The numbers making news around China during the week of November 19th, 2012

$2.55 billion
Amount committed by companies looking to advertise on CCTV in 2013. This is up 11 percent from a year earlier, signaling confidence in China’s economy from marketers. Wall Street Journal

668,429
Number of people given Party or administrative punishment from November 2007 to June 2012, according to a report from the discipline watchdog of the Communist Party. Xinhua

13.5 percent
Amount defense spending across the Southeast Asia region increased last year. The large increase is widely seen as a move to counter China’s growing military influence. The Age

$3.1 billion
Amount subtracted from Longfor Properties Co. Chairwoman Wu Yajun’s net worth after divorcing her husband. This means she is no longer China’s richest woman. Bloomberg 

90 days
Amount of time Broad Sustainable Building claims they will need to build the world’s tallest building in Changsha. Construction on the $628 million 220-story building is expected to begin this month and finish in January. CNN

$250 billion
Cost of the proposed “ultra-high voltage” power grid being proposed by State Grid Corp. The system would, in theory, move energy great distances with little lost in transit, allowing power plants to be built near energy sources like coal. Reuters

2 million
Number of graves destroyed in Henan Province this year in a move to free up land for agriculture. South China Morning Post

4,700
Number of foreigners who’ve been granted permanent residency (also known as the Chinese “green card”) since 2004, when they were first allowed to apply. By comparison, the US issued over 1 million green cards last year alone. Shanghaiist