IN BRIEF (Page 18)

Auto

Car warranty rules to take effect

A new regulation on auto warranties will take effect on Oct 1 that gives Chinese customers unprecedented rights to return a faulty vehicle for a replacement or refund.

In January, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine issued the 3R regulation - repair, replacement or return - to begin on Oct 1.

The new warranty plays a vital role in regulating the auto market, analysts say, and has been warmly received by customers, dealers and carmakers, but they warn there are still challenges with regard to implementation, and authorities must continue to revise regulations while working to enforce them.

Entertainment

Wanda to build world's largest film studio

Dalian Wanda Group, owned by China's richest man, Wang Jianlin, unveiled a plan on Sept 22 to build the world's biggest film studio in the eastern coastal city of Qingdao.

The property and entertainment conglomerate intends to invest 30 billion yuan (almost $5 billion) in the Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis, which will consist of 20 studios, including one which Wanda says will be the world's largest at 10,000 square meters, and a permanent underwater stage.

The 540-hectare park will include a movie theater, wax museum, exhibition center, yacht club, hotels and other cultural and tourist facilities. Expected to be completed in 2017, the park will host around 30 foreign production groups and at least 100 domestic teams annually.

Railways

China sells 10 bullet trains to Malaysia

China's CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive has sold 10 inter-city bullet trains to Malaysia, the company announced on Sept 21.

The trains, with 4G network coverage and eco-friendly equipment, will be used on a 900-km railway in Malaysia, according to their manufacturer. The trains run at an average speed between 140 to 160 km per hour.

The first train is scheduled for delivery in two years, and the rest nine months later, according to the agreement. CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive sold 38 bullet trains to Malaysia in 2010, which was the first export of the Chinese-made trains.

Aviation

Chengdu opens direct flight to London

China's third direct air route with London opened on Sept 23 with a British Airways Boeing 777 landing at Chengdu's Shuangliu International Airport in Southwest China.

The airline will operate the flight on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, becomes the third city after Beijing and Shanghai in the Chinese mainland to have direct flights to London. The flight will save six to eight hours in transit time for passengers from China's vast central and western regions, who used to fly via Beijing, Shanghai or Hong Kong.

Finance

Capital outflow pressure eases in China

Capital outflow pressure in China is easing as the country's economy stabilizes, according to analysts.

Newly released data shows that China's total yuan funds outstanding for foreign exchange reversed two consecutive months of decline and rose in August. The funds stood at 27.39 trillion yuan ($4.48 trillion, 3.32 trillion euros) at the end of August, up 27.32 billion yuan month on month, the central bank said.

The funds, a major indicator of international capital movement into or out of China, declined in June and July, raising concerns of massive capital outflows.

"Cross-border capital has begun to return to China as the economy shows signs of stabilizing," said Lian Ping, economist at the Bank of Communications.

Analysts believe that the slow growth of foreign trade in the first half of the year, and the US Federal Reserve's plan to taper off quantitative easing are the main reasons behind the capital outflows.

Shanghai to evaluate company info disclosure

Company information disclosure will be evaluated by the Shanghai Stock Exchange, according to a circular posted on its official website on Sept 23.

The circular said SSE will evaluate information under certain categories, including authenticity, precision, how complete they are, promptness, and fairness. The exchange will release its opinion as a regulator for refinancing applications, mergers and acquisitions, the circular said.

Early this year, the China Securities Regulatory Commission punished companies that broke regulations concerning information disclosure. In March, Yao Gang, deputy head of CSRC said securities regulators will focus on regulating information disclosure when reforming the issuance examination system.

Technology

China set to lead telecoms revolution

China is expected to become the world's biggest Long Term Evolution fourth-generation market in the near future, even though the country is still waiting for final approval from the government regarding the issuing of 4G licenses.

The country is about to embrace a critical phase for developing its LTE industry, said Wen Ku, director of the department of science and technology at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, at an LTE forum held in Beijing on Sept 23.

According to the vision from the Strategy and Implementation Plan of Broadband China, China's penetration rate of 3G LTE users will reach 85 percent, totaling 1.2 billion users by 2020.

Resources

Increase in rare earth purchases likely

China is likely to purchase billions of yuan of rare-earth minerals starting next month to bolster its strategic reserves, industry sources say.

Du Shuaibing, an analyst with market trends firm Baichuan Information, said that six large rare-earth producers are on the list for the purchasing program, which was launched last year. This round of purchases will target medium and heavy rare earths, which are more valuable but less common than light rare earths, he added.

Du said it the plan could involve about 10,000 metric tons of rare earths.

Trade

No US punitive duties on Chinese shrimps

Imports of frozen warm-water shrimps from China, Ecuador, India, Malaysia and Vietnam do not hurt or threaten the US industry, said the US trade authority in a final ruling on Sept 20.

The US International Trade Commission denied a ruling by the Commerce Department on final countervailing duties on shrimp imports worth $1.9 billion from the five countries.

The ITC said in a statement that "US industry is neither materially injured nor threatened with material injury by reason of imports of frozen warm-water shrimp from China, Ecuador, India, Malaysia, and Vietnam that the US Department of Commerce has determined are subsidized."

New global top trader coming to stage

Thanks to a recovery in the global economy and reform at home, 2013 is likely to see China replace the United States to become the world's largest trader, a Ministry of Commerce spokesman said on Sept 24.

"The primary force for trade improvement comes from the government's efforts at stabilizing the economy and boosting foreign trade with supportive measures," Shen Danyang said at an economic seminar in Beijing.

He added that China's share of global exports will keep increasing after expanding from 10.3 percent in 2010 to 11.5 percent in the first half of this year.

China's foreign trade has regained steam in recent months. The first eight months saw China's trade rise 8.3 percent from a year earlier with exports up 9.2 percent and imports increasing 7.3 percent.

China Daily Agencies

(China Daily Africa Weekly 09/27/2013 page18)