Briefs, January 9, 2013

Qingdao to invest in Saab's new owner

National Electric Vehicle Sweden, the buyer of bankrupt former carmaker Saab that is owned by Chinese-Swedish businessman Kai Johan Jiang, has signed a deal with Qingdao, Shantung province, as part of plans to build and sell electrical cars in China. Qingdao would invest in Nevs and get 22 per cent of its shares. Reuters

Gold miner's bid to buy African assets fails

The world's biggest gold producer, Canada's Barrick Gold, said it had called off talks to sell some of its African assets to China National Gold, a state-owned firm that is the country's biggest gold miner. Barrick did not give a reason for the failure of the deal, which had been estimated to be worth up to US$3.9 billion. AFP

Apple chief in talks with Chinese minister

Apple chief executive Tim Cook, who is on his second visit to China in less than 10 months, and Miao Wei, the Minister of Industry and Information Technology, discussed China's information technology industry, global mobile communications and Apple's business in China, a statement on the ministry's website said. Bloomberg

Mobile-phone maker warns it will post a loss

Mobile-phone manufacturer TCL Communication Technology warned investors yesterday it expected to report a loss for the fourth quarter and for all of last year. The struggling Shenzhen-based firm blamed the loss on the sharp fall in prices for its basic handsets and entry-level smartphones, poor sales and high research and marketing costs. Bien Perez