Geng Libo, a migrant worker from Southwest China's Yunnan province, waits for his train at a railway station in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan province, on Jan 26. Jan 19 marked the beginning of the annual Spring Festival travel rush, with an expected 2.56 billion passenger trips in the coming 40 days. [Photo/Xinhua]

Economy GDP 'to slow this year'

The country's gross domestic product (GDP) growth is expected to retreat to 9.8 percent this year, a government think tank said. "Tighter credit and a higher economic growth base in 2010 will drag down the 2011 GDP growth figure," a report released by the Center for Forecasting Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences said.

"Next year, domestic demand will replace investment as the main driver of the Chinese economy."

China's 2010 GDP growth increased by 10.3 percent year-on-year, rapidly rebounding to double digits within three years of the global financial crisis. It was 9.6 percent in 2008 and 9.2 percent in 2009, National Bureau of Statistics' figures showed.

Property

Measures to tame realty market

The State Council raised the minimum down payment for second-home buyers to 60 percent from the current 50 percent on Jan 26, and called on local governments to set price targets in the latest move to rein in property prices.

The new measures are expected to further cool speculation in the housing market after property prices in 70 major cities posted their fourth straight month-on-month rise. The mortgage rates for second-home buyers, however, remain unchanged at 1.1 times the benchmark lending rate.

"The 10 percent increase in down payment will have a big impact on the middle- and high-end housing market," said Carlby Xie, head of research and consulting for North China at Colliers International, a real estate agency.

Environment

Big cities urged to curb noise

Each of the 113 major cities in China has been asked to put up at least one billboard by the end of 2011 to inform the public of the amount of noise it generates. This is part of an exercise to strengthen controls on noise pollution.

In an attempt to curb noises from vehicles, construction, industries and households, the government will publish a new set of rules. A notice published jointly by 11 ministries aims to tackle the growing problem, according to a Ministry of Environmental Protection official.

The notice says noises caused by high-speed trains and aircraft must be contained to reduce complaints from those who live near railway stations and airports, and noise barriers installed along highways in residential areas.

Auto

Lottery green light for 17,600

The capital's first car license plate lottery took place on Jan 26 under new rules to tackle chronic traffic gridlock and air pollution.

The lottery gave the green light to 17,600 people, out of 187,420 qualified applicants, almost one in 11, to hit Beijing's busy roads. More than 210,000 people had earlier applied for the 20,000 number plates available monthly under the measures announced in December. But more than 22,700 were disqualified.

Nearly 90 percent of the number plates available monthly are allocated to residents. The remaining plates are given to businesses operating in the capital.

The lottery - broadcast live on television and the Internet - started at 10 am at the Beijing municipal transport commission.

Education

Educators shrug off top scores

Shanghai students may have topped a recent global survey, but educators in China are not rejoicing. According to them, the country has a long way to go.

The 500 Shanghai students, who took part in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) study released last month, outperformed the rest of the world in reading, science and mathematics. It was the first time students from the Chinese mainland took part in the Programme for International Student Assessment, a study carried out every three years that benchmarks 470,000 15-year-old pupils in 65 economies.

Security

Trafficking of women on the rise

The number of Chinese women trafficked overseas and forced into prostitution has risen, a senior police officer said. Mostly from poor rural areas, the women were trafficked mainly for forced marriages or prostitution, said Chen Shiqu, director of the anti-human trafficking office under the Ministry of Public Security.

Forced marriages in poor areas of Southwest China's Yunnan and Guizhou provinces are reasons behind most of the trafficking, he said. A majority of the targeted women are from poor rural areas in China and were trafficked to Southeast Asia, Europe and Africa, Chen said.

"But there has been a growing trend for organized transnational human trafficking crime groups to target Chinese women for forced prostitution in foreign countries," Chen said.

China Daily