China fines Hitachi, CRRC unit for failing to declare joint venture

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's commerce ministry has fined Japan's Hitachi Ltd <6501.T> and a unit of domestic trainmaker CRRC Corp <601766.SS> <1766.HK> 150,000 yuan (15,892.67 pounds) each for failing to declare a joint venture set up over three years ago. Hitachi and Beijing CNR agreed in March 2013 to set up a rail traffic signal joint venture and obtained a business licence a year later but failed to declare the tie-up to authorities, the Ministry of Commerce's anti-monopoly bureau said in a statement on Wednesday. Beijing CNR was a unit of China CNR, which merged with rival trainmaker CSR Corp to create CRRC Corp last year. In a separate statement, the commerce ministry said it had also fined Bombardier and China's New United Group 400,000 yuan and 300,000 yuan respectively for failing to declare a joint venture set up in 2015 to bid on urban rail and tram traffic signal contracts. (Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)