People's Daily Online - China Business
23-billion ton ultra large coal field discovered in China's Turfan Basin
After efforts by geological exploration teams for over a year, an ultra large coal field with a forecasted 23 billion tons of total reserve was found in the famous Turfan Basin in China.
Reporters learnt from the Department of Land and Resources of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region that, the newly-discovered coal field is located in the Sha'er Lake in Piqan County of Turfan Region in Xinjiang.
The coal mine occupies an area of over 300 square kilometers with a gross minable thickn ...
Construction of Xiamen-Zhangzhou Cross-sea Bridge begins
Construction of the Xiamen-Zhangzhou Cross-sea Bridge has officially begun.
The project adopts a standard two-way expressway design with six lanes and a designated speed of 100 km/h. An estimated total of 4.986 billion yuan will be invested into the project. After the bridge is put into operation, it will take only 20 minutes by car from Xiamen to the China Merchants Zhangzhou Development Zone.
It will shave 35 kilometers off the traveling distance from Xiamen to Guangzhou. The Xiamen-Zh ...
Dreams of assembling Chinese cars in Russia dissolve
Chinese automakers are forced to withdraw from the Russian market and China's dreams of assembling vehicles in Russia have also come to a complete end, according to reports from 163.com.
China's Great Wall Motor Company has recently dissolved a joint venture it registered in the Republic of Tatarstan within the Russian Federation, according to the news from 163.com.
The relevant dissolution procedures are underway.
Chinese carmaker teamed up with the Republic of Tatarstan's Land and Pr ...
Oman to set up fund worth $390 mln to boost stock market
A senior Omani official said that his government will set up an investment worth 150 million rials (some 390 million U.S. dollars) to boost the stock market, which has seen a decline of nearly 50 percent from this year's peak, local Oman Daily Observer reported on Friday.
The fund will be managed by a specialized fund manager on a commercial basis to provide protection from high undue volatility on the securities markets, according to the report.
It will also buy the securities o ...
LA Auto Show starts under cloud of industry crisis
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The Los Angeles Auto Show has made a low-key start as executives from the biggest US automakers appeared in Washington to seek a multi-billion dollar loan to keep the industry afloat.
The Los Angeles exhibition, the second most important car show on the US ...
NZ dairy giant Fonterra slashes forecast payout for farmers
The New Zealand dairy industry giant Fonterra on Friday slashed its forecast payout to farmers for this season.
The payout for the year to May 2009 has been cut by 60 cents to 6 NZ dollars a kilogram of milk solids.
Fonterra cited a drop of 24 percent in international dairy commodity prices in the past eight weeks as a contributing factor, and warned that world prices would remain weak.
Fonterra Chairman Henry van der Heyden said declining prices across all commodities, i ...
Tokyo stocks end up 2.7% on bargain hunting
Tokyo stocks staged a dramatic rebound on bargain hunting Friday, closing more than 2 percent higher after extending losing streak earlier in the day.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average advanced 207.75 points, or 2.70 percent, from Thursday to 7,910.79.
The broader Topix index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was up 20.41 points, or 2.61 percent, to 802.69.
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Chinese shares close 0.72% down amid regional market rebounds
Chinese shares dropped by 0.72 percent to close at 1,969 points on Friday amid rebounds on other Asian equities markets.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, fell 0.72 percent to 1,969 points. The Shenzhen Component Index gained 0.22 percent to 6,711 points.
The slight drop indicated that investor sentiment was boosted by rises in the regional market and expectation of a further interest rate cut over the weekend, said analysts.
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Three Gorges Project contributes over 20 bln yuan in taxes
The Three Gorges Project has turned over a total 20.277 billion yuan in national taxes since its first generating unit began operation on July 10, 2003, according to the State Administration of Taxation of the Three Gorges dam zone in Yichang, Hubei province.
Since the first turbine generator was put in use, there are now 26 turbine generators in operation as of October 30 this year.
By adding 100 megawatts of electricity from the electrical power supply plant, the project's installed cap ...
Chinese individual investors allowed to trade Au99.95-category gold
Individual investors were allowed to buy and sell Au99.95-category gold as of Friday at the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE), the Shanghai Securities News reported.
In a notice issued on Thursday, the SGE said from Friday it would allow individual traders to buy and sell Au99.95, the type of gold used in the manufacturing of ornamental items. It also said Chinese commercial banks were free to decide the date to start individual gold investment services.
The minimum trading lot size w ...
China Telecom, Microsoft sign cooperation agreement
China Telecom and Microsoft recently signed a strategic cooperation agreement. They announced that they will jointly develop in China a co-branded Messenger, instant communication software, based on the new generation Windows Live service platform released by Microsoft.
The person-in-charge of China Telecom said that this cooperation will further support China Telecom's strategy to make itself a world's leading provider of comprehensive information.
According to the terms of the agreemen ...
Canada housing market plunges but not to collapse
Canada's housing market is plunging significantly but a U.S.-style collapse is not expected in the future, according to a report released by the country's top economists Thursday.
The Scotia Economics report said that Canada's housing market is finally tilting towards the buyers after the longest postwar housing boom for the past decade.
Home prices in Canada appreciated 61 percent during the past 10 years and in 2008, real price growth has turned negative, like in other nine ma ...
APEC ministers discuss financial crisis, food security, WTO trade talks
Amid what are widely considered the most difficult economic circumstances since the creation of APEC, APEC ministers gathered in Lima on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the global financial crisis, food security, WTO trade talks and other issues.
"Our commitment is to strengthen regional cooperation through APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) to address the challenging financial and economic outlook, continue to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, support ...
Singapore further lowers key exports growth forecast
Singapore on Friday further lowered its growth forecast of non-oil domestic exports (NODX) for this year, saying it will fall 5 to 7 percent due to declining orders for electronic goods and pharmaceuticals from the United States and Europe.
Growth of the key exports this year is expected to be between -7.0 to -5.0 percent, down 3 percentage points from the earlier projection of -4.0 to -2.0 percent, while that for next year is expected to between -1.0 to 1.0 percent, trade promotion agen ...
Dollar edges up to 94 yen level in Tokyo
The U.S. dollar edged up to the lower 94 yen level Friday morning in Tokyo after falling to the upper 93 yen range.
At noon, the dollar fetched 94.33-38 yen, against Thursday's 5p.m. quotes of 93.65-75 yen in New York and 95.23-26 yen in Tokyo.
The euro traded at 1.2455-2460 dollars and 117.53-58 yen, versus late Thursday's quotes of 1.2449-2459 dollars and 116.69-79 yen in New York and 1.2507-2509 dollars and 119.12-16 yen in Tokyo.
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Japan's central bank keeps key interest rate unchanged
The Bank of Japan (BOJ), or the central bank of the country, kept its key interest rate unchanged at 0.3 percent, it announced on Friday.
The BOJ Policy Board voted unanimously after a two-day board meeting to keep the central bank's target rate for unsecured overnight call money stable. Last month it lowered the benchmark lending rate in the interbank market from 0.5 percent to the current level for the first rate cut in more than 7 years.
The Japanese economy "has been increas ...
Japanese gov't considers additional steps to calm stock market
Japan is studying whether any additional steps is needed to calm the turbulent stock market amid global financial crisis, Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa told a press conference Friday.
"We agreed in Washington to make our policies consistent. Japanneeds to think immediately about what it can do and implement policies" to stabilize stock markets, the minister said.
Leaders of the world's major economies pledged last Saturday in Washington that they will work together and take a ...
China shares close morning trade 4.3% lower
Chinese shares ended the morning trade 4.3 percent lower on Friday, as investor sentiment got hard hit by massive sell-off on Wall Street overnight sparked by fears of a deep and prolonged recession.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, slid 84.95 points, or 4.28 percent, to 1,898.81. It opened 2.65 percent lower at 1,932.60.
Buying interest was becoming weaker after earlier broad market rally and continued declines on regional markets, Everbr ...
Hong Kong, Peru sign trade and investment agreement
Hong Kong and Peru signed a Cooperation Arrangement on Trade and Investment Facilitation on Thursday in Peru, a press release from the Information Services Department of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said on Friday.
According to the press release, Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Rita Lau signed the cooperation arrangement with Peruvian Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Mercedes Araoz Fernandez. The signing ceremony took place at the ...
China starts development of new regional aircraft
The research and development of China's new generation of turboprop regional aircraft Modern Ark 700 (MA700) recently started, said Geng Ruguang, deputy general manager of China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I), at the Commercial Aircraft Forum China 2008 on November 20.
This new generation, updated from the MA 600, will be more energy-efficient and fit for high altitude aviation, said Geng at the forum.
The 70-seat MA700 regional aircraft, developed by Xi'an Aircraft Industry Comp ...