Forging Ahead with Two Strong Feet

-- Interviewing Luo Ning, CITIC Group General Manager

    CITIC Group, one of DVN’s investors which just saw its split China CITIC Bank listed in both Hong Kong (0998) and Shanghai, is planning to invest 50bn yuan in expanding CATV networks in five provinces within the coming 2 to 3 years. By the time, the Group is expecting to have equal scale of financial and information business, a goal it set in the year 2000.

    When interviewed by Oriental Daily, The Sun, and other well-known media, Luo Ning, General Manager of CITIC Group and Chairman of CITIC Network Management, said that back to 2000, the Group challenged itself by setting the goal of marching steadily with equally strong performance in both financial and information sectors, with each sector representing half of the revenue. At present, with listing of China CITIC Bank, he is convinced that the Group’s financial business stays in a “robust growth stage” while the information business is in a “strategic growth stage”.

50bn yuan to expand CATV business in 5 provinces

    As of the 2006 year-end, CITIC Group has total assets worth 929.2bn yuan, of which financial business accounting for 816.1bn or 78.3%. Alluding to this proportion, General Manager Luo stressed that CITIC Group’s information network operation aims at securing growth by venturing into the CATV industry and at complementing its financial business (incl. banking and securities etc.). For the coming 2 to 3 years, while maintaining its current business, CITIC Group plans to invest somewhat 50bn yuan in expanding CATV business in 5 provinces. By then, they will have met the former chairman Wang Junding’s goal of an information operation at equivalent scale of financial operation.

Aspiring to the dominance of information networks

    DVN (Holdings) Limited (0500), specialized in set-top box business, will be able to provide services to CITIC Group’s CATV business during the digitalization process. Besides, DVN Group has noticed the technical strength of another investor – Motorola – in CATV business. In the future television program development of Asia, it can be a content provider, backing CITIC’s information network growth.

    CITIC 21CN Company Limited (0241), engaged in electronic port business and operating the website Product Identification, Authentication and Tracking System which helps customers identify fake products, will continue running its main business. CITIC Group also owns some subsidiaries which serve the industries of finance, electric power, and telecommunication and can provide value-added telecom services. With support from these positive factors, a nationwide backbone communication fiber network, and the China Express No.1 that enables business of internet access, network element lease and sale etc., CITIC Group harbors an ambition to become the Country’s biggest information network operator.