Investment rules
The People's Bank of China issued detailed rules last week allowing
commercial banks to invest overseas on behalf of their clients.
The central bank said the move was designed to promote international balance
of payments and gradually make the yuan convertible under the capital account.
Qualified commercial banks must separately apply for a licence and quota from
the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the State Administration of Foreign
Exchange.
The provisional rules, which took effect last Tuesday, did not specify the
amount banks would be allowed to invest offshore.
Bilateral ties
Chinese President Hu Jintao said last week that business co-operation has
driven the growth of Sino-US relations, and vowed to promote bilateral business
ties.
"Strong business ties satisfy the fundamental interests of our two countries
and will continue to play an important role in boosting and stabilizing our
relations," Hu said.
He also expressed hopes of working together with the US side to enhance
mutual trust, deepen co-operation and promote the growth of constructive and
co-operative China-US relations in all fields.
Environmental goals
Premier Wen Jiabao called on the nation last week to view environmental
protection from a strategic perspective, and warned of the worsening ecological
situation in some regions.
Wen said economic growth targets had been easily met in the country's 10th
Five-Year Programme (2001-05), but major environmental protection objectives set
for the same period were not achieved.
The State Environmental Protection Agency had already expressed a similar
message earlier, saying that eight of the 20 environmental goals set for the
10th Five-Year Programme had not been achieved.
These unfulfilled goals include the reduction of sulphur dioxide and carbon
dioxide emissions, the effective handling of industrial solid waste, and
improvements to wastewater treatment methods.
Share flotation
The China Securities Regulatory Commission said last week that it would allow
companies to float shares on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges,
following a suspension of almost one year.
It said companies would initially be allowed to sell shares to selected
investors through placements, followed by sales of additional shares, and
finally the launch of initial public offerings (IPOs).
The regulator didn't offer specific dates for the plans, but commission
spokesman Dai Biao said that the raising of capital would start before May 1.
IPOs have been suspended since May 2005, when the government started its
securities reforms to convert about US$210 billion of non-tradable State-owned
shares of domestically listed companies into stock that could be bought and sold
on the market.
Legitimate software
The National Copyright Administration of China said last week that China's
intellectual property rights watchdog is doing everything it can to promote the
use of legitimate software.
It said licensed software is used in all government departments, and that
increasing numbers of enterprises and individuals are installing it in their
computers as well.
The central government has been attempting to root out pirated software in
its offices by earmarking up to 150 million yuan (US$18.7 million) to foot the
bill for licensed products.
Local governments have also allocated funds for the purchase of authorized
software.
Multilateral trade
China is firmly committed to the multilateral trading system and will
continue to actively participate in the Doha Round of trade negotiations, a
senior Chinese official said last Wednesday.
Vice-Minister of Commerce Yi Xiaozhun said the multilateral trading system
represented by the World Trade Organization (WTO) had played an important role
in improving the stability and predictability of the international trade
environment.
China is therefore firmly committed to this system and will continue to
participate in all WTO undertakings in a constructive manner, he said.
(China Daily 04/24/2006 page2)
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)