SOLAR POWER: Solar panels installed at the largest photovoltaic power station on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are shown in this picture dated on March 30. Located in Xigaze in Tibet Autonomous Region, the 10-mw power station will go into operation by the end of May, supplying electricity to 100,000 households and helping reduce the emission of 13,000 tons of carbon dioxide every year (XU YU)

Green Targets

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) released China's resource conservation and environmental protection goals for 2011 on March 29.

In 2011, China intends to reduce its energy consumption per unit of GDP by 3.5 percent compared to 2010, and the water consumption per 10,000 yuan ($1,520) of industrial value-added output is set for a 7-percent year-on-year dip.

The NDRC also plans to raise the nation's wastewater treatment rate to 80 percent by the end of this year. The Ministry of Water Resources is mulling the establishment of regional and industrial level water saving evaluation systems, which would help boost water-use efficiency.

Chain Store Revenue

China's top 100 chain store operators saw sales volumes hit 1.66 trillion yuan ($253 billion) in 2010, up 21.2 percent year on year, said a report published by the China Chain Store & Franchise Association on March 28.

The 2010 growth rate rose 7.7 percentage points from the previous year.

The report showed that Suning Appliance Co., a retail leader in China's consumer appliances, computers and communication products market, topped the list of chain store operators for the second consecutive year with sales of 156.2 billion yuan ($23.8 billion), a sharp increase from 117 billion yuan ($17.8 billion) in 2009.

Yuan Soars

On March 31 the Chinese currency, the yuan, strengthened 22 basis points from the previous trading day to a record high of 6.5564 per U.S. dollar.

On China's foreign exchange spot market, the yuan can rise or fall 0.5 percent from the central parity rate each trading day. The central parity rate of the yuan against the U.S. dollar is based on a weighted average of prices before the opening of the market each trading day.

Industrial Profits

Profits of China's industrial enterprises above designated size—all state-owned enterprises and non-state enterprises with annual sales revenue exceeding 20 million yuan ($3 million)—rose 34.3 percent year on year to 645.5 billion yuan ($97.8 billion) in the first two months of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on March 27.

The main business sales revenue of the industrial enterprises above designated size climbed 31 percent from one year earlier to 10.7 trillion yuan ($1.63 trillion) in the January-February period.

Harbin Trade Fair

The 22nd China Harbin International Economic and Trade Fair (Harbin Trade Fair) will be held June 15-19, 2011, in Harbin, the capital city of Heilongjiang Province. More than 10,000 international exhibitors from 80 countries and 100,000 from China will participate in the fair.

The Harbin Trade Fair is a large-scale foreign trade fair authorized by the Chinese Government. Over the years, the trade fair has become a significant international event—a window for China to fully explore the diversified international market and a major platform for regional cooperation in Northeast Asia.