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

Steady PMI raises inflationary pressure—China Business News

The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) issued by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing fell to 55.8 percent in January from 56.6 percent in December. January was nevertheless the 11th month in a row in which the PMI has remained above 50 percent, which indicates an expansion in economy.

The HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index, which was issued the same day, climbed to a record high of 57.4 percent in January, from 56.1 percent in December.

"Rising input and output prices will raise inflation concerns, and will likely prompt more tightening measures in the coming months,"Hongbin Qu, HSBC's chief economist for China, said in a statement.

China Metallurgical invests in Australian miner—Shanghai Securities News

Metallurgical Corporation of China signed an agreement on January 29 to buy a stake in Queensland-based Australian miner Resource House for US$0.2 billion, according to a company statement yesterday.

Resource House was founded on March 6, 2009. The company has coal operations in Queensland and ore operations in western and southern Australia. Resource House plans to float on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to fund more Australian mines, including an investment in its Waratah Coal mine in Central Queensland.

Property developer eyes Asia Television Limited—Oriental Morning Post

Wang Zheng, Chairman of Shanghai Rongfeng Holding Group, has shown interest in buying out Asia Television Limited, one of the two television broadcasters in Hong Kong, according to a Hong Kong newspaper report.

The Shanghai-based property developer is considering buying a stake from Zha Maosheng who is the largest shareholder of the television broadcaster, Phoenix TV's chairman Liu Changle, Asia Television Limited's non-executive director Chen Yongqi, and CITIC Group.

Bank of China cuts discount on mortgage rate—The Beijing News

Bank of China, one of China's four major state-owned lenders, has reduced the discount on its mortgage rate for first-home buyers to 15 percent from 30 percent, as the banking regulator steps up measures to tighten lending.

But the other three major national lenders-- Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Bank of Communications, are still giving 30 percent discounts on the standard mortgage interest rate to first-home buyers.

Since late 2008, banks have been offering discounts on mortgage interest rates to encourage people to buy apartments.

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