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1 China centralbank projects 2016 growth at 6.8%

Dec.17,2015 (Xinhua) -- China’s central bank projected its baseline forecast for 2016 growth at 6.8 percent,expecting the number of positive factors to gradually increase despite downward pressure on the economy.The rate is slightly lower than the central bank’s forecast of 6.9 percent expansion for 2015,according to a working paper by the People's Bank of China.Citing overcapacity,profit deceleration,and rising non-performing loans as major drags on the economy,the paper said supportive factors such as the recovery of real estate sales,lagging effects of macro and structural policies and some modest improvement in external demand would help underpin broader growth.Seeing possible recovery of external demand,the central bank expects export growth at 3.1 percent in 2016,in contrast to the predicted 2.9 percent fall for 2015.

2 Laos eyes more rice sales to China

Dec.15,2015 (Xinhua) -- Laos’ Savannkhet province is looking to increase rice exports to China to more than 10,000 tons a year after the first order for 8,000 tons was received from the Chinese market in 2015.Laos officially exported its first batch of rice to China from Savannkhet,some 500 km south of capital Vientiane,marking the start of rice exportation to China.Governor of Savannkhet province Souphanh Keomixay said the province aims to grow as much rice as possible to meet export demand,but this will depend on the quality of the seedlings planted.Savannakhet province has 200,000 hectares of rice paddy fields available for the wet season crop,while 30,000 hectares are available in the dry season,enabling the production of more than 800,000 tons of rice annually.

3 Companies in poor areas encouraged to get listed:CSRC

Dec.17,2015 (Xinhua) -- China will turn to the capital market to help finance businesses in poor areas,the country's security watchdog said.Companies in poor areas will be encouraged to get listed and rules for IPOs will be relaxed for them,said Jiang Yang,Vice Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC),during a working conference.Companies from western regions and five autonomous ethnic regions will receive favorable polices and expense deductions when applying for IPOs,said Jiang.CSRC data showed that 21 agricultural companies were successfully listed from 2007 to the end of November 2015 with the total amount of financing reaching 15.9 billion yuan (US$ 2.5 billion).

4 Government-private partnerships on the rise

Dec.18,2015 (China Daily) -- Local governments throughout China plan to invest 8.7 trillion yuan (US$ 1.34 trillion) after recommending a total of 6,650 projects to develop transportation,environmental protection,public service and infrastructure through public-private partnership (PPP) model.The PPP model is where a government service or private business venture is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more companies from private sector.China will set up a 180 billion yuan of financing support fund to resolve financing difficulties for the practice of the public-private partnership model carried out by a large number of companies as part of its reform to put its economic growth on a firmer footing.

5 China’s new energy vehicle output surges 600%

Dec.14,2015 (Xinhua) -- China’s production of new energy vehicles surged by 600 percent year on year in November 2015 thanks to government support.Total production in November stood at 72,300 units.China rolled out a raft of measures to promote new energy vehicles in a bid to save energy and combat pollution,including tax exemptions,subsidies for car purchases and a requirement for government departments to buy more new energy cars.Official data showed that 95 percent of new energy vehicles produced in November would benefit from the favorable taxation policies.In the first 11 months of 2015,China produced 279,200 new energy vehicles,up by four times from the same period in 2014.

6 Draft law to strengthen TCM’s role in China’s medical system

Dec.21,2015 (Xinhua) -- China’s top legislature began to read the Law on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM),which calls for a strengthened role of TCM in China’s health care system.The draft law will support and exert TCM’s role in the whole medical system,bringing it into the country’s free-of-charge basic public health services program.The draft law also vows to expand TCM’s role in dealing with emergency public health incidents and diseases prevention and controls,strengthening policy support for TCM,making policies to allow TCM medical fees to be covered by basic medical insurance schemes.The draft laws calls for maintaining the characteristics of TCM,using TCM methodologies to provide health services,improving the quality of TCM materials and encouraging medical institutions to use TCM preparations.

7 China grants 50b yuan RQFII quota to Thailand

Dec.21,2015 (Xinhua) -- China has granted a 50 billion yuan (US$ 7.8 billion) investment quota to Thailand under the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) pilot program.The decision,part of deepening financial cooperation between the two countries,will offer diversified investment products for Thailand’s investors,facilitate bilateral trade and investment while pushing China’s capital market to open wider,the People’s Bank of China said in a statement on its website.The RQFII mechanism,which was launched in December 2011 to widen investment channels for overseas yuan funds on the Chinese mainland,allows qualified investors to invest yuanbased funds in the mainland securities market within a permitted quota.

8 China to launch 10 pilot reforms for SOEs in 2016

Dec.12,2015 (Xinhua) -- China is to launch pilot reforms for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in 10 areas in 2016,including ownership and executive hiring policy.Peng Huagang,Deputy Secretary General of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council,made the remarks at a press briefing in Beijing.The reforms will cover functions and powers of directors,professional managers,investment,mergers and acquisitions,information disclosure,among others.The reforms are part of a SOE guideline issued in September to turn them into fully independent market entities with "major reform in key areas by 2020,when SOEs are expected to be more robust and influential and have greater ability to avoid risks." China has about 150,000 SOEs,which hold over 100 trillion yuan (US$ 15.5 trillion) in assets and employ more than 30 million people.