Tourism

Cross-border shopping booms

Emboldened by a strong yuan, already high-spending mainland shoppers are heading to Hong Kong to shop even more.

Flying to the special administrative region during holidays and emptying the shelves there has become a ritual for many mainlanders.

But in recent months, the deals on offer have started to look even more attractive. According to figures from the Hong Kong government, during the first three months of the year, retail sales rose by 6.5 percent, seasonally adjusted, from the previous quarter. During the three-day May Day holiday, from April 29 to May 1, about 400,000 mainlanders flocked to Hong Kong, a 50 percent increase from the same period last year.

Agriculture

More rice imports on cards

Despite its efforts to boost grain yields for the 10th consecutive year, China, the world's largest rice consumer, is expected to become the largest rice importer this year, according to a new report.

The country's rice imports this year will surge to 3 million metric tons from 2.34 million tons a year ago, according to the report, released by the United States Department of Agriculture. Since 2012, consumption demand for rice in China has exceeded the supply, the report said.

If the forecast holds true, it would represent a sharp increase as the country's rice imports hovered around 450,000 tons per year over the five-year period that ended in 2011, official data showed. It would also make the country outstrip Nigeria to become the world's largest rice importer. Analysts blamed the expected surge in imports on the price discrepancy between the domestic and global markets.

Mining

China, ASEAN sign agreement

Seven mining cooperation agreements valued at about 16.3 billion yuan ($2.59 billion; 2.05 billion euros) were signed between China and the ASEAN countries at the recent China-ASEAN Mining Cooperation Forum and Exhibition.

The event, which focused on "technological cooperation and scientific development of the mining industry", attracted more than 800 representatives from the government, commerce departments, trade organizations and mining associations, and mining specialists and entrepreneurs from China and ASEAN countries.

Wang Min, vice-minister of the Ministry of Land and Resources of China, said that the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area provides a good platform for both sides to tap into the rich mining resources in ASEAN countries and China's advantages in technology, talent and capital.

Finance

Demand grows for dollar bonds

Low interest rates, and ample money supply overseas, are luring more Chinese companies to issue dollar-denominated bonds to refinance debt, according to financial industry specialists.

Issuers on the mainland and in Hong Kong have sold $18.8 billion (14.53 billion euros) worth of bonds so far this year, more than six times the total for the same period last year, data from Bloomberg show.

At the start of May, CNOOC, China's largest producer of offshore crude oil and natural gas, issued dollar-denominated notes worth $4 billion through CNOOC Finance, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company. These guaranteed notes will be due from 2016 to 2043.

China Daily - Xinhua

(China Daily 05/17/2013 page2)