New-energy cars
The Chinese Government continues its support to the use of new-energy vehicles in an effort to save energy and cut emissions by raising subsidies for new-energy car buyers in 2014 and 2015. A standard released in September 2013 said that the country would lower the subsidies for new-energy cars by 10 percent this year from the level of 2013, and by 20 percent in 2015. However, according to a statement jointly issued by China's Ministry of Finance and three other government departments in February, the country made an adjustment that it will lower subsidies by only 5 percent in 2014 and 10 percent in 2015 from the level of 2013. The change came into effect on January 1, 2014.
Low-cost airlines
China's aviation authority has approved the establishment of two new airlines and given guidance to support lowcost airlines. The two newly approved ones are Jiuyuan Airlines and Fuzhou Airlines, said Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). Hainan Airlines, the fourth-largest carrier in China, will invest 1.2 billion yuan ($198.36 million) into Fuzhou Airlines, which has 2 billion yuan ($329.8 million) registered capital. Jiuyuan Airlines, with 600 million yuan ($98.9 million) registered capital, will have Junyao Airlines, a privately-owned carrier based in Shanghai, as its major investor. The CAAC has made some preferential policies on aircraft purchasing, routes and slots application as well as service standards to encourage low-cost airlines.
Reform priorities
China's banking industry watchdog announced its reform priority in 2014 as to pilot three to five private banks that will bear their own risk, opening up the banking sector to domestic and foreign private capital. The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) will gradually reduce the threshold for foreign banks to enter the banking sector and ease their RMB operation requirements. The CBRC will keep a close eye on major housing developers, and reduce the risk of default through weak links in the construction industry's money chain. Also on the banking regulator's radar are restructuring and technological upgrades in overcapacity industries, liquidating their assets and reducing the risk of default.
Undersea tunnel
China plans to build the world's longest underwater tunnel beneath the Bohai Sea by 2026, with a blueprint expected to be submitted to the State Council, China's cabinet, in April. As is approved, work could begin as early as 2015 or 2016, said Wang Mengshu, a tunnel and railway expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering who has worked on the plan since 2012, adding the project will cost an estimated 220 billion yuan ($36 billion). The 123-km underwater tunnel will house a rail line connecting the port cities of Dalian in northeast China's Liaoning Province and Yantai in east China's Shandong Province. Once finished, the current 1,400-km drive or about eight hours' ferry journey between the two cities will be reduced to only 40 minutes.
Online Consumer Protection
China's industry and commerce authority unveiled an e-commerce regulation to better protect online consumers and further clarify the obligations of online marketplaces. Taking effect from March 15, the regulation stipulates that online consumers are allowed a seven-day period to return goods for refunds, though it does not apply to the purchase of customized products, fresh and perishable products, digital products such as software and online downloadable products, and newspapers and magazines. Online business owners or service providers are barred from using unfair competitive practices to harm other business owners, such as using similar domain names, titles or logos of wellknown companies, said the regulation unveiled by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.
Improving nutrition
China's Central Government issued a guideline to develop the nation's food industry, vowing to establish systems to improve people's nutritional intake. The guideline said that although the production capacity of food has been strengthened and people's diet and health has been improved, China's food production fails the demand for nutrition. Lack of micronutrients and an excess of fat should be addressed. And the government vowed to establish mechanisms to monitor people's diets, strengthen supervision and information analysis, and intervene in areas or among groups where people are suffering from bad nutrition. The guideline said the average daily energy intake of people should be between 2,200 to 2,300 kilocalories, with at least 50 percent of energy provided by grain, and energy provided by fat comprising no more than 30 percent.
Numbers:
$540 billion
China's foreign trade in services in 2013
4.1%
China's urban unemployment rate in 2013
2.16 million units
China's auto sales in January 2014
5%
Expected GDP growth of Namibia in 2014
$543 million
Revenue earned by Kenya from its export economic zones in 2013 financial year
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