IN BRIEF (Page 10)

Beijing dairy subsidies

The Beijing municipal government has subsidized dairy farmers in the city suburbs who have suffered from shrinking demand after the tainted milk scandal.

From October 1 to 7, for each of the 120,000 cows in Beijing, farmer received 15 yuan per day.

A new emergency rescue plan will be introduced in the coming weeks, the government said.

27.7 billion yuan for aid

By August more than 20 provinces and municipalities had promised to offer more than 27.7 billion yuan for rebuilding efforts in earthquake-hit Wenchuan, Sichuan province, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) says.

The NDRC says the provinces and municipalities have pledged to provide Wenchuan each year with no less than 1 percent of their fiscal income in the previous year.

Affluent Zhejiang province has promised to provide more than 6 billion yuan within three years and Shanghai pledged 8 billion yuan. In total, the central government will raise about 1 trillion yuan for the reconstruction, the NDRC said.

New micro-credit rules

Shandong province has introduced detailed regulations for a registration system for micro-credit lenders.

This is part of the government's efforts to legalize the micro-credit companies backed by private capital. Previously the government has taken a laissez faire attitude toward the micro-credit lenders and there have been no regulations.

Under the regulations, a micro-credit company needs registered capital of no less than 50 million yuan to set up a limited liability company. The figure should not be less than 70 million for launching a limited liability company.

Before registration at the local administration of industry and commerce, the lenders must secure approval from the local finance authorities.

Small business help

Dongguan, in Guangdong province, plans to finance struggling small businesses in the city with 1 billion yuan.

That follows a move by the city government to aid low-income earners this year with 1,000 yuan per person to offset the impact brought by the rising CPI.

The new financing plan is designed to aid small businesses, especially the export-oriented companies, which have been hard hit by the rising labor and material costs, the yuan's appreciation and the depressed global market.

Dongguan, which neighbors Shenzhen, is home to many of the country's small companies focusing on processing trades.

The new plan is pending approval fror local lawmakers.

(China Daily 10/13/2008 page10)