ELECTRIC OPENING: Cars roll down the production line of the Sino-U.S. joint venture Yangzhou Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Co. Ltd. during a ceremony on June 29 in Yangzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province. The venture is expected to produce 5,000 electric cars annually (PU DECAI)

Spurring Online Sales

Web retail sales will experience a substantial boost in the next five years, said the Ministry of Commerce on June 29.

Measures will soon be taken to improve regulations and legislation concerning online transactions to increase the share of online retail sales in the country's total retail industry to 5 percent by 2015 from its current 2 percent share, said the ministry. In some areas, where e-commerce already shows signs of maturing, the target is set at 10 percent.

The ministry also said that China will eventually require everyone selling merchandise online to register with local industrial and commercial administrations. More efforts will also be taken to encourage businesses in the production, sales and service industries to develop more goods and services for online transactions.

Trade Penalty

The U.S. Commerce Department on June 28 set final anti-dumping duties worth $55.92 million on imports of woven electric blankets from China.

Chinese producers and exporters may receive an anti-dumping duty rate of 77.75 percent to 174.85 percent.

The Commerce Department will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits or bonds on imports of certain wire decking from China-based manufacturers on the final anti-dumping duty rates.

The products covered by this investigation are finished, semi-finished and unassembled woven electric blankets, including woven electric blankets commonly referred to as "throws," of all sizes and fabric types. They include artificial fiber, natural fiber or a blend of both.

The U.S. International Trade Commission is scheduled to issue its final injury determination on or before August 9, 2010. If it concludes that imports of woven electric blankets from China materially injure or threaten the domestic industry, the Commerce Department will issue an anti-dumping duty order.

Innovation Park

Singapore and southwest China's Sichuan Province on June 28 agreed to develop a 35-square-km hi-tech innovation park in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan.

The hi-tech innovation park is expected to integrate modern manufacturing, modern services and modern living to become a key regional business hub and gateway for businesses expanding into west China.

Other industries to be developed in the park include transport and logistics, education, food and beverage, retail, urban infrastructure, and banking and finance.

According to the Sichuan Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, from January to May 2010, bilateral trade between Singapore and Sichuan amounted to $267.12 million, an increase of 68.4 percent over the same period last year.

Juicy Expo

China Juice 2010 will be held September 15-17 in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, said the expo organizing committee on June 27.

The juice exhibition, held each September, is the largest of its kind in the world, said the organizer.

China is now the largest condensed juice producer and exporter, said Bian Zhenhu, Deputy Director of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce and Animal By-Products. Last year, the country produced 1.05 million tons of condensed apple juice and exported 1.04 million tons of it, accounting for 60 percent of the world's total, respectively.