TEXILE FAIR: A client talks business with an exhibitor at the 12th China Textile and Apparel Trade Show in New York City on July 19. Challenges posed by the yuan's appreciation and labor cost surges are the hottest topics at the fair (WANG CHENGYUN)

Green Efforts

China will start a pilot carbon emissions trading project and gradually set up a market for carbon emissions trading, said Xie Zhenhua, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), on July 16 at the 2011 Eco-Forum Global held in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou Province.

It would also accelerate building a standardized system for energy saving and environmental protection, and tighten regulation on identifying and labeling low-carbon products, Xie said

China was determined to straighten out prices of resource-based products, for example, further applying differential power pricing and punitive electricity tariffs, he added.

The government would provide more incentives to develop energy-conservation technologies and products, such as preferential taxation policies, said Xie.

Fasteners' Anger

The China Fastener Industry Association strongly demanded an end to discriminatory anti-dumping duties from the EU on fasteners, like screws, nuts and bolts, from China in an open letter sent to the Council of European Union on July 18.

Feng Jinyao, president of the association, said the country's fastener industry has suffered considerable losses in the past two years due to the EU's unfair treatment of Chinese fastener makers.

China is the world's biggest producer of fasteners, while the EU is its major market.

The strong voice from the industry came after the WTO's appellate body ruled recently that the EU is not complying with international commerce rules by imposing anti-dumping duties on the fasteners from China, and that the EU is illegally taxing Chinese steel fasteners.

Ultimatum to Hoarders

The NDRC on July 18 issued an ultimatum to the country's herbal medicine speculators, ordering them to quickly sell their stocks, as the prices of some herbs have surged as many as 10 times over the past two years.

The price of codonopsis pilosula, a root that is used to prepare several varieties of traditional herbal medicine, jumped to 90 yuan ($13.9) per kg in June 2011, compared with 9 yuan ($1.39) in August 2009, according to the NDRC.

The NDRC sent letters to 10 medicinal supply companies and individuals that were stockpiling codonopsis pilosula, demanding that they sell 200 tons of the herbs to pharmaceutical companies that produce traditional Chinese medicine with GMP (good manufacturing practice) certificates.

The sales must be completed before July 21, 2011, with the price capped at 60 yuan ($9.23) per kg, said the NDRC. Those who fail to sell their stocks before the deadline will be punished.

Auto JV

China's fifth largest automotive group, Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC Group), announced on July 19 the establishment of a joint venture with Russia's AMS Auto.

The total investment in the joint venture, BAW-RUS Automotive Co. Ltd., is worth about $176 million, with a registered capital of $20 million.

The joint venture is expected to produce 60,000 units per year by 2017.