介绍:
Do not hype yuan fluctuation: MOC
China's commerce ministry has responded that the recent moves of the yuan are more a result of the market impact.
The remarks come as the value of China's currency has been recently in the spotlight.
The yuan's exchange rate against the U.S. dollar has declined 0.4 percent in the first two months this year, a period in which the country also saw a shrinking trade surplus.
Shen Danyang, the spokesman at the Ministry of Commerce.
"We will cooperate with relevant departments to improve exchange rate formation mechanisms, aiming to keep the Renminbi's exchange rate stabile and at a reasonable and balanced level. In the meantime, we will expand the Renminbi's use in the economic and trade fields and step up its international competitiveness, in order to help enterprises fend off exchange rate risks."
Shen says China's outbound direct investment by non-financial firms has decreased 37.2 percent year on year in the first two months of 2014, standing at about 11.5 billion U.S. dollars.
"Compared to outbound direct investment in 2012, the number surged significantly in 2013 because there was a huge project in Feburary of last year, when China National Offshore Oil Corporation invested 14.8 billion dollars to acquire Canada's Nexen Company. That's the main reason why outbound direct investment in the first two months this year shows negative growth."
In the meantime, Shen Danyang says overseas investors set up over 2,700 new enterprises on the mainland in January and February, down 5.2 percent year on year.
Shen also says that economic and trade cooperation between China and Ukraine has been normal despite the current situation in the country.
China is now the second-largest trading parter for Ukraine.
The spokesman also talks about the Chinese investment in frustructure construction in Thailand.
Thailand has recently ruled a 2.2 trillion Baht program as unconstitutional.
A high-speed rail project between China and Thailand is part of the program.
Shen says that the project is legal, and China supports domestic enterprises to participate in the railway construction in Thailand.
China positive on investment treaty negotiations with U.S.
China's Ministry of Commerce remains positive regarding negotiations with the US over a new bilateral investment treaty.
Ministry spokesman Shen Danyang says his office is hoping for an agreement at an early date.
The treaty has been characterized by the Ministry of Commerce as being one of China's most important negotiations regarding the economy and trade, given that the discussions are between the world's two largest economies.
According to the spokesman, the talks will also offer a good opportunity to improve the country's foreign investment management system and for better protection of its overseas interests.
Talks over the treaty were initiated in 2008. The two sides held the 12th round of talks in Washington between March 4 and 8.
The cost of the National New-Type Urbanization Plan
New questions about cost are being raised following the release of the Chinese government's new urbanization strategy this week.
Under the so-called National New-Type Urbanization Plan, the authorities hope to see the urban population increase from its current level of 53.7-percent to 60-percent by 2020.
The plan also calls for the construction of green cities, using ecological advancements in urban development to create both green production and consumption.
The new broad-based outline has not detailed any costs.
However, most observers expect the goals will require hundreds of billions of yuan in investment to achieve the government's overall vision.
For more on the new urbanization initiative, CRI's Paul James spoke earlier with Gao Shang, analyst with Guangtong Futures.
…
That was Gao Shang, analyst with Guangtong Futures.
China's home price growth slows
Official data shows home price in major Chinese cities grew at a slower pace in February, with fewer cities seeing month-on-month price increases.
Last month, new home prices in 70 major cities monitored by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) rose by an average of 11.1 percent year on year, slowing by 1.3 percentage points from January.
The NBS says prices for existing homes rose 6.4 percent year on year, compared with an average growth of 7.4 percent in January.
On a month-on-month basis, 57 out of the major 70 cities saw rises in new home prices, fewer than 62 cities in January.
Prices dropped in four cities and stayed unchanged from a month ago in the other nine cities.
For existing homes, prices increased in 46 cities month on month, down from 48 cities in the previous month.
Prices dropped in 15 cities and stayed flat in nine cities.
China lottery sales surge 18.7 pct
Lottery sales in China surged 18.7 percent year on year in February to over 20 billion yuan, or about 3.3 billion US dollars.
The Ministry of Finance says sales of welfare lottery tickets have risen 18.9 percent to 11.8 billion yuan, while sports lottery sales rose 18.3 percent year on year to 8.25 billion yuan.
For the first two months of the year, total lottery sales stood at 47.2 billion yuan, up 13 percent from a year earlier.
According to China's lottery management rules, money raised through lotteries is used for the jackpot, management fees and welfare of the public.
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