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

Air China increases stake in Cathay Pacific, eyeing cargo market – CBN

Air China authorities revealed on November 29 that the company's expansion to Cathay Pacific Airlines has already been approved by the government, and "the transaction is already in process."

Earlier this year on August 17, Air China officially announced its investment in Cathay Pacific and that it would accept the 491,864,724 H-shares of Cathay Pacific, totaling HK$6.335 billion. Hence, Air China has become the second largest single share holder of Cathay Pacific, with 29.99 percent stake.

After this expansion, both companies in the deal will further the process of establishing an air cargo shipping company, in which each company will take a 50 percent stake. They hope to set foot in the Shanghai-based air cargo market, currently the largest international air cargo shipping center on the Chinese mainland.

PetroChina and Shell join hands in unconventional natural gas – Beijing Business Today

China has noticeably accelerated its exploration of natural gas resources. China National Petroleum and Oil Corporation (CNPC), PetroChina's parent company, announced last Friday that it signed a joint evaluation deal on the exploration of a shale natural gas resource with Dutch company Shell. Shell confirmed the information.

The project is at Fushun – Yongchuan, in southwest China's Sichuan Province. Compared with conventional natural gas, those stored in shale sustain longer production with steady output. However, the geological permeability of shale prevents the natural gas from emitting too quickly, thus posing a higher production cost to the exploration.

CNPC states this cooperation will help levitate the pressing domestic demand for natural gas. Also earlier this month, PetroChina and Chevron started another exploration in Sichuan's Luojiazhai gas field.

Chinese Steel imports outweigh exports in first 10 months – People's Daily

Chinese imports of principal steel products and raw material outweighed exports during the first 10 months this year.

From January to October, China's steel exports slumped by 19.5951 million tons, down 66.28 percent year on year, whereas imports increased to 19.9885 million tons, up 38.04 percent over the same period. In terms of raw material, imports grew by 138.35 million tons, or 36.8 percent over last year.

Iron alloy, another major raw material in the steel industry that used to be an export item, only totaled 945.8 kilo tons in the first 10 months, dropping 63.28 percent. In detail, the exports of ferrosilicon, ferromanganese and nobelium-iron alloy respectively dropped by 75.12, 90.14 and 56.49 percent, all year on year. At the same time, the imports of these alloys surged by 85.62 percent from January to September this year.

Int'l flights demand higher fuel surcharge – Beijing Business Today

Many major airline companies operating in China are raising their fuel surcharges for international flights, including Air China, China Eastern, Dragon Air, Cathay Pacific and Asiana Airlines.

Starting December 1, passengers aboard Air China's flights to Singapore, Thailand and other southeastern Asian cities will pay a 300 yuan (US$43.92) fuel surcharge, up from 200 yuan. China Southern brought up the surcharge for flights between the mainland cities and Taiwan.

Meanwhile, some flights to China from North America and Europe have also begun to demand higher fuel charges.

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