HIGH SPEED EXPANSION: A bullet train sets out from Xi'an North Railway Station for a test run to the city of Baoji on September 23. The 163-km route in northwest China's Shaanxi Province is yet another addition to China's growing high-speed rail network (TANG ZHENJIANG)

Home Prices Rise

Prices of both new and existing homes continued to rise in most Chinese cities in August, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Of a statistical pool of 70 major Chinese cities, 66 saw a month-on-month rise in new home prices, up from 62 in July and 58 cities reported month-on-month price gains in resold homes in August, compared to 57 in July.

On a year-on-year basis, new home prices rose in 69 cities last month, the same as the July figure, while 68 reported higher year-on-year prices for resold homes in August, up from 67.

The data cover the nation's large and medium-sized cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, provincial capitals, and others.

Runaway home prices led the government to issue guidelines in March to tighten control of the real estate sector, including higher transaction taxes, restrictions on purchases of multiple homes and higher down payments, but the policies failed to arrest the surge.

Fuel Upgrade

Chinese drivers will have to pay more in fuel prices amid the country's drive to reduce air pollution through upgraded fuel quality.

In the next two years, the prices of motor gasoline and diesel that meet the national "fourth-phase" standard will be raised by 290 yuan ($46.8) per ton and 370 yuan ($60.46) per ton, respectively, said the National Development and Reform Commission on September 23.

China has announced stricter motor fuel standards in a bid to reduce harmful emissions after smog blanketed much of the country at the beginning of 2013.

The State Council has mandated that sulphur content for both gasoline and diesel be set at no more than 10 ppm (parts per million) by 2017, a reduction from the fourth-phase standard of 50 ppm.

Beijing is the only city in China to have already adopted the "fifth-phase" standard, equal to Europe's Euro V vehicle emissions cap of sulphur content below 10 ppm.

Under the country's timetable of fuel quality upgrades, motor gasoline should meet the fourth-phase standard by the start of 2014 and motor diesel by the start of 2015; both gasoline and diesel should meet the fifth-phase standard by the start of 2018.

Cultural Investment

Dalian Wanda Group, owned by China's richest man Wang Jianlin, unveiled a plan on September 22 to establish a massive movie industry project in the coastal city of Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, with investments of more than 50 billion yuan ($8.2 billion). This is part of Wang's cultural development strategy and an attempt to create a Chinese cultural brand abroad.

The property and entertainment conglomerate intends to invest in the Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis, consisting of 20 studios including one—which Wanda says will be the world's largest—of 10,000 square meters and a permanent underwater stage.

The 540-hectare Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis will also include a movie theater, wax museum, exhibition center, yacht club, an international movie festival, hotels and other cultural and tourist facilities.

Wang, who acquired the America-based cinema operator AMC in 2012, has high hopes for China's film industry, estimating the China's box office will surpass that of the United States by 2018. He expects domestic film revenue to be double that of the United States by 2023.

Scheduled to be completed in 2017, the park plans to host around 30 foreign production groups.