SMALL GRAPES, BIG MONEY Ye Ping, a farmer in Mile, Yunnan Province, shows off grapes from her farm. She plants 11 mu (0.73 hectare) of grapes and reaps an annual income of more than 200,000 yuan ($32,600) (LIN YIGUANG)

Confidence Drops

Chinese consumers, particularly those with bankcards, showed weaker confidence in consumption in June, partly due to an unfavorable economic situation, according to an index released on July 9.

The Bankcard Consumer Confidence Index, compiled by Xinhua News Agency and China UnionPay, a national bankcard association, dropped 0.87 points to hit 85.56 points in June from May, marking the third month-on-month decline.

The index was down 1.11 points on a year-on-year basis in June, according to a report issued along with the index. A lower reading in the index shows a decline in consumers' desire to spend.

The report partly attributed the drop to an unfavorable macroeconomic situation in China.

The report also cited plunges in the stock market as a factor that dampened consumer confidence, as the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dived more than 13 percent in June.

The index, first released in April 2009, is based on bankcard transaction data and analyses of structural changes in urban consumption.

Euro-Asia Forum

The 2013 Euro-Asia Economic Forum will be held from September 26-28 in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, according to a press conference held in Beijing on July 5.

The forum will have more than 50 meetings covering different fields, including a conference on new energy, clean coal technology, and nanotechnology. It will also host several parallel activities, such as meetings on financial cooperation, energy development, economic growth, cultural heritage, education, new technology, tourism development and environmental protection.

The Euro-Asia Economic Forum is dominated by Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries, which include China, Russia and Central Asian nations.

The biennial forum was launched in 2005 and has been held four times since. Xi'an was named the permanent venue for the forum in 2007.