IN BRIEF (Page 18)

Progress on railway 'overwhelming'

Engineer Getachew Betru, CEO of Ethiopian Railway Corp, has hailed the progress being made on the Ethio-Djibouti Railway Project, which is being constructed by two Chinese companies.

"The railway project status is now overwhelming; it is more than 87 percent complete," he said, adding that the work could be finished in the next few months.

The 756-kilometer electrified railway was contracted to China Civil Engineering Construction Corp, which is working on the Sebeta/Addis Ababa to Miesso section, and China Railway Group, which is working on the section from Miesso to Djibouti port.

Volkswagen recalls 5,906 cars in China

German carmaker Volkswagen began recalling 5,906 vehicles in China over defective batteries, the nation's quality watchdog said on Oct 27. The German carmaker will recall Flying Spur models made from 2012 to 2014 and Continental models, manufactured between Feb 5, 2011 and May 15, 2014, according to a statement issued by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

Pension funds ready for equity investments

China's pension funds will be ready for investment in stocks and equities in 2016 after the government sets rules to regulate the change, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said on Oct 27. Officials are investigating how best to transfer funds from local governments to the provincial level and allocate funds to authorized institutions for investment, Li Zhong, a spokesperson for the ministry, said at a news conference.

Capital eases rules for foreign investment

Beijing municipality will relax its market access rules for foreign investment in travel, aircraft maintenance and performance brokerages, an official statement said on Oct 27. Rules and regulations will be adjusted from now until May 5, 2018, according to a statement released by the State Council.

Urban unemployment rate up at end of Sept

The registered unemployment rate in China's cities stood at 4.05 percent at the end of September, up from 4.04 percent in June, official data showed on Oct 20. China created 10.66 million new jobs for urban residents in the first nine months of this year, Li Zhong, spokesperson for the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, told media. The Chinese government wants to create at least 10 million new jobs and hold the unemployment rate below 4.5 percent this year.

REX set to take control of Russia's Yota Devices

Hong Kong-listed REX Global Entertainment Holdings Ltd paid $100 million for its controlling 64.9 percent stake in Yota Devices, the Moscow-based maker of the dual-screen smartphone. The remaining shares in the company are held by Rostec Corp, the Russian state corporation, and Yota's management team. Telconet said it had received a number of bids for the company -from China, Europe and the Middle East - but that REX's offer was "the most attractive".

Despite lower output, steel prices down

Prices of steel products retreated in September despite falling output, underlining continued difficulties in reducing oversupply in the bloated sector, according to data from the National Development and Reform Commission. Last month, the Steel Price Index came in at 61.73, down 2.58 percentage points from the previous month, the NDRC said in an online report. In the first three quarters, crude steel production dropped 2.1 percent year-on-year to 608.94 million tons, according to the NDRC.

Shandong foreign trade falls in Jan-Sept

Shandong province's foreign trade dropped 16.3 percent year-on-year to $175 billion during the first three quarters. Exports of high-tech products dropped 11.4 percent. Imports of iron ore, crude oil, natural rubber and coal dropped, too. But exports to the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Kenya rose 4.7 percent, 19.2 percent, 12.2 percent and 22.3 percent year-on-year, respectively. Shandong imported 7.14 million tons of crude oil during the first three quarters, up 26.2 percent year-on-year.

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily Africa Weekly 10/30/2015 page18)