Editorial Summary

Shanghai shares of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Corp.) (600028.SH, 386.HK, NYSE: SNP) fell 2.78 percent to close at RMB14.34 on Thursday. The company's monthly profit came in at RMB1 billion in January, 14-16 percent of January figures for 2006 and 2007, reports 21st Century Business Herald quoting a Sinopec planning and investment department employee. Sinopec is expecting a loss in the first and second quarters of 2008 due to surging oil costs in the global market, and intends to cut its 2008 investment budgets from RMB190 billion to RMB130 billion, said the employee. Crude oil struck a record high of US$108 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) on March 10.

Shares of China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC) (601186.SH, 1186.HK) fell 0.88 percent to close at RMB11.99 in Shanghai, and 3.23 percent to close at HK$12 in Hong Kong after its first day of trading on the Hong Kong Exchange (HKEx) on Thursday, reports Shanghai Securities Journal. CRCC began trading in Shanghai on Monday.

Hong Kong-based China Insurance Group plans to list its overall assets on the A-shares market when the timing is mature, reports 21st Century Business Herald citing group chairman Feng Xiaozeng. China Insurance Group expects to exceed RMB200 billion in total assets in 2010, said the report.