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Nippon Life Plans JV in China Nippon Life Insurance Co. plans to sell life insurance in China through a joint venture with China's SVA Information Industry Co., the Nikkei English News reported. A final decision is expected later this month from the companies. The venture is expected to be valued at 5 billion yen (US$41.9 million), Nikkei said. If successful, Nippon Life would become the first Japanese life insurance company to engage in such a venture. Hong Kong to Relax Bond Rules The Hong Kong government will simplify the procedures and relax the regulations for private companies to sell bonds as part of its plans to develop the local bond market, said Financial Services and Treasury Secretary Frederick Ma. The city's market for bonds that individual investors can buy is already growing. It expanded almost 12-fold in 2002 to HK$10.7 billion (US$1.4 billion), Ma said. Still, the public knows less about bonds than stocks, pointing to a need for more education on the issue, he said. Shanghai's Retail Sales Hit Historic High Shanghai's retail sales hit a historic high of 203.52 billion yuan (US$24.5 billion) last year, up 9.3 percent from 2001, the fastest growth since 1999, Shanghai Bureau of Statistics said yesterday. Sales from supermarkets, hypermarkets, convenience stores and restaurant chains totaled 46 billion yuan, up 13.9 percent year-on-year. Restaurants garnered a sales increase of 30.1 percent. Sales of cars, telecommunications products and home decoration materials rose 29.2 percent, 47.6 percent and 36.9 percent respectively from a year ago. ICBC Disposes of Bad Assets The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) said at the weekend it completed arrangements for the disposal of 9.3 billion yuan (US$1.12 billion) worth of assets taken over as compensations from defaulted borrowers last year. A total of 5.3 billion (US$639 million) of those assets were actually disposed of, around 76 percent of which was recovered in cash, it said in a press release. Korean Air Opens More Routes Korean Air recently announced plans to operate two new routes between China and South Korea -- Cheongju-Shanghai and Busan-Xi'an -- to meet the increased demand for travel between the two countries. Three weekly flights (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) between Cheongju and Shanghai, and two weekly flights (Monday and Thursday) between Busan and Xi'an, started operation on Saturday and Thursday respectively. With the new routes, Korean Air operates 17 routes to 12 destinations and a total of 75 weekly flights to China. Juice Firm Introduces New Tech Beijing Huiyuan Juice and Beverage Group Corp has launched its latest series of beverage products based on cold fill beverage packaging technology. The company is the first domestic beverage maker to introduce the technology into the country's beverage industry. It has built eight production lines nationwide since first introducing the technology in July 2001. It is estimated that the per capita consumption of fruit juice grew by 50 per cent in 2002 from a year ago, according to statistics from China Soft Drink Industry Association. Joyo's Revenues Hit US$12 million Joyo.com, one of the largest business-to-consumer Web companies in China, said on Friday that it had harvested revenues of more than 100 million yuan (US$12 million) and the number of its registered users reached 3 million. Shanghai Sets up World Commerce Chamber The city set up the Chamber of International Commerce Shanghai yesterday as an important channel for local businesses to enter the international market. Shanghai Executive Vice-Mayor Jiang Yiren said the chamber will be contributing to the city's effort to become a world-class metropolis as soon as possible.