| Prominent Fashion Designer
 |
|
(CFP) |
Famous designer Guo Pei released her latest creations in Beijing on May 6. The fashion show is named Story of a Dragon and had been in the works for three years.
Guo, 45, started her designer career when she was 19. In 1986, she graduated from college and became one of the first professional designers in China. She is now regarded as China's top haute couture and high-end dress designer.
Guo's designs carry strong Chinese style, from embroidery to traditional patterns. But the traditional elements merge perfectly with modern influences. She also combines oriental flavor with Western cutting styles perfectly.
She has designed gowns for hostesses of China Central Television's annual Spring Festival Gala for several years. She was also the designer of the beautiful ceremonial dresses used in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. As chief designer and founder of the Rose Studio Haute Couture, Guo designed gowns for A-list stars, such as Zhang Ziyi and Song Zuying, for their biggest appearances.
China's first iron ore spot trading platform made its debut on May 8 as the country, the world's largest consumer of the commodity, strives to up its pricing power. First-day transactions totaled 242,000 tons.
The platform was jointly launched by China Beijing International Mining Exchange, China Iron and Steel Association and China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals & Chemicals Importers and Exporters.
The benchmark trading price will be set based on the average prices on the previous trading day, while the daily trading band is set at 10 percent.
So far, the platform has 152 members, including major Chinese steelmakers such as Baosteel, Anshan Iron and Steel Group and Hebei Iron and Steel Group, as well as top foreign miners BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Vale and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd.
A nationwide subsidy program for rural consumers failed to spur home appliance sales in rural China amid the economic slowdown in the first four months of this year, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM).
Home appliance sales in China's countryside fell 6.7 percent year on year to reach 61.68 billion yuan ($9.8 billion) during the January-April period.
The volume of appliances sold during this period dropped 16.4 percent to hit 23.34 million units.
As of the end of April, China had subsidized 241 million units of home appliances valued at 567.49 billion yuan ($90.08 billion) over the past two-and-a-half years since the subsidy program began.
Initiated in 2009 to stimulate rural consumption and buoy the nation's economic growth amid the global economic downturn, the subsidy program will be effective until January 2013.
Under the program, farmers can receive subsidies equal to 13 percent of the price of the home appliances they buy.
The MOFCOM said on May 8 it found that the European Union and Japan have been dumping certain high-performance stainless steel seamless tubes into the Chinese market.
Investigations showed the dumping has substantially harmed Chinese producers, and importers of those products will have to pay anti-dumping deposits to China's customs authorities starting from May 9, the MOFCOM said in a preliminary ruling released on its website.
The deposits will be charged in accordance with the dumping margins of different producers, at rates ranging from 9.7 percent to 39.2 percent of the customs value of the imported goods.
China is looking to triple the sales revenue of its high-end equipment manufacturing industry to 6 trillion yuan ($951 billion) by 2015, according to the sector's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) published by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on May 7.
Sales of high-end equipment will account for 15 percent of the overall revenue of the equipment manufacturing industry in three years, compared with 8 percent in 2010, and will also have a larger share of the global market.
The industry mainly includes aviation equipment, satellite and applications, railway transportation equipment, marine engineering equipment, and smart manufacturing equipment.
Aircraft manufacturing will be one of the key growth areas. China will also continue to invest in high-speed railway innovation and the exploration of global markets to establish its railway transport industry as the world leader.
China's securities regulator will allow retail investors to trade unlisted shares in a new national over-the-counter (OTC) market currently in the planning phase.
"When the trial OTC market goes nationwide in the future, we plan to let investors enter the market but they must meet certain requirements such as investment experience," said Yao Gang, Vice Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).
Guo Shuqing, Chairman of CSRC, said last month that preparations for the new OTC board, similar to the OTC Bulletin Board in the United States, were under way.
Bonds issued by China's local government financing vehicles surged in the first quarter of this year as urban construction continued to boost government demand for funding, the Shanghai Securities News reported.
These financing vehicles or companies set up by local governments to raise funds and bypass restrictions on direct government financing, floated 71 bonds in the first quarter, up from 54 during the same period last year.
A total of 84.5 billion yuan ($13.5 billion) was raised through the bond issuance, up 35 percent year on year, according to figures from the Shenzhen-based Pengyuan Credit Rating Co. Ltd.
Bond financing through local government financing vehicles will stay at a high level this year, Zhou Yuanfan, Vice President of the company.
Chinese laws stipulate that local governments are forbidden borrowing directly from banks and have only allowed four developed regions, including Shanghai and Guangdong, to issue bonds directly on a trial basis last year.
But due to a lack of direct financing channel, local governments circumvent the rules by setting up thousands of financing vehicles to raise funds. | 
