RECORD TAX INCOME: Thanks to a robust recovery coming out of the economic meltdown, Hong Kong rakes in HK$209 billion ($26.89 billion) in the last fiscal year ending March 31, a 17-percent increase compared to the 2009-10 fiscal year (LU XIAOWEI)

Balanced Trade

China's foreign trade is moving in a more balanced and coordinated way, and the proportion of trade surplus in the country's GDP will continue to decline, said Vice Commerce Minister Jiang Yaoping said at the press conference for the 13th China Hi-Tech Fair held in Beijing on May 3.

Customs data showed China had a $1.02 billion trade deficit in the first quarter—the country's first quarterly trade deficit in six years—due to rising commodity prices and robust domestic demand, which pushed up the value of imports.

Despite this, the trade picture for the year remains complicated. Trade surplus is expected to continue this year, but it will take up a smaller share of the GDP, said Jiang.

Jiang also said the Chinese Government would continue to encourage imports of hi-tech products amid the nation's economic restructuring drive.

Over the past 10 years, hi-tech imports and exports increased from $110.56 billion in 2001 to $905.08 billion last year.

Listed in Taiwan

Liande Precision Machinery Co. Ltd., based in Kunshan, east China's Jiangsu Province, has become the first mainland company listed on the over-the-counter (OTC) market of the Taiwan stock exchange.

The OTC market is a special money-raising platform tailored to smaller enterprises. Liande Precision Machinery issued 2.8 million shares.

Founded in 2003, Liande Precision Machinery is engaged in production of precision metal molds and punch parts and is the supplier for HTC, Asus Tek Computer and other Taiwanese companies.

Kunshan is home to more than 3,800 Taiwan-funded enterprises, involving a total investment of $45.7 billion.

International Settlements

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's largest lender by asset, said on May 3 that its international settlement volume rose 44 percent year on year to reach $1.06 trillion last year.

The company's first-quarter international settlement volume for 2011 climbed almost 40 percent from last year to reach $300 billion.

The bank attributed the rapid volume growth to China's strong foreign trade and the company's expansion into other countries, particularly those with emerging economies.

Deepwater Channels

China will allocate 18 billion yuan ($2.7 billion) from 2011 to 2015 to build deepwater channels on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, according to local authorities.

Chen Yuanhua, Deputy Director of the Nanjing Yangtze River Waterway Bureau, said the project would allow 50,000-ton vessels to sail from the estuary of the Yangtze River all the way up to Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province.

Major construction work, starting at the end of this year, is expected to be completed by 2015.