FASTER THAN SPEEDING BULLETS: Visitors look at train models at the China International Rail Transit Technology Forum and Exhibition held in Shanghai on August 23-25. More than 400 global manufacturers attended the event (XINHUA)

Slower ODI

China's outbound direct investment (ODI) in non-financial sectors slowed dramatically in the first seven months of the year.

Chinese companies invested $27.6 billion in non-financial sectors in 117 countries and regions in the January-July period, up 3.3 percent year on year, said Shen Danyang, spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce.

The growth rate was much lower than the 34-percent increase in the first half and the 36.3 percent for 2010.

Shen said China's investment in the United States, Russia, Japan, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the European Union all declined in the first seven months from a year earlier, while its investment in Australia and Hong Kong soared.

Supporting New Materials

China will prioritize the development of six types of new materials in its new material industry over the next five years, said a report on the China Securities Journal.

The six materials will be high-strength light alloy, advanced iron and steel, carbon fiber composite, new power battery material, functional coated material and rare earth minerals, according to the report.

The report cited an insider, who noted that the country's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) for the new material industry will come out in September, in which the government will launch key projects to support the development of the six materials.

Each of the six sub-industries will reach a sizable scale, with the industry's total output value to hit the trillion-yuan mark by the end of 2015, and the selfsupply rate to reach 70 percent during the period, the report said.

UPS's New Branch

United Parcel Service (UPS), the world's largest package delivery company, will open a new branch in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province, according to a memorandum of understanding signed by Henan Provincial Government and UPS.

UPS said it will set up a Zhengzhoubased branch for package delivery and logistic services in order to tap into China's growing express delivery industry.

Zhengzhou's location in China will facilitate UPS's expansion, Daniel Brutto, President of UPS International, was quoted as saying at the signing ceremony.

Software Revenue Up

China's software industry revenue expanded in July to reach 152.3 billion yuan ($23.8 billion), a year-on-year increase of 31.4 percent, said the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on August 24.

The July figure took the whole industry's revenue in the January-July period to 958.8 billion yuan ($149.81 billion), up 29.6 percent year on year, said the MIIT.

But the export growth of the software industry fell sharply to 3.9 percent in July, the lowest monthly increase in the first seven months amid economic uncertainty in the United States and the European Union.

Exports in the January-July period rose 15.7 percent to $15.46 billion, compared to last year's growth rate of 26.2 percent.