NEW RAIL HUB: A high-speed train departs from a newly built train station in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province. The station is the largest in northwest China and was put into use on January 11 (JIAO WEIPING)

Yuan Appreciation

The Chinese yuan strengthened to a record high against the U.S. dollar on January 13 to reach 6.5997 per dollar, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trading System.

China's central bank announced on June 2010 it would further reform the yuan exchange rate formation mechanism to improve its flexibility.

On China's foreign exchange spot market, the yuan can rise or fall 0.5 percent from the central parity rate each trading day.

The central parity rate of the yuan against the U.S. dollar is based on a weighted average of enquired prices from all market makers before the opening of the market each business day.

GDP Revised

The growth rate of China's GDP in 2009 has been modified up to 9.2 percent from the previous 9.1 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on January 11, 2011.

After the revision, the GDP's current value was 34.09 trillion yuan ($5.15 trillion) in 2009, up by 39.6 billion yuan ($6 trillion) from the previous figure, the NBS said.

Based on the current calculation, the primary sector contributed 10.3 percent of China's 2009 GDP, the secondary sector 46.3 percent and the tertiary sector 43.4 percent.

Investment in PE

Shanghai launched a pilot scheme allowing qualified foreign institutions to make private equity investment in China, marking an important step in the liberalization of China's capital markets.

Select overseas investors can convert foreign currencies into yuan for private equity investment in China, the Shanghai Municipal Government said.

The scheme has been dubbed a qualified foreign limited partner (QFLP), modeled after China's qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII) program, which allows foreign investors to buy Chinese stocks and bonds.

The pilot scheme would help "attract quality, long-term overseas capital, boost domestic investment, and would promote the development of a local private equity market," according to the municipal government.

Aviation Investment

China has spent more than 1 trillion yuan ($151.5 billion) building up its civil aviation infrastructure and purchasing aircraft over the past five years, said the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China on January 12.

Between 2005 and 2010, 33 airports were built, and more than 70 were expanded and renovated. Another 11 airports are currently under construction.

By the end of last year, China's civil aviation had boasted 1,604 aircraft, an increase of 741 from 2005. The general aviation fleet, meanwhile, has doubled to 1,000.

T-Bond Sale

The Ministry of Finance sold 30 billion yuan ($4.53 billion) of book-entry treasury bonds from January 13 to January 17.

The one-year bonds have a fixed annual interest rate of 2.81 percent, the ministry said.

The bonds became tradable on the exchange markets on January 19.

Interest on the bonds will be paid when the notes mature on January 13, 2012.

The bonds were the ministry's first issue of book-entry treasury bonds this year.