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PetroChina Co., the nation’s biggest oil and gas producer, is looking to make more deals in Australia, adding to about US$3.7-billion in acquisitions as part of a global drive to feed surging Chinese demand. “As one of the key markets in our Asia and Pacific operations, PetroChina is willing to expand our presence in Australia when a good opportunity arises,” Mao Zefeng, a Beijing-based spokesman for the world’s second-biggest energy company by market value, said in an e-mail to Bloomberg.

Goldman Sachs may have been significantly off the mark on its call for a bumper rally in Chinese equities in 2012, but this year, the U.S. investment bank is confident that its upbeat outlook for the market will materialize.

Encana Corp.’s $1.18-billion joint venture with state-owned PetroChina Co. signals the first of many foreign deals as companies seek to navigate new Canadian rules that favour minority stakes over takeovers. Athabasca Oil Corp., Talisman Energy Inc. and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. may attract overseas investors eager to gain access to oil and natural gas resources, as the companies seek funds for drilling and development costs.

Submitted by Brandon Smith from Alt-Market China Surpasses U.S. As Number One Global Trading Power

Singapore is again ranked first for Ease of Doing Business by the World Bank.

Inquiring minds are reading the South China Morning Post which says Yuan deposit growth slowingYuan deposits in Hong Kong may have dropped significantly last month due to falling trade volumes with the mainland and a weakening of the currency in the offshore market, analysts said.

L.Desjardins submits: While volume remained low, the Shanghai and Hong Kong markets traded within a 3% range. The lower close on Friday is largely due to tension on the Korean Peninsula and the fact that many traders did not want to maintain large positions over the week end. Beijing will release its November PMI data on Tuesday and the markets will remain edgy and volatile, particularly the energy and materials sectors.

L.Desjardins submits: Rumors that Beijing would relax some rules introduced to cool down the property market were quashed at the beginning of the week and the release of the GDP figure on Thursday restarted the debate over the state of the economy. The end result was a lackluster week in the markets.