SUPER FAST TRAIN A new type of multiple unit train Hexie CRH3 pulls into station, in north China's Tianjin Municipality on April 27. CRH3, which can travel at speeds of up to 350 km per hour, began pilot runs on the line from Beijing to Tianjin on April 26

YANG BAOSEN

Corrosive Inflation

Urban Chinese saw their disposable income expand 3.4 percent in the first quarter, the lowest increase for the same period since 1997. China's inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index, was up 8 percent in the first quarter.

The per-capita disposable income of the country's urban households rose 11.5 percent year on year in the first three months to 4,386 yuan (about $626.6). However, after counting in inflation, the growth slowed to 3.4 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics announced.

The growth reflected a deceleration of 13.2 percentage points compared with the same January to March period a year earlier. It was the lowest first-quarter figure since 1997, when urban income edged up 1.2 percent amid high commodity prices.

Internet Boom

The online population in China's rural areas grew 127.7 percent last year, outpacing the 38.2-percent urban expansion, according to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).

About 29.17 million out of China's 73 million new netizens, or 40 percent of the total, were from the countryside, taking the total Internet population in rural areas to 52.62 million.

CNNIC attributed the expansion to strong economic growth and government support for rural network construction.

However, it said, most Internet surfers are still from cities, because rural residents tend to have lower incomes and less education.

Positive Exporters

Foreign buyers at China's 103rd Import and Export Fair, or Canton Fair, were positive about the competitiveness of Chinese toys, although average prices have risen by 20 percent over the past year, according to a Xinhua report.

Toy makers had been worried that orders might fall sharply this year, but "the situation is better than we expected," an exhibitor from toy maker Jiangsu Hongye told Xinhua.

Chinese toy export slowed last year due to increased prices and the yuan's appreciation. Large-scale quality recalls also hurt the industry.

However, the industry has seen initial signs of recovery. In the first two months of 2008, the province's toy exports rose 43.5 percent to 1.79 billion yuan ($255.7 million).

Uneven Grain Price

China will accelerate shipment of grain from the grain-rich northeast to the country's south to ease supply imbalances and stem price rises, the Ministry of Railways said.

The ministry has ordered railway authorities in the northeast provinces to improve efficiency and send 10 million tons of grains out of the northeast to the south from May 1 to June 30.

The three provinces in the northeast of China have 16 percent of the country's arable land and contribute 16.6 percent of the national grain output.

Farming Oil Guaranteed

The Ministry of Commerce issued an emergency notice urging the production of an adequate supply of refined oil for rural market during the upcoming busy farming season.

Ensuring a stable oil supply in rural areas is of crucial importance to boosting grain production and maintaining smooth economic operation and social stability, the ministry said in its notice.

Oil supply tensions loom large in the countryside at the crucial spring ploughing time and the upcoming busy summer farming season.