Easing Foreign Investment Curbs

China has announced plans to halve the number of industries in which it restricts foreign investment, a move to further open up the market of the world's second largest economy. China will also improve the regulation of foreign investment and create a "stable, fair, transparent and predictable" business environment. Premier Li Keqiang said this at the opening of the Third Session of the 12th National People's Congress in Beijing on March 5. Li said China will revise its Catalog for the Guidance of Foreign Investment Industries and make its services and manufacturing sectors more accessible.

Silk Road Fund

China's newly established Silk Road Fund Co. Ltd. will give priority to seeking investment opportunities and providing monetary services all through the One Belt and One Road initiatives, the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, said in a statement. China in 2013 proposed building a Silk Road Economic Belt and a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road to improve cooperation with countries in a vast swathe of Asia, Europe and Africa. In November 2014 President Xi Jinping announced the creation of the $40-billion Silk Road Fund and it was established on December 29 last year. It will invest mainly in infrastructure, resource development and industrial and financial cooperation for common development and prosperity.

Farm Standardization

By the end of 2014, China had established 4,272 national-level demonstration zones in eight stages, edging closer to its goal of agricultural standardization, said Tian Shihong, head of the Standardization Administration of China (SAC). Demonstration zones are large-scale farming areas set up by the SAC as model estates to test agriculture, forestry, husbandry and fishery systems for improved production capacity. The SAC encourages local governments, leading agricultural enterprises and farmers to collaborate in the zones. China's vision for agricultural standardization involves infrastructure construction, product circulation and information feedback, and brand and talent building.

Rare Earth Exchange

China's first rare earth exchange performed well in its first year, turning over more than 35,000 tons of products. The trading volume of the Baotou Rare Earth Products Exchange, launched in March 2014 in Baotou, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, reached 5.6 billion yuan ($910 million) at the year-end, said Gu Ming, general manager of the exchange. Ninety-five rare earth firms and traders in about half of China's provinces have opened accounts with the exchange, an electronic platform created to help regulate the domestic rare earth industry and improve its transparency, Gu said. The exchange was initiated by China North Rare Earth Group Co. Ltd. and 12 other firms and institutions.

Tax-Free Vehicles

Over 42,800 new-energy vehicle buyers in China have been exempted from a 10-percent purchase tax since a new policy became effective in September 2014, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said. The ministry has designated three types of 377 new-energy vehicle models from 57 manufacturers that can enjoy the preferential policy. Buyers who enjoyed the benefit between September 2014 and January 2015 included owners of 36,600 passenger vehicles and 6,207 commercial vehicles. The government rolled out the policy to save energy and reduce pollution.

New Air Routes

China Southern Airlines will open a number of new routes connecting the southern city of Guangzhou with cities in Southeast Asia, Europe and Africa. The airline will start a route linking Guangzhou with Nairobi, capital of Kenya, on August 5. It also plans to have flights connecting Guangzhou with Rome in Italy, Sabah of Malaysia, Vientiane of Laos and Krabi of Thailand by the end of this year. Most of the cities are hubs within the proposed networks of Asian trade infrastructure known as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.