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BACK TO WORK: Workers conduct a security check on the new CRH380BL bullet train at a Changchun Railway Vehicle Co. Ltd. facility. The train model, recalled due to quality problems in August, was officially put back into operation on November 16 (LIN HONG) |
China Financial Sector Assessment Program reports published by the IMF and the World Bank on November 15 applauded the progress China has made in its transition toward a more commercially oriented and financially sound system.
But the reports also warned that the country faces a steady build-up in vulnerabilities and listed interest and exchange rate reforms as top priorities.
The People's Bank of China, the central bank, said that the reports are generally objective, positive and affirmative and that suggestions are constructive. However, certain views in the report are not sufficiently comprehensive or objective.
The central bank said specific timing and sequence of several proposed reforms should be based on further research of the country's actual conditions.
China has made great progress in interest- and exchange-rate reforms, and market mechanisms have played a fundamental role in the formation of China's interest and exchange rates, the central bank said, adding that the country will remain flexible in promoting reforms based on the country's conditions.
China's third west-to-east gas pipeline is expected to become operational by the end of 2013 and will carry about 30 billion cubic meters of gas annually, China Daily reported.
The 5,200-km project will include one artery, six branch lines, three gas storage facilities and a liquefied natural gas terminal, and the pipeline will run from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to Fuzhou, capital of southeast China's Fujian Province.
The project is operated by PetroChina Co. Ltd., the listed arm of the country's biggest energy conglomerate, China National Petroleum Corp.
Bank of America said on November 14 that it would sell most of its remaining shares, or about 10.4 billion H-shares, in China Construction Bank (CCB) to bolster its capital base.
"The selling by the Bank of America is a pure market act for its own reasons, and it is not going to affect the development of our operations," said a CCB spokesman.
Bank of America has cut its stake in CCB several times since 2009. After the latest sale, the bank will own about 1 percent of CCB's common shares.
China's railway investment in the first 10 months of this year fell sharply, as the Ministry of Railways (MOR) is facing mounting pressure to pay off creditors.
The MOR announced on November 15 that its fixed-asset investments and infrastructure investments reached 429 billion yuan ($67.56 billion) and 367 billion yuan ($57.8 billion) in the first 10 months of this year, representing a sharp decrease of 25.2 percent and 28 percent from a year ago.
Previous data show that the MOR's outstanding debt totaled 2.23 trillion yuan ($351.18 billion) as of the end of September, creating significant pressure for the ministry, as debt payments peaked in the fourth quarter.
The China Banking Regulatory Commission has given the green light to three banks to auction special bonds worth 110 billion yuan ($17.32 billion) to finance loans to micro and small enterprises, in its latest efforts to lend support to struggling businesses.
China Minsheng Bank, Industrial Bank and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank were permitted to issue bonds of up to 50 billion yuan ($7.73 billion), 30 billion yuan ($4.72 billion) and 30 billion yuan, respectively, to channel loans to enterprises borrowing less than 5 million yuan ($787,402).
The loans under the policy will be excluded from the banks' loan-to-deposit ratio calculation.
The move is subject to approval from the People's Bank of China. | 
