➲ Auto Tax Reduction

China has announced a second wave of tax cuts for clean-energy cars, specifying 64 types of new energy-saving vehicles covered by the scheme. The government has decided to halve vehicle taxes for buyers in these cases, in a bid to boost slow sales of green cars in the country. The fees for users of seven types of electric automobiles will be removed, according to a document jointly released by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the State Administration of Taxation in June.

➲ Employment Figures

A total of 764.2 million people were employed in China as of the end of 2011, including 359.14 million who worked in urban areas, said the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security recently. Of the total, about 34.8 percent worked in the primary industry, 29.5 percent in the secondary industry, and 35.7 percent in the tertiary industry, said the ministry. By the end of 2011, the number of foreigners working in China with employment permits topped 241,900.

➲ Electrical Waste Processing

The Ministry of Finance said recently that China would start amassing a special fund from July this year to subsidize the cost of dealing with waste electrical and electronic appliances. The fund will be paid by domestic producers and importers of electrical and electronic appliances, according to a regulation jointly issued by the ministry and five other departments. The fund's establishment aims to promote comprehensive utilization of resources and encourage energy conservation and environmental protection. Under the regulation, the collection and subsidy criteria vary for different appliances.

➲ Urbanization Rate

China's urbanization rate reached 51.3 percent at the end of 2011, according to a report released by the China Association of Mayors recently. The China Urban Development Report 2011 shows at the end of last year the country had 30 cities with a permanent population exceeding 8 million, and 13 cities with a population of more than 10 million. With over half of China's population now living in cities, experts said that the country should still improve conditions in its urban centers by paying more attention to people's quality of life, the balance of urban and rural development, benefits for migrant workers and protection of natural and cultural resources.

➲ Winter Wheat Harvested

The Ministry of Agriculture said in June that 55 percent of the country's winter wheat has been harvested. More than 1 million people gathered about 13 million hectares of winter wheat in China's central and northern provinces, according to the ministry. The ministry expected that 510,000 combine harvesters will be used on this year's summer harvest.

➲ Expand Hi-tech Trade

China's exports and imports of mechanical and electronic products will see an average annual growth of 10 percent during the coming five years to reach $25 trillion by 2015, according to a development plan released by the Ministry of Commerce in June. The plan said China will further improve product quality and boost the ratio of hi-tech products in its exports. It will also actively promote imports of advanced technology equipment and key components and take steps to improve the trade balance in the sector, according to the ministry.

➲ RMB Internationalization

The internationalization of the renminbi is the will of the market rather than a government-backed move, said People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan recently. Zhou said China needs to continue removing restrictions on transactions and further open the nation's financial market. A statement from the State Council said that the country will speed up the opening of its financial market, including allowing qualified foreign institutions to invest in China with the yuan, and expanding the use of the yuan in overseas markets.

➲ Boost Green Economy

China will accelerate the industrialization of its renewable resources to foster a new industry with strategic significance, said Xie Zhenhua, Vice Minister of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in June. He said that the NDRC has drafted the National Sustainable Economy Development Plan for 2011-15 to be submitted to the State Council for approval soon. The plan calls for 10 demonstration principles, 100 demonstration cities and 1,000 demonstration enterprises and industrial parks, as well as a series of preferential policies regarding finance, tax, pricing and investment in a bid to accelerate the development of China's green economy.

➲ Diversify Tourism Products

Kenya called for the urgent need to develop and promote other tourism products instead of relying solely on beaches and safaris for marketing. The country's Tourism Minister Danson Mwazo told the industry's stakeholders to chart the way forward for the sector and called for different thinking and strategizing in order to refurbish the sector by looking at new tourist attractions. "Every visitor to the country says Kenya is beautiful. We have the lion, the jungle, the tropical and the beach. However, we should develop new products so that repeat visitors can sample other magnetisms as opposed to experiencing the same items every time they visit Kenya," he said.

12.7%

China fiscal revenue up January to May

14-15%

Nigeria inflation expects to peak in Q3 2012

1.03 Billion

China's mobile phone users at the end of April

5%

HK's civil servants' pay up

$7 Million

UN mobilized support for the Senegalese Government to fight against food shortage