➲ Mobile Map Users

China is boasting a promising mobile map market, with the number of users estimated to reach 600 million at the end of 2015, according to a report released by market researcher Analysys International in September. Mobile map clients will account for about 64.6 percent of all cellphone users, the report stated. By the end of June, the daily average number of active mobile map users in China had reached 5.54 million, or merely 2.4 percent of mobile phone users.

➲ Treat Trade 'Rationally'

Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Chao has urged trade remedy investigators looking into the BRICS nations to "strengthen policy coordination and treat trade issues rationally and objectively." "Dialogue and consultation between governments and industries are preferred in addressing trade issues. We reject the abuse of trade remedy tools," he said at a seminar to discuss trade remedy issues, which consist of anti-dumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard measures. In the first half of the year, China was hit by 40 trade remedy investigations from 18 countries and regions. Seventy percent originated in major developing countries such as Brazil and India, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

➲ Banking Malaise

China's biggest banks still dominate the world's top 10 in terms of market capitalization and are among the most profitable globally, according to a report by Boston Consulting Group. But their falling valuation multiples suggest declining investor confidence in their future profitability. The big four state-owned banks were among the world's top banks, with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China maintaining the top spot. Chinese banks have an average of 22 percent after-tax return on equity, second only to Indonesia.

➲ Smart City Project

Telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp. announced its Smart City strategy in September, aiming to grab business opportunities in China's urban areas. The project is designed to provide integrated IT solutions, from information collection to application development, to governments at all levels.

ZTE said that the system will help improve government management, offer human-oriented services and facilitate people's access to public resources. The company has launched similar projects in a dozen cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen.

➲ Elevators Going Up

China has become the world's largest manufacturer and seller of elevators, with an average annual growth of over 20 percent over the past 10 years, said the organizers of the upcoming 2012 World Elevator Summit, which is set to open on October 25 in Beijing. By the end of 2011, China had installed more than 2 million elevators nationwide, while its elevator production and sales topped 450,000 units, accounting for more than 60 percent of the global total. Elevator exports volume exceeded 47,000 units in the same period. 

2%

China's CPI in August up from a year earlier

37.2 %

100 leading Mauritius firms' profit increase in 2011 

$4.8 Billion

Loan Egypt has requested from IMF

46.8 %

Beijing's prime office rental growth year on year by the end of June