GRAIN TRADE Nie Zhenbang (left), Director of the State Administration of Grain and Chen Haibo, Vice Governor of northeast Liaoning Province, inaugurate the Dalian National Grain Trade Center on October 27. The Dalian-based center is the 27th national grain trade center in China (YAN PING)

Sparking Private Investments

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's top economic planner, said on October 27 that the government will take stronger measures to encourage private investment.

The NDRC said the government will allocate 3 billion yuan ($439 million) for small- and medium-sized enterprises to promote their innovation capabilities and energy efficiency.

In addition, efforts will also be made to lower the access threshold and allow more private investors into some restricted areas. The NDRC will also strengthen supervision over investment programs to avoid fund abuse and tackle industrial overcapacity.

Bridging Nigeria

The China Civil Engineering Construction Corp. (CCECC) and the Nigerian Ministry of Transportation on October 26 inked an agreement to build a 186.5-km modernized railway in the African country.

The contracted value of the project is $850 million with a construction period of three years.

"With construction of the railway, the dream of achieving a seamless transportation network as envisaged shall be realized and the construction will substantially improve the well being of the Nigerian people," said Ibrahim Bio, Nigerian Transportation Minister, at the signing ceremony.

Zhou Tianxiang, Deputy General Manger of CCECC, said the company will deliver an efficient and functional railway system within the stipulated 36 months.

Australian Acquisition

The Hebei Mining Group received the green light on October 26 from Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board to take a 14.9-percent stake in Raisama Ltd., a Perth-based uranium explorer, according to a report by the Xinhua News Agency.

Raisama plans to launch its initial public offer (IPO) soon.

"This transaction was structured to strike the right balance between the attractiveness of new capital while avoiding excessive dilution of existing shareholders prior to our IPO," said David Berrie, Managing Director of Raisama, in a statement.

The Australian Government recently approved China's Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. Ltd. to acquire the Felix Resources Ltd. of Australia.

China-ASEAN Expo

The 6th China-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Expo was held from October 20-24 in Nanning, the capital city of southwest Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

More than 2,450 enterprises from home and abroad participated in the Expo, an increase of 16.7 percent year on year, according to Chen Wu, Secretary General of the Expo.

In addition, this year's Expo witnessed product trade deals worth $1.654 billion, up 3.8 percent from a year ago, and a total of 136 international cooperation project agreements worth $6.44 billion were signed.

This will be a big help for regional economic integration and growth restoration amid global downturns, added Chen.

Asian Manufacturing Forum

Asian Manufacturing Forum 2009 was held on October 25-26 in Beijing. With the theme of Asia's manufacturing in the post-crisis era, a total of more than 350 representatives, including Nobel Prize winners, famous scholars, executives from the world top 500 enterprises and multinational corporations, ministers from countries in Asia and other emerging economic entities, offered their insights.

The sweeping financial crisis has created unprecedented opportunities for the development of emerging industries, like the low-carbon sector, green and new energy industries. Those industries might take a leading role in the anticipated economic boom, said Chen Changzhi, Vice Chairman of the National People's Congress.