China's business press carried the following stories on Tuesday. China.org.cn has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

Baidu CTO resigns —China Business News

Baidu, China's most popular search engine, announced Monday afternoon that its chief technology officer Li Yinan has resigned for personal reasons, following the departure of Ye Peng as chief operating officer on January 8.

Li joined Baidu in October 2008, when he began to lead the Internet giant's new technology department.

Sources revealed that Li submitted his resignation a month ago and will take up the post of CEO at a mobile service provider owned by China Mobile. Baidu will officially announce his departure on February 20.

Sales of new homes drop in Shanghai--Oriental Morning Post

As many as 2,690 new homes were sold in the first half of this month, a 53 percent decline from December, according to statistics released by the research department at Shanghai Yungching Reality Inc. The statistics also report that housing prices slumped 5 percent to 19,993 yuan (US$2,940) a square meter, compared with the same period last month.

Chen Shiling, deputy manager of Shanghai Yungching Reality, said the drop is a result of a series of recent government policies to cool the overheating real estate market prices.

Chery pulls out of slump—National Business Daily

Chery car exports reportedly jumped 40.6 percent to 7,593 units in December, claiming that it has stepped out of the financial crisis. The indigenous Chinese automaker's robust exports are considered a strong sign that its overseas factories have been on course for recovery.

Chery sold a total of 63,967 units in December, reaching a new high for home-grown brands after posting a record sale of 54,985 units in November.

Chery has sold more than 2 million cars in its 12-year history, topping all other privately-run Chinese automakers.

Citic Securities battered by huge sell-off—National Business Daily

Investors sold off shares of Citic Securities after punishment on its wholly-owned fund unit - China Asset Management Co. (ChinaAMC) - raised concerns about profit and performance of China's largest-listed brokerage. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has banned ChinaAMC since January 1 from launching new products, and may take further action if Citic does not start abiding by the rules by April 1, Citic Securities said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Stock of Citic Securities dropped 3.35 percent to 30.91 yuan (US$4.53) per share yesterday. Key shareholders of Citic Securities yesterday sold off 641 million yuan (US$94.2 million) worth of shares, creating the largest capital outflow from the stock market in 15 months.