WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU MELONS: Farmers harvest melons in Altay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on August 19. The plantation of melons has greatly increased local income (TANG XIAOBO)

Investment Firm

The country's first national-level private investment company, China Minsheng Investment, was established in Shanghai on August 21.

Endorsed by the State Council in April, China Minsheng Investment has a registered capital of 50 billion yuan ($8.1 billion), funded by the top 59 private Chinese companies.

The 59 shareholders are all large private companies. They are involved in a range of businesses from machinery manufacturing, metallurgy, information technology, assets management, environmental protection, new energy, power generation and e-commerce.

The most shares any single company can own are 2 percent of China Minsheng Investment, and the bottom stake is no less than 0.6 percent.

Before China Minsheng Investment, China Investment Corp., the nation's sovereign wealth fund, was the only large national-level investment company.

Amazon's Ambition

U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. looks set to capitalize on the massive purchasing power of Chinese customers, as it kicks off a planned foray into the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ), where innovative policies are expected to boost cross-border online trade.

A memorandum of understanding was signed between Amazon and the Shanghai FTZ on August 18, under which Amazon will open its new cross-border e-commerce platform in the FTZ.

Amazon also will establish a logistics and warehouse center in the FTZ, whereby imported goods will enter China via the zone's cross-border e-commerce platform. Similarly, products from small and medium-sized enterprises in China can be sold to Amazon customers across the globe.

"China's e-commerce market is one of the most dynamic in the world with tremendous potential," said Diego Piacentini, Senior Vice President of Amazon International. "We just celebrated our 10th anniversary and believe it is still Day One for us, particularly in the areas of cross-border e-commerce, both into and out of China."

Revitalizing Northeast

The Central Government has announced an action plan to assist the northeastern region's staggering economy with a list of new measures.

The plan aims to free up private businesses, deepen reforms of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), develop modern agriculture, renovate rundown urban areas and launch dozens of infrastructure projects in the northeastern provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang, according to the new measures announced on August 19.

The 35 new measures, listed in a document by the State Council on its website, came as northeast China saw the slowest economic growth among China's provincial areas during the first half of this year.

China will speed up the construction of eight rail lines and build or expand 10 regional airports in the region, the document said.

SOEs are encouraged to sell part of their equities to private and foreign investors to build a mixed ownership system and pay for the reforms.

For traditional sectors such as agriculture, the northeastern provinces' status as a core grain production base will be strengthened. Grain storage and logistical facilities will be improved.

The document also named a few power transmission projects, nuclear power plant projects and heating projects to be initiated as part of a clean-energy network in the region.