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

China Unicom, Spain's Telefonica ink US$1b share swap -- Beijing Business Today

China Unicom, one of China's three major telecom carriers, announced Thursday that it has completed a share exchange worth US$1billion with Spanish telecom operator Telefonica.

According to the share swap agreement, China Unicom and Telefonica will purchase US$1 billion worth of each other's shares. After the transaction, China Unicom will hold 0.88 percent of Telefonica's stake, while Telefonica's stake holding in China Unicom will increase from 5.38 percent to about 8 percent.

The two companies will also expand their strategic alliance, according to China Unicom's statement. Under the alliance agreement, the two companies will deepen cooperation in areas of consortium purchasing, mobile service platform development, international roaming and technology R&D.

CIC expands direct investment in mining, energy and housing -- China Securities Journal

China Investment Corporation (CIC) has expanded direct investment in open market products and the mining, energy and real estate industries, said CIC Chairman Lou Jiwei.

After the breakout of the global financial crisis, prices of stocks and commodities have returned to a more reasonable level, said Lou. He noted that CIC has accelerated investment progress this year by diversifying timing, asset types and risks of investment.

The US$200 billion sovereign wealth fund slowed down its pace of investment under the financial crisis. According to Lou, CIC maintains a cash ratio above 87 percent in its total assets, and has achieved a capital return rate of 6.8 percent.

Beijing Shougang reports profit surge in Q3 -- Beijing Business Today

Beijing Shougang Co., Ltd. (Stock Code: sz000059) reported on Thursday that its profit rose to 318 million yuan in the third quarter, up by 1400 percent year-on-year.

According to its quarterly report, Shougang's business revenue reached 5.9 billion yuan in the third quarter, rising by 4.17 percent year-on-year. The jump in profit, said Shougang, was because its earnings in the third quarter of last year were influenced by production reduction for the Olympic Games.

Beijing Shougang achieved 16.7 billion yuan in revenue from January to September this year, down 16.76 percent year-on-year. The company's net profit in the first nine months was 413 million yuan, down by 27.69 percent year-on-year.

70% listed companies expect profit increase in 2009 -- China Business News

Of the 153 listed companies that released forecasts of their financial results for 2009, 100 companies predict a profit increase for the whole year.

According to Wind Info data, 31 companies report profit surge, 18 firms will be able to turn losses into gains, 39 firms expect profit to rise slightly and 22 firms forecast continued gains this year after recently ending losses.