 20
years, a senior executive said on Wednesday.

Airbus, which has a little under 50 percent of the Chinese
market, also wants to take half of the market by 2015, Eric
Chen, senior vice-president of Airbus China, told Reuters on the
sidelines of an aviation forum in Beijing.

BEIJING, Sept 15 (Reuters) – Some years ago, the exact
timing is unclear since it occurred behind closed doors, policy
makers in Beijing cajoled car makers into building joint venture
brands with foreign partners that could give the Chinese side
access to much-coveted foreign technology.

Now, with a few JV brands hitting the roads, some Chinese
carmakers say they never got near the cutting-edge foreign
technology.

BEIJING, Sept 9 (Reuters) – Car sales in China rose 7.3
percent in August from a year earlier, rebounding steadily from
a decline in May as Nissan Motor and its peers resumed
production at home and eased a crunch in parts supplies at their
China car ventures.

The market was expected to continue its uptrend in September
and October, the traditional peak auto-selling season referred
to by industry insiders as the “golden and slivery” months.

BEIJING, Sept 7 (Reuters) – China will likely need 5,000
commercial aircraft worth $600 billion during the next 20 years,
a senior Boeing Co executive said on Wednesday, a 25
percent increase in value terms over the company’s previous
forecast late last year.

A significant portion of that demand will be small and
intermediate-sized jets, Randy Tinseth, vice president of
marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, told reporters in
Beijing.

BEIJING, Sept 1 (Reuters) – SAIC Motor Corp is
ready to give up its majority ownership in a car venture with
General Motors as long as Shanghai GM’s revenue can still
be included in its books, two people familiar with the matter
said on Thursday.

Under Chinese accounting rules that came into effect in
2010, a subsidiary’s revenue can be reflected in the books of
the parent only if the parent is the majority shareholder.

BEIJING, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Dongfeng Motor Group ,
China’s second-largest automaker, reported a 10.2 percent fall
in its first-half earnings as a market slowdown and parts
shortage in tsunami-hit Japan dented sales of Dongfeng’s
partners, especially Honda Motor .

The outlook will likely improve in the second half as Honda
and Nissan Motor ramp up parts production at home,
industry observers said.

BEIJING, Aug 19 (Reuters) – China’s home-grown automakers
are reeling after Beijing stripped away tax incentives for small
cars at the end of last year, a move that helped take the
world’s largest auto market off the boil, but one that could
force weaker firms into consolidating.

In the seven months since the incentives were lifted, the
entire sector has downshifted to a more sustainable 6 percent
annual growth rate. Analysts say some independents that suffered
the brunt of the policy shift might seek tie-ups to stay afloat
unless conditions improve.

BEIJING, Aug 10 (Reuters) – Car sales in China climbed 6.7
percent in July from a year earlier, extending a pattern of
subdued growth in the world’s largest auto market as the weak
auto selling season kicks in.

Sales in India fell 15.8 percent in July, the first drop in
two-and-half years, and higher interest rates and rising vehicle
costs are expected to keep demand subdued for the next few
months.