China's central bank said Friday that the country's foreign exchange reserves as of the end of the fourth quarter last year topped $3.18 trillion, down $20.6 billion from the previous quarter.
Jiang Qigang likes his food. He says that just three months ago, he would frown and grumble about only having a three-course meal at dinnertime. However, he has been forced to relent and grudgingly make do with the once hard-to-accept arrangement because of soaring food prices.
Price control remains a dominant topic at the ongoing provincial-level "Lianghui" -- "two sessions", which refers to the annual meetings of China's two top political organizations -- although the consumer price index (CPI) has been declining over the past five months.
China will significantly improve logistics in its grain production industry by 2015 as part of the country's efforts to tackle "arduous challenges" to ensuring food security, a senior agriculture official said Thursday.
Revenues from customs duties in China jumped 29 percent year-on-year to more than 1.61 trillion yuan ($256 billion) last year, Yu Guangzhou, chief of the General Administration of Customs said Thursday.
Australia is set for an A$112 billion ($115 billion) infrastructure boom as the nation adds ports and railways to feed China and India's appetite for coal and iron ore.
China's western regions have become the new hotbed for illegal land seizures in 2011, the country's top land administrator said.
China's inflation rate in 2012 will continue to be driven by rising food prices, a result largely of rising labor costs and other agricultural conditions, analysts said.
A large diamond deposit that can be mined for more than 30 years has been discovered in Liaoning province, officials from the local geology and mineral resources exploration bureau said on Wednesday.
The Chinese capital began releasing hourly air pollution data on Thursday to address growing public concern over air quality.
Inflation eased to a 15-month low in December, further fueling speculation that the government may ease monetary policy.
Food prices drive up CPI
China will continue to expand energy ties with Central Asian countries, which have proven to be a fruitful model of mutually beneficial cooperation, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Thursday.