介绍:
China March CPI Grows 1.4 pct year on year, PPI Contraction Narrows
China's consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, gained 1.4 percent year on year in March.
The increase in the CPI is the same as in February. The 0.8-percent gain in January had been the lowest level in more than five years.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices in March edged down 0.5 percent from February.
Meanwhile, producer prices slid 4.6 percent year on year last month.
It is the 37th consecutive month of declines.
The drop in the producer price index (PPI), a measure of costs for goods at the factory gate, narrowed from February's 4.8-percent decline.
On a monthly basis, the PPI contracted 0.1 percent in March, narrowing from a 0.7-percent decline in February.
Experts say the risk of broad-based deflation in China has abated as prices for consumer products rose at the same pace as in February, while declines in costs at the factory gate stabilized.
Professor Huang Yiping is with the National School of Development at Peking University.
"The increase in CPI has dropped below 2 percent from the 5 percent level in China since 2011. I think that indicates the pressure from inflation is declining, but there have not been signs of deflation."
A string of economic indicators for this year, including manufacturing and trade data, have all suggested continued weakness in the Chinese economy.
The Chinese government has set this year's economic growth target at around 7 percent and its inflation control target at around 3 percent.
NDRC Cuts Bond Financing Threshold for Key Sectors
China's economic regulator has loosened bond-financing-requirements to boost investment and consumption in several public projects.
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) says four sectors are expected to benefit from the new policy, including urban underground pipelines, strategic emerging industries, old-age services, and urban parking lots.
Specifically, information technology, biology, high-end equipment manufacturing, alternative energy, new materials, and alternative energy vehicles will receive financial support via bond issuances.
Local governments are also going to draft preferential policies to enhance support for such bond issues.
Meanwhile, the NDRC has also cut the debt ratio and rating requirements for qualified issuers.
China Starts Anti-dumping Probe into Paper from EU, US and Japan
China's Ministry of Commerce has launched an investigation into claims that the European Union, United States and Japan are selling a paper product at unfairly low prices.
The ministry says the investigation will decide whether dumping of unbleached sack paper, used for food packaging, has occurred.
The investigation will last one year, with the potential for a six-month extension.
China spends big on environment protection
Data released by China's economic regulator shows more than 150 billion U.S. dollars has been spent since last year on land rehabilitation, air pollution controls, and clean water projects.
The National Development and Reform Commission says energy conservation and environmental protection projects benefit China's economic restructuring.
It also says that the targets for energy conservation and emission reduction were the government's top priorities this year.
The central government is planning to reduce energy intensity by about 3 percent of annual GDP this year.
Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect might Increase in Volume
It's being reported the China Securities Regulatory Commission is considering raising the daily investment quota through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect system.
Reports suggest the CSRC has been talking with several brokerage firms about the planned move.
This follows word the daily investment quota by mainland investors in Hong Kong stocks has been reached in recent days.
Mainland investors used the entire 10.5 billion yuan quota for buying Hong Kong listed stocks on Wednesday.
This pushed up the Hang Seng by some 3.7 percent that day.
A lack of initial interest by institutional investors on both sides had been raising questions about the viability of the Stock Connect system in the early stages.
Apple Watch Preorder Kicks off
Pre-orders for Apple's first smart watch have begun.
The new Apple Watch is available for pre-order online or can be tried on in stores.
Liu Yanjian, a customer from Beijing, says the new watch has a number of attractive features.
"The Apple Watch's digital crown function is quite good, along with its back function and sliding screen, which are all very convenient. With such a small screen on the smart watch, it's not very convenient to use the sliding function. But with the digital crown function, I think it changes the style of interaction between human and machine."
The smart watch is priced higher in the Chinese mainland market than in the US.
The Apple Watch sport will sell at a little below 3-thousand yuan or 479 US dollars.
The high-end "Edition" watch with 18-karat gold alloy is priced at 145-thousand yuan or over 23-thousand US dollars.
The new Apple Watch will officially go on sale on April 24.
Apple's new MacBook laptop has also gone on sale in its online store today.
China Collects over 20 bln yuan in Mineral Resources Compensation Fee
China has collected more than 20 billion yuan in compensation fees for mineral resources last year. The amount is the equivalent of about 3.3 billion U.S. dollars
It's the second highest total following the record of over 21 billion yuan set in 2013.
The mineral resource compensation fee is charged to safeguard the state's property rights and interests over mineral resources.
The fee was introduced in 1994 and assessed at an average of roughly 1.2 percent of sales revenues for miners.
Currently, mineral resource rents in China mainly take the form of resource taxes and resource compensation fees.
Wanda Cinema Line's Net Profit up a third in 2014
The cinema branch of property developer Wanda Group has reported 5.3 billion yuan in operating revenue for last year, roughly 870 million U.S. dollars and up nearly 33 percent from the previous year.
Net profits also increased by about 33 percent to 800 million yuan.
Wanda's 182 cinemas earned 4.2 billion yuan in box office sales in China last year.
Wanda cinemas have a 14 percent market share, the largest share among 48 theater chains nationwide.
The company is planning to open 40 new theatres this year.
大家还在听
