Ratio of home price to income in Beijing is now 27 to 1

August 11th, 2009 BEIJING - China will ban tobacco advertisements and promotion activities starting from January, 2011. Beijing News and the China Daily quoted Xu Guihua, vice chairmen of the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control, as saying that the cost of advertisements and promotions will also no longer be able to be deducted from business income taxes of tobacco companies, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation announced Monday.

July 27th, 2009 Shanghai's first IPO in 11 months soars on debutBEIJING — The first company to list on China's main stock exchange in 11 months soared more than 300 percent in its trading debut Monday, reflecting renewed market activity following a sharp decline last year. Sichuan Expressway Co.

July 2nd, 2009 BEIJING - Beijing reported its first mass infection of the H1N1 flu at a primary school Wednesday. Seven pupils between 8 and 10 years old were confirmed infected with the virus Tuesday night, the China Daily reported.

June 30th, 2009 China raises gasoline, diesel pricesBEIJING — China boosted state-set gasoline and diesel prices Tuesday to reflect rising global crude costs. The retail price of gasoline rose by 8.6 percent and that of diesel by 9.6 percent, the country's planning agency announced.

June 16th, 2009 BEIJING - A social researcher in China has revealed that at the end of 2008, China's urban population had surged to 607 million with an urbanization rate of 45.7 percent. According to Shan Jingjing of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), the urban population in the country has increased by 148 million since 2000, which is almost level with the rural population in the most populous nation in the world.

June 11th, 2009 Beijing demands return of 17 Muslim detaineesBEIJING — Beijing says the 17 Chinese Muslims the United States is sending to Pacific island nation of Palau are terrorists and should be handed back to China instead. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Thursday that the United States should "stop handing over terrorist suspects to any third country, so as to expatriate them to China at an early date." Palau President Johnson Toribiong said earlier this week that Palau had agreed to a U.S.

April 27th, 2009 Chinese bank ICBC says 1Q profit up 6 percentBEIJING — Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the country's biggest commercial lender by assets, said Monday its quarterly profit rose 6 percent from a year earlier despite a double-digit fall in interest income. Profit for the three months ending March 31 was 35.1 billion yuan ($5.1 billion), or 0.11 yuan per share, the Beijing-based lender said.

April 25th, 2009 China Construction Bank 1Q profit down 18 percentBEIJING — China Construction Bank Ltd., the country's second-biggest commercial lender by assets, said Saturday its first quarter profit fell 18 percent as interest rate cuts by China's central bank hurt revenues. Profit for the three months ending March 31 was 26.3 billion yuan ($3.8 billion), or 0.11 yuan per share, the Beijing-based lender said.

April 24th, 2009 China Life says 1Q profit up 55 percentBEIJING — China Life Insurance Ltd., the country's biggest insurer by premiums, said Friday its first quarter profit surged 55 percent as a rally on China's stock market drove up investment income. Profit rose to 5.4 billion yuan ($788 million) or 0.19 yuan per share for the three months ending March 31, the Beijing-based insurer said.

April 22nd, 2009 ACL: Ulsan beats Beijing 1-0BEIJING — A late header by Oh Jang-eun gave Ulsan Hyundai of South Korea a 1-0 win over Beijing Guoan Wednesday in the Asian Champions League. The win gives Ulsan six points, two behind group leader Nagoya Grampus.

March 10th, 2009 BEIJING - China's consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, fell by 1.6 percent year on year in February, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Tuesday. This was the first monthly negative growth since December 2002 when CPI was down to minus 0.4 percent.

March 10th, 2009 BEIJING - A man walked 800 km over 34 days to reach home to join his 70-year-old mother for the Lunar New Year celebrations after his money was stolen, a newspaper reported Tuesday. Li Haitao, 30, a migrant worker from central China's Henan province, walked from Beijing to Zhengzhou from Feb 3 to March 9 to spend the Spring Festival with his mother, said the Dahe Daily.

February 16th, 2009 BEIJING - About 1,500 cars join the already clogged roads in this Chinese capital city daily, increasing traffic pressure and safety risks, officials said Tuesday. A total of 65,970 new vehicles have been registered in Beijing in the first 45 days of this year, with a daily increase of 1,466 vehicles, the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau said.

January 11th, 2009 BEIJING - Chinese banks granted 740 billion yuan ($108 billion) in loans in December, the biggest monthly figure after 803.6 billion yuan in January 2007, the Shanghai Securities News reported Monday. This was a result of the country's 'moderately easy monetary policy' and central government's incentives to encourage lenders to increase credit supply to boost economic growth, the paper said.

January 11th, 2009 BEIJING - Beijing government's top priority is to maintain a 'steady and relatively fast' economic development, Mayor Guo Jinlong said here Monday, adding international financial crisis has affected its economy. Guo made the remarks while delivering a government report at the city's annual legislative session.