Numbers of the Week

338 million

The number of netizens in China totalled 338 million as of June 30, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

26.4 billion

The Central Government appropriated 26.4 billion yuan ($3.86 billion) as funding for minimum living allowances to rural and urban residents.

TO THE POINT: High-ranking government officials from trade-related departments talked with Russian counterparts to settle a dispute between the Russian government and Chinese businesspeople who are accused of smuggling. The Chinese economy handed in a "better-than-expected" half-year performance report. Home mortgage loans climbed significantly due to robust property sales. Insurers' premiums grew 6.6 percent year on year in the first half. The U.S. auto giant Ford secured a 14-percent sales growth in the Chinese market in the first six months. China has technically become a "rescuer-in-chief" for iron ore miners that are suffering from plummeting demand from developed economies. To manage cost control in times of economic slowdown, HRG offered tips on cutting corporate travel expenses. Beijing's Central Business District will march eastward to house more financial institutions.

By LIU YUNYUN

Settle Smuggling Allegation

China's Vice Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng headed a government delegation to Russia to negotiate with Russian counterparts on the June 29 Russian Government raids in Cherkizovsky Market in Moscow, where Chinese businesspeople have been accused of smuggling.

Ling Ji, Deputy Director of the Department of Europe under the Ministry of Commerce, said to Xinhua that there were two main difficulties in the negotiations. One would be proving the businessmen imported their goods and traded legally.

"Chinese merchants need to provide business documents, including booth leasehold contracts and goods clearance documents," Ling said. He also said it is difficult to find a new market for Chinese businesspeople in Russia in a short time.

Zhang Yansheng, Director of the Institute for International Economic Research under the National Development and Reform Commission, said the Chinese businesspeople will not give up Russian markets in spite of the crackdown on smuggling. Zhang said the Chinese Government should also strengthen supervision over exports and raise the image of "made-in-China" products in Russia.

Zhang Jian, a customs official at the Chinese Embassy in Russia, called on Chinese exporters to learn Russian laws and regulations and abandon smuggling to safeguard market order.

Russia arrested about 150 Chinese businesspeople and seized a large amount of their goods in raids at the Cherkizovsky Market on June 29.

Yu Anlin, Chairman of Wenzhou Business Chamber in Russia, said merchants from Wenzhou, a city in east coastal Zhejiang Province, reported total losses of more than $800 million during the raids.

Mortgage Loans Soar

The property market recovery has given rise to soaring bank loans in home mortgages.

New home mortgage loans surged in the first half of this year to over 150 percent year on year to 466 billion yuan ($68 billion) backed by robust real estate sales growth. A loose credit control also contributed to the loan surge.

Among all lenders, state-owned banks took up two-thirds of the market share.

The Chinese Government warned banks of potential credit risks and ordered commercial banks to tighten risk controls.

On July 19, the Shanghai Bureau of the China Banking Regulatory Commission required commercial banks in Shanghai to give lending priority to borrowers who will buy homes for the first time. But buyers who already have an apartment or house will be under strict qualification checks and their down payment should be no less than 40 percent of the total price of the new home.

Premium Profits Rise

The Chinese insurance industry achieved "better-than-expected" performance in the first half of this year, said Wu Dingfu, Chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

Insurers collected 598.6 billion yuan ($87 billion) in the first half of this year, up 6.6 percent compared with the same period last year. They paid 160.8 billion yuan ($23.5 billion) for loss claims.

Total assets of the country's insurance companies had stood at 3.7 trillion yuan ($541.7 billion) by the end of June, an increase of 10.9 percent from the beginning of the year, Wu said at a national insurance regulation working conference in Beijing.