Online recruitment company 51job Inc said it posted unaudited revenue of 213.6 million yuan and net income of 21.1 million yuan for the fourth quarter.

The unaudited results are up about 24.8 percent and 6.6 percent year-on-year, respectively.

For 2007, the company booked revenue growth of 21 percent to 844.3 million yuan while net profit was up 11.7 percent at 111 million yuan.

Hotel earnings

Budget hotel chain Home Inns said total revenue for the fourth quarter increased 82.9 percent year-over-year to 327.6 million yuan, including 19.8 million yuan in revenue from the recently acquired Top Star hotel chain.

"I am pleased with the strong results demonstrated by our core business during the year," David Sun, Home Inn's CEO, said. "This performance validates our strategy for consistent growth and demonstrates that we are able to continue our nationwide expansion."

For the full year of 2007, Home Inns had total revenue of 1.009 billion yuan, representing a 71.5 percent increase year-over-year.

BIZ MOVES

Bigger role

Maggie Choi has been appointed regional managing director of OMD (Asia-Pacific), a unit of Omnicom Media Group. She will be responsible for building and strengthening the OMD brand across the Asia-Pacific region, the company said.

Choi has been integral to the formation and running of OMD's Greater China offices. She will remain based in Hong Kong.

New COO

LG Electronics recently named Cho Choong-bong its chief operating officer in China, a newly created position in charge of the company's sales network in China.

As a senior marketing professional, Cho has worked at LG for 28 years. Before the appointment, he worked in Latin America for six years.

BIZ UNUSUAL

Chopstick souvenirs

When former fabric shop manager Wu Xiaohua started making cloth sheaths for chopsticks, she didn't realize how popular they would be.

But she soon found her chopstick sheaths in traditional Chinese designs make good souvenirs for foreign visitors.

Now Wu runs a business making chopstick sheaths for upmarket hotels and restaurants. She has also enlisted the help of local designers to meet the needs of her clients.

Foolproof flowerpots

Lazy gardeners are snapping up new flowerpots with self-watering systems. The flowerpots need to be watered just once a month.

The flowerpots cost from 10 yuan to 200 yuan, depending on the variety.

One florist said the flowerpots are a very popular gift. He said he's made more than 20,000 yuan from the flowerpots in two months.

LOCAL

Coal mine campaign

The Taiyuan government is trying to encourage small coal mines to close. Local governments at county level will receive 500,000 yuan for each coal mine they close.

Taiyuan is planning to shut down 90 coal mines with an annual production capacity of less than 90,000 tons. Six city districts will give up the coal business. The government will also invest in environmental rehabilitation at the closed mine sites.

Wind power

Construction of five large-scale wind power plants with an installed gross capacity of 250 MW will start this year in Hainan, while seven others are on the drawing board.

About 550 million yuan will be invested in Wenchang wind power plant, which is due to be completed this year.

The 12 planned plants are mainly based in the eastern and western coastal areas of Hainan, with a total installed capacity of roughly 1,235 MW.

(China Daily 03/05/2008 page15)