More Affordable Housing

China should increase the availability of affordable housing and expand property tax reforms, according to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). A recent report by the CASS called for the government to increase the supply of low-income housing to guarantee "affordable, reasonable and suitable living space" for all city residents as more rural migrants move to cities. The think tank suggested that the government speed up public housing construction, introduce differentiated property tax policies and expand pilot programs for property tax reform.

Economic Census

China will carry out its third economic census in 2013, said the State Council. Statisticians from around the nation will survey all enterprises in secondary and tertiary sectors, and the census will facilitate further economic planning. Researchers will collect data on enterprise ownership, financial status, production capacity and research and development activities during the year-long census. The Central Government and its local branches will jointly pay for the census. The State Council has ordered local governments to clamp down on potential irregularities in the census, including the falsification of data, forging of census results and interfering in census procedures.

Bank Profits Slow

Experts have predicted that China's lucrative banking sector will see a fall in its net profit increases this year due to the burden of interest rate reforms initiated by the Chinese central bank's two consecutive rate cuts. Zhou Kunping, Vice General Manager in charge of financial research at the Bank of Communications, said that the net profits of China's banks will slow to single-digit growth in 2013, as the whole sector is expected to be subject to more supervision. His words were echoed by Guo Tianyong, researcher of the Central University of Finance and Economics. Guo said that banks, especially small and medium-sized ones, will face more pressure as interest rates are now more market-oriented. To reinvigorate the slowing economy, the central bank introduced two interest rate cuts in June and July 2012, which experts believe served as a prelude to further interest rate reform.

Outsider Oversight Committee

The Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) has set up a special committee to supervise the collection and management of donations to improve transparency. The committee members were chosen from the public, and include professionals, celebrities and volunteers with academic, legal, financial, medical and media backgrounds, announced the RCSC via its microblog on weibo.com. The organization did not release the names of the committee members. The statement also said that at their first meeting in December 2012 committee members discussed the committee's charter and reviewed several reports from the RCSC, including its financial report, information on the activities of its major charity programs, and the work of volunteers.

Mobile Payment Standard

China will soon reveal technical standards for mobile payments as the transaction method becomes more popular, said Li Dongrong, Vice Governor of China's central bank, at a forum on mobile payment in Beijing. Mobile payment refers to financial transactions made using mobile devices, mainly cell phones, which relay orders to the buyer's bank account to complete transactions. The central bank has been considering rolling out technical standards for mobile payments since 2011. Mobile payment will help China diversify its financial services, Li added.

Retail Sales Grow

China's retail sales are expected to top 20 trillion yuan ($3.21 trillion) in 2012 and grow quickly in response to government efforts to boost domestic demand, said Zhang Zhigang, head of the China General Chamber of Commerce. Total retail sales may exceed 30 trillion yuan ($4.76 trillion) in 2015, given an annual growth rate of 15 percent. The retail sector is expected to expand rapidly as China has adopted a long-term strategy to increase domestic demand and promote consumption. China's retail sales rose 17.1 percent year on year to 18.4 trillion yuan ($2.92 trillion) in 2011, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

Polluting Products Directory

In December 2012, the Ministry of Environmental Protection issued a directory of polluting and anti-pollution products and behaviors in a bid to curb the production, use and export of polluting goods, as well as to raise public awareness of environmental issues. The directory, updated annually, is aimed at strengthening enterprises' sense of environmental responsibility and optimizing the country's economic structure, according to a ministry statement. It features 596 products that produce a great deal of pollution and environmental risks, 68 polluting behaviors, 64 environmentally friendly technologies and 28 pieces of environmental protection equipment.

Numbers

3.45 %

Year-on-year drop of FDI in China in the first 10 months of 2012

35%

Estimated percent of Chinese natural gas in 2015 demand that will need to be met by imports.

1.75 billion

Passengers on China's railways in the first 11 months 2012

$500 million

Value of Chinese loans used for road infrastructure development in Ghana

$2.4 billion

South Africa's record trade deficit in October 2012