(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-01-07 15:37

Export tariff on grains　　　　

The nation introduced an export tax on major grain products last Tuesday, a move to curb rising inflation and meet domestic demand.

Two weeks after removing the tax rebate on grains, including corn, wheat and soybeans, the finance ministry announced the export tariff at rates ranging from 5 to 25 percent.

In another development, China has started to regulate overseas sales of milled grain flour by issuing export permits.

The changes, effective from January 1, will apply to flour milled from wheat, corn and rice, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.

Foreign debt rises

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange said last week that the country's outstanding external debt, excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, stood at $345.7 billion as of the end of September, up 7.03 percent, or $22.7 billion, compared with the end of 2006.

China incurred medium- and long-term foreign debt of $25.47 billion from January to September, up 55.6 percent, or $7.65 billion, over the same period in 2006.

Wealth management

Sales of private wealth management products by Chinese banks last year may have reached 1 trillion yuan as they seek to broaden revenue sources, the China Banking Regulatory Commission said in a statement last Tuesday.

The products, including mutual funds and investments overseas on behalf of clients, had total sales of nearly 600 billion yuan in the first nine months of 2007, the statement said.

New central bank executives

China appointed Yi Gang and Ma Delun as vice-governors of the central bank last week.

The State Council approved their promotions from assistant governors on December 23, the People's Bank of China said in a statement on its website last Thursday.

The promotions fill vacancies left by the exits of Wu Xiaoling, 61, formerly the vice-governor overseeing monetary policy, who retired, and Xiang Junbo, who has been named the head of Agricultural Bank of China.

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