IN BRIEF (Page 10)

Assets overseas rise

China's financial assets overseas amounted to $2.29 trillion by the end of last year, up 39 percent year-on-year, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said on Friday. Its financial liabilities overseas reached $1.27 trillion, up by 23 percent year-on-year.

Coal-to-liquid project

Sasol, the world's leading producer of clean fuels from coal and natural gas, said it is progressing well in its feasibility studies in building two coal-to-liquids plants in partnership with Shenhua Group. The two companies will finish the feasibility study for the two projects at the end of 2009. Both projects will have a production capacity of 80,000 barrels per day of diesel, jet fuel, naphtha and liquefied petroleum gas.

Private equity group

Beijing private equity association was founded in the capital on Friday, in a bid to boost the city's investment and make it one of the centers of leading financial services. The association has 50 private equity members. In the quarter, private equity has invested $1.33 billion in Beijing, accounting for half of all the investment made on the mainland.

Chocolate spending

China's chocolate consumption is increasing 10 to 15 percent a year as living standards rise, buoying demand for cocoa, a consumer market research firm said. "Chinese consumers are demanding higher quality products, which generally contain more cocoa," said Song Songyun, deputy general manager of Beijing-based Sinomonitor International.

Mortgage revamp

The government should take a differentiated mortgage policy to help middle and low-income families buy houses, experts said on Friday at a real estate credit forum.

"The launch of low-rent housing partly addressed the housing difficulty of low-income families. For middle-income families, the government should take a differentiated mortgage policy combining commercial credit and government power," said Zhu Zhongyi, vice-chairman of China Real Estate Association.

Agencies-China Daily

(China Daily 06/21/2008 page10)