➲ Expanding trade relations

China and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) should strengthen their economic cooperation to help both achieve stable growth and advance the global economy, while there are still many uncertainties with the global economic recovery, said Vice Premier Wang Qishan in early June at the China-SADC Investment and Business Forum in Beijing. Established in 1980, SADC consists of 15 nations that cover 33 percent of the area of Africa. The SADC was set up to stimulate trade and investment within the region and implement regional economic integration. China is now the largest trading partner of the southern African region.

➲ A boost to lending

The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) in June announced measures to provide better access to financing for the country's small firms. The measures aim to support commercial banks to help their credit growth for small businesses match their average lending growth. A loan of less than 5 million yuan ($770,000) to a small company will be viewed as retail lending, which brings less interest-rate risks compared with wholesale loans. The CBRC supporting measures come at a time when a number of small firms have reportedly shut down recently because of difficulties acquiring loans amid monetary tightening policies.

➲ Hi-tech eco-district

China plans to build Xi'an and Xianyang, an area where the capital of 13 ancient Chinese dynasties stood, into a hi-tech eco-district, in northwest China's Shaanxi Province. According to the plan, the new area will be mainly focused on developing the province's strategic emerging industry, environment-friendly and low carbon industry, high-end manufacturing industry and modern service industry in the future. The area is expected to be a model for future Chinese cities, as it will embrace ancient Chinese culture and modern hi-tech industries, said the plan.

➲ Investment for infrastructure

An amount of 6.2 trillion yuan ($954 billion) has been allocated to upgrade China's transportation infrastructure during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-15), said the Ministry of Transport. The money will pay for the construction of road and waterway transportation facilities, with road construction accounting for a large part of the budget. According to a development plan released by the ministry, China will construct 108,000 km of highway during the 12th Five-Year Plan period. By the end of 2015, the country's highway network will cover more than 90 percent of cities each with a population of 200,000 or more.

➲ Simplifying forex

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange announced recently that it will simplify procedures regarding the management of capital accounts in a bid to encourage trade and investment. According to the new regulation, which became effective on June 1, companies will not need to register with the local foreign exchange authority for deferred payment under the trade credit registry regulation. They will also not be required to register when they need to reverse the exchange for advance payment.

➲ Upgrading power grids

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) recently issued a notice asking local governments to upgrade their rural power grids in a bid to boost the nation's rural power infrastructure and improve the life of rural residents in the next five years. The uniform pricing of electricity will be realized between rural and urban areas, said the NDRC notice. Further, the Central Government will add more funds to support these projects.

➲ Plane export

AVIC Xi'an Aircraft Industry (Group) Co. Ltd., the maker of the Modern Ark 60 (MA60) passenger plane, said that it had signed a contract to sell four MA60s to a Peruvian airline express company. The MA60, which was introduced in 2000, is China's only domestically developed regional passenger aircraft in service. MA60 aircraft have been delivered to 14 countries in Asia, Africa and South America and are in use on more than 100 routes, according to company statistics.

➲ First charging station

Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region started construction of its first electric vehicle charging station as part of an ambitious new energy vehicle plan that is unfolding in China. The station, which is being built in the town of Ningdong, about 40 km east of Yinchuan City, offers 50 chargers and two charging posts, according to the Ningxia Electric Power Co. The power company plans to build 33 charging stations and 1,620 charging posts in the region over the next five years.

➲ Wind tech center

Asia's first third-party wind energy technology center began operating in June in north China's Tianjin, specializing in testing fan blades. The wind energy technology center belongs to the SGS-CSTC Standards Technical services Co. Ltd., a joint venture of China Standard Technology Development Corp. and Swiss-based SGS Group. It is located in Tianjin Binhai New Area, home to about 30 domestic and international wind energy equipment manufacturers. The wind energy technology center covers an area of about 10,000 square meters with a total investment of 70 million yuan ($10.8 million).

Numbers

25.8%

The rate of China's fixed asset investment up in January-May

 10%

China's auto sales could drop in 2011

$17.8billion

Overseas-related contracts signed at the Harbin Trade Fair in June

 3 billion

Loan Egypt to get from IMF for the fiscal year 2011-12

8.4%

Mozambican economy growth in the first quarter of 2011