IN BRIEF (Page 10)

Yangtze Delta guidelines

China's State Council, or the Cabinet, recently approved guidelines to boost the development of the Yangtze River Delta.

The region will step up efforts for industrial upgrading and becoming an advanced global manufacturing base, according to the guidelines.

The region should also improve its overall capacity and ability to innovate while aiming for sustainable development, the guidelines said.

The guidelines also urged the delta to modernize its agricultural sector, conserve energy and land, protect the environment and perfect its employment and social security systems.

Beijing's 1 trillion yuan GDP

Beijing's GDP is expected to reach 1 trillion yuan this year thanks to the Olympic Games, which has boosted the city's economy with infrastructure investment, according to Wang Haiping, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission.

Figures from the Beijing Statistics Bureau show that the city's GDP reached 497.3 billion yuan in the first half of this year, up 11 percent from the same period last year.

Wang said GDP per capita in Beijing saw a rise from $3,262 in 2001 to $7,654 last year, and the figure is expected to surpass 8,000 dollars this year.

Xinjiang trade doubles

The import and export value of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region doubled in the first seven months of this year to $11.58 billion, 70 percent more than the national average growth rate.

Xinjiang exported $9.89 billion worth of commodities from January to July, about twice compared to the same period last year, and imported goods were valued at $1.69 billion, an increase of more than 80 percent, according to statistics from Urumqi Customs.

Xinjiang's conventional bulk goods for export included garment and accessories, footwear, machinery and electronic products, textile yarn, fabrics and related products, and farm produce.

Investment rules loosened

Shanghai has decided to let foreign investors, including private equity and venture capital funds, register legally as local equities investment firms as China's financial hub moves to lure more overseas investment.

Foreign investors with a focus on Chinese equities can set up a Shanghai-registered entity with initial capital of 100 million yuan or more with the legal status of a local investment company and receive special tax treatment, according to a city government document.

Qualified foreign investors would include private equity funds, venture capital funds, buyout funds and hedge funds, it said.

Shanxi power back

Top thermal power plants in China's Shanxi province have resumed operation as coal stocks rise, among the first signs that China's worst power crisis in four years is easing, Reuters quoted a local newspaper as saying.

Power shortages in the coal-rich province, among the worst hit in this summer's power crisis, have eased to below 1.5 gW, an improvement from a maximum gap of 5 gW forecast earlier. Inventories of thermal coal have risen to above 10 days of consumption.

China is facing its worst summer power crisis since 2004, caused mainly by a coal shortage that has forced nearly half the nation to ration power, hitting a number of key sectors, particularly energy-intensive metals.

Emissions trade plan

Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, is preparing to launch an emissions trading plan, according to Zhang Jianfei, mayor of Changsha.

Changsha will assign its local districts quotas for dust, carbon dioxide and chemical oxygen demand (COD), a measure of water pollution.

"We are considering innovations like an emissions trading market," Zhang said, as he listed other pollution-reducing measures like taxation and pricing schemes.

Changsha will assign levels to each district and then fine them if they exceed the level or give incentives if they are under. They could then trade those quotas, Zhang said, estimating the system could be in place as early as next year.

(China Daily 08/25/2008 page10)