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Farmers build barriers with hay to create grid patterns that stabilize sand dunes in Minqin County， Gansu Province， on November 19. In 2015， the local government planned to spend six years building an ecological barrier to stabilize sand and prevent desertification， which is 500 km long and 1 km wide.
Health Promotion
Premier Li Keqiang on November 21 said that China will continue to promote global health issues while providing assistance to other developing countries.
Li made the remarks during a speech in Shanghai at the opening ceremony of the Ninth Global Conference on Health Promotion（GCHP）.
China has taken an active role in pushing forward global health， Li said， pledging that the country will continue to honor its international obligations.
In the past 50 years， China has sent 20，000 medical workers to 67 countries and regions， treating more than 260 million patients， according to Li.
Nations need to create a global public health safety control system， he suggested， adding that they should promote innovation cooperation to cope better with medical challenges.
He also encouraged mutual learning and fusion between traditional and modern medicine.
At the conference， a declaration on promoting health as part of sustainable development was published， calling on governments around the world to promise to include health promotion in their development agendas.
The declaration advocates global coordinated actions in protecting the health rights of women， migrant workers and people suffering environmental and human rights crises.
The conference， with the theme“Promoting health in the Sustainable Development Goals： Health for all， and all for health，” was organized by China and the World Health Organization （WHO） from November 21 to 24.
Over 1，200 representatives from 126 countries and regions as well as 19 international organizations participated in the conference， according to the WHO.
Since the first GCHP in 1986， the conference has become a key platform for the WHO and member states to discuss important global health issues and set the agenda for promoting health worldwide.
Judicial Transparency
China’s online court records database is now the world’s largest， according to He Rong， Vice President of the Supreme People’s Court. Addressing a forum at the Third World Internet Conference in Wuzhen， east China’s Zhejiang Province， on November 17， He said that courts have uploaded 22 million verdicts to a website open to the public. The site has been visited more than 3.6 billion times. Since it was launched in September， a video streaming site showing live trial proceedings has attracted 475，000 hits.
In addition to contributing to judicial transparency， He said the developments make it much easier for judges to share experience with colleagues and improve their performance.
Courts in China handle approximately 20 million cases annually.
Drug Busts
Police in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region recently confiscated 659 kg of ketamine in a crackdown on illegal drugs.
Officers with the Public Security Bureau of Hechi City also arrested eight drug dealers and confiscated a vehicle and 200，000 yuan（$29，039）.
In September， police received a tip-off about illegal drug manufacturing in a remote mountain village in Hechi. A two-month investigation uncovered details of the drug business， which sold its produce in Hechi and neighboring areas.
Great Wall Protection
The government of north China’s Shanxi Province has published a circular with details of about 4，276 Great Wall sites in the region in an effort to enhance their protection.
The document includes the names， locations and construction dates of Great Wall sections under protection as well as details of areas where modern-day construction is strictly controlled. The sites spread across 40 counties and districts belonging to eight cities in the province.
Areas under protection and where construction is controlled were jointly designated by the Shanxi Cultural Heritage Bureau and the province’s Housing and UrbanRural Development Department， according to government sources.
Within the protected areas， dismantling or reconstruction of the Great Wall， construction and underground mining are all prohibited.
Within the controlled construction areas， new buildings should not affect the historical style of the Great Wall， and construction blueprints should be approved before projects begin.
The Great Wall， which is actually a series of defense fortifications， was built between the third century B.C. and the Ming Dynasty （1368-1644）. The sections still in existence mostly date from the Ming era， during which the various stretches of wall grew to a combined length of over 8，800 km.
Shanxi boasts 1，400 km of Great Wall， 900 km of which belongs to the Ming era.
In 2006， a national regulation on Great Wall protection was released， but the sheer length of the structure has made enforcement rather challenging. Statistics show that less than 10 percent of the wall is considered well-preserved， while about 30 percent has disappeared. Dong Yaohui， deputy head of the China Great Wall Society， said Shanxi’s circular is a step in implementing both the cultural relics protection law and the Great Wall protection regulation. The information published will help raise awareness and improve the effectiveness of protection， he added.
Library Access
Foreign residents are now entitled to borrow and return books at any public library in Chengdu， capital of southwest China’s Sichuan Province， under the first arrangement of its kind in the country.
From this November， foreign residents can use the online system that links all 21 of the city’s public libraries and， thereby， can also access the institutions’ combined digital resources.
Chengdu has provided local people with free access to all public library resources at all branches since it rolled out a unified public library system in 2014.
Prior to this month， foreigners could only return books to the library from which they had borrowed the works.
“Chengdu has welcomed a growing number of foreigners in recent years. As public libraries， we should provide services for all residents in the city， including foreign residents，” said Xiao Ping， Chengdu’s deputy chief librarian.
Over 14，000 foreigners live in Chengdu， according to October figures from the Chengdu Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office.
Granary Relics
Ruins of a large granary along with ancient jars， pots， bowls and coins have been discovered in north China’s Hebei Province， local authorities said on November 20.
Covering some 52，000 square meters in Linxi County， the granary ruins are believed to have been constructed during the Tang Dynasty（618-907）. Ruins of 19 grain bins have been found at the site. Archeologists said that the cylindrical bins， made of cedar wood and earth， measured 6 to 10 meters in diameter.
Yang Zunyi， chief editor of the local chronicles of Linxi， said the county lies near the Grand Canal， an artificial waterway completed during the Sui Dynasty （581-618）， and the area was a major grain warehouse during the subsequent Tang Dynasty. The discovery is important for the study of ancient waterway grain transportation and the construction of ancient warehouses， researchers said.
Reading Paradise
Readers select books at the China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair on November 18.
More than 300 exhibitors from over 30 countries and regions took part in the event. Record Maker
Yuan Longping （left）， a renowned Chinese developer of hybrid rice， in a rice field in Longtian Township of Xingning， Guangdong Province， on November 19.
A hybrid rice project headed by Yuan has achieved an annual yield of 1，537.78 kg per mu （about 0.07 hectares） of farmland， setting a new world record， authorities announced on November 19.
China’s‘Jurassic Park’
Southwest China’s Zigong City， in Sichuan Province， plans to build a“Jurassic park.”
Under a deal signed on November 17， the city government and the Fantawild Group in Shenzhen， Guangdong Province， will invest a total of 3.1 billion yuan （$450 million） in the tourist attraction.
The 67-hectare theme park will be situated adjacent to the existing Zigong Dinosaur Museum. Featuring virtual reality and augmented reality to “liven up” its dinosaurs， the park is expected to draw over 3 million visitors per year.
In 1902， China’s first dinosaur fossil discovery was unearthed in Heilongjiang Province. In 1979， a cluster of dinosaur fossils was found in Zigong.
Fantawild Group has built over 20 theme parks across China， which attracted some 23 million visitors last year.
Growth in 2017
China’s economic growth may continue to slow in 2017 to 6.5 percent before possibly bottoming out in 2018， showed a report on November 21.
As the economy showed signs of stabilization in the first three quarters with a growth rate of 6.7 percent， the rate for the whole year may also register the same pace， according to the report by the National Academy of Development and Strategy at Beijing-based Renmin University of China （RUC）.
“The year 2017 will be a year when China’s economy continues the bottoming-out process，” Mao Zhenhua， Co-Chair of the Institute of Economic Research at RUC， said while delivering the report， which forecast that growth in 2017 may further decline to 6.5 percent before possibly rebounding in 2018.
In the medium to long term， the bonuses from globalization， indus- trialization and a large population have sustained the country’s growth for more than three decades， but their economic benefits have been dwindling to different extents， Mao said.
The government has set a target growth range of 6.5 to 7 percent for 2016. In 2016-20， China must realize average annual growth of at least 6.5 percent to meet the goal of doubling residential income and GDP by 2020 from the 2010 level. Cooling the Property Market
The property sector has shown signs of cooling after the authorities issued a series of measures to contain high prices， an official survey showed on November 18.
Seven of 70 large and mediumsized cities surveyed in the second half of October saw new home prices drop month on month， up from two in the first half of the month， according to the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS）.
“Property prices stabilized in the second half of October，” the NBS said.
In the second half of October， new residential property prices in Shenzhen and Chengdu continued to decline， while prices in Beijing， Tianjin， Shanghai， Xiamen and Zhengzhou reversed their upward trend and started declining， according to the NBS.
Compared with September， the month-on-month price index for both new and used residential property in those cities retreated in October， even though most cities still reported rises.
The NBS attributed the “significant changes” to policies rolled out by local governments to curb prices. In early October， dozens of Chinese cities announced measures， including purchase limits and tightened mortgage restrictions， to prevent prices from rising too fast.
“Price changes were different depending on the city， and commercial housing sales slowed down slightly， which means the market has entered a wait-and-see period，” said Xia Dan， a senior researcher with the Bank of Communications， one of China’s top five lenders.
“Under the influence of government controls， sales may shrink sharply in the last two months of the year，” said Ding Zuyu， Co-President of real estate service provider E-House China， adding that it might be a good opportunity for buyers.
Alibaba in Dubai
Alibaba Cloud， a cloud computing arm of China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group， said on November 21 that it has launched a data center in Dubai.
Operated by YVOLV， a joint venture between Alibaba Cloud and the United Arab Emirates （UAE） company Meraas Holdings， the data center will be the first “full-fledged public cloud” in the Middle East， said Alibaba Cloud and Meraas in a joint press conference.
It will serve the “increasing demand” for mission-critical， affordable and secure cloud computing in the region， they said.
Simon Hu， President of Alibaba Cloud， said that with the new data center， the global cloud network will be able to meet demands from enterprises which are going global. Fahed Al-Hajeri， CEO of YVOLV， confirmed that the cloud provider’s achievements in its home market China “can be replicated in the region.”
Riding Along
A train suspended from a railway line runs in Chengdu， Sichuan Province， on November 21， 2016. After two months of tests， China’s first suspension railway line met all operational requirements and is ready to be put into operation.
Coca-Cola Reshape
The Coca-Cola Company on November 19 announced the restructuring of its bottling operations in China.
The announcement was made jointly after an agreement was struck between Coca-Cola， the Bottling Investments Group China， COFCO Coca-Cola Beverages Ltd. （a subsidiary of COFCO Corp.） and Swire Beverage Holdings Ltd.
As a result， Coca-Cola’s bottling operations in China will be concentrated in its two franchise partners， COFCO and Swire. COFCO will own and operate 18 bottling plants， while Swire will own and operate 17.
“Today’s announcement marks our refocus on core strengths of building great brands and leading a strong， global franchise system，”said Muhtar Kent， Chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola.
By re-franchising all companyowned bottling operations in China to local partners， Coca-Cola aims to position these companies to leverage greater scale， capability and efficiency throughout China to invest in growth.
“I think it is the transformation of the company because we are going back to the core of our business which is strategy and brands，” Kent said.
“China’s long and stable economic growth provides great opportunity for the sustainable development of the beverage industry，”said Zhao Shuanglian， Chairman of COFCO Corp.
“The scale effect， regional synergy and cost optimization that the new initiative brings will certainly boost Coca-Cola and its partners to achieve a new leap forward in China，” Zhao added.
Innovation Get-Together
A firefighting robot is on display at the 18th China Hi-Tech Fair in Shenzhen， Guangdong Province， on November 18.
Banks Active in the UAE
China’s biggest banks have recently made a number of significant financial moves in the UAE， a sign of growing economic ties between the two countries.
On November 13， the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China（ICBC）， China’s largest bank， listed a $400-million bond on Nasdaq Dubai， the international financial exchange in the Middle East. “The bond will be used to expand our general business in the Middle East and we are optimistic that China-UAE trade will expand further，” said Zhou Xiaodong， General Manager of ICBC Middle East Branch.
Statistics show trade between China and the UAE is expected to hit$60 billion by the end of 2016， up from $54.8 billion in 2014.
On November 15， ICBC was embraced as a settlement bank for the Dubai Commodities Clearing Corp.， a wholly owned subsidiary of Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange（DGCX）. The Bank of China， China’s fourth largest lender， became a member in March.
Gaurang Desai， CEO of DGCX， said this development “is particularly important in light of the recent agreement to list Shanghai Gold Futures on DGCX， the first yuandenominated gold futures product to be offered outside China.”
In late September， China launched direct trading of its currency， the yuan， with the Saudi riyal and the UAE dirham on its interbank foreign exchange market.
“With increasingly close trade partnership between China and the UAE， the development of currency transactions has become an integral part of bilateral cooperation，”said Tian Jun， General Manager of the Bank of China’s Abu Dhabi branch.
Wind Power
China’s grid-connected wind power capacity has continued to grow， but its utilization rate has been waning after years of capacity expansion， according to the latest data from the National Energy Administration （NEA）.
China’s total installed capacity for wind power facilities connected to the power grid reached 139 million kilowatts by the end of September， up 28 percent from a year earlier， based on figures from the NEA.
The growth rate outpaced that of the nation’s total power use， a key barometer of economic activity， increasing 4.5 percent year on year for the first nine months， official data showed.
The first nine months of the year also saw the newly added gridconnected wind power generation capacity reached 10 million kilowatts， said the NEA.
However， those power generation facilities had an average of 1，251 utilization hours in the first nine months， declining by 66 hours from a year earlier.
Of all provincial areas， southwest China’s Yunnan Province registered the largest gain in grid-connected wind power capacity-2.26 million kilowatts in the first nine months.
China， the world’s second largest economy， has been trying to develop a clean energy network and pursue green growth in recent years.
A Dazzling Show
A Hongqi limousine produced by China’s FAW Group is on display at the China （Guangzhou） International Automobile Exhibition in Guangdong Province on November 18， when the auto show kicked off.
Health Promotion
Premier Li Keqiang on November 21 said that China will continue to promote global health issues while providing assistance to other developing countries.
Li made the remarks during a speech in Shanghai at the opening ceremony of the Ninth Global Conference on Health Promotion（GCHP）.
China has taken an active role in pushing forward global health， Li said， pledging that the country will continue to honor its international obligations.
In the past 50 years， China has sent 20，000 medical workers to 67 countries and regions， treating more than 260 million patients， according to Li.
Nations need to create a global public health safety control system， he suggested， adding that they should promote innovation cooperation to cope better with medical challenges.
He also encouraged mutual learning and fusion between traditional and modern medicine.
At the conference， a declaration on promoting health as part of sustainable development was published， calling on governments around the world to promise to include health promotion in their development agendas.
The declaration advocates global coordinated actions in protecting the health rights of women， migrant workers and people suffering environmental and human rights crises.
The conference， with the theme“Promoting health in the Sustainable Development Goals： Health for all， and all for health，” was organized by China and the World Health Organization （WHO） from November 21 to 24.
Over 1，200 representatives from 126 countries and regions as well as 19 international organizations participated in the conference， according to the WHO.
Since the first GCHP in 1986， the conference has become a key platform for the WHO and member states to discuss important global health issues and set the agenda for promoting health worldwide.
Judicial Transparency
China’s online court records database is now the world’s largest， according to He Rong， Vice President of the Supreme People’s Court. Addressing a forum at the Third World Internet Conference in Wuzhen， east China’s Zhejiang Province， on November 17， He said that courts have uploaded 22 million verdicts to a website open to the public. The site has been visited more than 3.6 billion times. Since it was launched in September， a video streaming site showing live trial proceedings has attracted 475，000 hits.
In addition to contributing to judicial transparency， He said the developments make it much easier for judges to share experience with colleagues and improve their performance.
Courts in China handle approximately 20 million cases annually.
Drug Busts
Police in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region recently confiscated 659 kg of ketamine in a crackdown on illegal drugs.
Officers with the Public Security Bureau of Hechi City also arrested eight drug dealers and confiscated a vehicle and 200，000 yuan（$29，039）.
In September， police received a tip-off about illegal drug manufacturing in a remote mountain village in Hechi. A two-month investigation uncovered details of the drug business， which sold its produce in Hechi and neighboring areas.
Great Wall Protection
The government of north China’s Shanxi Province has published a circular with details of about 4，276 Great Wall sites in the region in an effort to enhance their protection.
The document includes the names， locations and construction dates of Great Wall sections under protection as well as details of areas where modern-day construction is strictly controlled. The sites spread across 40 counties and districts belonging to eight cities in the province.
Areas under protection and where construction is controlled were jointly designated by the Shanxi Cultural Heritage Bureau and the province’s Housing and UrbanRural Development Department， according to government sources.
Within the protected areas， dismantling or reconstruction of the Great Wall， construction and underground mining are all prohibited.
Within the controlled construction areas， new buildings should not affect the historical style of the Great Wall， and construction blueprints should be approved before projects begin.
The Great Wall， which is actually a series of defense fortifications， was built between the third century B.C. and the Ming Dynasty （1368-1644）. The sections still in existence mostly date from the Ming era， during which the various stretches of wall grew to a combined length of over 8，800 km.
Shanxi boasts 1，400 km of Great Wall， 900 km of which belongs to the Ming era.
In 2006， a national regulation on Great Wall protection was released， but the sheer length of the structure has made enforcement rather challenging. Statistics show that less than 10 percent of the wall is considered well-preserved， while about 30 percent has disappeared. Dong Yaohui， deputy head of the China Great Wall Society， said Shanxi’s circular is a step in implementing both the cultural relics protection law and the Great Wall protection regulation. The information published will help raise awareness and improve the effectiveness of protection， he added.
Library Access
Foreign residents are now entitled to borrow and return books at any public library in Chengdu， capital of southwest China’s Sichuan Province， under the first arrangement of its kind in the country.
From this November， foreign residents can use the online system that links all 21 of the city’s public libraries and， thereby， can also access the institutions’ combined digital resources.
Chengdu has provided local people with free access to all public library resources at all branches since it rolled out a unified public library system in 2014.
Prior to this month， foreigners could only return books to the library from which they had borrowed the works.
“Chengdu has welcomed a growing number of foreigners in recent years. As public libraries， we should provide services for all residents in the city， including foreign residents，” said Xiao Ping， Chengdu’s deputy chief librarian.
Over 14，000 foreigners live in Chengdu， according to October figures from the Chengdu Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office.
Granary Relics
Ruins of a large granary along with ancient jars， pots， bowls and coins have been discovered in north China’s Hebei Province， local authorities said on November 20.
Covering some 52，000 square meters in Linxi County， the granary ruins are believed to have been constructed during the Tang Dynasty（618-907）. Ruins of 19 grain bins have been found at the site. Archeologists said that the cylindrical bins， made of cedar wood and earth， measured 6 to 10 meters in diameter.
Yang Zunyi， chief editor of the local chronicles of Linxi， said the county lies near the Grand Canal， an artificial waterway completed during the Sui Dynasty （581-618）， and the area was a major grain warehouse during the subsequent Tang Dynasty. The discovery is important for the study of ancient waterway grain transportation and the construction of ancient warehouses， researchers said.
Reading Paradise
Readers select books at the China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair on November 18.
More than 300 exhibitors from over 30 countries and regions took part in the event. Record Maker
Yuan Longping （left）， a renowned Chinese developer of hybrid rice， in a rice field in Longtian Township of Xingning， Guangdong Province， on November 19.
A hybrid rice project headed by Yuan has achieved an annual yield of 1，537.78 kg per mu （about 0.07 hectares） of farmland， setting a new world record， authorities announced on November 19.
China’s‘Jurassic Park’
Southwest China’s Zigong City， in Sichuan Province， plans to build a“Jurassic park.”
Under a deal signed on November 17， the city government and the Fantawild Group in Shenzhen， Guangdong Province， will invest a total of 3.1 billion yuan （$450 million） in the tourist attraction.
The 67-hectare theme park will be situated adjacent to the existing Zigong Dinosaur Museum. Featuring virtual reality and augmented reality to “liven up” its dinosaurs， the park is expected to draw over 3 million visitors per year.
In 1902， China’s first dinosaur fossil discovery was unearthed in Heilongjiang Province. In 1979， a cluster of dinosaur fossils was found in Zigong.
Fantawild Group has built over 20 theme parks across China， which attracted some 23 million visitors last year.
Growth in 2017
China’s economic growth may continue to slow in 2017 to 6.5 percent before possibly bottoming out in 2018， showed a report on November 21.
As the economy showed signs of stabilization in the first three quarters with a growth rate of 6.7 percent， the rate for the whole year may also register the same pace， according to the report by the National Academy of Development and Strategy at Beijing-based Renmin University of China （RUC）.
“The year 2017 will be a year when China’s economy continues the bottoming-out process，” Mao Zhenhua， Co-Chair of the Institute of Economic Research at RUC， said while delivering the report， which forecast that growth in 2017 may further decline to 6.5 percent before possibly rebounding in 2018.
In the medium to long term， the bonuses from globalization， indus- trialization and a large population have sustained the country’s growth for more than three decades， but their economic benefits have been dwindling to different extents， Mao said.
The government has set a target growth range of 6.5 to 7 percent for 2016. In 2016-20， China must realize average annual growth of at least 6.5 percent to meet the goal of doubling residential income and GDP by 2020 from the 2010 level. Cooling the Property Market
The property sector has shown signs of cooling after the authorities issued a series of measures to contain high prices， an official survey showed on November 18.
Seven of 70 large and mediumsized cities surveyed in the second half of October saw new home prices drop month on month， up from two in the first half of the month， according to the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS）.
“Property prices stabilized in the second half of October，” the NBS said.
In the second half of October， new residential property prices in Shenzhen and Chengdu continued to decline， while prices in Beijing， Tianjin， Shanghai， Xiamen and Zhengzhou reversed their upward trend and started declining， according to the NBS.
Compared with September， the month-on-month price index for both new and used residential property in those cities retreated in October， even though most cities still reported rises.
The NBS attributed the “significant changes” to policies rolled out by local governments to curb prices. In early October， dozens of Chinese cities announced measures， including purchase limits and tightened mortgage restrictions， to prevent prices from rising too fast.
“Price changes were different depending on the city， and commercial housing sales slowed down slightly， which means the market has entered a wait-and-see period，” said Xia Dan， a senior researcher with the Bank of Communications， one of China’s top five lenders.
“Under the influence of government controls， sales may shrink sharply in the last two months of the year，” said Ding Zuyu， Co-President of real estate service provider E-House China， adding that it might be a good opportunity for buyers.
Alibaba in Dubai
Alibaba Cloud， a cloud computing arm of China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba Group， said on November 21 that it has launched a data center in Dubai.
Operated by YVOLV， a joint venture between Alibaba Cloud and the United Arab Emirates （UAE） company Meraas Holdings， the data center will be the first “full-fledged public cloud” in the Middle East， said Alibaba Cloud and Meraas in a joint press conference.
It will serve the “increasing demand” for mission-critical， affordable and secure cloud computing in the region， they said.
Simon Hu， President of Alibaba Cloud， said that with the new data center， the global cloud network will be able to meet demands from enterprises which are going global. Fahed Al-Hajeri， CEO of YVOLV， confirmed that the cloud provider’s achievements in its home market China “can be replicated in the region.”
Riding Along
A train suspended from a railway line runs in Chengdu， Sichuan Province， on November 21， 2016. After two months of tests， China’s first suspension railway line met all operational requirements and is ready to be put into operation.
Coca-Cola Reshape
The Coca-Cola Company on November 19 announced the restructuring of its bottling operations in China.
The announcement was made jointly after an agreement was struck between Coca-Cola， the Bottling Investments Group China， COFCO Coca-Cola Beverages Ltd. （a subsidiary of COFCO Corp.） and Swire Beverage Holdings Ltd.
As a result， Coca-Cola’s bottling operations in China will be concentrated in its two franchise partners， COFCO and Swire. COFCO will own and operate 18 bottling plants， while Swire will own and operate 17.
“Today’s announcement marks our refocus on core strengths of building great brands and leading a strong， global franchise system，”said Muhtar Kent， Chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola.
By re-franchising all companyowned bottling operations in China to local partners， Coca-Cola aims to position these companies to leverage greater scale， capability and efficiency throughout China to invest in growth.
“I think it is the transformation of the company because we are going back to the core of our business which is strategy and brands，” Kent said.
“China’s long and stable economic growth provides great opportunity for the sustainable development of the beverage industry，”said Zhao Shuanglian， Chairman of COFCO Corp.
“The scale effect， regional synergy and cost optimization that the new initiative brings will certainly boost Coca-Cola and its partners to achieve a new leap forward in China，” Zhao added.
Innovation Get-Together
A firefighting robot is on display at the 18th China Hi-Tech Fair in Shenzhen， Guangdong Province， on November 18.
Banks Active in the UAE
China’s biggest banks have recently made a number of significant financial moves in the UAE， a sign of growing economic ties between the two countries.
On November 13， the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China（ICBC）， China’s largest bank， listed a $400-million bond on Nasdaq Dubai， the international financial exchange in the Middle East. “The bond will be used to expand our general business in the Middle East and we are optimistic that China-UAE trade will expand further，” said Zhou Xiaodong， General Manager of ICBC Middle East Branch.
Statistics show trade between China and the UAE is expected to hit$60 billion by the end of 2016， up from $54.8 billion in 2014.
On November 15， ICBC was embraced as a settlement bank for the Dubai Commodities Clearing Corp.， a wholly owned subsidiary of Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange（DGCX）. The Bank of China， China’s fourth largest lender， became a member in March.
Gaurang Desai， CEO of DGCX， said this development “is particularly important in light of the recent agreement to list Shanghai Gold Futures on DGCX， the first yuandenominated gold futures product to be offered outside China.”
In late September， China launched direct trading of its currency， the yuan， with the Saudi riyal and the UAE dirham on its interbank foreign exchange market.
“With increasingly close trade partnership between China and the UAE， the development of currency transactions has become an integral part of bilateral cooperation，”said Tian Jun， General Manager of the Bank of China’s Abu Dhabi branch.
Wind Power
China’s grid-connected wind power capacity has continued to grow， but its utilization rate has been waning after years of capacity expansion， according to the latest data from the National Energy Administration （NEA）.
China’s total installed capacity for wind power facilities connected to the power grid reached 139 million kilowatts by the end of September， up 28 percent from a year earlier， based on figures from the NEA.
The growth rate outpaced that of the nation’s total power use， a key barometer of economic activity， increasing 4.5 percent year on year for the first nine months， official data showed.
The first nine months of the year also saw the newly added gridconnected wind power generation capacity reached 10 million kilowatts， said the NEA.
However， those power generation facilities had an average of 1，251 utilization hours in the first nine months， declining by 66 hours from a year earlier.
Of all provincial areas， southwest China’s Yunnan Province registered the largest gain in grid-connected wind power capacity-2.26 million kilowatts in the first nine months.
China， the world’s second largest economy， has been trying to develop a clean energy network and pursue green growth in recent years.
A Dazzling Show
A Hongqi limousine produced by China’s FAW Group is on display at the China （Guangzhou） International Automobile Exhibition in Guangdong Province on November 18， when the auto show kicked off.