Chinese steel trader to purchase iron ores at RMB1 bln from Rio Tinto -- Chinese steel trading provider, Minmetals Development Co., Ltd. (600058.SH), announced on December 25 that its subsidiary, China National Minerals Co., Ltd. (MINCO) will purchase iron ores at nearly 1 billion yuan from a subsidiary of Rio Tinto Group. According to an agreement of the two sides, 2.04 million metric tons of PB lumps will be purchased, and be delivered by 12 ships.
Huawei ships over 200 mln smartphones in 2018 -- Chinese technology firm Huawei said on December 25 that it had shipped more than 200 million smartphones so far this year, a new record high for the company. In 2010, Huawei's smartphone shipments were 3 million units, according to market research firm IDC. The company overtook Apple in the second and the third quarters of 2018 to become the world's second-largest phone vendor, IDC said.
China's Baidu, Paramount Pictures unveil AR-featured emoji in mobile phone apps -- China's top Internet search engine firm Baidu Inc. and Paramount Pictures said on December 21 that they are rolling out new emoji features in Baidu's IME keyboard apps that are built from the theme of Bumblebee, the latest film of the "Transformers" series. The Bumblebee Augmented Reality (AR) Emoji is modeled on Baidu's sophisticated face-tracking AI, the hyper-realistic AR rendering of everyone's favorite Autobot that mirrors the user's expressions and enables them to take selfies or create one-of-a-kind GIFs.
Ant Financial mulls to buy UK World First for USD700mln, report -- Ant Financial, the affiliate financial service of China's e-commerce giant Alibaba, mulls to buy World First, the UK-based foreign exchange company, for 700 million U.S. dollars. It is noted that Ant Financial has been negotiating with World First for months and a deal is expected to be struck within a few weeks, reported the Economic Information Daily on December 26.
HGZN (000584.SZ) to set up robot JV with Hyundai Heavy Industries -- Jiangsu Hagong Intelligent Robot Co., Ltd (000584.SZ, HGZN) announced on December 24 that it has signed an agreement with Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co., Ltd. on setting up a joint venture (JV), Hagong Hyundai Robotics Co., Ltd. According to HGZN, the registered capital of the JV is 200 million yuan, of which HGZN or its wholly-owned subsidiary will invest 140 million yuan in cash, accounting for 70 percent of the shareholdings, while Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co., Ltd. or its wholly-owned subsidiary will invest 60 million yuan in cash, representing a 30-percent stake in the JV.
Chinese blank check company Wealthbridge Acquisition files for U.S. IPO -- Wealthbridge Acquisition, a Chinese blank check company (or SPAC, special purpose acquisition company), is seeking to raise 50 million U.S. dollars in an initial public offering (IPO) on the U.S. stock market. The company plans to offer its IPO of 5 million units at a price of 10 dollars per unit, according to its prospectus filed on December 21 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
A single purchase
