Chinese companies launch credit card services in Frankfurt

SHANGHAI - Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu and three of his Chinese colleagues pleaded guilty on Monday to bribery charges during the first day of their trial.

Tom Connor, Australia's consul-general in Shanghai. [Agencies] 
Hu "acknowledged the truth of some of the bribery charges" laid against him, said Tom Connor, Australia's consul-general in Shanghai, who attended the hearing.

The other three are also charged with taking bribes and stealing commercial secrets.

Hu, an Australian citizen, is accused of taking bribes of 1 million yuan ($146,000) and $790,000. Connor said Hu had "made some admissions concerning those two bribery amounts".

The other three defendants - Liu Caikui, Ge Minqiang and Wang Yong - are charged with accepting bribes of up to 70 million yuan according to the court indictment, their lawyers said.

But the four accused will challenge the amount specified by the prosecutor, according to Tao Wuping, a lawyer for one of the accused.

The four also rejected some of the accusations made by prosecutors.

"Part of the charge should not constitute a crime," Tao said, referring to his client, Liu, who is charged with receiving 3.7 million yuan in bribes.

Wang admitted he was "guilty in part", his lawyer, Zhang Peihong, said.

Zhang said the $9 million Wang is accused of taking as a bribe was legitimate "profit from an iron ore deal".

The $9 million is part of the 70 million yuan that Wang is accused of taking as bribes, said Zhang.

"There are plenty of reasons to argue against the rest of the amount," Zhang added.

The trial, which is open only to several Chinese media organizations, is scheduled to last three days at the Shanghai No 1 Intermediate People's Court. The second part of the trial relating to commercial secrets will be heard in closed court.

Connor said all the defendants had an opportunity to put their views forward and address the evidence laid against them during the trial.

He also said the Australian government will issue a formal statement about the trial but did not specify when.

The trial marks the climax of a nine-month case that has strained relations between China and Australia, a key supplier of iron ore to Chinese steel mills.

Relations soured in June last year over a failed bid by State-owned Aluminum Corporation of China (Chinalco) to buy a $19.5 billion stake in Rio Tinto; and the arrest of Hu a month later.

Hu and his Chinese colleagues have been held in detention since July 5 last year.

Hu was Rio Tinto's lead negotiator in talks with Chinese steel mills to try and settle a price for iron ore from Australian mining companies.

Negotiations between Chinese steel firms and major international miners, including Rio Tinto, on iron ore prices have been at a standstill with the latter reportedly seeking price hikes of 90 percent or more this year.

According to Tao, the four defendants accepted bribes from some small- and medium-sized Chinese steel mills keen to secure long-term imports from Rio Tinto.

The Foreign Ministry has said the Rio Tinto case should not be deliberately politicized.

"It is just an individual business case. It should not be politicized or have a negative impact on China-Australia relations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang has said.

Frankfurt: China's largest commercial bank ICBC and China's bankcard association, China UnionPay (CUP) jointly launched credit card services in Frankfurt on Monday.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) currently has one third of the Chinese credit card market. With the new launch it becomes the first bank to issue China UnionPay card in Europe.

It is also the first time for China UnionPay to issue credit card settled through euro accounts.

The ICBC credit card with China UnionPay logo is designed as a tailor-made product for travelers between China and the rest of the world. It is supported by the widely accepting network of ICBC and China UnionPay in China as well as an expanding CUP network in Europe.

The card incorporates features like automatic repayment, e- banking and 24-hours toll free hotline services both in Chinese and English.

ICBC said that it would continue to launch promotions and offers to provide added value to customers in addition to routine functions.

A VIP Customer Service Center was also launched on Monday in Frankfurt to provide platinum and gold cardholders with standard card services as well as value-added services like tourism enquires, merchant guides and telephone home medical services.

In a related event in Frankfurt on the same day, ICBC and Chinese flag-carrier Air China launched the ICBC Air China PhoenixMiles Credit Card to combine the benefits of ICBC credit card and Air China's mileage card for frequent flyers. It is the first euro account credit card offered by Air China.

The integration offers the cardholders with incentives and services tied to Air China PhoenixMiles plan together with financial functions such as consumption, transfer settlement, deposit and cash withdrawal.

(Source: China Daily)