➲ Railway investment

The Ministry of Railways announced that China plans to invest 400 billion yuan ($63.49 billion) on railway infrastructure construction in 2012, representing a decline from the 469 billion yuan ($74.4 billion) in 2011. Railway construction, especially development of high-speed rail lines has been slowing down in the country since a deadly train crash in July 2011. The ministry will raise capital for railroad building through bond issuance, bank loans and other market tools.

➲ Gas price reform

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in December of last year initiated a pilot program in Guangdong Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to link natural gas prices with import prices of alternative fuels. The NDRC said it will introduce a "gate price" ceiling for each province, and make regular adjustments to the "gate price" according to import prices of alternative fuels.

The government currently sets natural gas prices largely according to domestic production costs, but the method has been less reasonable as the country becomes more dependent on imports for natural gas.

➲ First 3D TV

China's first three-dimensional TV channel began trial broadcasts on January 1, 2012. The channel, China 3D TV Trial Channel, is jointly operated by national broadcaster CCTV and five local TV stations. Viewers with 3D TV sets and wired high-definition digital TV set-top-boxes are able to watch the channel's 3D-effect programs. China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television said that the launch of 3D TV services would boost the country's consumer spending, as consumers would begin to replace China's 500 million TV sets with new 3D ones.

➲ Weakening confidence

The index of entrepreneur confidence declined to 68.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, 1.8 percentage points down from the third quarter, according to a survey conduced by the People's Bank of China, the central bank. Of the 5,000 entrepreneurs surveyed, 24.8 percent said that the nation's economic status quo is "relatively cool," while 67.1 percent believed that things are still normal, down from 74.3 percent in the first quarter.

➲ Crop yields boost

A United Nations initiative in Mozambique aiming to increase seed quality will help the African country capitalize on its arable land and unlock its potential, UN officials said. The effort, launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization, seeks to help Mozambican farmers by increasing the quality of local seed production and boosting the country's overall crop yields. Following a surge in global food prices during the 2007-08 biennium, the UN initiative has become central to food stability across the country.

➲ Xiaomi gets VC

China's smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp. has secured $90 million in venture capital fund-raising less than two months after its popular budget smartphone hit the market.

The latest round of fund-raising attracted foreign investors such as IDG Capital, Temasek Holdings and Qualcomm Inc., and brought the total investor financing to $130 million for the 18-month-old firm. The company's first phone, which cost only 1,999 yuan ($317), less than half the price of an Apple iPhone 4, has sold more than 300,000 units since it hit the market on October 20, 2011.

➲ Banking services absent

Banking services were still absent in 1,696 remote towns and townships at the end of 2011, according to data issued by the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC). In October 2009, the CBRC initiated a nationwide program asking banking institutions to expand their services to remote areas. By the end of last year, 1,249 remote towns and townships had become beneficiaries since the program was launched. The commission aims to provide banking services to all rural towns and townships across the country by the end of 2012 to fill a "financial services vacuum" in rural areas.

➲ Soy imports eased

China, the world's largest soy buyer, posted the first fall of annual soy imports in seven years since state reserves were released to cool food inflation and retail cooking oil prices were capped, hurting crushed margins. Figures from the General Administration of Customs showed that the country imported 5.42 million metric tons of soybeans in December in 2011, down 4.9 percent from 5.70 million tons in November.

➲ SAIC booms

SAIC Motor Corp. Ltd., China's largest listed automaker, said in a statement that it sold 4.01 million vehicles in 2011, up 11.9 percent from a year ago. The growth was much higher than the average around 3 percent growth for the whole industry in China. Top three best selling cars in 2011 - Excelle, Lavida and Cruze - were all made by SAIC. It is expected to unveil a plug-in hybrid car and electric car this year.

$53

BillionRecord investment in China's water conservancy in 2011

9%

China's FDI growth in 2011

 12 Million [+]

New jobs China added in cities and towns in 2011 

$600 Million

Foreign loan Kenya seeks for 2011/2012 financial year

$16.5 Billion

Investment planned by Angola to improve the power sector by 2016