The price hike for power generators ranges from 0.01 yuan ($0.0015) to 0.025 yuan ($0.0036) per kilowatt/hour, according to the circular. Power grid operators in the Xinjiang Uygur and Tibet autonomous regions have been exempted from the increase.

But analysts said the move might do little to help the generators, because domestic coal price increases have dealt them a heavy blow this year. According to the China Electricity Council, the country's coal-fired power plants suffered a whopping loss of 2.293 billion yuan ($335.5 million) in the first five months of the year.

As a result, the NDRC said in its most recent circular that it would keep coal price increases at bay. But the on-grid tariff hike could push up coal prices despite the commission's warning that it would not allow price increases, a report by Merrill Lynch & Co. said.

Unlike the previous rate hike, the new one has almost no direct impact on the country's producer price index or its consumer price index, because it would not affect retail rates for corporate and household endusers, the report said.

Choking Coke

The State Council's Customs Tariff Commission increased the coke export tariff rate by 40 percent from the current 25 percent as of August 20.

The increase was reportedly designed to reduce domestic coke supplies and ease pollution from coke production. As the world's biggest coke exporter, China currently accounts for more than half of the world's coke output.

The country's coke exports have spiraled in recent years. Exports in May hit a record high of 1.66 million tons.

For environmental reasons, the government put in place a series of measures earlier this year to cut coke exports, including the imposition of export quotas and export tariff rate hikes. The turning point finally came in July when the country's coke exports dropped by 15 percent year on year.

But analysts said the latest increase is more of a tit-for-tat counterpunch against the escalating international price of iron ore. Both iron ore and coke are important raw materials for the steel sector worldwide.

The recently concluded iron ore price talks between Chinese and Australian miners forced through a 96.5-percent price increase on Chinese imports from Australia, while European countries received a more favorable 71-percent increase.

Li Xinchuang, Deputy Director of the China Metallurgical Industrial Planning and Research Institute, told China Business News that foreign countries would have to reach deeper so that coke imports from China could feed their steel industries.

That could explain why European countries have reduced their domestic coke outputs to protect the environment and at the same time mounted pressure on China to loosen its grip on exports.

Fewer exports could also drive down domestic coke prices and further sharpen the cost leverage of domestic steel enterprises in their competition with foreign players, Li said.

Cleaning Effort

The Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation recently increased new vehicle tax rates as of September 1.

The tax on cars with engine capacities of 3-4 liters will be increased to 25 percent from 15 percent, with the rate for engines larger than 4 liters doubling to 40 percent. The rate on cars with engines that are 1 liter or less will fall to 1 percent from 3 percent.

The ministry said the higher tax rates were aimed at reducing the production and sales of high-emission vehicles while spurring those of low-emission cars in an effort to contribute to the country's environmental protection campaign.

But the new rates may not be as effective as expected. Sun Muzi, an analyst at Essence Securities Co. Ltd., told Shanghai Securities News that domestic auto producers would feel little impact, because 99.54 percent of the country's vehicles with engine capacities of more than 3 liters are imports.

But because those who purchase imported cars are more affluent and less sensitive to the tax increase, automobile imports would continue to see moderate growth, Sun said.

3G Ambitions

China Unicom Ltd., the country's second largest wireless operator said on August 15 that it aims to grab a third of the market of future users of third-generation (3G) mobile services.

It has lent substance to its ambition with a plan to invest up to 100 billion yuan ($14.6 billion) to upgrade its network and develop 3G services over the next two years.

China Mobile Ltd., the country's dominant mobile operator, currently has 70.8 percent of the country's wireless subscribers, while Unicom has the remainder.

Analysts said Unicom's target is achievable, because the company is expected to get a network license for WCDMA, the 3G standard in Europe, which is more widely used than the homegrown TD-SCDMA standard used by China Mobile.

Kelvin Ho, an analyst at Nomura Securities, told the Financial Times that Unicom has an advantage because WCDMA is much more mature than TD-SCDMA and perhaps better than the American-standard CDMA2000. Also, there are more WCDMA handsets available on the market, and they are cheaper than those based on the other standards, he said.

Fixed Assets Investment Boom

China's urban fixed assets investment totaled 7.216 trillion yuan ($1.056 trillion) in the first seven months, up 27.3 percent year on year, 0.7 percentage points higher than the same period in 2007, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on August 17.

According to the NBS, the growth rate in the primary sector was the fastest among the three major sectors in the first seven months, up 61.9 percent, compared with the secondary sector at 27.9 percent and the tertiary sector at 26 percent.