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Luxury auto maker Mercedes-Benz has entered the premium used-car market with its new StarElite Pre-Owned Program, in a bid to garner more market share and support its businesses in China. StarElite offers multi-brand trade-in, certified pre-owned vehicles and premium after-sales service, in a transparent, reassuring, and convenient one-stop shopping experience, the newspaper said, citing Bjoern Hauber, general manager of sales and marketing, Mercedes-Benz (China) Ltd. StarElite facilities will be available in 11 cities and 15 showrooms. MBZ intends to add another 10 to 15 StarElite dealerships next year, and going forward, it plans to have StarElite pre-owned vehicle showrooms at all its dealerships, according to Hauber. He expected used-car sales to cross 3 million units this year and grow further in the next few years. Read more

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The Chinese government has approved an application from Walt Disney to build a theme park in Shanghai, paving the way for the media company to establish a foothold in mainland China. With an estimated cost of US$3.5B, the park would be one of the biggest investments in China by an international company. “China is one of the most dynamic, exciting and important countries in the world, and this approval marks a very significant milestone for the Walt Disney company in mainland China,” said Bob Iger, chief executive. Disney already has a theme park in Hong Kong but has long coveted a park in Shanghai, viewing the city as a perfect entry point for the mainland Chinese market. It has been in talks with officials in China for a decade but made its first official application to construct a park this year. A Shanghai park would raise the company’s profile in China, increasing its ability to cross promote and sell TV programming, films and consumer products that are based on its library of characters. Read more

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The Nasdaq OMX Group, Inc. has welcomed 22 companies from China to the Nasdaq Stock Market year- to-date in Y 2009, it was reported on Wednesday. The 22 listed Chinese companies, include eight IPOs, 13 OTCBB upgrades, and one switch to Nasdaq from NYSE AMEX. “China is the largest and most important overseas market for us, with 116 listed companies,” said Bob Greifeld, chief executive officer of Nasdaq OMX. “Companies going public in today’s market are looking for greater visibility to global investors and seeking better intelligence on investor activity from their exchange. As a result, we are seeing more companies coming to Nasdaq and increased interest in the public company support services we provide,” he added. Shengda Games, which was listed on September 25, is one of the largest US IPOs this year and the largest capital raise for a Chinese company in Y 2009. There are currently 116 Chinese listed companies on Nasdaq, including Baidu, Nasdaq’s largest listed company in China and a member of the prestigious Nasdaq-100 Index. Companies span all major sectors including technology, media and telecom, consumer, industrials, healthcare, energy, materials and financials.

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China’s economic growth is likely to speed up this quarter, but the government will stay the course on its fiscal stimulus and loose monetary policy, senior officials said Monday. Despite the emphasis on policy continuity, an unmistakable shift toward greater optimism in China’s official rhetoric has led analysts to conclude that Beijing is thinking about how to start unwinding its ultra-loose pro-growth policies. Restating the thrust of a cabinet statement issued last week, Vice Premier Li Keqiang said the economy had performed better than expected and its recovery was now on solid ground. “The pace of growth is quickening quarter by quarter,” Li told an international tax conference. “China is confident and is capable of achieving its full-year economic targets.” Read more

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Nike Inc beat quarterly profit expectations as deep cost cuts and lower taxes more than offset lower revenue in Key markets like the United States and China, sending its shares up 4.4%. The world’s top athletic shoe and apparel maker stressed it was gaining market share and stood to benefit when the global economy improved. But executives warned that retailers and consumers remained wary going into the pivotal holiday season, which accounts for the bulk of most retailers’ yearly sales. “People are still going to be relatively cautious going through that holiday period,” Nike Brand President Charlie Denson told analysts on a conference call, adding that Nike saw “sequential improvement” in retail orders through spring. Nike’s fiscal first-quarter net profit was US$513.0, or $1.04/shr, compared with US$510.5M, or $1.03/shr, a year earlier. Analysts, on average, had expected 97 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates. Revenue fell 12% to US$4.8B from US$5.4B a year earlier, when orders in advance of the Beijing Olympics and the European soccer championships boosted sales.

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China’s economy showed new signs today that its recovery is gaining with the announcement that investment, industrial output and credit all expanded rapidly in August 2009 The increases in output and investment were both ahead of analysts’ forecasts and followed a series of figures in July which suggested the recovery might be weakening. The one exception was on the trade front where the decline in exports and imports compared to the year before was sharper than expected. “The combination of strong growth and still deep deflation shows that the V-shaped recovery is on track, while inflation pressure remains subdued,” said Sun Mingchun, economist at Nomura International. Read more

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