Huaneng Power (NYSE:HNP), China's largest independent electricity provider announced 2008 first half interim results today. The bottom line is this: total operating revenue were 30,737 million yuan ($4,493 million) vs. 23,144 million yuan ($3,383 million) in 2007 H1 total loss was 544 million yuan ($70.53 million) vs. profit of 2,875 million yuan ($420.3 million) same period last year

While the DJIA rallied on oil, GDP and jobs data, index for Chinese companies listed on American exchanges fell, fell hard. The China ADR Index (CAI) is a market cap weighted index and as such large cap Chinese stocks listed on the NYSE have a substantial impact on it. The index fell 16.54 points today and is down 28.92% year-to-date (YTD). This is in sharp contrast to NASDAQ listed Chinese ADRs measured by the China Nasdaq Index (CQI). The index is up today thanks to the larger Chinese ADRs of Ctrip.com (CTRP) and Baidu.com (BIDU).

Major Terms of the Investment Agreement Pursuant to the Investment Agreement, the Company and Tangshan Investment Company agreed to contribute by way of cash to the establishment of Fengrun Thermal Power Company in the proportion of 84% and 16%, respectively, for the purposes of constructing and operating Fengrun Thermal Power Project.

Chinese power generators arde in trouble with Datang Power no exception. The company reported net revenue increase of 4.4% for the fisrt six months of 2008 yet net profit plunged 77.5%. The company pays no dividend - not surprisingly...

The Jinzhou Thermal Power Project involves a total investment of approximately RMB2,980,000,000 (equivalent to approximately HK$3,397,947,548). The registered capital of Jinzhou Thermal Power Company, i.e. RMB596,000,000 (equivalent to approximately HK$679,589,510), accounts for about 20% of the total investment of the project. The Company’s total capital commitment in the Jinzhou Thermal Power Project is in the sum of RMB2,980,000,000 (equivalent to approximately HK$3,397,947,548). Upon the registration of Jinzhou Thermal Power Company, the Company will contribute the first installment of the registered capital of Jinzhou Thermal Power Company in the sum of RMB250,000,000 (equivalent to approximately HK$285,062,714) by way of cash.

Datang Power Int. Co. Ltd. (0991.HK) announced power tariffs increase at various power generation units. (Original press release from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is here) Share price of China's third largest independent power producer after Huaneng Power (NYSE:HNP) and Huadian Power (1071.HK) rose 3.21% following the news - see related chart here. The increase of RMB19.93/Mwh is less than average increase rival Huaneng Power was able to obtain. Huaneng increased sale price of on-grid power by RMB21.71. The increase is effective as of August 20th and will help ease the pain power producers have to endure as a result of high coal prices. Price of coal increased 76% over the last twelve months while the central government allowed the price of power to increase twice during the same period; a 5.5% increase on June 20th and again a 5.7% increase in Aug 20th. This equals to an average price increase of just over 12%, far from making up for the increased high price of coal. To ease the pain for power generators Beijing introduced a temporary cap on thermal coal prices for the summer peak season, a step that will not necessarily work. Chinese coal producers stepped up efforts to export coal on the spot market where they can obtain high international prices, leaving domestic power generators in the cold.

China Netcom Group (NYSE:CN), China's smaller fixed line carrier, announced interim results for the first six months of 2008. This is the last time the company reports on its won without China Unicom (NYSE:CHU). CHU will acquire CN's fixed network and integrate it together with current GSM network. CHU's smaller and less dynamic CDMA network will be sold to China Telecom (NYSE:CHA), completing the largest telecom industry restructuring the world has seen yet.

China Shenhua Group (1088.HK), China's largest coal producer with substantial power generation of its own, announced power tariffs adjustment, as allowed by the central government. Beijing is keen to keep a tight lid on inflation and contain core inflation as much as possible. In this effort the government allowed two relatively small increases in power prices this year: a 5.5% one in June 20th and a 5.75% increase on Aug 20th.

Chinese solar ADRs are extremely volatile. As the following summary table reveals, shares of Solarfun Power (SOLF) are up 47% just in August yet investors bought into the company on January 2nd. are down 45% year-to-date (YTD). And Solarfun is no exception. All Chinese solar ADRs but Canadian Solar (CSIQ) are trading way below their January 2, 2008 level turning this hot sector of 2007 into disaster in 2008.

Yanzhou Coal (NYSE:YZC), China's third largest coal producer after China Shenhua energy (HKEx:1088) and China Coal (HKEx:1898), reported 2008 first six months report. (Details of the original press release is here.) Strong showing helped lift the price of Yanzhou ADRs 5.35% in the last five trading days as the markets were expecting solid numbers. See related chart here. Highlights and Outlook:

China's largest independent electricity provider, Huaneng Power (NYSE:HNP), announced an increase of on-grid tariffs by Yuan22.51/MWh or 5.7% as of August 20, 2008. This increase is the second in 2008 aimed at compensating for high coal prices. China is potentially facing one of the worst power shortages in years, similar to 2004, when brown outs were rampant. The government has just ordered coal exporters to cut back on exports - so far it was an oral note. The fact of the matter is that since coal prices has been capped to keep prices low domestically, Chinese coal miners preferred to sell coal on the spot market instead. The result is low coal inventory level at power producers, potentially threatening stable power supply.

Datang Power Co. (0991.HK), a Hong-Kong listed Chinese power generator, agreed to invest 580,000,000 yuan or $84.5 million, into a thermal power plant to produce heating for Zhang Jia Kou Gaoxin District located in Hebei Province, China. Details of the transaction are below.

The9 Ltd is the leading online game operator and developer in China. Its main revenue drivers are affiliates operates licensed MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-play games) consisting World of Warcraft (WoW), Soul of Ultimate Nation (SUN), and Granado Espada (GE). During Q2 of FY2008, the company achieved excellent financial results due to the rising revenue from WoW and SUN. It also spent huge efforts in R&D and international affiliation. However, the results of those efforts are not foreseeable in the near future. The9’s limitation in self-developed game pipelines meant the company may suffer threats from its competitors such as Shanda and Netease. Furthermore, each game has its life cycle, The9’s over reliance on WoW may limit its future earning ability.

Here is a snapshot of today's big movers from the Chinese ADR universe. Focus Media Holdings defies overall trend, the DJIA lost almost 200 points today already, helped by better than expected 2008 Q2 results and strong Q3 outlook. Focus Media Holding shares jump on Q3 outlook. The stock is trading up $2.76 or 10.51% today.

In one hand, windfall tax load will be heavier for upstream companies because of soaring world oil price. On the other hand, domestic retail price increase is actually a "tiny" compensation and can not offset the loss of the downstream activities. Since consumer price index (CPI) remains high, government is facing pressure to tame inflation. I personally guess another retail price increase will probably not happen in a short run, which makes a conservative forecast for the downsteamers. Furthermore, the government is considering the cancellation of compensation for crude oil tariff deduction negatively effecting both Sinopec (SNP) and Petrochina (PTR).

Proposed merger of China Unicom Limited (CHU) and China Netcom group Corp. (Hong Kong) Ltd. by way of a scheme of arrangement of CN under section 166 of the Hong Kong companies ordinance
Notice of court meeting
Notice of extraordinary general meeting
Proxy Forms

Shares of Aluminum Corp. of China (ACH) jumped 6.42% in Hong Kong trading - related chart is here. The company was quick to announce in a public statement that there is no company specific events in the background that would have prompted such drastic share price change. See related press release below.

China Unicom (CHU) and China Netcom (CN) submitted a document of proposed merger of the two to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange today. According to the document, last day of trading for China Netcom ADRs will be October 6, 2008 followed by a complete withdrawal of CN ADRs from the NYSE listing as of October 15, 2008. China Netcom as we know it will cease to exist while China Unicom will get a new name. The document lays out a clear timetable of events. What's not in the document but is very important is this: CN's fixed network with 109 million strong subscriber base will get a mobile phone arm - CHU's GSM network. This is the better one of CHU not just by subscriber numbers but by dynamics, too. While CHU's GSM network boosts 125 million subscribers and is growing at a rate of 1.1 million a month, CHU's CDMA network - soon to join China Telecom - counts only 43 million subscribers with a growth rate of 0.4 million a month.

In Q2 2008, the advertising revenues of SINA increased 58% yoy and 35.8% qoq to $64.9 million, reaching the high end of the Company's guidance of between $64.0 million and $65.0 million. In Q1 2008, SINA delivered a growth of 51% yoy in its advertising revenue to 47.8 million dollars. The gross profits of advertising business grew 60.5% yoy and 43% qoq to $41.25 million.

As of 9 August 2008, the conditions precedent of the investor subscription agreement entered into among SIA, Temasek and the Company have not been satisfied, and pursuant to the terms thereof, the agreement automatically terminates. Accordingly, it follows that the transaction contemplated under the CEA Holding subscription agreement between China Eastern Air Holding Company (“CEA Holding”) and the Company cannot proceed to completion, and the shareholders agreement entered into among CEA Holding, SIA and Temasek is not effective.

Huaneng Power International, Inc. (the “Company”) announces that a 600MW supercritical air-cooling desulphurization coal-fired generating unit (Unit 5) of the Phase III Project at Huaneng Shangan Power Plant, which is wholly owned by the Company, has obtained approvals from the relevant authorities recently and commenced commercial operation on 1 July 2008. To date, the Company’s total generation capacity on an equity basis has increased from 36,393MW to 36,993MW. Unit 5 of Shangan Power Plant is the first 600MW supercritical air-cooling unit which commenced operation in the PRC. The project represents the integration of high-efficiency and low-consumption supercritical power generating technology with water-saving direct air-cooling technology for the first time in the PRC. The environmental protection benefits in terms of energy saving and water saving are significant.

Trading today showed again how much large cap companies matter. China Mobile (CHL), the largest cell phone carrier of the world by subscribers, weighted on the overall index. Shares of CHL lost $1.01 or 1.16% on expectations that it's going to be China Unicom (CHU) and China Netcom (CN) that will benefit from the telecom industry restructuring, while CHL will lose steam on the long run.

We use different technical tools to determine what stock stick out - all these before the market opens. This time we find the Overbought/Oversold indicator extremely useful. This tool picks up five stocks that are way oversold and thus offer turnaround opportunities today: China Eastern Airlines (CEA), Sina Corp. (SINA), Sohu.com (SOHU), CNOOC Ltd. (CEO) and China Mobile (CHL). As the following Google chart suggests, their slip yesterday in percentage points are somewhat different, - chart here - however unusual big moves are best picked up by a stock specific tool - such as the overbought/oversold indicator.

Chinese ADRs are caught in the wind along the DJIA and have gained significant momentum in the last three trading days. Number of Chinese ADRs trading above 50 day-moving-averages or DMAs increased from alst week to 13 with two of them reaching the "overbought" status, more than last week. Four ADRs are classified as oversold, less than last week. Overall, it's a pretty strong showing for the China plays.

China Shenhua Energy Co. Ltd., the largest Chinese coal miner reported that net income rose to RMB14,146 million ($2.06 billion) up 35.7% vs. same period last year. Jump in profits is attributed to strong coal prices in the first six months of the year. In a document submitted to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Shenhua reported operating income to climb to RMB49,282 million ($7.176 billion) representing an increase of 26.8% vs. last year. Operating profit rose 32.5% contributing to the strong net income growth.

We posted a thorough fundamental analysis of New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. (NYSE:EDU) excatly a month ago - this rerpot is an update of latest developements. Report by Vivian Li

This article completes a series of articles posted on this blog. We had four different analysts looking into the books of China's largest aluminum maker, Aluminum Corp. of China (ACH) or CHALCO and each gave the same account - however from a slightly different angle. This time Fei Wen Yuan reports.

Oil is ruling the price of shares of Chinese companies listed in the U.S. today. Asia's largest refiner, China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. or Sinopec (SNP), is top gainer among Chinese ADRs while another oil industry giant, offshore specialist China National Offshore Oil Co. or CNOOC Ltd. (CEO) is top loser. What's the reason for such a different reaction to softening oil prices?

There is not much direction to find for U.S. listed Chinese ADRs in Asian trading this morning. Trading in Hong Kong was extremely weak - in fact turnover in Hong Kong recorded the lowest volume this year. Shanghai is obsessed with another mega IPO, this time China Southern Locomotive is going public, raising concerns that already slim liquidity might dry up. This is the time when technical indicators are extremely useful. One of them is the so called Overbought / Oversold indicator, or simply OBOS. This tool looks into stock trading characteristics and determines if a stock went up too much too fast - thus is susceptible for a pull back or just the opposite. The following picture is a screenshot of Chinavestor's OBOS indicator posted for Premium Subscribers before the opening bell. Based on the indicator, three stocks look interesting for daytraders today: NetEase (NTES), China Unicom (CHU) and Baidu,com (BIDU).

We have been paying close attention to the world third largest maker of alumina and the largest aluminum maker in China, Aluminum Corp. of China (NYSE:ACH) or Chalco. This time another analyst, Alfurqan Suranta (307103) took a close look at the company from a fundamental point of view. Find his short summary of findings below.

Sina Corp, a leading Chinese internet portal, will announce 2008 second quarter earnings on August 6 at 9:00 P.M. E.T. after the market close. Sina is part of China's internet portal triumvirate with Sohu.com (SOHU) and Tencent Holdings (0700.HK). Sohu just reported stellar results, largely attributed to an unexpectedly stong performance of an in-house developed online game. Other than the online game business unit, Sina is very similar in terms of operation to Sohu.

Chinavestor.com, an independent stock research firm specializing on Chinese ADRs or China companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges, is proud to serve the wider investment community by making previous Newsletters public. Current topic of August 2008 Newsletter is: "Earnings season is on. Let's go stock specific." It is available for subscribers only and will be made public in September. July 2008 Newsletter is about explaining why U.S. equity markets have such a profound impact on the performance of Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong (H-shares) and in New York (ADRs). We believe it still carries a lot of useful and relevant information applicable to today's market environment.

Mr. Woo Chan Lee, 43, has been Managing Director and the head of Asia of JL Thornton & Company since 2006. He is the senior advisor to Mr. John L. Thornton, the founder of JL Thornton & Company, and leads the firm's commercial, government and non-profit activities in the region with a focus on China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Australia. Mr. Lee served in the United States Department of State from 1990 to 2006. From 2004 to 2006, he was Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Canberra, Australia and led a team of U.S. diplomats responsible for overseeing major aspects of the U.S.-Australia relationship. From 2001 to 2004, he was the Principal Officer of the U.S. Consulate in Fukuoka, Japan, serving as the senior U.S. government official in western Japan. From 1997 to 2000, he was the First Secretary of the United States Embassy in Beijing, China, where he advised the U.S. President's special envoy for the rule of law and implemented cooperative projects with the Chinese government to assist the strengthening of China's legal system. Mr. Lee received a B.A., Magna Cum Laude, in East Asian Studies from Yale University in 1987.

This announcement is issued pursuant to Rule 13.09(2) of the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (the “Company”) and the board of directors of the Company (the “Board”) jointly and severally warrant the truthfulness, accuracy and completeness of the information disclosed herein, and accept the responsibilities for any misrepresentation or misleading statement contained in or material omission from this announcement.