China Capital Markets - Door opens for HK investments in Chinese Mainland stocks

A top Chinese official recently announced that the county would soon launch the long-awaited RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII) program and start an exchange-traded fund linked to Hong Kong stocks. This will boost the two-way capital flow between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong. 

The official also introduced other polices on Aug. 17 for boosting Hong Kong's development, but none of them have received as much market attention as the announcement that qualified foreign institutional investors will be allowed to invest in stock markets in the Chinese mainland with an initial quota of 20 billion yuan, and an exchange-traded fund linked to Hong Kong stocks will be soon unveiled. 

Thanks to the central government's efforts to boost the internationalization of the RMB, Hong Kong investors will soon be allowed to buy RMB-denominated A shares, and investors from the Chinese mainland will also be allowed to invest in Hong Kong stocks, analysts have said. 

Continue reading at: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90778/7576482.html

Mining-Fight against illegal rare earth mining continues in China

Xinhua reported that although the government has been working to crack down on illegal rare earth mining since last year, villagers from East China's Fujian province have complained that profiteering still prompts unlawful miners to take risks by playing hide and seek with local law enforcement.

Mr Li Chukai head of the village of Xianghu "It's very hard to crack down on them. Tucked away in the southeastern mountains of Fujian province, the village has been severely affected by illegal rare earth mining. At one of the illegal mines identified by villagers, trees have been toppled and leaking waste barrels have contaminated the ground.”

Villager Mr Li Sida said that at another illegal mine, polluted water has been diverted to the villagers' farms, destroying rice fields and killing off a large number of fish and shrimp. Illegal rare earth mines were set up here three years ago. They use ammonium sulfate and oxalate to extract rare earth metals while contaminated water is pumped into farms without being treated.

Continue reading at:http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2011-08/20/content_13155773.htm

Analysis: China's telecom patent boom heralds innovation era

China's telecom giants are building up a war-chest of patents to help give them an edge in the legal battles raging between the world's smartphone makers, aided by Beijing's push to transform the country from workshop to innovator.

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp, China's top two telecommunications equipment makers, are stealing a march on rivals both in traditional network gear and, increasingly, high-end phones.

ZTE was the second highest filer of international patent applications in the world last year according to the World Intellectual Property Organization, making 1,863 different filings. Huawei was the fourth most active filer with 1,528 applications, having been in the top spot in 2009.

Patent filings are soaring across most sectors in China -- last year there were 313,854 patents registered in the country according to the Thomson Reuters Derwent World Patents Index, a 12 percent rise from 2009.

China was the third highest filer of patents in 2010, just behind the U.S., which registered 326,945 and Japan with 337,497. Japan has been the leading patent filer in the world for the past decade but its lead is narrowing, with its filings volume down 12 percent since 2006. China is up 83 percent.

The China telecom space in particular is seeing a lot of action as the likes of ZTE and Huawei, along with Taiwan's HTC move from being contract manufacturers for big foreign firms to making smart phones and tablets under their own brands.

Continue reading at:http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/25/us-china-patents-idUSTRE77O0VX20110825