China

The head of General Motors Corp.'s German unit Adam Opel GmbH said the interest of several potential investors is generally positive as it strengthens the auto maker's negotiating position, but it must not delay the sales process. "We need a deal fast," Hans Demant said in an internal letter to staff seen by Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday. Mr. Demant said that takeover talks are being held with Magna International Inc., Ripplewood Holdings, Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. Ltd. and Fiat SpA. Each investor has its own strategic approach, Mr. Demant said.

Rio Tinto Group iron ore executive Stern Hu was detained in China on suspicion of espionage and stealing state secrets, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith said. Hu, an Australian and head of London-based Rio’s iron ore operations in China, was detained on July 5, Smith said in Perth today. The executive hasn’t been charged and there wasn’t any indication allegations were business-related, he said, declining to comment on how relations with China would be affected. Three other Rio workers, all Chinese nationals, are also being held.

General Motors Corp. considers Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. "a formidable bidder" for its Adam Opel GmbH unit, whose offer could threaten an earlier bid by Magna International Inc., The Wall Street Journal reported. GM, which in recent weeks has described Magna as the front-runner to take over the European business, is increasingly attracted to the offer from Beijing Auto, which the Chinese state-owned car maker submitted last week, said a person close to GM.

China's Beijing Automotive Industry Holding, or BAIC, made a concrete offer for General Motors Corp.'s Adam Opel GmbH unit, a GM spokeswoman said. A person familiar with the situation said Friday that BAIC handed in a nonbinding offer valued at €660 million ($924 million) for an equity stake in GM's Opel and Vauxhall businesses, The Wall Street Journal reported. Under the plan, BAIC would own 51% and GM would keep 49%, the person said. No plants would be closed in Germany, but jobs would be cut, including staff at Opel's headquarters.

China's Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. plans to present a detailed bid for General Motors Corp.'s Opel unit in Europe within the next few days, a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday, a move that could complicate the U.S. auto maker's effort to sell Opel to Canadian supplier Magna International Inc., The Wall Street Journal reported. In May, GM signed a memorandum of understanding to sell a majority stake in Opel and its U.K. sister brand, Vauxhall, to Magna, whose bid is backed by Russia's Sberbank Rossia and auto maker OAO GAZ Group.

The International Monetary Fund approved plans on Wednesday to issue its own debt to strengthen its capacity to fund bail-outs, the Financial Times reported. Meanwhile, the World Bank said it committed a record $59 billion in loans and guarantees to developing countries in the year to June 30.

Zimbabwe’s prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, said Tuesday that an official he had appointed had secured lines of credit worth $950 million from China, President Robert Mugabe’s longtime ally, The New York Times reported. Mr. Mugabe’s party has mocked Mr. Tsvangirai for failing to bring home much aid from his three-week tour of the United States and Europe. Zimbabwe’s government — a virtually bankrupt contraption led by Mr. Mugabe and his rival, Mr. Tsvangirai — needs an estimated $8 billion to rebuild the country’s ruined economy.

General Motors Corp. and the Chinese firm that has agreed to acquire the bankrupt automaker's Hummer unit are both denying earlier news reports that China will move to block the deal over pollution concerns, Bankruptcy Law360 reported. Read more. (Subscription required.)

China's central bank renewed its call on Friday for the creation of a super-sovereign reserve currency to reduce the dollar's global domination, which it said had worsened the financial crisis, Reuters reported. In its annual financial stability report, the central bank did not mention the dollar by name but said it was a serious defect that one currency should tower over all others. "An international monetary system dominated by a single sovereign currency has intensified the concentration of risk and the spread of the crisis," the People's Bank of China said.

Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. held discussions this week with General Motors Corp. about the possibility of buying Adam Opel GmbH if an existing bid for the European unit of GM falls through, a person familiar with the situation said, The Wall Street Journal reported. GM executives in Europe met with representatives of Beijing Auto after the Chinese government-owned company expressed interest in Opel for a second time, the person said.