Yesterday, the H shares of the Jin Jiang Hotels (2006.HK) registered a drastic increase of 17.6 percent, closing at HK$3.75 with a turnover much higher than previously. An industry insider revealed that Kingdom Hotel Investment (KHI) was expected to acquire 20% of Jin Jiang's shares, thus becoming the hotel group's second largest shareholder. The KHI is a hotel investment company founded by Prince Al Waleed, perhaps better known by his nickname "the Arabian Warren Buffet". The deal between the two has been rumored for a long time.

If the deal can be signed as expected, the Jin Jiang Hotels will become the first state-owned hotel with foreign investment.

Yang Weimin, CEO of the Jin Jiang Hotels (2006.HK), insisted that the hotel had no contact with the Prince Al Waleed.

However, for most business observers, the long-rumored deal corresponds to KHI's investment strategy. The prince once revealed great interest in the Chinese hotel market.

The Jin Jiang Hotels is the largest hotel group in China. By the end of June 2007, it had established 328 hotels and inns in 88 cities of 29 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities throughout China. The Jin Jiang Hotels is currently ranked 29th among other world famous hotels in the latest issue of HOTELS. The Jin Jiang International Hotels Development Co., Ltd (600754) is a listed company under the Jin Jiang Hotels.

For more details, please read the full story in Chinese (http://www.dfdaily.com/node2/node27/node120/userobject1ai35997.shtml).

(China.org.cn November 1, 2007)