WEST CHINA ON DISPLAY: A light aircraft draws the attention of visitors at the 14th West China International Fair, held on October 23-27 in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province (XUE YUBIN)

Housing Price Hikes

Prices of both new and existing homes continued to rise in most Chinese cities in September, according to official data released on October 22.

Of a statistical pool of 70 major Chinese cities, 65 saw a month-on-month rise in the cost of new homes, down from 66 in August, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

According to the NBS, 63 cities reported month-on-month price gains for existing and second-hand homes in September, compared to 58 in August.

Growth rates in first-tier cities were significantly higher compared to second- and third-tier cities. New home prices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen rose by an average 1.4 percent month on month while those in 35 third-tier cities rose by 0.6 percent on average, according to the NBS.

Tax Revenue Rises

China's tax revenue, a major source of the government's fiscal income, grew 9 percent year on year in the first three quarters, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced on October 21.

During the January-September period, the government collected tax revenue totaling 8.44 trillion yuan ($1.38 trillion). The growth was 0.4 percentage points higher than the rate seen in the same period last year.

The MOF attributed the steady growth to a low comparison base, improving economic strength, as well as the booming property market that has lifted related tax incomes.

The revenue from domestic value-added tax (VAT), a type of tax levied on the difference between a commodity's retail price and production cost, increased 8.2 percent to 2.08 trillion yuan ($341.1 billion), thanks in part to the VAT reform.

Consumption tax revenues saw slower growth in the first nine months, gaining merely 3.8 percent year on year due to a sluggish tobacco and alcohol market, said the MOF.

Turnover tax revenues grew 10.9 percent, while growth for corporate and personal income tax moved up 14.3 percent and 10.8 percent, respectively. Notably, turnover and deed taxes in the property sector surged 37.4 percent and 40.4 percent, respectively, on the back of robust transactions.

Bid Successful

CNOOC Ltd., China's largest offshore oil and gas producer, announced on October 22 that it has won a 35-year production-sharing contract to develop a pre-salt oil discovery in Brazil's Libra oil field.

The company gained the bid as part of a consortium comprising Petrobras, Shell, Total SA and China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC), according to CNOOC.

CNOOC will pay 1.5 billion Brazilian reals ($700 million) for a 10-percent share. The operator Petrobras will have a 40-percent stake, followed by Shell and Total with 20 percent each, and CNPC with 10 percent.

The Libra field is located in the Santos Basin, about 170 km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The oil field has recoverable resources of between 8 and 12 billion barrels of oil and total gross peak oil production could reach 1.4 million barrels per day.