Asia This Day:China Wants More Godiva Chocolate

Godiva Chocolatier Inc. plans to open 15 new stores this year in China.The privately held firm has a goal of expanding to about 100 stores there over the next 3-4 years.Ding Shuang,Senior Economist at Citigroup,said industrial data from China wasn't as bad as expected.Growth has stabilized,although at a very low level.We have an estimate that GDP may fall to the 7-7.5 range for Q2.The interest rate cut last week is a very strong signal of more easing ahead by the central bank.We think they may have to cut the rate again to arrest the downward trend of growth.It is quite volatile,and policy is very much needed to stabilize growth,Mr.Ding believes.Asian shares opened higher Monday morning on optimism about China and the Spanish request for a 125 billion dollar bailout.It's not a bailout,Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy insisted;it's a loan to stabilize the financial system.China's exports rose 15.3%,more than doubling the estimate.Consumer prices were below target for the fourth straight month,rising 3% versus an estimate of 4%.Passenger vehicle sales were up 22.6%.China will revive its cash for clunkers program to keep the car business rolling.Spain's Telefonica is selling half of its stake in China Unicom,unloading the shares for 11 dollars apiece,while China is buying up cheap oil for its strategic petroleum reserve.This is affecting the global market,driving the price of oil up the most in five months-along with renewed hope because of the Euro-zone help for Spain.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1.76% on the news in early Monday trading,while the Indian Nifty Fifty gained 1.05%.China Unicom Ltd.(CHU),Citigroup(C),Telefonica SA ADR(TEF)