➲ Benefits for Africa

China's investments in Africa have brought multiple benefits to the continent, providing better livelihood, more development opportunities and more choices for local people, said Liu Guijin, China's special envoy on African affairs, at the end of the three-day World Economic Forum on Africa. He said China's investments cater to Africa's needs for a diversified economy and the investments have increased rapidly and in a variety of forms, covering 49 of the continent's countries. 

➲ Focus on silk industry

China will pay more attention to the promotion of branded silk cocoon products in the international and domestic markets to support growth in the silk industry during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-15), according to the Ministry of Commerce. Some $3.26 billion was generated by the export of silk products in 2010. It was predicted that cocoon and silk products exports will continue to increase during the next five years.

➲ Curbing overcapacity

China is making efforts to curb overcapacity in its aluminum sector, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Supplies have far outweighed demands due to reckless expansion of the sector. Local governments must immediately stop building new electrolytic aluminum projects and cancel policy incentives to aluminum producers, including favorable tax rates and electricity charges. China's aluminum output topped 15.6 million tons last year and production capacity was 23 million tons. That means only 70 percent of facilities were in operation.

➲ Unemployment rate

China's urban unemployment rate stood at 4.1 percent by the end of March, with 9.09 million people registered unemployed, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. The first-quarter unemployment rate remained unchanged from the end of last year. In urban areas, 3.03 million jobs were created in the first three months and 1.33 million laid-off workers were re-employed in the January-March period. The government aims to keep the urban registered unemployment rate below 4.6 percent and create more than 9 million jobs in 2011.

➲ Updated guide

The National Development and Reform Commission released its revised catalog of industrial structure adjustment in May as a guideline for attracting investment and managing investment projects. The catalog highlights the government's support for modern agriculture, the service sector, emerging and sustainable industries, and indigenous innovation. It also raises the threshold and criteria for industries with a production overcapacity.

➲ GDP forecast

The World Bank, in its latest China Quarterly Update, projected China's real GDP growth at 9.3 percent in 2011 and 8.7 percent in 2012. But risks on inflation and the property market call for full normalization of the macroeconomic stance to keep growth on track, said the China Quarterly Update. Much of the impact of the higher oil and industrial commodity prices is still in the pipeline, inflation expectations are high and there is little spare capacity in the economy. Therefore, a full normalization of the macro policy stance is important, according to Louis Kuijs, senior economist at the World Bank China's office.

➲ Tourism promotion

A Chinese delegation of 18 journalists visited Egypt recently for a five-day tour at the invitation of Egyptian authorities who aim to attract Chinese tourists to the country. The delegation came from 12 media organizations based in Guangzhou, capital of China's Guangdong Province. Mass protests dealt a heavy blow to Egypt's tourism, a key source of income for the country. The revenue of this sector is forecast to fall 25 percent this year. Last year, the country hosted 12.7 million tourists and reaped $13 billion. The number of Chinese tourists to Egypt last year stood at 106,000.

➲ Smart phone growth

China's second largest telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp. is set to boost its smart-terminal business by becoming one of the top five global makers of smart phones running on Google's Android operating system this year. The company also aspires to become one of the top three tablet computer producers this year, competing in a market that is dominated by Apple and Samsung Electronics. ZTE expects to ship 12 million smart terminals in 2011, almost 90 percent of which will be smart phones. ZTE became the world's fourth largest mobile phone maker last year, with a handset shipment of more than 60 million in 2010.

➲ Haier profit up

Haier Group, one of the world's leading white goods and home appliances makers, announced recently that its first-quarter net profit jumped 47 percent year on year to 531 million yuan ($81 million). Haier attributed the profit surge mainly to an export boom in the first quarter. The Qingdao-based Haier sells its products in over 100 countries and regions around the world.

Numbers:

$53 billion

Revenues of China's software industry surged in the first quarter of 2011

15K

Job opportunities China's investments created in Zambia in 2010

 74 million KW

Planned China's rural hydropower capacity by 2015

15 million

The forecast number of foreign tourist arrivals annually by 2020 in South Africa