CRI听力：Top Asian Hotel Looking to Raise Cash

SHANGRI-LA Asia, the region's biggest luxury hotel operator, may raise as much as HK$5.22 billion or US$668 million in a rights offering to pay debt and help finance expansion.                 

The company will sell to shareholders 287 million to 290 million shares, or one for every nine existing shares, at HK$18 each, it said in a statement to Hong Kong's stock exchange yesterday.                 

Shangri-La, controlled by Malaysia's richest man, Robert Kuok, is expanding beyond its home market in Asia into North America, where it manages five hotels, and Europe.                 

US business travel will grow about one to two percent in 2007, according to the Travel Industry Association.

Blackberry is Coming to China

Canadian company Research in Motion, or RIM, has received clearance to sell its popular BlackBerry device in China after eight years of trying. The maker says it's just finalizing the delivery of its products here.                 

RIM Co-Chief Executive Jim Balsillie, speaking on a conference call with analysts last week, said the company was planning to serve corporate customers in key Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.                

RIM's move into China comes as it competes in the United States with Apple's heavily hyped iPhone, which began selling in the U.S. last Friday. The iPhone can handle phone calls, e-mail, Web browsing, music and videos.                

A manager in RIM's Beijing office was quoted in the Globe and Mail newspaper Wednesday as saying RIM expects to start selling its handset in Chinese shops at the end of next month and has already received 5,000 advance orders.                

Balsillie says they'll continue to strengthen their relationship with China Mobile and they plan to increase BlackBerry awareness in China. The BlackBerry already sells in India and Japan.
Get Your Chery...err, Chrysler!

CHRYSLER will start selling Chinese-made compact cars under its own nameplate in the United States by the end of this year, a move that is expected to help the money-losing auto maker turn around its fortunes with a stronger presence in the small-car segment.                

The deal involves the A1 hatchback made by China's Chery Automobile, Chery President Yin Tongyao said at a signing-ceremony with Chrysler yesterday in Beijing.                

The 1.3-liter hatchback will be sold in the United States and other markets under Chrysler's Dodge brand, says Tom LaSorda, Chrysler's chief executive officer. The model will first hit Latin American and Eastern European markets before entering North America and Western Europe.                

Neither party would disclose the price of the cars, which sell for 53,800 yuan (US$7,100) in China. Annual production capacity is expected to eventually reach 100,000 units.                

With the deal Chrysler becomes the first US automaker to import cars from China. Anhui Province-based Chery is the China's fourth-largest car maker.