足迹天下

    HONG KONG, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong has retained its position as Asia's second largest destination for foreign direct investment (FDI), according to a report released on Wednesday by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

    The report, named World Investment Report 2007, highlighted Hong Kong as a "front-runner"...

Nike Inc sales in China are growing at over 50 percent annually and will reach $1 billion within a year, making the mainland its second largest market globally, Chief Executive Mark Parker said on Thursday.

Nike, the world's largest athletic shoe and clothing maker, opened its company-owned flagship store in Beijing two months ago and said it would soon establish a studio in China to de...

Lianyungang in East China's Jiangsu Province expects a local carbon fiber maker to become the world's largest by 2010, said the city's Party secretary Wang Jianhua.

The port city also aims to build Asia's largest base for producing wind power blade by then, said Wang, a delegate from Jiangsu attending the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

China's central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan speaks during a news conference in Beijing October 18...

BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- The average price of pork in Chinese shops has dropped 11 percent from its peak in August as the government invests billions of yuan to support the pig breeding industry.

    The retail price in 36 large and medium-sized cities fell to 12.41 yuan (1.7 U.S. dollars) per 500 grams on Thursday, from the peak level of 13.95 yuan on Aug. 9, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

    Pork prices almost doubled this year due to short supply and mounting feedstuff costs, driving up the consumer price index to an 11-year-high of 6.5 percent in August.

NEW YORK, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Oil prices surged to a record 89.47 dollars on Thursday as the falling dollar drew new foreign investors and speculators to dollar-denominated energy futures.     Crude for November delivery finished up 2.07 dollars at 89.47 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after reaching a new all-time trading high of 89.78 dollars.

...

BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's main stock index on Thursday closed at 5,825.28 points, down 3.5 percent or 211 points over the previous close on worries about over-valuation.

    After hitting the 6,000-point mark on Monday and a new record of 6092.06 points on Tuesday, the index fell slightly on Wednesday by 0.92 percent.

    It dived by 2.55 percent in Thursday morning trade, extending the previous day's weakness.

    The Shenzhen Component Index on the smaller market closed at 18,681.35 points, down 3.15 percent.

    Tu Guangshao, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission said in remarks carried on the front pages of major business newspapers Thursday that educating investors about risk was a key task.

    Reports also pointed out that prices of some heavyweight shares had been seriously over-valued. The price-earning ratio of China Life, for example, was more than 200.

Special Report: 17th CPC National Congress

    BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Export-Import Bank
of China (China Exim Bank) said on Thursday there is still no timetable for it
to go public.

    Plans to restructure the policy bank into a
commercial one are still under discussion before they are to be finalized by the
People's Bank of China, said Li Ruogu, governor of China Exim Bank, at a press
briefing on the sideline of the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of
China.

    Even after its commercialization, the bank will still
work to promote foreign economic cooperation. "We won't turn to domestic
railway, road or real estate projects," Li said

The market will play a bigger role in determining the exchange rate of the yuan and eventually make it fully convertible, the country's top banker said yesterday.

"Supply and demand forces in the market will play a bigger role in setting the yuan's rate," Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of People's Bank of China (PBOC) said on the sidelines of the Party congress.

Talking about recent complaints from European countries over the renminbi exchange rate, Zhou said worries may arise from the rapid increase in China's trade surplus with EU. He also cited the weakening dollar, which has exerted upward pressure on the euro's value, before expressing his sympathy for those affected.

A vice-governor of PBOC will meet EU's central bankers to discuss their concerns at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Washington next week, he said.