From Xinhua via People’s Daily online :

China’s CITIC Securities Co. is to cancel a deal to buy into Bear Stearns after news that the fifth largest investment bank in the United States is to be bought out by JPMorgan Chase & Co.in a bid to save the troubled lender.

“We will not carry out the deal — the situation has changed,” Tuesday’s China Daily news quoted CITIC Group chairman Kong Dan assaying. JPMorgan Chase & Co. ‘s agreement to buy Bear Stearns for 236.2 million U.S. dollars represents a stunning collapse for one of the world’s largest investment houses. The newspaper also reported that CITIC Securities, the country’s largest securities firm in term of market value, had also scrapped plans for a joint venture in Hong Kong with Bear Stearns.