PAVING THE WAY: A machine lays bitumen on the Quanzhou Bay Cross-Sea Bridge in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, on October 13. Construction of the bridge will be completed in the first half of 2015 (ZHANG JIUQIANG)

Investment Fund

China has established an investment fund aiming to boost development of the integrated circuit (IC) industry, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on October 14.

The fund will invest in chip making, boost industrial production and promote mergers and acquisitions in the sector, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

It will also cover chip design, equipment and raw materials, the statement said.

The statement said that the investment fund will operate under a corporate system, but did not provide details on the specific value of the fund.

Government data show sales revenues of China's IC industry stood at 251 billion yuan ($41 billion) in 2013. A national guideline for the sector aims to boost revenue to more than 350 billion yuan ($57 billion) in 2015.

Trademark Regulation

China is considering elimination of trademarks that copy the names of well-known brands or figures in a bid to curb copyright infringement.

The courts will uphold the Patent Review Committee's decision to nullify trademarks that are the same or similar to well-known places and trademarks already in use, according to a judicial interpretation released on October 15 by the Supreme People's Court to solicit public opinion.

The courts will also reject individual applications for a large number of trademarks, said the document, which is also aimed at unifying trial standards for the courts when dealing with trademark disputes.

The behavior of using public figure's names as trademarks without their permission cannot be allowed, nor can the behavior of using the names of the dead without getting approval from their inheritors, according to the document.

Trademarks that are the same as, or similar to, the Chinese name of China will also be banned, and those including the nation's name will not be approved either if their registration may lead to "abuse of the national name," it said.

RMB Sovereign Bond

On October 9, the British Treasury announced it has begun the process of issuing the world's first non-Chinese sovereign bond in the Chinese currency, the renminbi (RMB).

Three major banks, including Bank of China, HSBC and Standard Chartered, have been appointed by the government following a fair and rigorous process to help deliver the planned sale of Britain's RMB bond, said the Treasury in a statement. The proceeds of the bond will be used to finance the nation's reserves.

British RMB sovereign bond signals the RMB's potential as a future reserve currency, said the Treasury. Currently, Britain only holds reserves in the U.S. dollar, euro, Japanese yen and Canadian dollar.

The announcement represents a "decisive step" toward issuing the first RMB-denominated bond by a Western country, and follows the Chancellor's announcement at the recent annual economic summit between Britain and China in London, said the British Treasury.