Foreign food importers will be able to tell certified Chinese food products from fake ones thanks to a "CIQ" mark that all legal food exports are required to carry on their packaging from September.

The mark stands for China Inspection and Quarantine, which guarantees that the exports have passed quality tests, according to a regulation unveiled by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ).

The packages should also carry information such as the enterprise's name and address, batch number and production date so that any quality problems can be traced to the source.

The measure is aimed at guaranteeing the quality of Chinese food exports and curbing illegal exports, according to the AQSIQ.

No Galloping Inflation Yet

According to China's top economic planner prices of only some categories of consumer goods have risen in the past few months, and the country has not entered the "dawn of full-scale inflation."

The National Development and Reform Commission assurance comes amid heated inflation debates, triggered mainly by a dramatic rise in the consumer price index (CPI) to 5.6 percent in July, the highest in a decade.

After in-depth analysis, the commission, which is also the country's price watchdog, said prices of consumer goods have risen in only two of eight categories. But the commission did not reveal whether full-scale inflation is imminent.

Low-Rent Housing for Urbanites

China's low-income urban families will be covered by an improved low-rent housing system that will allow them to enjoy affordable housing by 2010, according to a new policy framework agreed by the State Council.

At present, the welfare housing system mainly covers the country's urban poor families, bolstered by a subsistence allowance program. Under the new policy, the system will benefit some 10 million low-income urban families with housing difficulties, the China Securities Journal said in an article on August 20. These low-rent apartments are either built or commissioned by the government and provided to poor urban families at discounted rents.

The latest official figures show that the mechanism has so far covered about 291 cities at or above prefecture level as of December 20, 2006. It is expected to be extended to all Chinese cities and towns by the end of this year.

Forex Leeway

China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) has issued a circular to remove the foreign exchange quota of domestic institutions in their current account.

Being a key part of the country's forex reform, the move is aimed at giving domestic institutions more freedom and convenience in keeping and using foreign exchange, an official with the SAFE told Xinhua.

In the meantime, the administration will keep a close eye on forex revenue and expenditure activities and on transnational flows of funds so as to safeguard economic and financial stability, the official said.

Domestic institutions were allowed to keep a quota of 80 percent of their forex revenue with the deduction of 50 percent of forex expenditure under current account in the previous year.

Crushing Stock Speculation

The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) has announced new rules for stock trading to prevent and curb irregularities, which will become effective on September 1

The new rules, targeted mainly at "abnormal price fluctuations," are expected to curb insider trading, excessive speculation and price rigging.

The SSE will target stocks with limitless price fluctuation and will have the right to suspend them from trading for up to 30 minutes on a day they surge above 100 percent or drop below 50 percent of their opening prices. The rule will be used to prevent excessive speculation on newly issued and debuting stocks, the SSE said.