China's business press carried the following stories on Friday. China.org.cn has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

Juneyao to fly international – Beijing Business Today

Juneyao Airlines is to be granted permission to operate passenger and cargo flights from the Chinese mainland to Hong Kong, Macao and cities in adjacent countries, becoming only the second private airline company after Spring Airlines to be authorized to fly international routes.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said Juneyao's application is under review and is most likely to be approved before the end of the year, after which Juneyao still needs to apply for each route it intends to operate.

Juneyao currently has 12 aircraft and 2 more will join its fleet within two months.

Central bank warns of credit card risk – 21st Century Business Herald

China's non-performing credit card loans (those more than six months in arrears) have been steadily increasing in the first 3 quarters this year, showing more than 100 percent growth year on year. A report published by the People's Bank of China (PBC), the central bank has triggered concern.

As of the end of Q3, 175 million credit cards were in circulation, up by 33.3 percent over last year. Non-performing loans totalled 7.425 billion yuan (US$1.087 billion), 1.62 billion yuan up on Q2, and surging 126.5 percent past figures from the same period in 2008. Q3's non-performing loans amount to 3.4 percent of the total amount falling due, up 0.3 percent over the preceding quarter.

An insider from PBC said that, of the 1.62 billion yuan in non-performing loans registered in Q3, 900 million is owed to the 4 major national banks reached, a figure that merits attention.

Sinochem-Total launches 2nd round of price reductions – Caijing Magazine

Sinochem-Total has launched a second round of price reductions at its gas stations. Starting yesterday, the company cut the price of petrol by 0.4 yuan (5.857 US cents) per litre. The price a litre of 93# petrol dropped to 6.26 yuan (91.65 US cents). An anonymous gas station worker revealed: "We now barely make any profit on 93# petrol."

The previous round of price cuts occurred in mid-November, when 27 Sinochem-Total stations in Beijing's Chaoyang, Haidian, Tongzhou and other districts cut prices by 0.3 yuan per litre on average, to attract more business.

This so-called "one-on-one" strategy means other private gas stations in addition to those owned by Sinopec and Shell no longer have a price advantage.

Cooking oil prices on the way up again – Caijing Magazine

The Chinese cooking oil market is experiencing another round of price hikes. Shortly after Luhua increased prices of its peanut oil by 10 percent, Fulinmen and Arawana notified their retailers they were also increasing their prices by 10 percent.

The price hikes are principally due to a surge in raw material prices. Prices of soybean contracts listed on CBOT (the Chicago Board of Trade) have been climbing since October with a steep 9 percent increase in November alone. The surging international price of crude has increased sea freight charges and made soybean imports more expensive.

The price of rapeseed oil has climbed since mid November from 7800-8000 yuan per ton (US$1142.02-1171.30) to 8400-8500 yuan (US$1129.87-1244.51).

A senior official with Chinese State Administration of Grain said China is still facing pressing demand for cooking oil. This year the country may face a shortfall of up to 1300 tons.

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