Specials
The biz news that made the news this year
By Yang Ning (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-12-29 16:51
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Editors of the top Chinese media outlets choose stories of the year
BEIJING - Of China's top 10 business stories of 2010 announced on Tuesday, six are related to the country's macroeconomic policies, involving the property and financial industries.
The ranking was organized by the Economic Information Daily and involved editors-in-chief and deputy editors-in-chief from 21 media agencies across China, as well as renowned economists.
Housing prices attracted the most attention. From the beginning of the year, facing surging housing prices, the central government adopted tightening measures aimed at stabilizing prices and curbing investment demand.
House prices in 70 major cities in November climbed 7.7 percent from a year earlier, slower than the 8.6 percent increase in October and the 9.1 percent growth in September, the recent figures from National Bureau of Statistics showed.
Private investment was also an eye-catching topic. In May, the State Council published guidelines on further encouraging private investment in a wider range of key industries, a move indicating that the authorities are placing more importance on the role of private investment in sustaining economic growth.
Private investment is being encouraged to flow into infrastructure sectors including transportation, water, oil, natural gas, power, mining and telecommunications. Other areas were public and social utilities, financial services, commerce and trade, and defense, according to the government's guidelines.
The renminbi has also been a hot issue. In June, the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, decided to proceed further with the reform of the exchange rate regime to enhance flexibility.
In continuing currency reform, emphasis was placed on reflecting market supply and demand with reference to a basket of currencies, said the central bank.
China's plan for the next five years also excited interest. In mid-October, the Communist Party of China issued its proposals for the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), thus establishing a framework that will begin next year.
The plan continues to emphasize "structural adjustments" to the Chinese economy and its growth model.
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, China's No 10 automaker, sealed a deal in March to buy the ailing Swedish luxury car brand Volvo from US giant Ford for $1.8 billion.
The deal is the biggest overseas automotive industry purchase by a Chinese company, and represents the most ambitious move by a homegrown auto brand.
The struggle for control between the founder and managers of Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings Ltd, China's second-largest electronics retailer by market value, challenged some traditional Chinese rules of the game.
It also led to a wide-ranging discussion about how to combine the two to build a long-lasting family-owned brand.