China Banking Regulatory Commission Likely to Lower Threshold for Small and Medium Banks
Cover story
New rules from China's bank watchdog ogran could help expand banking coverage in rural areas and strengthen financial support for small- and medium-sized enterprises. The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) was considering lowering funding threshholds required of commercial banks wanting to establish new branches. It was also considering authorizing local banking regulatory commissions to approve new branches of small and medium banks.
Original article:[Chinese]

Should Beijing Continue Limits on Private Car Use?
Editorial
Though limits on private car use in Beijing would be lifted by April 10, whether or not to extend the temporary measure was still under heated discussion. According to government surveys, limiting private car use substantially improved the city's air quality and traffic problems, and enjoyed wide public support. Still, policymakers published such survey results only a week before the limits expired, which we believe was an act of self-justification that undermined the public's right to fair deliberation of the issue.
Original article:[Chinese]

40 Billion Dollars and a Greater China Voice in IMF
News, page 3
China planned to contribute 40 billion US dollars to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and in turn expected to receive a greater voice in the body. In the current voting framework, China has a 3.7 percent vote. The 40 billion would stand at 4% of the total one trillion dollars invested by all G20 countries. Given the fact that the US dollar was sinking, some said it was wisee for China to invest in the IMF, as opposed to holding the sums in US-dollar-denominated reserves. Meanwhile, others said the best solution to China's foreign exchange reserve issue was opening up the RMB, though barriers to that remained.
Original article:[Chinese]

China Central-owned Enterprises Get Graded
News, page 4
China's central-owned firms would be graded on their 2008 performance by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC). The evaluation would begin by May, and ultimately decide how much each central-owned firm's top managers could earn. SASAC was not optimistic over the 2008 scorecards due to the heavy losses most companies suffered from the financial crisis. In light of this, SASAC said it would tailor its evaluation standards to each central-owned enterprise.
Original article:[Chinese]

New Health Care Reform Turning Public Hospitals to Private
News, page 4
China's health care system reform, which has been under draft since 2006, was to be settled this week. One of the last difficult issues to be agreed upon was the privitization of hospitals, which will be carried out through pilot projects involving a handful of public hospitals, most of which were previously run by state-owned firms or the military. Meanwhile, the government will take care of the major spending by public hospitals and strongly encourage private funds to open new ones. Different tax policies for profit and non-profit hospitals was also being looked at.
Original article:[Chinese]

Tracing China's Industrialization
Nation, page 9-15
An EO special focus series tracks the past 60 years of China's transition from an agriculture-intensive economy to an industrial one. Six articles each cover a decade of development, from the birth of China's heavy industry through to China's progress in producing a jumbo jet.
Original article: [Chinese]

China Seeks Auto Components Acquisition Overseas
Industry, page 33
Chinese firms were on the lookout for foreign automobile components makers ripe for acquisition. Beijing West Industries Company, which is part owned by the Beijing government became the most recent example of the trend after it signed an agreement with Delphi Corporation, a US-based auto components maker, to purchase the latter's remaining global suspension and brakes business in late March. And just a few days before that deal, Geely Holding Group, one of China's largest private auto-makers, signed an agreement to purchase all shares of Australia's Drivetrain Systems International (DSI), the world's second largest gearbox maker. Foreign firms have seen their valuations plummet thanks to the financial crisis.
Original article: [Chinese]