Bigger foreign exchange reserve

China's foreign exchange reserve reached $1.2 trillion by the end of March, up 37.36 percent from the same period last year, the People's Bank of China announced.

"The rising trade surplus is the major factor contributing to the forex reserve boom," said Cai Zhizhou, an economist with Peking University.

Low prices of Chinese goods contributed to the rising trade surplus, he said. "China needs forex reserves to avoid financial risks as the country's dependence on foreign trade is going up," said Cai.

China's foreign trade has risen by more than 20 percent annually since 2002 while the ratio of foreign trade to GDP has risen from 30 percent to nearly 70 percent during the same period.

"But a large-scale forex reserve may backfire," said Cai. "It is the major reason leading to excess liquidity in China."

Regional jet undercuts rivals in price

China's first domestically-developed regional jet, the ARJ-21, will probably sell for around $30 million, undercutting its rivals, Beijing Business Today newspaper reported on April 18.

Citing sources with China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, the report said the aircraft would have a price advantage over its main rivals-Canada's Bombardier C-series jets and Brazil's Embraer E-jets-which sell at more than $35 million.

It was reported the operating costs of the ARJ-21 would be 15 percent lower than its competitors.

However, the developer of the jet, China Aviation Industry Corp. I (AVIC I), declined to comment on the price.

"We are merely in charge of the assembly of the new jet, so we are not in possession of information about its price," sources with AVIC I told the newspaper, saying the price would be decided by other government organizations.

The ARJ-21 (advanced regional jet for the 21st Century) is the first regional jet developed by China with proprietary intellectual property rights.

Joint credit card business

China Construction Bank Corp. (CCB) announced on April 16 that it would launch a joint credit card business with Bank of America (BOA) in order to further develop CCB's credit card business and expedite its robust growth.

CCB Chairman Guo Shuqing told a press conference here that its board of directors had approved a Memorandum of Understanding between CCB and BOA, which outlines the two parties' future cooperation in the credit card business.

He said that the cooperation would be implemented in two stages, including the establishment of a credit card business unit first and then a joint venture.

CCB will first establish an independent and centralized credit card business unit and BOA will dispatch personnel to provide consulting services to the unit.

In the second stage, the credit card business unit will be converted into a Sino-foreign credit card joint venture registered in China. CCB will hold a share of 63 percent in the joint venture and BOA 37 percent. The share of both parties will be subject to a lockup period of no less than three years.

Expanding IT industry

With the continued growth of the world economy, the global information industry witnessed stable development in 2006 while facing both challenges and opportunities, according to a recent report by CCID Consulting Co. Ltd.

The global IT industry has been growing maturer. It has accelerated its collaboration with other industries and significantly driven the development of the world economy.

The scale of the world information industry reached $4,245.7 billion in 2006, up 9.1 percent over 2005. said the report.

Among all industrial segments, the digital content segment ranked No. 1 with a growth rate of 40.1 percent; telecommunications came last with a growth rate of 6.2 percent; and the software and IT service sector grew faster than the communications industry with a growth rate of 6.3 percent, the report said.