Aircraft Lessors Plan Hong Kong Listings as Demand Rises in Asia

(WSJ) Two aircraft lessors are planning initial public offerings in Hong Kong, the first such IPOs in the city, as the companies try to capitalize on rising demand in Asia.

Chinese state-owned China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Ltd. and a Bermuda-registered aircraft-leasing firm hope to take advantage of Asian airlines' growing interest in new, more eco-friendly aircraft, and surging demand from China.

China Aircraft Leasing, which is seeking to raise as much as US$133 million with its IPO, would be the first aircraft lessor to list in Hong Kong. The company, which is based in Hong Kong, plans to double its fleet to 64 by the end of 2016. It is set to price its IPO on July 4 and list on July 11.

The Bermuda-registered lessor has hired Citigroup Inc. to handle its Hong Kong listing plan. The formal name of the company planning the listing wasn't immediately available, but it has submitted its listing application and hopes to list by the end of the year, a person familiar with the situation said.

The plans by the aircraft lessors to go public in Hong Kong follow the high-profile collapse last year of a Chinese consortium's attempt to buy 90% of International Lease Finance Corp., the world's second-largest aircraft lessor by fleet size, from American International Group Inc. The US$4.75 billion deal failed partly because the group of buyers, which included Hong Kong private-equity firm P3 and two Chinese state-backed companies, moved forward before they got support from Beijing.

In December, AIG sold ILFC to Dutch jet-leasing firm AerCap Holdings NV for US$5.4 billion in cash and stock. GE Capital Aviation Services Ltd., or GECAS, is the world's largest aircraft lessor, and a unit of General Electric Co.

But demand for new planes from Asian airlines is growing, even in China, where the economy is slowing. A proliferation of budget carriers in the region and a move last year by China to lift a six-year ban on setting up new independent airlines helped to increase demand for new aircraft.

Heavy competition has also pushed many premium carriers to cut costs and refresh their fleets with planes that use less fuel. In February, Airbus Group NV said airlines in the Asian-Pacific region will lead global demand for larger and more fuel-efficient aircraft over the next 20 years.

Airlines in the region will take deliveries of about 10,940 new passenger and cargo aircraft, valued at US$1.8 trillion, between 2013 and 2032, accounting for roughly 42% of global deliveries in value terms for new aircraft, Airbus said.

Chinese companies, including banks, have been setting up their own lessors to compete with foreign firms such as GECAS. The market share of Chinese lessors in the nation's aircraft-leasing market rose to 37.8% in 2013 from just 9% in 2007, according to China Aircraft Leasing's listing prospectus.

Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings said in a recent note that Chinese aircraft lessors are playing an increasingly important role in the nation's rapidly growing commercial aviation market.

"While foreign lessors remain the largest players in China, local companies are increasingly placing direct orders with manufacturers to grow their fleets and internationalizing their operations to better compete," Fitch Ratings said in a note in June.

To fund the growing demand for airlines, lessors are tapping equity markets. China Aircraft Leasing, which is partly owned by state-owned conglomerate China Everbright Group, on Friday started taking orders from investors. It sold 131.8 million shares in an indicative price range of 5.53 Hong Kong dollars to 7.82 Hong Kong dollars (71 U.S. cents to US$1), according to its listing prospectus.

Founded in 2006, the aircraft lessor competes with the likes of BOC Aviation Ltd., a Singapore-based aircraft financial unit owned by Bank of China Ltd., ICBC Financial Leasing Co., the finance-leasing arm of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., and CDB Leasing Co., the financing arm of China Development Bank, for business from airlines in China.

China Aircraft Leasing reported net profit to HK$173 million last year, up 81% from the previous year, and said it plans to pay not less than 30% of its profit as dividend after listing on the Hong Kong market, according to its listing prospectus.

China Yinsheng Asset Management Ltd. Chief Strategist Matthew Kwok said China Aircraft Leasing is attractive to investors because the lessor is a unique investment opportunity and also has a solid record of rising profit.

"I think the company can take advantage of the growing opportunities in the high-growth aircraft leasing market in China," Mr. Kwok said. "Also, strong profit growth can support its ability to pay stable dividends.

Source: Wall Street Journal by Yvonne Lee and Joanne Chiu

Club Med chases China market

(ChinaDaily) Club Med, the French company known for its resort vacation packages, has its sights on the Chinese tourist like many other international travel companies, and by 2015 it hopes that China will become its second-biggest customer base after France, according to Club Med's North American CEO Xavier Mufraggi, who spoke to China Daily on Club Med's China strategy.

Earlier this month Club Med opened its third resort property in China on Dong'ao Island in the South China Sea, and is set to open two more by 2015, bringing the total number in the country to five. The company, known for pioneering the "all-inclusive resort", is hoping to attract 200,000 people from greater China in two years' time, up from the 45,000 in 2012 when it began targeting China as part of its international expansion, according to Mufraggi.

The company has faced stagnation from its European clients due to a recession, and China, along with Brazil and the US, is helping offset that slump, said Mufraggi.

"We see that Chinese, Brazilian, Canadian and the American tourists compensate for the stagnation in Europe. Even now, more than compensate," he said. The company opened its first Chinese resort in 2010, 60 years after its founding, and currently has headquarters in Shanghai.

Today, Club Med's top-five customers come from France, Belgium, the US and the UK, with Canada and China both tied at five. In about two years, Club Med expects that the top-three spots will shuffle, with China coming after France and before the US, according to Mufraggi.

"The market in Europe is flat but not growing as it used to. We see real growth coming from China and from Brazil, where we also have foothold," he said.

The Chinese have long enjoyed traveling in groups and will eventually begin to tailor their travel itineraries to make their trips unique to the traveler, but at the moment, the all-inclusive style of traveling is a "great way for the [Chinese] market to develop itself," Mufraggi said.

"When we see lots of studies, [we see that] many of our clients don't speak other languages outside of Chinese and for them, the all-inclusive concept is really well done because the transport is organized, the transfer is organized," he said.

Chinese travelers have different expectations than those from Europe, Mufraggi said, wanting to experience as many things as possible, cramming their schedules with sightseeing, shopping and other activities.

"I think people from China want to test [out] as much as they can. They don't have that many holidays, so it's a big investment for them and they expect to do so many things. That's why the all-inclusive is great because it offers them all that possibility," he said.

Chinese customers are the No 1 visitors to Club Med's resort properties at Kani on the Maldives Island, Phuket in Thailand, and Albion on Mauritius Island.

Now Club Med is primarily targeting the top 2 percent of China's wealthiest, especially those with families, devoting training resources to teach staff how to take care of Chinese children. Club Med staff working at properties that see a big number of Chinese customers are also learning basic phrases and words in Chinese, as well as offering Chinese food options.

"[There are] families with 3-year-olds or 5-year-olds, so we also need to be able to speak the languages, and also be careful because education and the culture of taking care of kids in all the countries around the world is very different," Mufraggi said. "So not only are we staffed [with people who] speak the language, we need all our staff to be trained on all the different cultures."

Source: By Amy He in New York (China Daily USA)

Cathay Pacific, Air China, to Inject $321.4 Million into Cargo Joint Venture

(WSJ) Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. and Air China Ltd. have agreed to inject a combined 2 billion yuan ($321.4 million) into their air cargo joint venture, as the freight operator reels under weak demand and high fuel prices.

The Hong Kong-listed carrier said Thursday that it will inject 980 million yuan into its 49%-owned Air China Cargo Co., which is jointly operated with Air China, which owns the remaining 51% stake in the cargo operator.

Air China—China's flag carrier, which has a 30% stake in Cathay Pacific—will inject 1.02 billion yuan into the Shanghai-based air cargo joint venture. Cathay Pacific in turn holds a roughly 20% stake in Air China.

The capital injection into the freight operator comes as cargo yields, a measure of profitability, remain under pressure because of oversupply despite signs of a pickup in demand for air freight.

The International Air Transport Association, an industry trade group, this year nearly doubled its air cargo growth forecast, to 4% for 2014 from 2.1%, signaling a turnaround after the industry lingered in the doldrums for nearly three years. However, analysts expect freight rates to stay weak as the region's airlines continue to boost capacity with new widebody passenger aircraft, whose greater belly space compared with older models will improve efficiency, as well as dedicated freighters.

Cathay Pacific said the capital injection would provide funds to assist Air China Cargo to adjust its fleet, reduce its operating costs and improve its operational performance.

It will also "assist Air China Cargo to develop its cargo charter flight business with China Postal Airlines and to establish a sound and sustainable basis" for the development of its overall business, it added. China Postal Airlines is the nation's first express cargo operator, established in 1996, and has a freighter fleet of 20, according to its website.

The two carriers in 2011 launched the joint venture to tap rising air freight between China and its trading partners. However, Air China Cargo has since remained unprofitable as a weak global economy and persistently high fuel prices battered demand for freight services. In 2013, the company's net losses narrowed to 349 million yuan, thanks to the retirement of older aircraft, which were less-fuel efficient. It didn't give year-earlier figures for comparison.

As of the end of 2013, Air China Cargo, which operates a fleet of eight freighters, flies to seven cities in mainland China and 10 cities outside the country.

Source: Wall Street Journal by Joanne Chiu

Skyscanner aquires China’s Youbibi search company

(China Daily) Leading global travel search provider Skyscanner is acquiring Chinese metasearch company Youbibi.

Financial details of the deal have not been announced. The acquisition will allow Chinese travelers to more easily search online for all their travel needs, by combining Youbibi’s Chinese mainland expertise with Skyscanner’s comprehensive coverage of international flights.

Since Skyscanner established its China office in 2012, monthly visitors to the site have risen by more than tenfold over the past three years. The APAC region accounts for a rapidly growing proportion of Skyscanner’s business, with 20 percent of all visitors to the site from the region.

Gareth Williams, Skyscanner’s co-founder and chief executive officer, said the acquisition takes the company from being a strong international travel specialist in China to a truly global travel service provider for all Chinese nationals. Williams said Skyscanner already has exciting plans for how to develop products that make travel planning even easier for travelers in China.

Youbibi co-founder and chief executive officer, Steven Pang, said the company built its website and app to be as easy as possible for Chinese travelers. Youbibi believes it can create a really exciting travel search tool for all Chinese tourists, he said. Founded in 2010, Youbibi specializes in comparing flights, hotels and package holidays in China.

Source: By Xu Lin (chinadaily.com.cn)

Record Profit for Hong Kong Airport Authority

(WSJ) Airport Authority Hong Kong said its full-year net profit hit a record, amid concerns about potential capacity constraints at one of the world's busiest airports.

The authority, which operates the city's international airport, said Wednesday that its net profit for the year ended March 31 rose 15% to a record HK$6.45 billion ($832.1 million), up from HK$5.62 billion a year earlier, due to strong contributions from its retail and commercial operations and stringent cost controls. Revenue rose 13% to HK$14.81 billion from HK$13.13 billion.

The results come after the unlisted, government-owned authority called Friday for the public to express its view on the environmental impact of constructing a third runway at the airport at Chek Lap Kok.

Building a new runway would help expand capacity as the authority seeks to cope with growing air traffic in the region. The new runway project, estimated to cost HK$136.2 billion, would boost the airport's handling capacity by more than 40% when it becomes operational in 2023. However, environmental groups are concerned that the expansion, to be built on reclaimed land, would cause widespread pollution and damage the marine ecosystem.

The monthlong public consultation will end July 19, after which the government will make a decision on whether to grant an environmental permit to the project. The airport authority would also need to finalize funding for the runway, the city's most expensive infrastructure project ever, before it begins construction in 2016.

Chief Executive Stanley Hui said he expects the airport's existing two runways to reach maximum capacity in 2016, three years ahead of the initial estimation, because of stronger-than-expected demand for air travel.

Hong Kong's airport handled an average of 1,055 flights departing and arriving daily in the first five months of 2014, ranking it as the world's third busiest in terms of international air passengers, after Dubai International Airport and London Heathrow Airport, according to Airports Council International.

In recent years it has battled congestion, particularly during peak hours, because of limited availability of departure and arrival slots. Neighboring Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport, which is also planning to add a third runway, has for years been attracting passengers from Hong Kong with its more extensive network in mainland China and lower prices.

Still, in the near term earnings growth at Hong Kong's airport is expected to be tempered by softer air traffic volumes. "Growing constraints in handling capacity, weaker contribution from retail operations and the higher base that was created in the last fiscal year are all contributing factors," said Finance Director William Lo.

The airport operator estimates growth of passenger traffic to slow to around 3.8%, or a total of 63 million passengers, in the year ending March 2015. The airport handled 60.7 million passengers in the previous year, up 6.1% from 57.2 million a year earlier, while cargo throughput rose 3.5% to 4.18 million metric tons from 4.04 million tons.

The airport authority said it would pay the Hong Kong government a dividend of HK$5.3 billion, up 21% from a year earlier. Its return on equity rose to 15.6% from 14.3%.

Source: Wall Street Journal by Joanne Chiu

Best Western Plans to Open 13 China Hotels Next Year

(WSJ) Best Western International is ramping up its presence in China as the country's growing middle class takes more leisure trips.

Best Western China CEO William Dong said the hotel company plans to open 13 hotels now through the end of 2015 in second- and third-tier Chinese cities, as leisure travelers have become the hotel chain's primary customer. Currently it has 39 hotels in China.

He said Chinese travelers are becoming more adventurous and eschewing the no-frills group tours that are a common sight in many parts of the country. "It's not like before, all those domestic travelers in groups with one flag taking a picture and then running away to another place," Mr. Dong said. 

"Families stay for three days or even one week."

Closely held Best Western is one of many Western chains trying to gain footing in China in the budget-hotel sector. Accor, whose brands include Novotel and Ibis, is building one-third of its hotels planned in China around the country's tourist destinations. InterContinental Hotels Group, which includes the Holiday Inn brand, is constructing 30% of its globally planned hotel rooms in China over the next five years.

They are focusing on an increasingly affluent class of Chinese travelers who want to avoid the skinny mattresses, iffy hygiene and sheer unpredictability of many hotels in mainland China.

"There are Home Inns everywhere and inside the rooms are all the same," said Sofia Wang, a 28-year-old former manager at a Chinese school, explaining her preference for a chain run by U.S.-listed Home Inns & Hotels Management Inc. of Shanghai. She said she takes two to three leisure trips each year looks to pay between 180 and 280 yuan a night (US$29 to US$45).

Best Western and others expect budget hotels to grow from their current 20% share of the Chinese hotel market. "In the upscale market you've got 800 hotels in the pipeline through China, but you've got an equal number at the economy level that are now being developed," said Ron Pohl, senior vice president of brand-management and member services at Best Western International. "That's a pretty significant shift."

While the overall average daily hotel rate in China hits 599.64 yuan, according to STR Global, economy-level hotel rates are significantly cheaper. In the first quarter of 2014, average room rates for three-star hotels were 206.22 yuan, down from 220.2 yuan a year earlier, according to the Chinese national statistical bulletin of star-rated hotels.

Best Western, which classifies itself primarily as an economy to midlevel brand, charges around 337 yuan a night for a room with one queen bed in Tianjin, in northern city China.

But Western hotel brands face competition from domestic chains. A recent study by travel research firm PhoCusWright found that 20% of 3,277 Chinese leisure domestic travelers said they would book only Chinese brand hotels, while 28% said they preferred domestic hotel brands. Another 28% of respondents said they considered foreign and Chinese brands equally and 20% said they didn't pay attention to brand nationality.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's anticorruption campaign introduced a growing list of antiwaste and anticorruption regulations aiming to crimp the use of public funds on items ranging from luxury travel and meals to calendars. It has discouraged government business from being done at five-star hotels, which is a boon to Best Western and other economy-level hotels, Mr. Dong said. He said Best Western has altered some of its designs to focus less on entertainment and business spaces, increasing the number of rooms by as much as 50% and making conference spaces multifunctional with partitioned walls.

Hotels "used to have huge rooms, funny decorations and gold panels," Mr. Dong said. "Now people probably pay more attention to hygiene, to cleanliness, to things like Wi-Fi and lighting."

One of the biggest challenges for Best Western China, like many hotel chains here, are factors out of its control. Funding from the government changes year to year, which causes projects to get tied up in finance and the approval processes can take months. Best Western's hotel in Liaocheng in Shandong province, for example, was completed five months ago, but still doesn't have an opening date because it is waiting for fire approval, Mr. Dong said.

Source: Wall Street Journal by Alyssa Abkowitz 

Hainan launches Beijing-Boston nonstop service

(China Daily) Hainan Airlines, China's fourth-largest carrier, launched its Beijing-to-Boston nonstop service on Friday with the arrival of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner at Logan International Airport.

The maiden flight landed just after 3 pm local time, giving Hainan its third destination in the United States. Return flight 482 was scheduled to leave Logan at 5:10 pm, with a scheduled arrival of 6:50 pm the next day.

The airline will use the Dreamliner for the new four-day service on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. But starting on July 18, the carrier will switch to daily flights until Aug 31, Joel Chusid, executive director of Hainan USA, said on Friday.

"Boston was the largest city [in the US] that didn't have nonstop air service to China, and this route is very important because of the educational institutions here," Chusid said Friday in an interview with China Daily. "This is our first gateway on the East Coast, the wait for visas in China has been reduced … and with this airplane we can do a lot of different things."

Massachusetts is one of the biggest markets for Chinese tourists, with close to 150,000 travelers visiting in 2012, per data from the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism.

Hainan expects to serve close to 5,000 travelers a month on the new route, according to a filing with the US Transportation Department.

Massachusetts is home to more than 40 colleges and universities with thousands of Asian and Chinese students, especially in Boston.

Hainan Airlines launched its first route to the US — Beijing-Seattle — in 2008. The Haikou, Hainan province-based airliner also operates flights from Beijing to Toronto and Chicago.

Hainan's launch is the fifth new direct flight trip between the US and China this month. The other carriers with new flights include Air China (Beijing-Washington), United Airlines (Chengdu, Sichuan province-San Francisco), Delta Airlines (Seattle-Hong Kong) and American Airlines (Shanghai-Dallas). On Aug 6, China Southern Airlines Co Ltd will launch a flight from Guangzhou, Guangdong province to New York.

Source: By Jack Freifelder (China Daily USA)

Silk Road, China's Grand Canal listed as World Heritage Sites

Photo taken on June 21, 2014 shows a general view of Gongchen Bridge on China's Grand Canal, in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang province. China's Grand Canal, the longest artificial waterway in the world, was inscribed on the World Heritage list on June 22, 2014. The Grand Canal with a history of more than 2,400 years was recognized by UNESCO World Heritage Committee which convened its 38th session in the Qatari capital. The 1,794-km canal runs from Beijing to Hangzhou in China's eastern Zhejiang province


Photo taken on Dec. 7, 2011 shows a horse team passing by the ruins of Hanyuan Hall, once an integral part of the Daming Palace which was built in the Tang Dynasty (618-907)

Photo taken on Oct. 31, 2009 shows tourists visiting the museum of ancient ruined site of Dingding Gate, the South Gate of the outer city of ancient Luoyang, central China's Henan Province. The Dingding Gate is the city gate that has been in use for the longest time among all ancient capitals in Chinese history.

Photo taken on Sept. 21, 2010 shows the ruins of the Subax buddhist temple in Kuqa County of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The Subax buddhist temple was once an influential temple in the ancient Qiuci State.

Photo taken on July 17, 2013 shows the Bingling Temple Grottoes in northwest China's Gansu Province. Bingling Temple Grottoes, filled with Buddhist statues, stupas and murals, were a work in progress between the 4th and 10th centuries

Photo taken on June 28, 2012 shows the Dayan Pagoda under maintenance in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province. Built in 652, the Dayan Pagoda is a masterpiece of China's Buddhist architecture.

Photo taken on Oct. 3, 2013 shows the ruins of Weiyang Palace in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province

Photo taken on Feb. 12, 2013 shows local citizens visiting a temple fair near Xiaoyan Pagoda in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province

Photo taken on Aug. 25, 2013 shows the Gaochang Ancient City Ruins in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

Photo taken on Oct. 6, 2005 shows people visiting the Kizil Grotto in Baicheng County of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Baicheng is the place where the ancient Qiuci State once located

Photo taken on July 15, 2013 shows sculptures at the Maiji Mountain Grottoes in Tianshui, northwest China's Gansu Province. The Maiji Mountain Grottoes are the fourth largest grottoes in China and known as the "Oriental Sculpture Museum"

Photo taken on July 22, 2013 shows people visiting the ruins of Suoyang City in Guazhou County, northwest China's Gansu Province. Suoyang, which dates back to the Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD), was an ancient city on the Silk Road

Photo taken on June 11, 2014 shows tourists visiting the Jiaohe Relic in Turpan, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

The famous ancient Silk Road and China's Grand Canal, the world's longest artificial waterway, were inscribed on the list of World Heritage Sites here on Sunday.

Jointly submitted by China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the application for adding part of the Silk Road, which served as a corridor for trade and cultural exchanges between Asia and Europe dating back to 2,000 years ago, to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) list was approved by the World Heritage Committee at a session in the Qatari capital.

The application consists of 33 historical sites along the millennium-old trade route, including 22 in China, eight in Kazakhstan and three in Kyrgyzstan. They range from palaces and pagoda sites in cities to ruins in remote, inaccessible deserts.

It is the first time China has cooperated with foreign countries for a World Heritage nomination.

Du Yue, secretary general of the Chinese delegation at the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee, said the approval of the application would strengthen cultural exchanges between China and the two Central Asian nations.

He called for the three countries' close coordination to jointly protect and pass on the Silk Road heritage from generation to generation.

At Sunday's session, UNESCO also included the Grand Canal, with a history of more than 2,400 years, in the World Heritage list.

Participants at the meeting said the 1,794-km canal, which runs from Beijing to Hangzhou in China's eastern Zhejiang province, is a valuable fruit of the Chinese people's diligence and wisdom, adding that its inclusion has enriched the content of the World Heritage.

The Paris-based UNESCO oversees the system of granting World Heritage status to important cultural and natural sites around the globe.

The 38th session of the World Heritage Committee opened on June 15 and will continue through Wednesday.

Source: Xinhua

Yaoli Town: Living in the Past

Yaoli, an ancient town located in Jingdezhen city, Jiangxi province, is famous for its natural beauty and cultural heritages. Local villagers started to make porcelains in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). It has developed its own unique culture for a thousand years.

Source: china.org

Nalati Grassland in Xinjiang Province

Located in eastern Xinyuan county in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, the Nalati grassland retains much of its natural and ethnic beauty. Nalati scenic area covers 400 sq km of the country's second largest grassland. The grassland has quiet streams, fresh air and abundant vegetation. It's home to a 10th of China's Kazakh community, and its rolling hills are dotted with their camps

Source: china.org

Boeing's Struggling 747-8 Buoyed by Talks on China Order

(Bloomberg) Boeing Co. (BA) is in talks to sell 747-8 jumbo jets, the four-engine model that has struggled to attract buyers, to the commercial finance arm of China’s biggest lender, three people familiar with the matter said.

ICBC Financial Leasing Co. is considering buying 747-8 freighters to place with South Korea’s Asiana Airlines Inc. (020560), which flies 10 older cargo versions of the 747, two people said. The discussions are for four or five planes, with a total list value of as much as $1.8 billion, one person said.

A deal with ICBC Leasing, a unit of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., would extend Boeing’s reach in the world’s most-populous country and provide a much-needed boost for its iconic hump-backed jet. The Chicago-based planemaker has won just one 747-8 order in 2014 as carriers shift long-range flying and airfreight to more-efficient twin-engine models.

Doug Alder, a Boeing spokesman, declined to comment on the ICBC Leasing talks. ICBC Leasing declined to discuss any negotiations with Boeing, according to a Beijing-based spokeswoman for the lessor who refused to be identified, citing company policy.

“We aren’t currently expecting to lease aircraft from a Chinese lessor,” a spokeswoman for Seoul-based Asiana, Lee Hyo Min, said by phone.

Boeing may announce the ICBC transaction next month at the Farnborough International Airshow in England, one person said. The event is this year’s biggest forum for aircraft introductions and sales.

Emirates Discussion

The world’s largest planemaker also is in talks with Emirates as the company seeks to keep the jet’s assembly line humming. Boeing has 51 unfilled orders for the 747-8, about three years of production, after slow sales prompted two production cuts last year to the current annual rate of 18 jets.

Boeing fell 0.3 percent to $132.13 at 10 a.m. in New York. The stock declined 3 percent this year through yesterday, trailing the 5.1 percent advance for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

The 747-8 features a bigger wing and an elongated fuselage hump, the latest upgrade to a jet family whose commercial service began in 1970. The freighter version of the 747-8 debuted in 2011, followed by the passenger model, dubbed the Intercontinental, in 2012.

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., based in Hong Kong, has ordered 14 747-8s, Korean Air Lines Co. has bought 17 and Air China Ltd. has ordered five, according to Boeing’s website. While the freighter and passenger versions both retail for about $357 million, airlines and lessors typically pay less than list prices.

Jumbo Lessor

ICBC Leasing would be the first Chinese lessor to order the 747-8 as planemakers brace for a wave of purchases from the world’s second-largest economy. Last year, the company arranged China’s first lease of Airbus Group NV (AIR)’s double-decker A380 superjumbo jet.

China is poised to be the “most important single source of added growth” for Boeing and Toulouse, France-based Airbus as government planners chart aviation needs and economic growth for 2016 through 2020, Douglas Harned, a New York-based analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., said in a June 16 note to clients.

“The country has massively under-ordered airplanes to meet planned passenger growth due to the arcane ordering process tied to the country’s five-year plans,” Harned said. “We should be heading into a next wave of orders” even if economic growth is at the low end of forecasts.

ICBC Leasing, founded in 2007, owns and manages 337 aircraft, according to its website. The company, which also leases power, rail and construction equipment, reported assets of 150 billion yuan ($24.1 billion) as of June 2013.

Source: Bloomberg News 

Langshan Mountain in Hunan Province

Mount Langshan is one of China's National Geological Park famous for its unique Danxia landform. It is located in Xinning county, Hunan province. In the south Mount Langshan is connected with Guilin, in the north it echoes Zhangjiajie


Source: china.org