ODI UP

China has become the fifth largest global investor in outbound direct investment (ODI), rising from a ranking of 12th in 2008, according to the Ministry of Commerce. The ministry also said that ODI grew by 1.1 percent from a year earlier to $56.53 billion, which includes investment of $47.8 billion in non-financial sectors worldwide, up 14.2 percent year on year. Globally, foreign investment decreased by almost 40 percent last year amid the financial downturn and is expected to show only marginal growth this year.

TEXTILE CAPACITY CUT

China's "textile town" Shaoxing County was set to reduce its annual textile printing and dyeing capacity by 710 million meters of textile before September 15, in a bid to save energy and cut emissions. An official from the local government said the reduction is about 5 percent of the current capacity of the county, which is located in east China's Zhejiang Province. The official also said 600 sets of illegal and outdated textile printing and dyeing facilities in 40 companies had been shut down.

FREE THERAPY

China's Ministry of Health will offer free psychological counseling to at least 80 percent of migrant workers in 65 counties and cities nationwide as part of a pilot project that kicks off this year. The move aims to help migrant workers better adapt to their work environment and help ease the pressure of urban life. All employers are urged to set up a health database for migrant workers in all 65 counties.

SOFTWARE BIZ SOARS

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced that revenues in the software industry rose by 29 percent year on year to reach 723.1 billion yuan ($106.3 billion) in the first seven months of 2010. Software design and development businesses reported 40.7 billion yuan ($6 billion) in revenues in this period, surging 78.1 percent year on year, while revenues from information technology consulting services totaled 72.6 billion yuan ($10.7 billion), up 36 percent.

BIO-FUEL RISK

Africa could face an ecological risk due to the large scale of bio-fuel production currently spreading on the continent, according to a recent report by Friends of The Earth, an international environmental protection organization. At least 5 million hectares of land in 11 African countries has been purchased by business groups from Europe and Asia to grow sugar cane, palm oil and Tung oil trees in order to refine bio-fuel. Opponents are worried that such operations will deprive the continent of farmland and tropical rain forests, bringing ecological damage that may outweigh the benefits of bio-fuels.

EXPORTS/IMPORTS

China's exports increased 34.4 percent in August from a year earlier to reach $139.3 billion, but the pace of growth slowed from July's 38.1 percent surge, according to the General Administration of Customs. The country's imports rose 35.2 percent year on year to reach $119.27 billion in August, with the growth rate up 12.5 percentage points from July. The trade surplus for the first eight months of the year was $103.9 billion, down 14.6 percent from the same period last year.

INVESTING IN THE YEN

The People's Bank of China, the central bank, says in the first half of 2010, China bought a record 1.733 trillion yen ($20.2 billion) in Japanese government bonds, which is 7 times the amount bought in the entire year of 2005. Analysts said this shows that due to the euro's depression since the European sovereign debt crisis, China, whose euro holdings make up a major share of its foreign exchange reserves (FERs), is seeking to diversify its FERs.

FOREIGN INVESTMENT

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan said China would create a better environment for foreign companies. "The Chinese Government will firmly stick to the policy of reform and opening up," he said when meeting with Samuel Berger, former U.S. Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs under the Clinton administration from 1997 to 2001. Wang said he hoped foreign companies could have confidence and patience in China's market potential and the country's long-term development.

CPI STILL RISING

China's consumer price index (CPI), a major gauge to measure inflation, rose by a 22-month high of 3.5 percent in August compared with one year earlier, said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The growth rate was 0.2 percentage points higher than that in July. Food prices, which account for about one third of the weighting when calculating CPI, climbed 7.5 percent year on year in August, according to NBS.

NUMBER CRUNCHING

31 Billion

The volume of E-commerce retail sales in China in the first half of 2010

4.7%

Africa's industrial production growth rate in 2010

10.81 Billion

Sino-South African trade volume in January-June 2010

50%

The reduction of Tunisia's crop production due to large-scale draught this year

70 Million

China's predicted vehicle population by the end of 2010