MARITIME FAIR: Visitors observe a China-made surfboard and motorboat during the 2013 China International Marine, Port and Shipbuilding Fair in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, on May 15 (HAN YUQING)

Global Investment

Seventeen years from now, half the global stock of capital, totaling $158 trillion (in 2010 dollars), will reside in the developing world, compared to less than one third today, with countries in East Asia and Latin America accounting for the largest shares of this stock, says the latest edition of the World Bank's Global Development Horizons (GDH) report, which explores patterns of investment, saving and capital flows as they are likely to evolve over the next two decades.

Developing countries' share in global investment is projected to triple by 2030 to three fifths, from one fifth in 2000, says the report, titled Capital for the Future: Saving and Investment in an Interdependent World. With world population set to rise from 7 billion in 2010 to 8.5 billion 2030 and rapid aging in the advanced countries, demographic changes will profoundly influence these structural shifts.

"GDH is one of the finest efforts at peering into the distant future. It does this by marshaling an amazing amount of statistical information," said Kaushik Basu, the World Bank's Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. "We know from the experience of countries as diverse as South Korea, Indonesia, Brazil, Turkey and South Africa the pivotal role investment plays in driving long-term growth. In less than a generation, global investment will be dominated by the developing countries. And among the developing countries, China and India are expected to be the largest investors, with the two countries together accounting for 38 percent of the global gross investment in 2030. All this will change the landscape of the global economy, and GDH analyzes how."

Shanghai Free Trade Zone

City planners in Shanghai have set aside 28 square km in Shanghai's Pudong District for a free trade zone, including the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone, Yangshan Free Trade Port Area and Pudong Airport Comprehensive Free Trade Zone.

The area is almost the same size as Macao, and its trade volume already topped $100 billion last year, the highest on the mainland.

A new economic order will be established in the area with its own set of rules for commerce and finance. Authorities believe the tentatively named Shanghai Free Trade Zone will have even more of an impact than other such entities found in Shenzhen, southern Guangdong Province, and Tianjin.

The free trade zone is expected to begin its first phase of operations later this year.

Tencent's Outperformance

Tencent Holdings Ltd., China's largest Internet company by revenue, released strong first-quarter results on May 15 and posted high growth in app subscriber numbers.

Net income rose 37.1 percent to 4.04 billion yuan ($657.9 million) at the end of March this year compared to the same period in 2012, while it showed a 16.8 percent increase from 3.46 billion yuan ($562.9 million) at the end of last year, said the Shenzhen-based company.

Tencent is known for QQ, China's most popular instant messenger, and WeChat, a free instant messaging app for smartphones.

"We are integrating new services into Wechat to explore emerging business opportunities on the mobile Internet. In addition, we will continue investing in user acquisition activities for WeChat in international markets," the company said on May 15.