Briefs

Stable Despite Headwinds Chinas economy grew slightly faster than expectations in the second quarter of 2016， fueling hopes that it has entered a steady though slower period of development. The GDP grew 6.7 percent year on year， according to the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS）. The figure， though the lowest quarterly rate since the global financial crisis， remains within the governments targeted range of 6.5-7 percent growth for 2016. The GDP expansion reached 34.06 trillion yuan （$5.08 trillion）. NBS spokesperson Sheng Laiyun said Chinas economic stabilization is set to continue， with major indicators operating in a reasonable zone and supply-side structural reform and economic restructuring continuing to advance.

Tax Refund for Tourists South Chinas Guangdong Province has started issuing tax refunds to foreign tourists from July 1. According to Guangdongs Department of Finance， foreign tourists can get VAT refunds at select ports of departure on purchases from specific shops. The purchase must be worth minimum 500 yuan（$75.2） at one store in one day and must have been made within 90 days of departure. The ports of departure covered by the scheme are the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport， Guangzhou Nansha Port and Jiuzhou Port in Zhuhai City. The province plans to increase the number of designated ports and stores. Guangdong is a major destination for inbound tourists. Some 105 million tourists entered China through Guangdong ports in 2015， accounting for 78.5 percent of the nationwide tourist arrival figures.

1st Sound Trademark China has seen the highest number of trademark registrations in the world in the last 13 years. Now， the countrys first “sound” trademark has been registered. Liu Junchen， Vice Minister of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce， said China Radio Internationals （CRI） signature tune has been approved as a sound trademark. “The newly revised Trademark Law clearly states that a single sound can be a trademark. For instance， the opening tune of CRI has been reviewed and approved as the very first sound trademark，” Liu said. A sound trademark is a sound serving to identify the commercial origin of a product or service.

More PPPs Chinas State Council， the countrys cabinet， will expand its public-private partnership （PPP） model to promote mass entrepreneurship and innovation. Promoting PPPs is conducive to innovation-driven development， stabilizing economic growth， creating more jobs and improving peoples lives， said a statement released after a recent State Council executive meeting. The PPP model facilitates cooperation between the government and businesses to use social capital for projects such as water conservation， transportation and environmental protection.

Faster Growth for SOEs Chinas state-owned enterprises（SOEs） are accelerating their pace in developing overseas businesses， according to a report. SOEs， especially centrally-administered SOEs， have become Chinas major force to compete on an international scale， according to the report by the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. Now， overseas investments by Chinas centrally-administered SOEs account for 60 percent of the coun- trys total non-financial foreign direct investment. The turnover of foreign contracted projects accounts for 60 percent of Chinas total turnover of foreign contracted projects.

Preventing Power Wastage The provinces in northeast China should rebalance their power demand and supply and increase wind power supply to cut air pollution by 2020， Chinas energy regulator said. The northeastern region has been producing surplus power through coal-fired generation， which has seriously contributed to pollution， according to the National Energy Administration （NEA）. The NEA has urged the region to scrap or defer coal-fired power projects with a capacity of over 7.5 million kw. An 800-kilovolt direct current power transmission project will be completed in 2017 to send the regions surplus power to other areas， the NEA said. It is encouraging the region to use electricity to replace coal and oil in industrial or agricultural production.