RAIL ENDEAVOR: The Yichang-Wanzhou Railway begins operating on December 22. The railway, linking Yichang of Hubei Province and Wanzhou District of Chongqing, is considered one of China's most expensive rail projects. The railway shortens the original travel time by five to nine hours (ZHAO JUNCHAO)

A Boost to Imports

China will add more items to its preferential technologies and products import catalog to boost mechanical and electrical products imports, said Zhang Ji, Director of the Department of Mechanic, Electronic and Hi-tech Industry of the Ministry of Commerce.

Emerging industries and traditional equipment manufacturing will now be included in the catalog.

An active import policy will help satisfy Chinese demand for production factors as the country transforms its economic development model and updates its industrial structure.

The move will cut China's trade surplus, he said.

RMB Bond Index

Bank of China (Hong Kong) Ltd. will launch the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Offshore RMB Bond Index on December 31, the first offshore renminbi bond index in Hong Kong, the bank said on December 20.

The offshore renminbi bond index includes those offshore renminbi bonds with relatively high liquidity based on a set of pre-defined criteria on constituent bonds selection. This renminbi-denominated bond index is designed to track the total-return performance, including accrued interest as well as capital gains and losses, of offshore renminbi bonds.

The index includes 28 constituent offshore renminbi bonds worth some 54 billion yuan ($8.1 billion) in total, representing around 90 percent of the market universe in terms of value.

HK GDP Up

Hong Kong's GDP rose 6.8 percent in real terms in the third quarter of 2010 year on year by using chain volume measures, the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department said on December 20.

Net output in all service activities rose 6.9 percent in real terms in the quarter.

Net output in financing, insurance, real estate and business services sectors rose 3.6 percent in the third quarter, beating the 0.9 percent increase in the second quarter.

Net output in the wholesale, retail, imports and exports, and the restaurants and hotels sectors grew 15.2 percent.

Robust trade flows brought a 4.4-percent rise in net output in the transport, storage and communications sectors in real terms in the third quarter.

Telecom Revenue

China's telecom industry reported 819.03 billion yuan ($123 billion) in main business revenue for the first 11 months of 2010, up 6.6 percent year on year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on December 21.

Mobile telecommunications income accounted for 69.82 percent of the total.

Gas Prices Increase

The Chinese Government raised oil prices for the third time this year, citing surging international crude oil prices.

Gasoline and diesel prices were raised by 310 yuan ($46) per ton and 300 yuan ($45.8) per ton, respectively, beginning December 22, said the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

The adjustment would raise the benchmark retail price of gasoline by 0.23 yuan ($0.0346) per liter and diesel by 0.26 yuan ($0.0391) per liter.

The NDRC pledged subsidies to low-income families, farmers, taxi drivers and other sectors that could be hurt by the price adjustment.

The rise in fuel prices was a move to restrain rapid increases in the country's oil consumption and boost energy conservation.