Briefly

More coal supplies to Sichuan, Chongqing

State-owned China Energy Investment Corp is ramping up coal supplies from production hubs like Shaanxi and Gansu provinces to Sichuan province and Chongqing, where a regional heat wave has led to high demand for power, after reservoirs used in electricity generation dried up. China Energy's coal unit has a wide range of coal sources, including self-produced coal and imported coal. From Aug 1 to 17, some 190,000 metric tons of coal were sent to Sichuan province and Chongqing, up 89.6 percent year-on-year, which is the highest level in history, the company said. It also increased the number of vehicles used to transport coal.

Shanghai trade value sets record in July

Shanghai's foreign trade value reached a monthly record high in July, surpassing 400 billion yuan ($59 billion), reaching 404.22 billion yuan, Shanghai Customs said. Exports and imports increased by 32.9 percent and 16.4 percent year-on-year, respectively. Exports of automatic data processing equipment and its components, including laptops and mobile phones, surged 52.8 percent year-on-year to 23.13 billion yuan, while exports of labor-intensive products reached 22.34 billion yuan, up 36.4 percent year-on-year.

Key municipality grows exports and imports

Southwest China's Chongqing municipality saw its foreign trade reach 496.76 billion yuan ($73.3 billion) in the first seven months of this year, up 12.3 percent year-on-year, according to the city's Customs authorities. Of the total foreign trade volume, exports rose 17.5 percent year-on-year to 324.48 billion yuan, and imports gained 3.6 percent to reach 172.28 billion yuan. From January to July, imports and exports of foreign-invested enterprises in Chongqing reached 233.41 billion yuan, up 11.9 percent year-on-year. Imports and exports of private enterprises reached 223.1 billion yuan, up 15.8 percent year-on-year.

Reverse repos add 2b yuan to system

The People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, on Friday conducted 2 billion yuan ($293.8 million) of seven-day, 2 percent reverse repos to maintain stable liquidity in the banking system. A reverse repo is a process in which the central bank purchases securities from commercial banks through bidding, with an agreement to sell them back in the future.

Xinhua - China Daily