INTENSE WORK: Workers take part in construction efforts at the Dongjiang bonded area of Binhai New Area in Tianjin Municipality. To date, it is the biggest bonded area approved by the government (YUE YUEWEI)

Import Rules Relaxed

China will streamline its import payment verification systems starting December 1 this year.

Enterprises will no longer have to be present for import payment verification if they are undertaking "regular business," said the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

SAFE will handle import payment verification and share the information so enterprises will not have to complete verification preparation procedures at SAFE facilities.

The reforms are meant to boost foreign trade and simplify enterprises' import payment procedures while cutting their costs.

Rising Service Trade

Estimates show that China's service trade will hit $300 billion this year, up 20 percent from last year, said Wang Huiying, a senior official of Department of Trade in Services of the Ministry of Commerce.

China's service trade value reached $286.8 billion in 2009, ranking fifth in the world, Wang said.

During the first half of this year, China's service trade deficit fell by $5.05 billion year on year to $11.69 billion, and the year-on-year growth rate in exports was 16.7 percentage points higher than imports, Wang said.

PetroChina Profit Up

The net profits of PetroChina Co. Ltd. (PetroChina), the country's largest oil and gas producer, surged 23 percent year on year in the first nine months of 2010.

Net profit totaled 100.03 billion yuan ($14.93 billion) and earnings per share stood at 0.55 yuan ($0.082) in the first nine months, said the company's statement to the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges.

The company attributed the increase mainly to the price surge in crude oil during that period.

The company's oil output rose 1.3 percent year on year to 640 million barrels in the first nine months, while 1.68 trillion cubic feet of natural gas was produced.

Apple in China

U.S. computer giant Apple Inc. launched its official online store in China on October 27 to curb the "gray" market and expand its business to domestic consumers.

The online store offers a wide range of Apple products, including the iPad and newly launched iPhone 4.

The store is part of Apple's aggressive Chinese expansion strategy. The company, currently having four stores in China, announced early this year that it will open 25 Apple stores in the country by the end of 2011.

The new store will accept online payments from 22 Chinese banks, in addition to a popular third-party online payment tool, Alipay.

eMEX Forum

The 2010 Electronic Manufacturing Exposition China Forum (eMEX Forum)—the ninth eMEX forum—was held from October 21-24 this year in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.

The exposition, featuring green production, Internet application, high-end products and digital and social networking attracted 650 IT manufacturing companies from the United States, Germany, South Korea, Japan and China. It was jointly held by the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, and the Jiangsu Provincial Government.

Suzhou is one of the most important bases of China's IT industry—its output accounts for 15 percent of the nation's total.