Expelled Governor

Huang Sheng, former Vice Governor of east China's Shandong Province, was expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) for severe disciplinary and legal violations. He was also dismissed from all government posts by the State Council, according to a statement released on June 25 by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the CPC's disciplinary watchdog.

Huang has been caught using his position to seek interests for others, taking a large amount of bribes, and causing massive economic losses, in addition to moral corruption. Huang's illegal gains will be confiscated and his case has been referred to prosecutors, according to the CCDI.

Huang, 58, was born in Shandong and became vice governor of the province in March 2007.

Shale Gas Exploration

A senior official on June 25 called for the country to speed up mass production of shale gas with its own technologies to ensure adequate energy supply.

Efforts must be made to achieve early breakthroughs in the appraisal, exploration and development of shale gas resources, as well as to discover ways to ensure environmental safety, said Liu Tienan, head of the National Energy Administration.

Liu stressed that the shale gas industry should be open to all types of investors. The departments involved should offer tax and fiscal incentives to encourage development.

Shale gas, a clean and high-efficiency energy resource, is produced from shale through a complicated process called hydraulic fracturing. China's rich reserves of shale gas are estimated to amount to 31 trillion cubic meters, equivalent to the total amount of conventional natural gas.

ODI Surge

China's outbound direct investment (ODI) in non-financial sectors grew 40.2 percent year on year to $28.52 billion during the first five months, the Ministry of Commerce announced on June 26.

In the first five months, Chinese investors made investments in 1,709 overseas companies based in 115 countries and regions. About 39.3 percent, worth about $11.2 billion, went into mergers and acquisitions.

The flow of ODI into Hong Kong, the United States and the EU dramatically increased, up 50.9 percent, 45.9 percent and 23.6 percent, respectively.

As of the end of May, China's non-financial ODI had amounted to $350.6 billion.

Currency Swap

The central banks of China and Ukraine on June 26 signed a currency swap contract worth 15 billion yuan ($2.38 billion).

The agreement is for an initial three-year period and could be extended with the consent of both sides.

The move aims to step up bilateral financial cooperation, promote trade and investment, and safeguard regional financial stability.

Since the outbreak of the global financial crisis, China has signed currency swap agreements worth at least 1.5 trillion yuan ($238 billion) with a dozen countries to support its trade and investment with these economies.

Sagging Shipbuilding

China's shipbuilding companies saw sharp declines in output and new orders in the first five months as a result of the dismal global economy.

New shipbuilding orders fell more than 47 percent year on year during the first five months, according to statistics released by the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry.

For the country's ship manufacturers, completed shipbuilding volume also fell more than 10 percent year on year in the first five months, with incomplete orders declining about 27 percent year on year by the end of May.

Due to slack external demand, ships delivered overseas fell more than 11 percent from January to May compared to the same period last year. Marine engineering equipment delivered overseas, however, surged 42.7 percent from a year earlier.

Analysts said severe challenges loom ahead for the shipbuilding industry, as insufficient external demand, shrinking orders and increasing instances of contract defaults will continue to squeeze the sector's profitability.

Funding Water Efficiency

Chinese authorities will create a fund worth 38 billion yuan ($5.97 billion) by 2015 to develop water-efficient farms in northeast China's grain-producing areas.

The fund will be used to develop 2.53 million hectares of water-efficient farmland in four northeastern regions, according to a work conference jointly held by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Agriculture on June 26.

The four regions, including Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces, as well as the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, produce one fifth of the country's grain.

The funds will be used to promote efficient irrigation technology in the four regions over the next four years in an effort to ease water shortages and increase grain production.

Bankcard Expansion

China UnionPay Co. Ltd., the country's largest bankcard payment processor, announced on June 22 that it has inked a cooperation agreement with NETS, a leading payment service provider in North Europe, to expand its service in Europe.

China UnionPay and NETS will work together to expand UnionPay's card acceptance in more European regions, provide card processing and transaction services to more European institutions and increase service quality.

Currently, China UnionPay cards are accepted in 130 countries and regions worldwide, and its card services have been launched in 37 European countries, including Denmark and Iceland.