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Economy Watch
Economy Watch follows the progress of the world economy and offers you our weekly picks. Be sure to visit for the weekly updates.
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May 6 Updates
| China unveils regulations to boost foreign investment in central regions
Chinese Ministry of Commerce released regulations concerning foreign investment in China's central region here Thursday.
The region - which includes the provinces of Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei and Hunan - should attract high-end green industry with policy incentives and guidance, the regulations say.
It should give priority to manufacturing while eyeing investment in other sectors like agriculture, sophisticated processing industries, trade, finance, education, culture, tourism and leasing.
The region should nurture business-friendly policies and slash transaction costs to attract businesses considering moving inland from the coastal regions.
The rules call for rectifying any practices that disrupt business operation, including authorities' arbitrary law enforcement.
The rules also urged a market-oriented administration system consistent with international rules.
The ministry also pledged to establish state-level industrial transfer demonstration zones and to improve provincial industrial parks.
East Asian financial cooperation makes progress: Chinese minister
Regional financial cooperation in East Asia has made active progress over the past year, Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren said after meeting with his counterparts from countries in the region.
In particular, achievements were made in establishing the regional multilateral financial assistance mechanism and in promoting an Asian bond market, Xie told Xinhua on Sunday after attending the finance ministers' meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, plus China, Japan and South Korea (ASEAN+3) here.
Xie said all parties concerned reached further consensus on basic parameters of a regional economic surveillance unit at the meeting.
The unit is responsible for monitoring the countries' economic and financial situations and providing advices for the regional foreign currency reserve pool, known as Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM) that formally came into effect on March 24, 2010.
The ASEAN+3 meeting also announced the setting up of a regional credit guarantee and investment fund with an initial grant of 700 million U.S. dollars, in an effort to promote the issuance of bond in domestic currencies within the region, Xie said.
The finance ministers also agreed to create a working group to discuss future strategic fields for regional financial cooperation.
The idea of the working group, proposed by China, has won broad support from all sides, Xie said, adding that China is willing to implement the consensus reached at the meeting.
All these accomplishments have fully demonstrated commitment of all ASEAN+3 members to strengthen cooperation and seek common prosperity which is significant for safeguarding financial stability and promoting sustainable economic recovery and growth of the region, Xie said.
The Chinese minister said he is confident that, with the deepening regional economic integration, the general trend for East Asian regional financial cooperation will be further intensified and enriched.
"It is our common aspiration to enhance the overall ability of the region to cushion financial shocks and establish an in-depth, highly effective and vivacious financial market."
"We are willing to continue to discuss various ways of deepening regional financial cooperation with all other parties, and make unremitting efforts in safeguarding financial stability and economic integration of the region," he added.
Xie on the same day also presided over a meeting between finance ministers of China, Japan and South Korea, on the sidelines of the 43rd annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank.
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