ASIAN TEXTILE SHOW: The first China-Japan-South Korea Fine Fabrics Exhibition opens on April 20 in Shanghai. Companies from the three countries bring more than 300 kinds of fine fabrics to the show (ZHANG MING)

Tax Adjustment

The Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress reviewed a draft amendment to the Personal Income Tax Law on April 20. The draft proposed to increase the monthly personal income tax threshold to 3,000 yuan ($460) from 2,000 yuan ($305) as an effort to cut the financial burden on low- and middle-income groups.

The changes take into account rising living costs in China, said Xie Xuren, Minister of Finance.

China's personal income taxes totaled 483.7 billion yuan ($73.8 billion) in 2010, accounting for 6.3 percent of the country's tax revenues.

Curbing Overcapacity

China is making efforts to curb overcapacity in its aluminum sector, said the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on April 20.

Supplies have far outweighed demands due to reckless expansion of the sector.

Local governments must immediately stop building new electrolytic aluminum projects and cancel policy incentives to aluminum producers, including favorable tax rates and electricity charges.

China's aluminum output topped 15.6 million tons last year and production capacity was 23 million tons. That means only 70 percent of facilities were in operation.

Capital Destination

China received $30.34 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first quarter of this year, soaring 29.4 percent year on year, said the Ministry of Commerce.

China approved 5,937 new foreign-invested companies in the first three months, up 8.8 percent from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, China's FDI structure continues to improve. The service sector received paid-in FDI of $14.39 billion from January to March, compared with $13.74 billion of the manufacturing industry. In addition, the western regions strengthened attractions to foreign investors, with paid-in FDI surging 84.1 percent in the first quarter year on year.

Export Suspension

China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec), the country's largest oil refiner, on April 20 announced that it had suspended exports of refined oil products to ensure domestic supplies.

Sinopec faces heavier pressure to meet buoyant demands for oil at home, the company said.

Exports to Hong Kong and Macao would be maintained to meet the two regions' basic energy demands, but a decrease in exports would be expected to both.

Apart from the export suspension, Sinopec will take more measures to increase output.

Sinopec aims for refined oil output of 10.54 million tons in April, increasing 410,000 tons year on year.

Dairy Expansion

Bright Food Group Co. Ltd., a leading food and dairy company based in Shanghai, has started building Asia's largest diary factory in Shanghai.

With an investment of 1.4 billion yuan ($214.3 million), the factory is designed to process 2,000 tons daily of fresh milk, yogurt and other kinds of dairy products under the Bright Food brand. Its annual capacity is expected to reach 600,000 tons, said Bright Food President Guo Benheng.

The new factory will be put into operation in 2013. And its annual sales revenue is expected to reach 4.65 billion yuan ($710.3 million).