Zhou Jian, a spokesman for China Electronics Corporation Holdings Co., Ltd. (CEC) (0085.HK), today denied rumors that CEC had any plans to acquire state-owned circulating shares of Chinese TFT-LCD manufacturer BOE (000725.SZ), saying that CEC had not entered talks with BOE as had been rumored. Wei Jing, a spokesperson for BOE's listed company, said that the company had received no reports of the move and that there were no such plans at present.

Recent industry rumor had claimed that in the face of continued bleak prospects for the LCD panel manufacturing industry, Beijing Yizhuang International Investment & Development, Beijing BOE Investment & Development, Beijing Economic-Technological Investment and Development Corporation, Beijing Industrial Developing Investment Management, and Beijing Electronics Holdings - all of which are controlled by the Beijing municipal office of China's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) - were all in discussions with CEC in hopes of passing on their state-owned circulating A-shares in BOE.

Another industry rumor a month ago claimed that CEC was in talks with Irico Group Electronics Company (0438.HK), China's largest picture tube manufacturer, regarding an outright acquisition of the company. According to the rumor, initial agreements for the acquisition had already been signed and are awaiting government approval. CEC and Irico both denied the rumor not long afterward.

According to Zhou, CEC did at one point intend to acquire Irico and other centrally managed state-owned enterprises in the hopes of achieving synergies through asset consolidation. He stressed, however, that the acquisitions had not progressed beyond the idea stage into planning or talks.