MORE ELECTRICITY: The new 750-kilovolt transformer substation in Korla, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, operated well in the first month after its launch on January 10 (JIANG WENYAO)

Energy Consumption

The energy consumption per unit of GDP for China's major energy-intensive industries decreased by more than 20 percent from 2006 to 2010, said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The sectors include oil processing, coking and nuclear fuel processing, chemicals and chemical product manufacturing, non-metallic mineral product manufacturing, ferrous metal smelting and rolling, nonferrous metal smelting and rolling and electricity and heat producing and supplying.

The NBS attributed the rising energy efficiency to the growing investment in energy conservation, and to the upgrading of energy-conversation technologies in those sectors.

SME Loans

Lending to China's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) rose faster than loans to large enterprises last year, highlighting the government's efforts to optimize the loan structure, according to the People's Bank of China, the central bank.

Outstanding loans to small enterprises by banks and financial institutions jumped 29.3 percent year on year to 7.55 trillion yuan ($1.15 trillion) in 2010, while loans to medium-sized enterprises stood at 10.13 trillion yuan ($1.54 trillion), up 17.8 percent. Outstanding loans to large enterprises rose 13.3 percent to 13.42 trillion yuan ($2.04 trillion).

Nearly 99 percent of Chinese enterprises are SMEs and are responsible for 60 percent of the country's GDP.

Tariff Down

China lowered the tariff on computers and video camcorders brought into the country by travelers from 20 percent to 10 percent on January 27, said a Ministry of Finance statement.

Computers and video camcorders have been moved from the second category of the tariff list to the first category, the statement posted on the ministry's website said.

This is good news for anyone buying an iPad abroad and returning to China. Under the new rule, the tariff paid on iPads will drop from the previous 1,000 yuan ($150) to less than 500 yuan ($75).

Anti-Dumping Duties

The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced on February 9 it will impose temporary anti-dumping measures on optical fiber imported from the United States and the European Union.

The preliminary ruling requires importers of dispersion unshifted single-mode optical fiber, a material used in high-speed and long-distance telecom transmission, to place deposits starting February 18, said a statement on the MOFCOM website.

MOFCOM has set deposit rates for the optical fiber imported from the United States at 4.7 percent to 18.6 percent and for that from the EU at 17.7 percent to 29.1 percent.

The MOFCOM launched an anti-dumping probe into optical fiber products imported from the two regions on April 22, 2010.

Investment in Macao

A total of 2,991 new companies were registered in Macao in 2010, an increase of 18.3 percent over 2009, according to figures released on February 9 by the Statistics and Census Service of Macao Special Administrative Regional Government.

In 2010, registered capital of the new companies totaled $63.37 million, up 48.8 percent year on year, with capital from Macao, Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland being $31.12 million, $15.5 million and $9 million, respectively.